Fast Striker [iPhone/iPod Touch] - A Quick Look

Decided to buy Fast Striker for my iPod Touch just a moment ago, as i can't afford to buy the MVS cart and not particularly interested in owning it on the Dreamcast, but for £1.79 on the iPod i thought why not?



As you can see above i've embedded a video i recorded earlier, but it's pretty blurry...(If you wanna check out a clear video, there's this one of the mvs version from the NGDEVTEAM Youtube Channel.)

So far my thoughts of the game are fairly positive, i'm still not sure how to play properly yet, but it controls pretty well and is pretty fun.

I'm not particularly sure how accurate a port it is or any differences to the MVS/Dreamcast versions as i've never played those versions.

There are four modes of difficulty Novice, Original, Maniac, and Omake. So far i've only played Original and Maniac modes, and from what i've seen so far choosing each mode will present you with a slightly different set of system mechanics. For example Maniac mode you have a chain bar which goes down when you're not shooting anything whereas Original just counts everything you kill and icons you pick up.

There's also two different screen modes you can choose (either vertically or horzontally), i chose to play with the default screen as the vertical mode gives you a smaller viewing area. (Since the game was designed for a horizontal screen.)

Compared to the other shmups on the iPhone i would say it's not quite as good as the Cave games but at £1.79 it's well worth checking out, particularly if you like shmups.

There's still quite a few things i need to discover in the game myself, as i've literally only been playing it for about 15minutes, and need to spend a bit more time with it.

So far the highest i've scored on the Maniac leaderboard is 31st place, hoping to get a bit better by the end of today, but on the Original scoreboard i don't even rank in lol. You can check out the web based ranking boards here.

Last Blade TRF Tournament

Giby has just uploaded a set of Last Blade videos from a tournament held in TRF, the date is marked '5/26/10' but i'm not sure whether that's a typo and it was actually this year or not ?







Quite crazy watching this game in high level play, i've dabbled on it in the arcade in the past and at home on MVS cart, but never knew about some of the stuff i've seen in these vids.

Particularly the Zantetsu knife bounce thing is pretty dirty...Though i still found all of the matches very enjoyable to watch. Reminds me though i still need to go back and watch the Last Blade tournament from Total Eclipse of SNK.

Following on from what i said last night, i went to the MCM Expo again today but couldn't find that goddamn Mai cosplay again...I did see a Kim Kaphwan playing on the console version of SSF4:AE though...Didn't take a photo as you can imagine why... :-/

Didn't see anything else KOF/SNK related so just bought some One Piece goods from the store (with a gorgeous blonde girl) i usually buy things from every MCM Expo. (Who now have an online store @ www.totallynippon.com)

On a semi related note i managed to get my friend to win me some stuff on Yahoo Auctions, i think he's coming back to London at the end of July so i'll start another series of 'Old SNK Goods', there's quite a few nice SNK keyrings in the lot.

Gun-Lord - New Neo Geo Title

Saw this on SpekSNK just now.

A new title is being developed by NG:DEVTEAM for the Neo Geo and Dreamcast called Gun-Lord.

Described by the official website as a 'EuroStyle Platformer' looking at the screenshots it reminds me a little bit of Turrican.

For those who don't know NG:DEVTEAM have been devoted to creating new titles for the DreamCast and Neo Geo systems, their other titles to date include Last Hope, and Fast Strikers.

Fast Strikers has also been recently ported to the iPhone/iPod Touch, and costs £1.79 on the UK iTunes App store. Pretty much a bargain considering the MVS version costs a staggering 399Euros...

They aren't the only group releasing titles for the now 'dead' Neo Geo format though, another group recently release Bang Bang Busters for the AES a title that was never officially released and had only existed in a prototype form until recently.

It's great to see that even though SNKP have abandoned the Neo Geo systems that there are people out there still developing games for them, just wish that i could afford some of these games lol.

KOF02UM - XBLA Online Casuals : KusoGaki vs chihuahuakof

chihuahuakof sent me a message earlier today on Youtube asking me to play some games with him on 02UM via XBLA. Though we played a bit later than originally planned, as i went to the MCM Expo, we got in about an hours worth of games.

I believe he is based in Mexico (at least according to his Youtube channel) so there was a bit of lag on my side but he is very good and beat me down quite badly.

Particularly i liked his play with Kim, Clark and Daimon.

I'm uploading the matches now to my Youtube channel, there are 6 in total, but as of now there is only one which has been uploaded and processed.



As i mentioned i went to the MCM expo today, unfortunately didn't get the chance to get any photos as i turned up to the event quite late and spent most of my time trying to find something to buy.

I did see a few KOF cosplays though, there was one girl who did a Mai cosplay that i really liked but i couldn't get close enough to get a photo the first time i saw her and then couldn't find her again T_T ...

I might go again tomorrow (if i can wake up early enough) so if i do i'll be on the lookout for KOF cosplays again.

Sky Love 3 [Pachislot]

SNKPlaymore has just opened up a new website for their new pachislot machine Sky Love 3, though probably not of much interest to all of us outside of Japan who cannot play it...So far the site only has the main page, so nothing much to see.

Though if you go to the website of the previous game in the series you can find the movie page, which has some demonstration videos of how that machine works to get an idea of maybe how this one would be like.

I've personally always been a little obsessed with the idea of pachislot and pachinko as the the idea of game brands, 'gambling', and flashing machines in one machine is quite appealing. 

On a semi related note you may or may not know the Fatal Fury pachislot machine actually features an original character, Alice, who was later also brought into the Days Of Memories games.

Apparently this character may have been inspired by the character Alice Chrysler, who i believe is actually in the background of the Korea stage in 02UM.

Only one pachi machine that i know of was ported to the iPhone [Japan Only], Nanairo Mirai, though in Japan there are quite a few on the mobile phone services. (Including Fatal Fury Special, Last Blade, and Metal Slug.)

I'd love to own one of the SNKP pachislot machines one day as a collectors item, as well as a Neo 19 cabinet, just need to figure out a clever way of shipping one from Japan...

Kensou HSDM Fail

Was messing around in practice mode in 02UM as i wanted to try something i saw in the majijam video i watched earlier today.  (Kensou's close qcfx2+AC -> qcfx2+BD)

After doing that i randomly just found out if you hit the opponent with the jump~qcf+B the same time the fireball comes back from his HSDM it knocks him down with no power up.



Maybe it's already common knowledge, i found it pretty amusing anyway lol.

Iroha To Be In Queen's Gate Spiral Chaos [PSP]

Just saw this piece of news on Andriasang, Samurai Shodown character Iroha has just joined the cast of the new Queen's Gate Spiral Chaos game for the PSP.

This is not the first time for an SNKP and Queen's Gate crossover, a game book for Queen's Gate was released featuring the bouncy Mai Shiranui a couple of years back.

Additionally Mai is also featured in this game, as well as Mina from the Samsho series.

The game will release in Japan at the end of July, since Sony has made it a pain in the ass to import PSP games into the UK i don't think i'll be able to get this one...

If you have a look on the movie page on the official website you can catch a short glimpse of the SNK characters in this game in action.

Check out more screenshots from the game featuring Iroha below:

majijam's KOF02UM Death Combo Movies

Saw this on NeoEmpire just now, Youtube user majijam has uploaded a set of 'Death Combo' videos (100% combos) over the past year.



I've only embedded the Psycho Soldier Team video, but you can check out the rest on his Youtube channel.

There are quite a few KOF combo videos on his channel including also single character combo movies and KOFXI combo movies. It's well worth checking out and make sure to subscribe to his channel for when he makes some more.

KOF02UM VERSUS Tournament Vid

Another set of videos from a tournament held in VERSUS is being uploaded by SMOAI2010, only part one is available as of now but some nice matches in just this one video.



Some good pressure tactics with Athena, been a while since i've seen a video with her in it, so learnt some new things. Mai goes on a bit savage in the second match as well.

I'd imagine the rest will follow within the next few hours, so something for me to look forward to watch tomorrow.

Also linnesaka has uploaded quite a few new Real Bout 2 matches from TRF in these past few days, for some reason he's (annoyingly) turned off embedding so you'll have to check them out directly on his Youtube Channel.

Some Background Info On Replay Games [Bangor,Northern Ireland]

This was actually posted two days ago, didn't notice it until just now, but the owner of Replay Games left a small message with some background information about the store on NeoEmpire's forums.

Hey guys, nice to see some enthusiam 

To give you some background we're a gaming and hobby store here in Northern Ireland and we've been going since 1997. The day we opened I had a Dr Who Pinball and Woody cab with WWF Wrestlefest and a 36" CRT widescreen beast of a machine with Tekken 3 running in it. Our ethos was to not only be a shop but a destination and to achieve this pretty much every year since then we have brought in a new cab or kit to keep things fresh. In fact we had every Namco fighter day of release up to and including Tekken 5 DR.

Some of you may even remember me at ATEI a few years back looking at the Tekken 6 Namco cab and asking you questions at their stand. We ultimately decided the cab in question was a bit too cramped and as they wouldn't sell a board seperately we looked elsewhere for something different.

Since then we managed to source the new Delta 32 you see there in those pictures and we've had a few fun games on it already, ranging from Battle Fantasia to Blazblue. This year we managed to grab a KOF XIII kit from a source in Japan and also the SFIV international edition which I did not think we would be lucky enough to get our hands on. We are currently looking to get a 2nd sit down cab, preferably not a Namco one and we also have a Guitar Freaks / Drum Mania V6 combo due in from Japan around the last weekend of June.

We're getting ready for the summer and we're more than happy to see you 

COMBOMETRO's Combo Videos / Kizuna Encounter

I've just been looking at some old posts in the SNKPlaymore subforums on NeoEmpire and came across some combo videos from about 5 years ago for various SNK games on combometro's channel.

First up is for Real Bout 2:


KOF 96/97/98:


KOF NeoWave / Neo Geo Battle Colliseum:


Some of the combos featured are situation/character specific, but it's always pretty cool to see what is possible in games given the right circumstances. (Though not quite as extreme as the Tool Assisted videos i've watched recently.)

If you're interested there are a few more combo videos for some other SNK games on combometro's channel. 

Also not quite related but i was looking on Youtube and Nico Video earlier for match videos of Kizuna Encounter, as i've always been interested in this game but missed out on it when it was originally released and came across a few matches.

Strangely even on Nico Video i couldn't seem to find many (though i'm not sure if i'm searching for it correctly, '風雲スーパータッグバトル' is what i used to search).

I did however find one set on DarkGeese's channel:


And another set on acidglow's channel:


From what little i've dabbled in this game in the past (versus cpu), i thought it was a really fun game to play. When previously discussing KOFXI/XII with other players in the past i had always hoped they would adopt a similar system to this game when making XII (if they had kept the tag system in the game).

It's a shame we'll never know what they could have done to the tag system or where that could have gone, even though i am kinda glad they brought back the old style 3 on 3 in XII and XIII.

I do find it quite odd there are not more tournament videos for Kizuna on Youtube/Nico, maybe i'm just not looking hard enough, as i think it's one of those games that is a bit underrated.
Hopefully though at some point it'll make it into the Neo Geo Station line up, i just hope that wait won't be too long.

I actually had the chance to buy it on MVS quite a few times in the past couple of years for fairly cheap but kept putting it off...Kinda regretting that now...As my only immediate access to the game currently would be emulation... =_=

KOF97 'Tool Assisted Speed Run'

Another one of these Tool Assisted gameplay videos i came across on Nico Video this time featuring KOF97. This one although not quite as amusing as the previous KOF2000 one, still does have some funny parts in it as well as a few 'wtf' moments.

Haven't played 97 properly for a really long time but still remember the Yamazaki infinite. I never knew B.Mary had off the floor grabs though but i'm a bit unsure how that works (or whether it is normally possibly without tool assistance). 

As with the previous video if you do not have a Nico Video account, you can watch it via MMCafe's Nico Viewer by pasting in this URL :
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm12646443

Nico Video account holders can directly view it here.

ESRB Ratings More Games Coming To NeoGeo Station ??

Saw this on DreamCancel just now that KOF95 has been rated by the ESRB for the PSP/PS3/Wii, which should hopefully mean the next wave of Neo Geo Station games should be on their way soon.

I believe the Wii version was actually already released (via Virtual Console, and Orochi Collection) quite a while ago, and 95 has been available on the PSP via the Orochi Collection. The PS3 version is available currently in Japan via the PS1 Classics series, which i'm hoping this will not be the rating for, it would be quite silly if they released that version now...

I was just thinking it would be great if they started releasing the World Heroes games, and a quick browse through the ESRB and i also found World Heroes to be also rated for the PS3/PSP too.

I've tried searching the site for some of the sequels of the other titles already on Neo Geo Station, but currently cannot find anything else.

Edit: Also seen via Joystiq, Marvin's Maze a 1983 SNK Classic has also been rated for PSP and PS3, i'm not too familiar with this title personally as i would have been only 1 years old when it was released lol.

Check out this video i found of it on Youtube, via oldclassicgame's channel:



Edit 2:

I've had a better look through the ESRB website, searching for the publisher 'SNK Corporation of America' and found some more titles.

Nothing too exciting in the fighting game side of things, from what i have seen the next wave of speculated NGS titles other than the ones mentioned should be:

Ozma Wars, Puzzled, Vanguard, and Sasuke VS Commander.

KOF2000 - 'Tool Assisted Speed Run'

Was browsing Nico Video just now and came across this amusing video of a Tool Assisted Speed Run of KOF2000.Never knew anyone made these for KOF, i've only really watched Super Mario ones before.

It's technically not much of a speed run though, more of a showcase than anything else.

Some of the things shown include Kim sliding across the floor with his foot stomp, Seth doing his counter over and over again, and multiplying Baos walking in the air.

It's an interesting watch. More than anything it's funny just to see how much someone can 'break' the game.

Check it out on Nico Video directly, though you need an account, here.

Or if you don't have a Nico Video account you can copy and paste the url ( http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm14521237 ) into MadMan's cafe's Nico Viewer.

Old SNK Goods From Japan - Pt.7 - King of Fighters 96 Characters Book

So in this entry i'm going to have a quick look at the Geibun Mook King of Fighters 96 Characters Book, i can't remember whether my friend picked this up from a car boot sale or a used book store but i know it never cost the Y1280 printed on the front.

I'm not sure if anyone has ever seen these kinds of books before, but they are pretty much like an extensive instruction book. I own another one of these i bought from Hong Kong years ago for KOF99 as well, and i'm not particularly fond of them.

When you open it up there's immediately an advert for Samurai Shodown RPG, with a little box at the bottom left hand corner showing a special prize Nakoruru clock that you could win back then. (Limited to 2000)

The first part of the KOF content is the character relationships chart, which tend to pop up in quite a few SNKP books, and small bits about the game's story.

Next is a section with each of the team's stories and character profiles, i can't read a whole lot about the stories but i did notice that apparently King owns a bar in England. (Or at least i think it says that.)

I always did wonder why the female team was Team England, considering none of the characters in that team are English...Maybe this explains why.

The next sections take up pretty much the bulk of the entire book showing the animation frame for characters moves for every single character...

The two bosses of the game are also shown, but not in as much detail as the other characters.

Also the system is explained, regarding all the new things which have been added to KOF96 (like guard crush and counter) and how they work.

The next section shows some of the sketch book/original artwork for the game, interestingly i never actually noticed that Goenitz had snake eyes before.

I'm not quite sure where King's arms have gone in the below pic...lol.

The next few sections were a bit text intensive so i wasn't really sure what some of them about, i do know though the picture below was showing some of the differences in moves between 95 and 96.

Some great fan art is also featured, along with a couple of 4koma strips.

And finally the back page of the book shows a little merchandise.

Overall not an amazing book by any means, it's not particularly the kind of book i would actively go out and look specifically for, though maybe worth picking up if you see it for cheap.

The next one of these blog updates will be the last of this series of the old snk goods and i'm gonna go back and take a few photos of the Neo Geo DJ Station 99 CD.