December SOTM Vote - Back of the Game Center - Vote Ends 12/1 @ Midnight!

[Ajax]

It's a July afternoon and it's very hot. Seeking refuge from the oppressive humidity, you stumble into a hole in the wall game center that looks like it somehow managed to get stuck in time in the late 90s. The AC is working, miraculously, so you take a look around. The first floor is all classic games that put arcade games on the map. You climb the stairs to the second level and it's all shooting games. You see some of the classics from the 90s, the ones that every shooting fan knows and loves - Donpachi and Dodonpachi, the Bat trilogy, R Type Leo, Raiden, Batsugun, stuff like that. Back in an unlit section of the floor, you spot another row of games, ones that were kinda pushed out of the space by the shooting powerhouses of the era, but that still seem dope in their own right, among them:

Gun Frontier - Taito 1990
Arcade, Saturn, PS2, Arcade Archives (PS4, Switch)
A game that seems to have influenced Battle Garegga in a profound way. Rank is tricky in this one.

Final Star Force - Tecmo 1992
Arcade Only
Another influential one here. The cool rotating rocket level from GG Aleste 3? Lifed basically straight out of this game. The music changes depending on your weapon, something I haven't really seen in any other shooting game.

Rapid Hero - NMK 1994
Arcade Only
NMK is often overlooked in the shooting game conversation, and that's a damn shame. This is a tough one, but it makes the list for the artwork alone.

Hotdog Storm - Marble 1996
Arcade Only
I wish this game didn't have such a dumb name. Maybe if it had a proper name it would have fared a little better, I dunno. In any case, it's a great game.

Cyvern - Kaneko 1998
Arcade Only
Highly regarded, but relatively overlooked game from the late 90s. The difficulty of this one is pretty legendary.

 

[Johnny16Bit]

Superb selection!
(Gun Frontier is on the Sat too)

 

[Ajax]

Thanks for the heads up, I've updated the original post

 

[daskrabs]

Weird coincidence. @artoffighting was just trying to sell me on Gun Frontier at the Philly meetup. Good selections.

 

[Ralfakick]

Superb selection!
(Gun Frontier is on the Sat too)

PS2 as well

 

[kuze]

NMK!!!!!

 

[Ralfakick]

NMK!!!!!

Paging @wataru330

 

[Ajax]

Thanks Ralfakick, I've updated the platforms for Gun Frontier.

Also, just for reference - only one of these games has ever been done in SOTM here, and that was Cyvern in March 2013, so some new horizons this time around.

 

[wataru330]

Paging @wataru330

GanggnaG! I’m here for the tunes!!

 

[Jeneki]

Something interesting I learned about Gun Frontier during the Arcade Archives release, is the western version is called Gun & Frontier. If you look really close at the title screen, you can see a teeny tiny & symbol. Seems totally random lol.

 

[Ajax]

I saw that when looking for a flyer, actually and I laughed. I hadn't seen that before.

It looks like it's gonna be Gun (&) Frontier this time around, but I'm going to let the vote run until the end of the day today (I'm in the US, so vote ends when 12/1 ends in the US).

Got another bunch of junk that has been sitting around gathering dust for ages awesome prizes to raffle off this time. Let's play the fuckin' game and get some clears this month, shall we?

 

[Ralfakick]

Hot Dog Storm is always a bridesmaid that’s been listed a few times before

 

[roker]

I like Rapid Hero. That's my pick.

Saturn Gun Frontier is vastly different if memory serves me right. I could be wrong though. Getting old.

 

[Ajax]

I took November off after a brutal grind in October, so I'm just looking forward to playing. Rapid Hero or Gun Frontier would be my choice!

 

[Neodogg]

I took November off after a brutal grind in October, so I'm just looking forward to playing. Rapid Hero or Gun Frontier would be my choice!

Do you even SOTM anymore?

I voted for GF, never heard of but need to find the iso…