What's the deal with Ganryu?

LoneSage

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Just played this for the first time.

Holy fucking shit, was this a game made by college students for extra credit?

There has got to be a story behind this game's production. I'll take a look at mobygames later to see if any of the people who worked on it went on to make more games.

The graphics don't even stack up with games released at launch. It's just horrible.
 

FredyFired

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Graphics are okay-ish imo, but not that great overall. The controls are kinda fucky, especially the jumping, the grappling hook is almost useless and so are most weapons. If you are not fighting a boss, using the slide is usually the best option. My average experience with the game is getting to stage 3, trying it for a bit, getting tired and shutting it off.
 

Gremlin

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I always liked the way it looked in screenshots, but the animation is really stiff and lifeless and the gameplay just kinda sucks. It's a shame, it could have been so much better.
 

BlackaneseNiNjA

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I’ve always enjoyed this game for what it is; I’ve enjoyed it with my son and I’ve 1cc’ed it a bunch of times, but even with it being a guilty pleasure I won’t defend the game.

It always felt like a title that Visco must have made years prior that SNK must have initially rejected, but then ultimately released later when they were more desperate for income (kinda like Zupapa, though that game is a ton of fun imho).
 
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Gremlin

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I’ve always enjoyed this game for what it is; I’ve enjoyed it with my son and I’ve 1cc’ed it a bunch of times, but even with it being a guilty pleasure I won’t defend the game.

It always felt like a title that Visco must have made years prior that SNK must have initially rejected, but then ultimately released later when they were more desperate for income (kinda like Zupapa, though that game is a ton of fun imho).

I 100% feel like this is the case too. It just didn't have any polish and felt rushed, like the last level where you just jump straight up haha.
It really feels like they just took an older shelved project, redrew a bunch (with cutscenes in bang-bead style that don't even match the in-game artstyle) and didn't change much of the gameplay/physics/timing at all. That would explain why the controls and animation feel so stiff, enemies kinda just disappear etc. The game definitely needed a spit-shine

This 1998 version from NGF looks way cooler than what we got, in my dreams it played closer to Shinobi and was actually good

1642771941023.png
 

BlackaneseNiNjA

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I 100% feel like this is the case too. It just didn't have any polish and felt rushed, like the last level where you just jump straight up haha.
It really feels like they just took an older shelved project, redrew a bunch (with cutscenes in bang-bead style that don't even match the in-game artstyle) and didn't change much of the gameplay/physics/timing at all. That would explain why the controls and animation feel so stiff, enemies kinda just disappear etc. The game definitely needed a spit-shine

This 1998 version from NGF looks way cooler than what we got, in my dreams it played closer to Shinobi and was actually good

View attachment 55321
I’m with ya. Though now that I think about it, Visco’s output on the system was always a little odd/uneven.

They have some truly great (imho) games that stand out in the library such as Neo Drift Out and the Breakers games, yet they also had releases that seem like they were done by their B-team by comparison: Ganryu, Puzzle de Pon, Captain Tomaday, Battle Flip Shot, etc). Not that those games are bad; I really enjoy them, yet the drop in presentation and gameplay is noticeable compared to their better releases on the system.

Maybe the bar was just set too high by SNK themselves and so every other average effort on the hardware just feels like another “Fight Fever” in the library.
 

Tarma

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I 100% feel like this is the case too. It just didn't have any polish and felt rushed, like the last level where you just jump straight up haha.
It really feels like they just took an older shelved project, redrew a bunch (with cutscenes in bang-bead style that don't even match the in-game artstyle) and didn't change much of the gameplay/physics/timing at all. That would explain why the controls and animation feel so stiff, enemies kinda just disappear etc. The game definitely needed a spit-shine

This 1998 version from NGF looks way cooler than what we got, in my dreams it played closer to Shinobi and was actually good

View attachment 55321

Yeah, to me it always looked really promising whenever I saw screenshots, but all the feedback I've read over the years has ranged from "terrible" to "meh".
Still, I would agree it was probably three or four years too late, even on the neo-geo.

As for Zupapa! Really don't understand why this got shelved. It was ready before Face came up against their legal problems with Money Puzzle Exchanger, is good fun to play, and would have made a great Neo-Geo CD title. It got a ton of coverage in Japanese magazines and Neo-Geo guides from around 1994.
 

Ralfakick

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I’m with ya. Though now that I think about it, Visco’s output on the system was always a little odd/uneven.

They have some truly great (imho) games that stand out in the library such as Neo Drift Out and the Breakers games, yet they also had releases that seem like they were done by their B-team by comparison: Ganryu, Puzzle de Pon, Captain Tomaday, Battle Flip Shot, etc). Not that those games are bad; I really enjoy them, yet the drop in presentation and gameplay is noticeable compared to their better releases on the system.

Maybe the bar was just set too high by SNK themselves and so every other average effort on the hardware just feels like another “Fight Fever” in the library.
I’ve always enjoyed Neo Mr. Do! It was a fun and wacky remake of the original game. It may have been my first mvs game actually.
 

Neo Alec

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Just played this for the first time.

Holy fucking shit, was this a game made by college students for extra credit?

There has got to be a story behind this game's production. I'll take a look at mobygames later to see if any of the people who worked on it went on to make more games.

The graphics don't even stack up with games released at launch. It's just horrible.
It's nowhere near that bad, but my feelings about Visco games in general is that they're usually just enough to get by. Always too short, behind the times, and the graphics quality just isn't quite there. That's why it's weird when they do a really great game like Breakers. Some of these short games have their moments, like Neo Driftout.
 

BlackaneseNiNjA

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Yeah, to me it always looked really promising whenever I saw screenshots, but all the feedback I've read over the years has ranged from "terrible" to "meh".
Still, I would agree it was probably three or four years too late, even on the neo-geo.

As for Zupapa! Really don't understand why this got shelved. It was ready before Face came up against their legal problems with Money Puzzle Exchanger, is good fun to play, and would have made a great Neo-Geo CD title. It got a ton of coverage in Japanese magazines and Neo-Geo guides from around 1994.
+1
Zupapa was way more fun than it had any right to be lol
Perhaps with fighters having taken over the arcades in the usa and game centers in japan, maybe they just felt the title would have simply underperformed in the market and just didn’t bother at the time.
 

Technos

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It’s definitely not very good. Flip Shot isn’t, either. Visco’s Neo output is all over the place.

It’s a cruel world. We were “given” Ganryu on Neo Geo, but because some like test players said Ninja Gaiden II Neo was too hard, none of us have ever played it.
 

terry.330

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Everyone has the same thought: "Oh it looks like Bionic Commando meets Shinobi, I hear it's terrible but how bad could it actually be?"

It is in fact total shit. Anyone who says otherwise is just making excuses because it's a Neo game. They're the same people that defend every other F tier game on the system. They never back it up though it's always just "Oh c'mon it's not THAT bad..."

That's the deal.
 

HornheaDD

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For some reason I thought this was that other game with the really shitty pre-rendered graphics... I cant remember what its called.

oh yeah, Ragnagard. I dont think I've ever played this one. I'll check it out tonite.
 

Tarma

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+1
Zupapa was way more fun than it had any right to be lol
Perhaps with fighters having taken over the arcades in the usa and game centers in japan, maybe they just felt the title would have simply underperformed in the market and just didn’t bother at the time.
That's probably a fair point. By 1994/95 SNK themselves had pretty musch eschewed every videogame genre other than the one-on-one beat 'em up.

Still, as I said, it would have made a great Neo-Geo CD game, especially with its low MEG count. As SNK actually wanted a broader range of games on the CD it would have ticked a number of boxes... hell, they could have made it an exclusive to the system.

Instead we got given shite like Power Spikes II, hentai crap like Idol Mahjong Final Romance 2 (which wasn't even a Neo-Geo game) and the mildly entertaining Futsal.
 

SuperGun

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I 100% feel like this is the case too. It just didn't have any polish and felt rushed, like the last level where you just jump straight up haha.
It really feels like they just took an older shelved project, redrew a bunch (with cutscenes in bang-bead style that don't even match the in-game artstyle) and didn't change much of the gameplay/physics/timing at all. That would explain why the controls and animation feel so stiff, enemies kinda just disappear etc. The game definitely needed a spit-shine

This 1998 version from NGF looks way cooler than what we got, in my dreams it played closer to Shinobi and was actually good

View attachment 55321

I agree that the controls always felt a bit off on this game. It feels like your playing an 8 way joystick game with a 4 way joystick. Controls are just too clunky and not as smooth as they should be.

The premise and storyline were good. And the genre was more then welcome as the systems library was practically deprived of action/adventure platformers. But the odd mechanics and the strange enemy behavior make it difficult to enjoy.

Also, I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s a relatively obscure tidbit of information, but this game was originally intended to be a Sega STV title.
 

NeoSneth

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hrm. there are times I enjoy Ganryu more than Magician Lord....

Getting a lot of hate here, so I just played them both again to make sure I remembered this right. While Magician lord looks better, it's just full of cheap shots around every corner. Ganryu feels like a budget SNES game, but i like the platforming better.
 

Lastblade

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One of the few NG games I have yet to play. It can't be as bad as LoSJ right?
 

Gremlin

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One of the few NG games I have yet to play. It can't be as bad as LoSJ right?

Hyperbole aside, it's not the worst game in the library by any means. It's just painfully mediocre, a firm 5/10.

I think it gets shat on mostly because it's an underserved style of game on the hardware and it had a lot of wasted potential. It also released pretty late so expectations are higher accordingly
 
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