R-Type III & Super R-Type Collection (SNES re-releases)

I used to love these games, I don't think I ever beat any of them though.

There's a game on Steam called Satazius that is similar, I like it quite a bit.

Oh yeah I have Ikaruga as well. That might be the one I was thinking of, I think Satazius is actually more similar to Gradius.

When a game isn't driven by story and/or exploration, I usually lack the patience required for long play through and only play them in short bursts (5-15 minutes at a time). Thanks to emulators and save states tho, I was finally able to beat ThunderForce III some months ago. Of course, save states are a form of cheating, but at least it allows me to experience the whole game.

Herzwog Zwei (briefly mentioned as a "proto-RTS" in the video I linked above) was an interesting one, with maps to explore and take over. I never figured it out and still suck at this game, but I think the goal is to out-strategize your opponent (AI or a person, 2-player split screen) and capture all of structures on the map. It doesn't look like much is going on at any given time, but it actually plays more frantically than a pure SHUMP, because there's so much stuff to keep track of across the map (you have to rapidly decide which units to build and where to place them on the map). 


"Airmech Arena" is a ripoff of Herzwog Zwei. I checked a few of the player reviews on Metacritic. Generally, people liked the game. However, they say it relied on multiplayer and the community is dead. I read something similar about Herzwog Zwei... once you figure out the mechanics of the game and learn how to easily beat the AI, the game is useless (for a challenge) outside of 2-player.
www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-07-30-herzog-zwei-spiritual-successor-airmech-arena-lands-on-xbox-360-today

Another interesting proto-RTS on MegaDrive/Genesis is "Dune"
For its time, it's a decent game. The game's devs did a good job implementing the controls/gameplay, despite being limited by Genesis controllers.

"The 8-bit Guy" developed some old school RTS's. His latest one, Planet X3, is being ported to the Genesis by some other guy "shiru8bit" (8-bit Guy released the source code and has no issues with this).
The game design of X3 was influenced by the original Ultima (1-4) games, more than actual RTS's. I believe he stated this himself in one of his "making Planet X3" videos.

He concurrently developed multiple versions of X3 to run on various old PC hardware (including MS-DOS, so it can be played on modern PC's with the DOSBOX emulator).
www.the8bitguy.com/4032/where-is-planet-x3/

Shiru8bit on patreon.
www.patreon.com/posts/planet-x3-update-28283380

The first RTS I remember playing was called "Overlord." Although, I played the DOS original on PC, not the NES remake (pictured in the link below).

www.mobygames.com/game/nes/overlord-


I forgot the name of it and while searching, I came across another RTS based on the Robotech license and made by Westwood studios (a full two years before the first Dune RTS). Looks like they were just getting their feet wet with this RTS. Watch the gameplay vid and behold the suck (clunky game design).
www.abandonwaredos.com/abandonware-game.php?abandonware=Battletech%3A+The+Crescent+Hawks%27+Revenge&gid=1770

There's a Dune RTS mod listed on Wiki (Dune Wars mod for Civilization IV). Graphics looks pretty basic even for 2009.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_games_based_on_Dune#Dune_2000_(1998)

www.moddb.com/mods/dune-wars

Edit: Scratch RTS. Civ IV is turn based.

They're sure taking their sweet time with Squadron 42. It's either stuck in development hell or it's going to be one of the greatest games ever.

Also, who can forget Rhys-Davies' character in the two best Indiana Jones movies..

I just came across this game on Steam, I think I saw it mentioned in another thread maybe:

store.steampowered.com/app/606730/Sine_Mora_EX/

Looks pretty good, I might go ahead and buy it since it's on sale.

R-Type (1) versions comparison..




imo, TurboGrafx-CD / PC Engine CD (1991) is the most interesting R-Type remake (thx to anime cut-scenes and quality remixed soundtrack).




Analogue is going to release an FPGA system capable of playing most of the NEC consoles/games (TurboGrafx-16. PC Engine. SuperGrafx. TurboGrafx CD. PC Engine CD-ROM². Super Arcade CD-ROM².).
www.analogue.co/duo/


Analogue FPGA console/hardware remakes only play original format games though.. well, unless you download a firmware hack, allowing the system/s to play ROM's loaded to an SD card.

Bonk was probably their biggest hit in the U.S. Too little, too late in the console's life though. It's the same old story for console failures.. the system lacked 3rd party support (in U.S. and Europe). 

I've read that TG-16 had great support in Japan ("PC Engine" in Japan) and sold well there.
Evidently, over 500 games released in Japan weren't converted over or sold in the west. Imagine if they had converted 100-200 of the Japan-only games for western markets (many of those games eventually got releases on other systems and/or PC and were big hits, such as Langrisser and Fire Pro Wrestling).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_TurboGrafx-16_games

Both of these games got re-releases, from the acclaimed developer M2, on the Nintendo Switch this year. Actually, they're better than the versions I played on the Sega Genesis.

On Switch, apparently, Thunderforce AC is actually a port of the superior arcade version. Also, Herzwog Zwei is much improved (w/ in-game tutorial, improved UI, and online multiplayer).

I keep meaning to get back into shooter games like this and I keep not doing it. There was actually one I really liked in the youth center near my elementary school in like 1990 or so. I never found out the name, it actually had some kind of voice synthesizer in it.

I've seen this 2-1/2D shooter in a few favorites lists on youtube gaming channels.

yep, the so-called "bullet hell" sub-genre of shooters are what's taken over in popularity. I prefer the old-school style (not bullet hell) side-scroll shooters, where the difficultly is balanced enough for a casual player (who doesn't have gobs of free time to OCD over one game) to be able to complete several levels and maybe even beat the game.