[沙羅曼蛇2/Salamander 2] Super Cobra Stage 2-2 (Score: 556,400) [CC Commentary] скачать в хорошем качестве

[沙羅曼蛇2/Salamander 2] Super Cobra Stage 2-2 (Score: 556,400) [CC Commentary]

Salamander 2 is a great game in a vacuum, but it's a... 1996 game, isn't it? What other titles released at that time again? BATTLE GAREGGA, Air Gallet, RAYSTORM, Terra Diver... Compared to these games, Salamander 2 feels a bit too outdated. The stage design would work wonders in 1990. But in 1996? After Rayforce? This feels like a retro throwback game that doesn't move the genre much forward. Despite of that, I love the game enough. Sounds like the game is worse than Salamander 1. In the context of time, yes. In the vacuum of Gradius series, no! Salamander 2 is the superior sequel. Barely... I mean, look at it! This is a 10 years later sequel and its improvement is miniscule! There are 2 score extends, nice, but it's actually pretty sinister considering 1 factor I'll talk about later. You can shoot, missile, the old Salamander upgrades and now uses letters instead of monochromatic symbols, good, and the most unique of them all, Option Shot...? Honestly, it sucks. Why the Option Shot sucks? You sacrifice your options to shoot a TERRAIN PIERCING HOMING LASER ATTACK, which sounds so cool on paper, but in practice the damage is so low the option sacrifice is not worth it. But wait, sacrificing options mean you rank down, right? Nu-uh! The Rank can only be controlled with 2 things: The player side you choose and DEATH! So if you're planning to use the Option Shot to rank down, FORGET ABOUT IT! I'm okay with the Option Shot not providing bullet cancelling or i-frames, but the cost outweighs the benefit. It's still better DPS-wise to dump in the full Option shot like normal! Just, forget this button exists unless in very niche situations! Like, have anyone ever discussed Option Shot? No? Might as well as rant about the Platonic Breaks and Bombs in Otomedius Excellent because at least in the respective game these 2 things have their more obvious uses! And you know the most devastating downgrade? In Salamander 1 it is not that useful since Salamander 1's stages has a lot of open space where the missiles just can't crawl, but Salamander 2's stage design is more Gradius-like. Flat surfaces for the missiles to crawl. Then not only you need to get 2 Missile icons to get the 2-Way, THE 2-WAY GOT NERFED GRADIUS II STYLE! The crawling capability got nerfed when it's at its better compatibility stage design-wise. Really, Konami??? Oh, right. It's a Gradius series game, so of course it has rank. The rank is implemented more tightly and cynically here. I think there is a trend where the rank control in games after 1993 becoming more elaborate and crazier, peaking at Battle Garegga. Sadly overall the rank is not that interesting since there is not much to do to control the Rank, and not picking up the Options is not a good idea either, nor delaying the Option pick ups, which is something rewarded in Battle Garegga rank-wise! Have I mentioned that Option Shot, the button to discard your Option at will, doesn't lower your rank? The rank factors include the incremental one, gained more and more as you survive, then your load out, at which stage you're at and which player side you choose. You noticed that in this video my run is using the 2P side, right? Even Konami's official No Death run acknowledges this: NO DEATH 1-ALL WITH 1P SIDE IS NIGH IMPOSSIBLE! The short gist of it is with 2P the rank gain is CONSIDERABLY MORE LENIENT SOMEHOW! The choke point is at Stage 5! If you No Miss there, with 1P the rank becomes max, at 31. THE BULLETS BECOME NIGHTMARISH AT 31! This on 1-ALL can only be seen with 1P and No Miss. It's so bad, you CAN'T ENCOUNTER THIS WITH 2P WHEN YOU DO THE EXACT SAME THINGS! Goodness, is this their quarter munching tactic because of the operators / higher ups or what!? BAD KONAMI, BAD! The part that carries the game's quality to barely surpass Salamander 1 is the stage design. It's notably better in every aspect! It is still easier than Gradius, except the final boss, which is very welcome, but the difficulty curve is more balanced and there are almost no spots where you can just get a good position then do nothing but shooting in place. I welcome this wholeheartedly. The bosses are all fair too. Perhaps except the Stage 4 boss, a bit, but ultimately still can be fought normally. These bosses sure have thick HP, though, but what can I say? This is the ideal boss HP count for 1996. The most divisive part, which is a minor thing if you ask me, is the pre-rendered 3D graphics. Gotta admit, it looks... 1996 pre-rendered 3D graphics. It manages to make some of the disgusting-smooth animations especially on Stage 3, but at times the game is too bright in terms of color palette. I'd say it still looks good, but doesn't age that well just due to how old-feeling it looks. It is fun to play, there is no denying it. But it's not peak 1996 shmup. Keep your expectation at normal levels and you'll have a blast. This is the Gradius Origins Collection port by M2 on Nintendo Switch 2. #stg #shmup #nintendoswitch2