R-Type Final Gets Fresh For U.S.?

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to a Gamers.com article indicating that R-Type Final for Playstation 2 has allegedly been picked up by Eidos' Fresh Games label for US release. This comes hot on the heels of news that the game, the latest in the classic R-Type shoot-em-up series, will feature an AI mode, with the player "able to define the behavior of an AI-controlled R-9 fighter, and pit two of them against each other in a race to destroy enemy craft, collect items, and avoid getting killed in the process" - though the traditional single-player shmup gameplay will fortunately also be present. The import-friendly Fresh Games label has also brought quirky Japanese titles like Mad Maestro and the crazed Mr. Mosquito to the West - anyone got nominations for other import titles they should consider releasing?

Comments

Fantasy Imports?

[Monthenor]

Shibaimichi: would require localization on a massive scale, but the gimmick is too good to ignore.

Bistro Cupid: RPG restaurant dating sim? Sold. Wait, it's only in Japanese? Bummer.

What happened?

[WuWarrior]

Whatever happened to the space shooter genre? I would like to see more.

I'm glad to see Gradius is still alive and now R-Type.

Ikaruga is also a great scrolling space shooter. It was originally on Dreamcast and is now being released for GameCube.

I would love to see a modern remake of Defender.

Re:What happened?

[chrismcdirty]

I think there is a modern remake of Defender coming out... but you'll probably be disappointed that it's fully 3D. I sure wish they would make more games like they used to. I still can't get past level 3 on Ikaruga. And it took me months to finally beat Gradius 3.

Re:What happened?

[Anonymous Coward]

Gradius 5 (well, Gradius V) will be out soon for PS2. It was at E3. R-Type is a different series.
They made a remake of Defender. It's on all 3 consoles and costs about $20 new.
If you want to see more shmups, just look around. They're usually in the budget bin.

Re:What happened?

[Leynos]

You should also check out Border Down, coming soon to Dreamcast in September, and DoDonPachi Dai-Ou-Jou out now for the PS2.

Vib Ribbon

[Krellan]

One of the most requested games has been Vib Ribbon!

http://cyan.askee.net/vib%20ribbon/

This PS1 game is a music game, known for these very distinctive things:

• It comes with 6 songs done in a very strange and indescribeable way, by a Japanese group "Laugh & Peace". Very good and catchy music.
• All graphics in the game are black and white, simulated vector graphics! No filled-in shapes here. Would be great if the game could output a format that could be understood by a laser projector....
• You can put in your own audio CD's, and the game will create its own steps for you to follow, based on the beat and the rhythm of the music! So the game has an essentially limitless number of songs you can play.

On the old Fresh Games forum site, in fact, it was the very first game requested.

http://forums.playfresh.com/

The game is completely in Japanese, but the characters are mostly katakana so it is easy to work through and translate. Here's the original Japanese site for the game's developers:

http://www.nanaon-sha.com/products/vib-ribbon.html

A complete English localization already exists, as Sony released the game in Europe:

http://www.vibribbon.com/

Once again, USA gamers get the shaft, because all we buy are monster trucks and extreme-sport athletes, right? Right. *sigh*

"There's no time, hurry up, everything is so fantastic...."

Re:Vib Ribbon

[Amanset]

Once again, USA gamers get the shaft, because all we buy are monster trucks and extreme-sport athletes, right? Right. *sigh*

Dear me. I could give you a MASSIVE list of games that got a US release but didn't come out in Europe.

Animal Crossing
Xenogears
Any Final Fantasy before 7 (well, up until the Playstation budget releases)
Chrono Trigger
Chrono Cross

Are very good examples. Especiallyt when it comes to RPGs the US has it way better than Europe.

Re:Vib Ribbon

[SamBeckett]

yes, but your women have hairy armpits

Re:Vib Ribbon

[metamatic]

Vib Ribbon's available in English? And me with a multi-standard TV? Looks like it's time to mod chip my PlayStation 2...

Or, anyone know if there's a software PS1 mod chip equivalent for PS2? I have a GameShark, maybe that'll work...

Yeah, tell Fresh Games to release Vib Ribbon and Vib Ribbon 2! I'll buy 'em.

Xenon 2000 - bitmap brothers classic -updated,free

[quiddity]

Xenon 2:Megablast is another you might remember. Well they updated it for a pcformat tutorial on gaming, and finally released the program for download: Xenon 2000. dont hold them to getting the tutorial info online though, it took 2 years of "next month"'s to get the program itself.

[OT] Bomb the Bass

[sbszine]

Ha, I was just listening to Bomb the Bass - 'Megablast' last night, and thinking how it cool it was as the soundtrack to Xenon 2 on the Amiga.

Re:[OT] Bomb the Bass

[quiddity]

atari 520 ST baby. man did i make the wrong choice. ah well.

European/Australian release?

[evilhayama]

Anyone know whether Eidos is planning a release outside America? It's frustrating seeing these "niche" games being passed over in my country. Still waiting for Animal Crossing! Things like Disgaea and Tactics Ogre: Knights of Lodis...

Re:European/Australian release?

[simoniker]

I'm pretty sure that Eidos will release this title in Europe as well, providing they're confirmed as publishing it, since I checked on GameFAQs, and all the Fresh Games titles so far have been released in Europe and the US more or less simultaneously. Which is nice.

Are there many/any major games that come out in Europe and not Australia, or is that simply a question of distribution?

Re:European/Australian release?

[evilhayama]

As far as I can remember, anything that gets to Europe/UK comes here too. They're all just rebadged UK releases, so we sometimes get the option of German/French language which wasn't an official language of Australia last time I looked...

Ah...Classic Shooters...

[C. Alan]

R-type was always one of my favorite coin-op games. When I owned a small arcade back in the mid '90s, I think I played the game more than any of my customers. Then again, this may be why I also had a Xybots in the arcade as well.

There was one sequel, R-type 2, that was released for Coin-op, but I have never seen it in an arcade. This game spawned a lot of look alike shooter, like St. Dragon, and Macross.

Too bad im too cheap to buy a PS2. I would like to see the new game.
--C. Alan

It's always so slow!

[the darn]

So I slap a sticker on it to make my R-Type a Type-R to make it go faster...

More than that.

[Scott Francis[Mecham]

In the arcade, there's also R-Type Leo and R-Type Gallop(super-rare speed challenge version). Besides which, there were much closer lookalikes than arcade Macross 2; see Pulstar on the NeoGeo.

In fact, that's part of the appeal of Final; if the opening video is true, there'l be a flood of playable original R-ships in addition to ships from the other R-Types(including the console-only R-Type 3 and Delta).

Re:Xenon 2000 - bitmap brothers classic -updated,f

[Anonymous Coward]

Xenon 2000 plays *nothing* like the original and is shite, to be frank. Stay away, it's not worth the download.

if you like r-type, try ikaruga...

[zonker]

ikaruga (gamecube exclusive) is hard, fast, fun and over too quickly (i bet you guys have heard that before! haw haw haw). it is designed to be played again and again though (skillz based ya know), so enjoy.