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    XII Stag

    XII Stag on PS2, totally missed this one on any release dates, is it even out in the UK?

    Bought it at "Carre 4", a French Supermarket, for the ultra low price of ?14 today.
    Thats about ?10

    Standard budget release of the Japanese shooter, comes on a blue base CD in a blue PS2 case.

    Reasonable cover art (at least its not as bad as MLF )

    Standard titles screen and options
    * 60/50 hz
    * Controller configuration
    * 5 difficulty levels
    * Tate mode (!)
    * Extra options to make controls easier, such as auto fire and auto side firing

    Aesthetically its just my cup of tea. 2D gameplay, with nice sprite based graphics similar to DoDonpachi, but not quite as bright. No slowdown that Ive seen, gave it a quick 20 minute razzle to get first impressions of it. Bullets are big and bright, and easy to spot on the background. Love the look and feel of it.
    Music is not bad, at least it doesnt grate on my nerves... yet.

    Gameplay is all about high scores, with a possible 12x chain multiplier.
    To increase this, you have to kill enemies using a side attack, that can be activated by either taping left and right very quickly, (think Psyvariers roll) or taping an automatic side attack button if your lazy.
    This is mainly a close range weapon, meaning you have to get real close to enemies to get a high score.

    You can play either for score, or survival, and from what I can tell, I think the bosses change depending on what score you have. On my second play through the second level, I had quite a high score and the boss was twice his size and bright red unlike before.
    Possible adaptive gameplay here like BorderDown and Psy2?
    Will have to dig deeper and Ill let you know, anyone played the Japanese version?

    Power bomb is interesting, it basically creates a safety zone around your ship, and you can fly anywehre inside this large circle and be totally safe.
    Ive been rimming the edge of it firing sideways at enemies for bigger scores.

    Theres also a backwards attack, where if your firing forwards, any enemies that hit you from behind will get killed as a mini blast shoots from the rear of your ship. Not too sure how this works yet, my booklet was only in French so I havent absorbed all the finer nuances yet.


    Havent finished it. Like I said, got it about half an hour ago, and barely scratched the surface, but Ill get back to you and post more impressions.
    For ?10 you really cant go wrong. Good fun, with quite a bit of hidden depth I suspect.

    Expect some score posts later on as well.

    #2
    Forgot to add:

    * No narrative that Ive seen, just clean blasting
    * 2P player mode (I lack a second PS2 pad, so wont be testing this sadly)
    * Made by Taito (yay!)
    * L1/R1 buttons dont seem to be able to be used for some bizzare reason
    * Much smarter front end than Psyvariar1 on PS2 which was also a budget release

    Comment


      #3
      I didn't know this was getting a PAL release? Thanks for the write up and details. I can't find any UK shops selling it though

      If anyone finds one, let me know here please

      Comment


        #4
        I was always interested to see how this played, but the general impressions of it on this site were less than favourable. I might have a look at it if I happen to come across it in the shops, although the only site I've found that currently sells this version is Amazon.fr.

        Comment


          #5
          Less than favourable?

          I think its an excellent blaster, and Im enjoying it FAR more than I did Psyvariar 1. (cant comment on psy 2 since Ive yet to actually play it, much to my shame)

          The combo system is nice, and you can play the game either for the high score, or for survival, since unlike Psy 1, as long as you live you continue onwards.

          Just reached Stage 4, can reach the end of stage 3 unscathed.
          Learning is good, since even though you may think it easy getting this far on one credit so quickly, replaying the levels again and doing better makes for vast changes in gameplay.

          In the second stage, there are several extra waves of enemies the better you do, meaning the gameplay adapts to your skill quite nicely.
          Redid the 3rd stage and beat the giant airship faster than previously, and I was treated to a second ship to take down.

          Bosses also change depending on how well you did in the level, making replaying the game very enjoyable so far.

          Word of advice to new players, learn to love the barrier weapon. If you die the ammount is reset to 2, meaning if you have 4 theres no point in trying to save them since dying would reduce them to 2. Use them or lose them basically.

          Also, you shouldnt feel ashamed of using the rapid fire, or rapid side attack buttons, since even with them activated it doesnt make the game a cakewalk. Trying it manually is also quite diffiult with a PS2 pad, so a bit like Psy 1 single button spinning. Far easier to use a designated button rather than tapping left and right.

          Regarding the rear attack, its automatic. Just let enemies run into you. Bigger enemies dont die right away though, so you may need forward WITH them to avoid get killed.

          Only way to multiply scores is via siade or rear attack. Normal attack doesnt increase score multiplier, but still adds the multiplied score.

          Continuing resets the score to "0" instead of simply adding a 1 on the end, meaning there can be no cheating by continuing, since only 1 credit completion will yield the biggest of numbers. (a bit like Shiki 1 then, which I am also a big fan of)

          Current high score:
          1'171'910 - Stage 4 - Normal difficulty


          Im quite enjoying this at the moment. Only time will tell if its a long term player.

          Im guessing its a France only release?


          EDIT:
          Couple of gripes:
          * Its not easy to access the high score table
          * R1/L1 seem unusable
          * It doesnt auto save

          Comment


            #6
            High score topic:


            So close to 2 mill!



            Also, some more info:

            * Each stage has 2 check points that record your score, and makes for some intense gaming as you try and perfect that second run of lvl 3.

            * Your ship has 5 shot levels, powered by small blue orbs

            * There is a very useful scoring graph between each stage, so you can track the highest scores for each check point in prevous games, and your own most recent attempt.
            The "best line" seems to be made up of a collection of all your best scores from previous goes, as opposed to any single go. A kind of overall avergae.

            * For true experts, load the game up with no memory card, and try to complete the game scoring LOWER than the default "best" line without actually dying.
            Not an easy task.




            Any questions?

            Comment


              #7
              Yeah

              why do the french get more games than us? ;p I fancied this when I had Jpn PS2 I gone on a bit of a shumup buyin spree at the moment havin bought Border Down, R Type Final an Shikigami No Shiro 2 LE this past month, might have a look in shops see if I can find this at all.

              Comment


                #8
                Apparently amazon.fr will ship from France to the UK, so UK gamers can still get to try it.
                At €15 its a bargain!

                Comment


                  #9
                  Got it today and I'd say it's pretty decent. Probably doesn't help, that I've spent the day playing Sorcer Striker, dodonpachi II: Bee Storm, Raiden DX and Viper Phase 1 at the arcade belonging to the friend the other XII Stag was for

                  I don't think I've tallied any decent scores, but I remember the indicator on the graph going all the way up a couple of times.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Glad you got them, be sure to leave me some feedback if you havent already.

                    I found that on the 5th level, it was possible to score so high that the graph line actually leaves the graph entirely and nearly goes up into the scoring table.
                    You can easily get around 700+k on that level, insane ammount of points.

                    Youll know what I mean when you get there.

                    Good to know someone else has it.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      I left you feedback the second I received the games

                      I think the game suffers from not being played in tate mode. Everything's so small. I haven't had this problem with other vertial shooters.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        there is a tate mode available, but I havent been able to test it since my TV goes all wierd when I turn it on its side.

                        What size TV do you use?

                        Comment


                          #13
                          I know there's a tate mode, I'm just not going to "tate" my 28"!

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by otaku84
                            Apparently amazon.fr will ship from France to the UK, so UK gamers can still get to try it.
                            At ?15 its a bargain!
                            Just wanted to say thanks for the info. I've been looking for the PAL version of this for a while, did a search here, found this thread, and ordered it from Amazon (France).

                            Cost me about ?15 all in, which is a bargain (?15 + postage to UK). It won't come for a couple of weeks, mind (they're either out of stock, or it's discontinued, I'll find out in a fortnight).

                            gordon

                            Comment


                              #15
                              good lord!
                              Someone dragged this old topic up?

                              Glad to have been of service dude, Im assuming you also read my site review of this?

                              Nice little shooter, that sadly I dont have access to now that my collection is in storage.


                              Im very surprised actually, high street stores in france have been stocking many budget titles, beat em ups and shooters and such like, from japan.
                              Plus some quirky stuff like a game where you play as monster trucks fighting each other, and a PS2 building demolitions game, all at super low prices.

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