Another Arcade Hidden Gem Nobody Played! Gaia Crusaders

[@japheitv8093]

I love Noise Factory. They did a ton of work for Me and SNK Playmore back in the day. Their work on Metal Slug 4 , 5 , Rage Of The Dragons , Matrimelee , and SVC Chaos was awesome!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Matrimelee remains my fav game of all time

[@japheitv8093]

@@VideoGameEsoterica That is a great one. The Neo Geo Version is the best version for sure.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Def my fav of the franchise

[@Marcus_K]

The answer to the question "Why don't more people talk about this game?" is usually: because it didn't get a western console release. So many arcade-only, japan-only and computers-only games never enter the mainstream discourse.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Which is a bummer. They deserve more attention

[@TripleDaGOD]

Gaia Crusaders crawled so Sengoku 3 could be a GOAT contender! There is something about Gaia Crusaders that's really gritty that allows it to stand by Sengoku 3 and be its own thing worth visiting while not being overshadowed by it. A another must play and if somebody wants more they can always "experience" Thunder Heroes.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Thunder Heroes is such an odd release of this game

[@TripleDaGOD]

@@VideoGameEsoterica With the crazy changes it made is that it too is at least worth a once over to compare and contrast it to Gaia Crusaders because you can.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Maybe in the future I’ll compare then

[@timedancefm]

I found Thunder Heroes before I discovered Gaia Crusaders. When you play Thunder Heroes first, Gaia Crusaders feels a bit like slow motion. But both games have amazing music - two really hidden gems.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

And such an odd pivot

[@ferddydraws]

this game is wild this and battle circuit have that late beat em up vibe

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Battle Circuit is a blast and very over the top

[@jerryklein3]

Wow this game looks so nice. Smooth animation and really attractive graphics!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Noise Factory games always had great art

[@kupaohizon303]

Played this on FBA but I've played Sengoku 3 first. The fighting and combo system in this game definitely feels like a precursor to Sengoku 3.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Some similar vibes for sure

[@drewba7741]

GameSack just covered this in their latest vid :P

[@SolCresta3405]

Too bad they shit all over Virtua Cop 3 in the process.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Good timing then

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Wow. They didn’t like it?

[@starlightrevenant]

As well as Thunder Heroes

[@SolCresta3405]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Nope. They said the graphics were too dark for their taste and thought Confidential Mission, as good and fun of a game it is, was much better and it was inferior to the first two.

[@AyeYoYoYooo]

Co-sign the OST’s & charming visuals. Everything on IGS PGM 1,2,3 looked & sounded great. Most played very well too. Almost in the CPS-3 tier, def at least as good looking as most CPS-2 stuff. Was just typing Sengoku 3 as you mentioned it lol Did you review Demon Front yet ?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I did Demon Front forever ago. I need to revisit it

[@chriscrossan8034]

Been hammering this on MiSTer since it was available. Top game! Anyone know what they mean by "boss throw" when you beat them? Confused!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha no clue. Probably a bad translation

[@letsgetacid]

My guess: Finish -> Through (like gotten through) -> Throw

[@ravagingwolverine]

I played this one!!! But then I am a nobody, so I guess your title is true. A while back, I played every arcade beat-em-up I could think of or find. I missed some obscure ones, and I'm working on that(but I did play Legionaire, which shows you I'm legit). I didn't miss Gaia Crusaders. Because it's the precursor to Sengoku 3, it was hard to miss it. Other than the default difficulty, it's quite good. After Game Sack just featured it a few days ago(and Joe is not the biggest fan on the genre), I was already planning to revisit the game before your video on it came out. And I agree that it's very good. It might be a tad long, and a tad slow. I started experimenting with the difficulty. Easy is still plenty hard. I'm going to run through it again on Very Easy and see, but the lower difficulty felt more fun than the default as I recall. Some of the character designs reminded me of Denjin Makai(excellent games there...I love Winkysoft....perhaps it will make your list). The style of the game felt like a PGM game in some ways. The sprite work is interesting as the art looks more like a 1992 game than a 1999 game, but the animation quality is high. It's a great beat-em-up.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s a tiny bit long but it holds up well enough to be entertaining from start to finish IMO

[@METR0lD]

Momma mia! My guy-a, I'a appreciate your-a crusade to bring-a arcade hidden gems to-a the masses! Wahoo!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Nintendo is coming for you

[@METR0lD]

If you see me blink three times, send help!

[@ElectroCurmudgeon]

blood cabbage. going to have to figure out how to work that into a conversation. great game i had no idea it existed. i would love to play it.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha you don’t mention blood cabbage daily? Weird

[@ElectroCurmudgeon]

@@VideoGameEsoterica ha, yeah no 🙂

[@n64fan60]

This is kusoge. That's all us old-timers can look for when trying to find games you never played from back in the day. We've picked all the good meat off the bones, and only these vestigial claggy bits remain.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

What? Yeah def can’t agree with that haha

[@jamiec2023]

Does this have a fpga core? Would love to see this get a neo geo port too

[@spidervenom14]

Yes, it's on MiSTer.

[@jamiec2023]

@ thanks I will need to give it a go tonite. I must have scrolled by it not knowing what it was

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yep. MiSTer. That’s how I’m playing

[@Zionfarm]

Know this game, love this game. Had it for the past 5 years or so. The PCB was and I think is still pretty affordable? The music is killer and yes the animation is top notch. Good thing is has been out on the MiSter as well.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I haven’t checked on the price in a minute

[@starlightrevenant]

This also got a (bootleg?) ripoff called Thunder Heroes, which has the gameplay and some characters of this game but only five levels

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha never knew. I’ll have to check it out

[@Riz2336]

Nice 2d art dude

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I love the art style that Noise Factory used

[@pakasack]

Looks awesome

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s a ton of fun. Def play it if you haven’t

[@JojiShawn]

" Blood cabbages"😂

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s a thing apparently lol

[@Hepponisme]

Arcade games are eternal...

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

So long as we all keep talking about them they are

[@Mohammed1000real]

No one played it because it's stuck on Arcades.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Well emulation exists

[@peter0071000]

Play it on MAME. It's awesome.

[@ciaranmccarthy]

I was never a fan of this one, it's very slow and I find the enemy designs pretty ugly.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Really? Interesting. But everyone gets their opinion:)

[@Ragesauce]

First!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

10 more VGE points for the win

[@peter0071000]

First....idiot yes!

[@Kadamose]

Ugly SNK graphics.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yeah can’t agree with that

[@peter0071000]

What you smokin bruuuuuuuustttt