Novastorm (1994, MS-DOS) - 1 of 6: Full Longplay (With Cutscenes)[720p60]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, British voice acting.
This game is a Gradius-esque Rail shooter that uses pre-rendered FMV background scrolling (although there are significant terrain collision damage if you're not careful).
Taking out an entire group of mooks occasionally yield you a floating token (Copper (1), Silver (2), and Gold (4)), you can use it to upgrade your ship depending on which powerup the cursor is pointing.
Note on the Spreadshot - I know it's UNIVERSALLY despised by Novastorm players; and it is particularly true that it's notoriously weak against bosses. But one thing -I- found with it is that it is actually pretty useful against mooks, especially in later levels where they zoom about the screen and you're going to be needing every powerup you can get (Mission 3-1 and the Techno part of Mission 4-1). Besides, you could in theory just pile the drones for the added power during bosses.
Also, Psygnosis/SCE Studios Liverpool, you are missed.
----------------------------
01 - Easy Difficulty - You are here
02 - Mission: Tomatoes - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qonCZ4SpiK-Cq9E
03 - Hard Difficulty - kzbin.info/www/bejne/aIbEg353e9mMpbM
04 - Hard Difficulty no SFX - kzbin.info/www/bejne/bmmqooGmebqXetE
05 - Final Boss extended - kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5fTdnaVes2fp5I
----------------------------
Introduction - 00:07
Mission 1-1 - 04:03 | 05:52
Mission 1-2 - 06:36 | 08:03
Mission 1-3 - 08:45 | 10:59
[Am I the only one who have no idea what these bosses are about?]
Mission 1-4 - 11:39 | 13:50
Mission 2-1 - 16:11 | 18:17
Mission 2-2 - 19:13 | 20:50
Mission 2-3 - 21:27 | 22:57 [Nightmare fuel boss?]
Mission 2-4 - 23:29 | 25:13
Mission 3-1 - 26:31 | 27:15 [Short level is short]
Mission 3-2 - 28:15 | 29:30
Mission 3-3 - 30:06 | 31:12
[Apparently, if you die at the boss the Squid would eat you(r ship), burp, and fly away; oh, the people of Psygnosis]
Mission 3-4 - 31:46 | 33:55
[One of the harder-to-hit bosses forcing you to Smart Bomb it]
Mission 4-0 (Secret level) - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qonCZ4SpiK-Cq9E
Mission 4-1a - 35:00 (Asteroids)
Mission 4-1b - 36:15 (Into the Excelsior)
Mission 4-1c - 39:03 (Super Dodge Wall)
Mission 4-1d - 40:17 (Techno Tunnel) | 40:54
[Attempted a strategic death just before the boss so I can go back and reloot all the powerups, but evidently, it failed c_c
I remember there was a 3rd form of the Spikeball boss which would WIPE ~⅔ your entire shield off per hit. Also, 120k bonus for killing the boss?? My previous takes (and other gameplays on KZbin) had it score only 30k]
Mission 4-2 - 41:41 | 42:45
[Grumpy Boss is grumpy, also look at the score when it was getting pounded (350 points per hit)]
Mission 4-3 - 43:59
Final Boss - 45:16
[Of course, most players would just empty the Smart Bombs on the Bot because it does 7 bars of damage and it is notoriously hard to hit. Although the second form also has the distinction of scoring whopping 1000 PER hit
Also; is the Bot shaking his head (46:16) or what?]
Credits - 49:15
Final score - 0 875 967
----------------------------
Powerups available
Powerup - Does what it says on the tin (Maxes at 7(?))
Shots - Double shot, Treble shot, then Spread shot
Smartbomb - Eliminates the screen of mooks and does set damage to the bosses too (Max: 7)
Wingman - Laser shooting sidekicks (Max: 2)
Drone - Gradius-styled Options (Max: 3)
Homing Missile - Shoots missiles after few seconds (Max: 3)
Orbiter - Shoots at incoming mooks (Max: 3)
Forcefield - Gradius-styled Forcefield
Extra Ship - Extra life (Max: 7)
----------------------------
When you lose a life, you lose 1 Powerup, together with 1 Wingman OR Drone OR Orbiter (in that order, depending which one you had when you die). Though you get one Smartbomb and a boost in the powerup cursor to help you.
Power cap: +1 for having each of - Double Shot, Treble Shot, Wingman, Drone, Missile, and Orbiter - for max 7, I don't think level 8 and 9 power is possible. I am assuming that Level 8 and 9 were supposed to be available if you had Spread shot and Forcefield, but was cut because it made the ship too powerful.
Extra Ship with points: 50k, 100k, 150k, 250k, 400k, 600k, 800k, 1.0M, 1.2M
----------------------------
See my other PC/DOS gameplays here
kzbin.info/aero/PLnK-0g_LLzdxffzq-PaJnxngcB160bchQ
See my other gameplays here
kzbin.infovideos?view=1&flow=grid
----------------------------
Featured in Media:
www.parkoz.com/zboard/view.php?id=express_freeboard2&no=303565
(11 August 2014, Korean)

[@WanderlustZero]

46:20 is the Final boss a big 'fuck you' to Rise of the Robots? :D

[@paulfranklin7161]

Hello - I designed that Final Boss and animated it for the original FM Towns/Marty version of the game. Not intentionally meant to be a comment on Rise of the Robots, but who knows what was going through my subconscious at the time!

[@Rubycored]

@@paulfranklin7161 Well hello and welcome to my channel! Glad to hear more developers of this classic title out here especially after so long. Speaking of, do you happen to have the original concept artworks or related of the final boss? I have always wanted to have a fuller understanding of what it really is (and we only get to see a more fuller shots of it for split moment at the first death cutscene) As for me, I thought the blaster-as-hand design was a subconscious nod to Megaman, lol.

[@paulfranklin7161]

@@Rubycored There wasn't any concept art for the final boss - I just modelled it directly in the Alias 3D package from an image in my head :-) I made a special render of the head for the cover of Edge magazine issue 7 back in 1993 or 1994. The hand-as-blaster was actually inspired by a robot in 2000AD comic, which I was a big fan of at the time - I wasn't aware of Megaman at that point, but I guess there is quite a similarity. There was quite a bit of time pressure on me to finish this character quickly, so there's also the possibility that I was just trying to duck out of modelling and rigging a five-fingered hand! The floating head of the robot was inspried by the 1970s film Zardoz, which we were fans of at Psygnosis (or at least I was!)

[@paulfranklin7161]

I did all of my work on the original Scavenger 4 version of the game, released on the Fujitsu FM Towns/Marty platform. The port to the Playstation was done after I had left Psygnosis to go and work in film/TV VFX.

[@paulfranklin7161]

I also designed the hero spaceship and the big Robo-Squid boss that features on the game's cover. I directed the opening FMV sequence with all the floating heads and even appear briefly in it.

[@andreatreese8347]

I had this game PERFECTED. I had every death timed precisely right to get the best power-ups and be everything you needed to be for the final boss. I knew which bosses were weakest to the bombs and which weren't. And this still remains one of the best video game soundtracks EVER.

[@xrenzo1991]

omg, watching this first level and hearing this OST brings back lots of memories.

[@GearAddict90210]

Same here, I enjozed that game a lot back then. But CG has come a long way since!

[@199morris]

Such epic scene and music

[@memento81]

This Soundtrack needs a good remaster or remake. Novastorm's music stayed with me for 25 years. If it were given an update with better mixing, fuller depth and more saturated bass it would really kick ass today

[@Shinji0190]

Together with Crusader No Remorse, best Soundtrack ever.

[@Rubycored]

Major Stryker had some pretty good music, too.

[@jeromelim3341]

This was the first PC game I played at 6 years old back in 1996. It was gifted to me by my neighbour who ran a local PC game shop. Brings back such good memories for me.

[@TheMalevolentPath]

Brings back memories, rented it from a library in Essex. Despite it being one of the early cdrom only games, and having the backgrounds basically spooled from the CD itself, it actually played very well. I can remember seeing the cutscenes and thinking "how can graphics get any better". Ahhh 90s pc gaming, if you had the cash it was a real gaming utopia

[@roddevereaux1830]

My parents were dirt poor and we had Novastorm in 1995

[@jhkerensky8769]

C: ovastorm ovastrm.exe ... did that so many times after school. Was an incredible feeling them, and now days is still there, not just a young kid's sense of awe. The music, the flow, the music, the incredible setup, the music, the sensation of being in another universe piloting listening to that music.... GOD I LOVE THE MUSIC!!! Thanks for the complete run :D

[@GamingSpoiler]

When I was a kid that First Dragon boss literally had me stuck for a week without being able to defeat him, you know why? because the game doesn't tell you how powerful the drone is and how almost impossible is it to defeat bosses without it. You literally tickle the damn thing and it easily overpowers you. I spent the entire week trying the addons one after another until I was shocked seeing how the Drone melts the boss down. The feeling of satisfaction after seeing that thing melt down was just beyond description. No save, no checkpoint, no gaming hacks, just your own skill mixed with trial and error to figure how to defeat a game. The golden age of video games.

[@mariobrito427]

The inside of the enemy installation on the final level almost looks like something taken out of Star Trek's V'Ger... Replaying this game is always a blast!

[@Ronaldo_Medeiros]

This game is amazing... and the soundtrack is just perfect! !

[@platinum7919]

The dodging part at 39:05 was mad. I remember playing it when I was 16 years old.

[@sonickunckle]

Really? I think it was a bit easier due to the lack of enemy fire, so you have less distractions and could focus more on judging the terrain.

[@jorgedariocruz2450]

I remember when in the first mission you had to write tomatoes and that took you to a hidden level ... many memories, thank you for uploading this lost gem.

[@mariobrito427]

Hey thanks for the memories :D Loved playing this game back in the day! I think i probably had a 486 back then, with something like a 2x CDROM drive. Good times! Also, the image of the Phoenix Boss rising out of the lava (in 13:53) stayed with me up to this day. The music of that level is one of my all time favorites :)

[@zer0interno]

I bet dude died the first time to Phoenix only for the sake of staying a bit longer for the music. Phoenix was a nightmare to me back then, so hard and unbeatable. I dispatch him in seconds nowadays

[@motongin]

Любимая игра была в 95, для тех лет просто фантастика.

[@Guy430]

I had the shareware for this off of a shovelware cd. Those first two bosses were ingrained into my dreams as a kid.

[@reapern7590]

Vielen vielen Dank! Ich habe seit über 20 Jahren gesucht und endlich gefunden, ich hab total vergessen wie das Spiel hieß! Ich war 9 Jahre alt als ichs zum ersten mal damals auf DOS gespielt hatte 🥰 Das war eines der besten Sci-Fi Spiele damals für mich 👍

[@diseasefire]

I looked for this game for years and years and i finally found it

[@vikingwarmachine]

The time when the demand for capable sound cards was as brutal as it is today with high-end gaming graphics cards. To old people like me, you must remember those Creative/Blaster Multimedia boxes. PC gamers at that time were already spending a lot of money. Thank you for sharing this gem!

[@YezaOutcast]

i always adored the boss fights in this game. they where so well crafted and looked stunning, even today to many yrs later. the soundtrack was awesome as well! it took me a lot of time to beat the game.

[@slothjolly8075]

The ice levels were a REAL pain to encounter the first time. The second one thou, talk about having the game score and the environmental sounds synchronized nicely (SHOOO! SHOOO!)

[@nickolaslr]

Guys I'm 36 and I' was 10 when I played the demo. I spent many years trying to find it, sometimes I would woke up in the middle of the night to write down somethings about it to search it the other day. Great game, maybe now I can fully play it!

[@tckelvin]

nostalgic! played this when i was young....that flame-throwing alien head dragon always freaked me out. I remember the entire UX and UI. whoever worked on this game - you just reminded me part of my childhood

[@MaelstromExceptions]

Gameplay background was all FMV, but nontheless, good game and killer soundtrack.

[@RETROGAMERS]

One of my favourite games!

[@johnr554]

The first time you complete it was the best. 'We've done it...lets get ouut here" its gonna be close.... Yee Haaa". The music during the credits is the best.

[@KlaytonHerminio]

Played that a lot on PC back in 1997. Good times

[@mariquesalexander5190]

That's when i first played it

[@konstantinzhukov4025]

Nice! So nice to re-live the sweet teenage memories :)

[@홍종현-x6r]

It was a bundled game on my first computer. I remember having fun all night. Thanks to the developers.

[@ismaelhernandez1873]

We need a remake of this game!

[@FredM80]

I don't think it is a good idea : the only interest of this game was the background cinematic : the game itself is really simple. Now people are accustomed with better cinematics, and also real time cinematic, there would be no more intersest to a remake.

[@apacheandy]

I came for what I remembered was a kickass soundtrack - I wasn't disappointed :)

[@Rubycored]

I have a video of this (Part 4) that has the SFX turned off for the music lovers of this game to jam to, feel free to check it out if you'd like ;)

[@BuckySeifert]

Man this game's soundtrack went so hard.

[@RotaryLover]

I'VE FINALLY FOUND IT!!! I found this game on a golden disk that my dad received to updates the MMX computer we had at the time if I remember well. I was probably 9 yrs old at the time and searched CDs for content no reason and landed on a demo of it.

[@delcanfisher8496]

from 35:00 to 40:55 - awesome music set to an awesome level. From 38:58 to 40:15 - the awesomest music set to the awesomest level segment.

[@Rubycored]

that used to be my favourite part too, until the music at level 1-4 (13:00 to 14:39) took over

[@badwolf66]

***** I never got past the snake level myself but the soundtrack on the first 4 stages were nice.

[@antoniorobles8706]

In really enjoyed this game back in time. Great gameplay, thank you. I don't understand all the powerup voices. One of then sounds to me like "art art available/selected". Someone can help me on that? My listen English is pretty poor.

[@markmatthews2335]

It's power up available

[@williammayhand3199]

Smart bomb available

[@thornscoop2]

I played this endlessly when I should have been doing university work for years! My favourite game ever……

[@leonardospinola926]

"With them, they took the Echo System of our world". Could anyone please write down what does he say right after this? Thanks! And thanks for posting this video! What a great game! One of the best Soundtracks ever!

[@tomcat5739]

I'm loving it, when he talks so British English, the great soundtrack, the graphic, the gameplay. Missing studios like Psygnosis. Missing the Amiga times a little bit, too.

[@gkscldls]

When I was young I played this game with my father. 👍goooood

[@slothjolly8075]

8:17 the boss' weapon shot sound effect doubles a sort of percussive addition to the rest of the music.....

[@mikemackinven7247]

Ah memories! Been trying to find a source for the music, found this :)

[@SilverfishSG]

i loved playing this game in 1994 bought it with my first cdroom, had to buy extra memory ram to get it going

[@wildone106]

I worked on that lol

[@Rubycored]

Details if you're willing to share.

[@wildone106]

@@Rubycored Was my first job in the gaming industry so I was very lucky to get in there, the small office was in London near Kings Cross (I forgot the name of the street) and I basically worked on some effects for this like explosions and laser stuff lol they were a cool team there. It was my first time hearing about 'Email' and Lan games as they were mad quake gamers. Great fun.

[@wildone106]

I saw them working on these cut scenes too at the time it blew my mind..even though its kinda comical now.

[@wildone106]

And I did a very small cut scene for another Amiga game I think? I can't remember the name or if they even used it.

[@Rubycored]

Thanks for sharing, it must be interesting to know from the developers' point of view that there are *still* people who play and love this sort of games even 25 years later, hehe. Life on the digital world was surely simple back in 1994, eh? Did your name appear in the credits, as matter of curiosity?

[@СергейЧадов-я8м]

Looks nice in 2020, lol. Lot's of memories... Nice game, one of best in 90s.

[@Threesixty31]

Bought that game for the musics at the time. Loved it.

[@Schattenmeister]

Great Game. I search years the OST (Original Soundtrack) without the Sounds of the Game, only Music. Any Ideas?

[@markmatthews2335]

I found it like 10 years ago. but it still has the skips and jumps, just no weapon and narrator sounds. If I find it again I'll post it here. It was released on a pc gamer magazine as a soundtrack standalone I think

[@RookMeAmadeus]

Gotta love that the scoring system is so imbalanced that you get 2/3 of the score in the final area. Ended the third planet with 278,617. Ended the game with 875,967. Seriously though, it's nice to see Novastorm again. I'm not sure why, but I had a particular soft spot for this game.

[@thiefofa1073]

Fantastic video! My only gripe is that for each boss you maybe killed them too early so we couldn't see their full attack animations (e.g. some bosses had 2-3 animations but you killed him in the middle of the 1st one). Perhaps you can allow each boss to attack you for a full turn before killing them off.

[@Rubycored]

+thiefofa1073 I attempted that one time, although I'll admit that it's actually prett hard to perform a full loop on some of the bosses due to some of them becoming bullet hell pretty quickly. Maybe once I get back to this game I'll give it another go. BTW: Did you manage to take a look at Parts 3, 4 and 5? Maybe there's parts with longer boss battles.

[@Shodan010]

Mid 90's were the best era of game ost.

[@hipercool12]

Spread shot available... Wait a bit longer because nobody wants spreadshot.

[@axemastersinc3269]

Wow, I had this on Sega Genesis 32X.

[@JonPFS]

spread shoot was always a pain in the ass

[@SpleTjE]

yes haha, the feeling you accidently select it early game like aarghhh !

[@alexanderk.3838]

Not all cuscenes. I explained. if you don't defeat first boss. you see pilot's cutscene.

[@IMDRanged]

I like the Kraftwerk style percussion with the level music, especially this transitional cinematic 07:17 I remember I bought this at Computer City/CompUSA for 99 cents, had a bunch of them for sale. I had the PS1 version later on and noticed different handling of the intro sound effects, some boss cinematics were different, and had more levels.

[@Rubycored]

IMDRanged I'm still trying to fully understand the PS1 port of this game, since it seems that the entire gameplay system regarding the powerups is different. Do you still have it per chance? Did it come with a manual?

[@IMDRanged]

***** I have it somewhere, buried. I bought it used but the disc was packed complete in those super long jewel cases early launch PS1 games had before they went to long cardboard box, then finally to regular CD jewel cases. I know it had the cover art for front and back. I'll see if I can find it and relay it on this thread.

[@PaulBlaster]

Great game

[@VampireMacky]

I know now that I should definitely have increased my gun power (the blue meter just below the life meter), especially before reaching Quiggin, the 3rd planet. That's where the mooks really start to get nasty. It also would have been awesome if the orbiters could shoot nonstop at bosses' weak points, but that might make things a little TOO easy.

[@yeoedwin1619]

Hopefully, this game gets a remaster for PS4, Nintendo Switch, 3DS, PS Vita, Xbox One and Stadia as well.

[@derthun9370]

This game is one of best game in my life..

[@kikooe]

my first cd-rom game, for my 486sx

[@homovespertilio]

This game took up the entire CD :)

[@quanahk]

still don't understand why the music is different on every version. I played this version first and loved it. I picked it up for the playstaion and it just isn't as good. I looked at a video of the sega cd version and again not as good.

[@Bullski123]

Love the victory music from Boss 1: 15:26

[@Surfwalien]

@14:50 when you died fighting the fire bird, did you have to replay the whole level to get back to that point with all the upgrades? Also to agree with everyone else in this thread... fantastic game! Never got very far in it, but would love to now!

[@sonickunckle]

No, as shown in the video, he restarted right at the beginning of the boss fight and lost a shot upgrade & a wingman drone for dying, but also got a smart bomb at the same time.

[@born2war1]

i always lose at level 3 when i was kid now i know how the boss look like

[@Hustler_77]

Guys, what say pilot before begin game?

[@lisamariefan]

You can quick kill the Scarab to get a different cutscene.

[@Rubycored]

Did it at Take 4: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bmmqooGmebqXetEfeature=shared&t=1100

[@gippygames]

Hi, I remember playing this a long time ago and it rocked. I tried playing it again via DOSBox but there's a problem. When you hold fire, it shoots 5 bullets then stops, requiring you to let go and press fire again. Are you aware of this issue, and is there a fix for it? I've been trying to fix it myself but no success.

[@Rubycored]

***** I've always used rapid button mashing for the fire powers...

[@gippygames]

***** That is very strange because I clearly remember fire working constantly just by holding the fire button....

[@liqube]

Psygnosis at its best at that time :D

[@harryhaslerx]

I think I have it lying around somewhere. Does it work on Windows 7?

[@blackthorne3004]

It's a shame that you always shoot away the bosses so quickly. So you can't even finish watching the beautiful animations.

[@Awereq]

hey, do someone have running version of this game for Windows 7? Some years ago I really enjoyed this game and I want to come back to the bast a little

[@w3bbyman]

does anyone know what the pilot usually says before the boss section of each stage? Sounds like "cancha see freemow!" Considering everything else the pilot says is legible, I always found it difficult to understand what was being said! Is it even English? Or do I need to go and clean my ears out. @21:10

[@Silanda]

It sounds something like "vector seven at three miles" to me, but it's pretty much unintelligible.

[@palpd2853]

maaaaaaannn!!! Great Game!!

[@nostalgiaholic777]

i remember there was similar game to this By Psygnosis ! but i don't know its name or find it ! i'm sure !

[@Rubycored]

maybe Stryx or Lander?

[@erchch]

Sam Al Microcosm, perhaps?

[@thiefofa1073]

Why did you use 2 smart bombs at 37:00 to 37:50?

[@Rubycored]

+thiefofa1073 Accidentally hit the button for it instead of "power-up select"

[@thiefofa1073]

Ha yeah I did that too some times :P

[@FredM80]

This game had only one intersect : cinematics (while playing). It was made to show new CDROM power. The gameplay itself is.... very simple and also a lttile bit boring

[@gunma747j]

reminds me of solar assualt

[@Rubycored]

what platform was it released on? 16/08/17

[@gunma747j]

arcade

[@jirikocian2186]

Amazing game... How can I play it on W8? :D :D

[@Rubycored]

you have to get DosBOX to play this (and every other DOS games)I also have the Hard difficulty recorded, it'll be live in around July

[@NovaStorm93]

Oh hey, its me but a game

[@cheesesniper473]

Low key, spread shot in this game is awful. I always considered it a bad run when i accidentally bought it.

[@NovaStorm93]

Woah neat I have a game based on me

[@pombaer7241]

PS1 .... sleepless nights 😀😱

[@realavt]

PS1 got a very different version with slightly different levels and music :)

[@mrkielbasa]

this gaem r jud

[@jirikocian2186]

difficulty - Easy Ohh dude... :D :D

[@AmigaWolf]

The PC version is the best then the PlayStation version and then Sega CD version.

[@aarondemski701]

Great game