Toaplan Shoot Em Up Collection - Same! Same! Same!

[@ShmupJunkie]

BUY TOAPLAN Hishouzame SAME! SAME! SAME! M2 Collection here: ► Nintendo Switch - tinyurl.com/2p9h8m22 ► Playstation 4 - tinyurl.com/y5696nb2 **** the above links are affiliate and a small part of the proceeds go to help pay for video creation along with half going into the shmup community fund***

[@tonyscimeca9534]

What shooters do you recommend in xbox series s?

[@johnrussell8086]

I'm repeating what you have said but please M2, release all your shot triggers series to the west. These games will sell and should not be locked away to just one region. You owe it to your hard work and your fans. All of us around the world all bow to your fantastic work, not just on shmups but everything you do. The respect you give to these games second to none.

[@packpock4369]

I think that is the plan but the fans need to buy them to support the cause. The work later is even more and better..

[@Teresa-v5h]

They don't care about us man. We're gonna have to learn Japanese and buy them on switch

[@signorpaldoni]

games are not locked in any way, i bought them from amazon japan, super fast shipping and region free❤

[@omyguzman1796]

Wardner was my first reason to skip class back in the 90's when I discover it in a shop close to my school 😁

[@ShmupJunkie]

I never knew or played it back in the day. So it was a nice surprise to have enjoyed it!

[@ArtemioUrbina]

Thanks for covering Fire Shark, I grew up with it

[@AnthonyFlack]

Always loved Fire Shark on the MD. Those dodge-the-powerup sections are kind of genius because they know nobody wants the crummy weapon so they give you twenty of it. But since you get a bunch of points for re-equipping the same weapon, they also represent a decent chunk of points if you do dive in and grab them all. I also like how the default weapon is the best weapon at the lowest power.

[@garrz32]

I've picked the up physical BEEP version of this, I'm a huge supporter of M2 and love these collections they release.

[@Galaxy40k]

I ended up importing both this collection and Tiger Heli yesterday deadass ENTIRELY off your passion for Toaplan that came through in your "all Toaplan games reviewed" video. I've been playing games my whole life, but honestly once the arcades closed down, I didn't touch a shooter. Until last year, when I stumbled across Mark's channel and then yours, which got me interested in the genre, and a couple games later I've been HOOKED. But as a "shmup newbie," I still SUCK. So a tough-as-nails retro shooter with checkpoints doesn't inherently interest me. But your passion sold me on these games - "I should grab em now while they're still $60, otherwise in 10 years I'm gonna want it and pay 3x the current price on eBay." But exactly for that reason, I resonate HARD with your plea for English menus. The #1 way that I'd get the most out of these games is by tailoring the custom difficulty to fit my skill level. But because I don't read Japanese, I'm basically stuck with "way too hard arcade mode" and "way too easy novice mode" (if novice is anything like it is in Esp Re Da and Ketsui). The fact that there's no English menus kills this. Look, I'm a realist, I get why it's not financially viable for M2 to do a physical release over here. I can also ALMOST believe that it'll cost too much to even go through the certification process for digital storefronts. But at least throw us a bone and put an English text mode into your Japanese version for your Western fans! There may not be many of us compared to in Japan, but we do exist! lol

[@RodrigoGarciaCarmona]

It's great how you make these videos focusing in what's important for us to decide on what to buy. We want to know if the extras are worth it the extra price of the physical edition. Great job! I concur with you that the lack of English translation is a problem, specially when these collections end up getting released in English (like Dangun Feveron) and the English menus are not backported to the original Japanese releases. This fact made me stop buying M2 collections that I'm not going to play right now, since I prefer to wait in case an English version ends up coming up.

[@dire51]

Man, Wardner. There was a convenience store near where I lived in the early '90s that had both it (renamed Pyros) and Twin Cobra, along with a couple other games like Saint Dragon and Xybots. I spent a lot of time there, which shouldn't surprise you one bit. Oh, and the garage/general store down the road had UFO Robo Dangar, Alcon, Silkworm and Ghosts 'N Goblins for the longest time. I lived in a good place for arcade games!

[@SeekerLancer]

Man I miss when random businesses just had arcade games in them. Good times.

[@streetmagik3105]

My copy should be here this week. I always look forward to M2 Shottriggers releases!

[@willisjackson3080]

I just got my copy today and it reminded me when I would buy a great genesis shooter with those boxes and artwork. I played fireshark back in 1992 or so and I just love the long levels and great Toaplan gritty music. I am a die hard shmup fan since about 1989 and i had to get this M2 compilation. Thanks for all the great info.

[@ShmupJunkie]

You're welcome. And yeah, I love most of Toaplan's games, but some are so insanely tough, it's nice to have the M2 features. I will enjoy owning every single one as they release.

[@raygleason4306]

Same here, these games forever shaped my love of shmups..

[@jamestaylor3811]

Great video Junkie! I’d somehow missed that this was coming out, so it’s going straight on the list to get!

[@ShmupJunkie]

Glad the video was a good reminder!

[@johnhealey6455]

M2 ShotTriggers releases are so much fun. They are the gold standard for shmups.

[@geromelobo5970]

I also thinking of M2 shumps PC releases as well; we wish to see them debuted in the future as long as they planned furthermore like what they did on Darius titles (Steam). What a great surprise we want this collection (and EN translation a well) full of fire-breathing flying sharks coming your way throughout the whole mission.

[@michielkroder4031]

That intro kicks in and I'm already hitting the like button.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Great stuff! I'm still not really sold on the dlc since it's so expensive and the base cost of $30 isn't exactly cheap. This is going to be an interesting trend moving forward as reviewers because if we keep getting these split dlc releases people seem to expect me to buy the dlc for the review, even if the value proposition seems slim. So now each shmup review is gonna cost $60+ , brutal ha

[@ShmupJunkie]

It depends on the games for me too. In this case, I used to play both the NES Flying Shark and Mega Drive Fire Shark as a kid, so it was right for me to grab and talk about those too. Plus I had never played Wardner properly and it turned out to be a really competent platformer. But that being said I can already play the NES and MD games many other ways. So for me, I just want to own the physical versions of all these Toaplan releases for obvious reasons and am not just getting them for the review. As that's definitely a no go, the pittance ad revenue for a video doesn't even cover the cost of the game lmao. And not like they are sending out review copies to anyone outside Japan. But at least they are giving us the option via download to not have to buy the whole thing. Most others just release one version and if you don't like it too bad, so it's nice to have the option to only get the $30 base game. They could've easily locked these behind a single large download like Aleste Collection, where you can't just buy the new GG3 game. So it was nice they didn't.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

@@ShmupJunkie yeah it s a complicated issue where if the devs bundle everything together you might end up paying for parts of the collection your not interested in, but at the same time since the dlc is an extra price the price of all the content together is pushed up. It s a tricky situation for sure especially since there were no arrange modes this time around. Also the lack of review codes and marketing can't help their sales much. I hope they see your plea for English menus! I agree 💯 they need to make it happen

[@NicolausCamp]

I just love these Toaplan collections so much and have been enjoying this one these past couple of weeks. Great video as well covering all the bases! Wonder what collection we'll get next... a Tatsujin/Truxton 1 & 2 collection perhaps? Fingers crossed for an announcement soon!

[@ShmupJunkie]

I have an idea of what's coming next but am not allowed to say anything. One way or another we will get a Truxton collection eventually, it was one of their original announcements. I think if we didn't people would riot haha.

[@canaldeltiowario]

@@ShmupJunkie OutZone?

[@markus1a1]

Truxton 2 is one of my all time favorites. I actually played that in Germany at an arcade of all places lol. I have played it in emulation of course, but I would love it get the M2 treatment.

[@ShmupJunkie]

@@markus1a1 It’s practically guaranteed it’ll happen. They’re working their way up to it!

[@AntonioRodriguezSilver]

Dude! I had no idea that this collection included Wardner! Now I'm even more excited for it to arrive. Wardner was one of the games in a small liquor store next to my grandma's house when I was a kid, and I fed it an insane number of quarters. Can't wait to play it again alongside Same! Same! Same!

[@bernkastel7245]

M2 always does such a fantastic job! I really hope we get a ibara collection from them at some point with ibara and its BL. Honestly any cave game that hasn't gotten love in a while would be deeply appreciated if they did it. Esp rade psi for the switch was my first time playing something from M2 I think and just all of the gadgets and details were so cool. Definitely a big selling point for same!same!same! is the gadgets and low input lag so I'll probably be picking it up soon. Now just the hard choice of digital or physical because I'm generally the physical game type but I'm not sure if I need all those extra versions. Something to think about for sure. Thanks for the great video again!

[@Ishmokin]

great review as always! This M2STG release now made me a Toaplan fan. I bounced off Ktiger, but I am now absolutely hooked with Hishozame :)

[@SeekerLancer]

As much as I respect Tiger-Heli for its influence these are the games I was waiting for.

[@VinuShmup]

Your intro is such a blast! Like you said I ended up to play more Flying Shack than Fireshark, power up system is annoying and difficulty is really too high for me. And of course I wait Truxton/Tatsujin collection more than anything (also V-Five and Batsugun but I guess they will come later on)

[@perlichtman1562]

A small note on the Genesis/Mega Drive: it had 16 colors per palette but supports up to 4 palettes (which ends up with 61 on-screen colors after subtracting transparency). So under normal circumstances you could display 61 colors at once as opposed to 12 colors for sprites (13 minus transparency) and 13 for background tiles on the NES/Famicom. The Genesis/Mega Drive also had a special shadow and highlight mode that could triple both the number of colors to choose from and the number of on-screen colors, under special circumstances, so it definitely was capable of displaying a lot more than 16 colors at once.

[@ShmupJunkie]

You’re 100% correct and I totally misspoke in that audio clip and missed it in editing. I did mean to say 64 which is the common approx number thrown out without going into detail. It would be crazy if it could only do 16! Stupid me 🤣 A caught it too late after uploading

[@wabbyleg]

Wardner was quite a surprise and I'm actually looking forward to see the rest of the non-shmups included in future releases.

[@mylifeingaming]

[Coury] Any idea if the Switch or PS4 versions includes all games on the cart/disc? With Tiger Heli, I guess only the Switch version had all the games on the cart, while the PS4 version only had the main games on it and needed to download all of the bonus games as DLC.

[@yok67mpy10]

Hey Coury. I have the PS4 version but am not confident in setting up a Japanese account to download the dlc. My bad.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Good question. You're correct the PS4 version DOES NOT have the DLC on disc like on Switch. It has to be downloaded. And it was the same for Tiger Heli. I have no clue why M2 couldn't include it on the CD and would be curious to find out myself. It actually states this on their website as well, that the PS4 DLC must be downloaded.

[@ShmupJunkie]

@Mr. Coffee I definitely agree on not having the games physical on disc. It defeats the purpose of having it physical. I have to imagine though they ran into some kind of issue with Sony. Since it’s now two collections in a row and only on PS4 this way. There may be some kind of extra legwork involved they either can’t or aren’t willing to put the time into. It may be a while, but I’m going to try and see if my friend in Japan can ask that question when he eventually interviews the president. Maybe he can get some insight into why the ps4 version is different in that way. As I’d love to know too.

[@adamwbc863]

Thank you for addressing this. I just ordered tiger heli, fire shark and Ketsui on eBay for ps4 and wish I would have ordered on switch instead… but at least now I know I got boned on the dlc for 2 of them instead of being surprised when I Load the games

[@packpock4369]

Their games are just brilliant, think about all the shooter's made. Toaplan is the Godfather of Shumps, mechanics they perfected mechanics better than the other shooter's. They brought in so many ideas all the games are different and unique. The work from here on just got better and better..

[@SkyScourgeGod]

I own the Twin Cobra compilation that M2 made and I adore it so once I saw they were going to do the same thing for Flying Shark and Fire Shark I KNEW I had to get it. I haven't bought it just yet, but I am planning on doing it soon.

[@robertrada4783]

I always appreciate your positivity and optimism! Any word on what Toaplan arcade garage title is coming next?

[@ShmupJunkie]

Thank you. And I have an idea but am not allowed to say unfortunately. Not until M2 makes their official announcement.

[@robertrada4783]

@@ShmupJunkie Any word when they’ll make an official announcement? 😄

[@ShmupJunkie]

@@robertrada4783 nope they tell no one until they’re ready unfortunately. I won’t know it’s official until everybody else.

[@filiphedman4392]

In Swedish, "Toaplan" means "toiletplane".

[@ShmupJunkie]

😂 kind of like how a city near me Leucadia means I vomit on you in Hungarian lol. But I think you win this one

[@wizardexemplar5240]

I saw Wardner in the arcades as a kid and was intimidated by the attract mode. I didn't even try playing it! The stiff, committed jumping like Ghosts and Goblins turned me off a lot. I really got into Super Mario Brothers mid-air jump changes. As for M2 shmups, I have to probably import. M2 has only released a handful of games in the U.S. Switch eShop, but as you said, they have been top-notch. I'm still impressed by their version of Phantasy Star. Adding a map function and making the PSG sound version available was incredible.

[@Spartan77]

Another great review Senor Junkie. I will be selling my "Fat out of shape, Viva Las Vegas" velvet Elvis to get this one. Worth it! Thanks for all the hard work you put in your videos.

[@yok67mpy10]

Another awesome video Junkie. Congrats and nice work. I’m eagerly awaiting my physical copy of this game, together with Raiden IV and Pocky & Rocky, from PlayAsia. Keep on shmupping in the free world. Cheers from Down Under.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Thanks! And I hope they all arrive soon so you can hit the ol’ shooter crackpipe some more 😅. It’s a new golden age of shmups lately and we gotta enjoy it while it lasts.

[@SeekerLancer]

I couldn't ignore this one. Fire Shark on Genesis is one of my favorite shmups of all time. While it doesn't have as much content as the Tiger-Heli one it's more important to me.

[@AnthonyFlack]

I do have a soft spot for Wardner. It's a beautiful game and it was by far the easiest game in the local arcade (once you learn the secrets). eg 16:45 - fall into the fire on the far left side of the fire pit. You won't die. I think it was the first game I 1CCed, but everybody was 1CCing it, once you'd seen somebody else do it. Still a fun game to play through from time to time; it's not very long.

[@nnermann]

Thanks for these in depth reviews. Agreed on English translations and very much appreciated the clip where you translated the menu options. Is there a place to go with some nice translated screen shots of the menus for all these M2 releases? I try google translate but referencing a photo would be a lot nicer, and allow me to go deeper into these releases :)

[@ShmupJunkie]

Unfortunately there is no one place to go that I know of. And I only translated a handful of what I was showing on screen, but there is just SO MUCH more and so many menus. It would be a godsend to not have to use my google translate all the time.

[@Ishmokin]

I do google lens, then take a screeshot

[@chrismoon2961]

I will say once again, that M2 could have all my money if they did PC releases. Thanks for the review!

[@GustlikRGZ]

They did Contra and Castlevania collections for PC, but in my honest opinion, those compilations are under-optimized in their PC versions - the games require quite powerful hardware for a couple of 8/16 bit emulations to run smoothly, plus they don't have too many customization options, like you can't set up buttons for Contra Hard Corps nor change the screen resolution or use true fullscreen mode, like in Capcom's excellent Mega Man compilations. I'm not saying those games are bad, because they are superb in their console versions. They're doing great job and I absolutely enjoy their console games, but when it comes to current PC ports, they seem to forget to implement settings that are crucial for a PC game.

[@brendanroberts1310]

I remember playing flying shark on my amstrad cpc 6128 back in the day so had to pick this up.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Too bad they couldn't include every version of flying shark out there... there was a ton! Aside from licensing I can imagine how much work that would've been.

[@RinMariiiii]

Sky Shark NES was the very first video game I played, back in 1990. I'd come back to it later in the decade with my dad to play it more. Not only does this compo give me a chance to return to this game, and on the go thanks to my Switch, but players in Japan have access to it now, because the original Sky Shark NES wasn't released there. Both Hishouzame AC and Same!^3 AC are fairly solid titles and I split time between them, as opposed to Kyukyoku Tiger Heli where I don't really care much for Tiger Heli due to being too primitive for my tastes. Hishou for the carefully calculated designs and Fire Shark for its ferocity. But of the Toaplan games that have so far gotten the M2 touch, I still like Kyukyoku Tiger AC the most. Good deliberate design without being a hellscape of supersonic bullets (on loop 1 anyways), no Item Evasion Simulator, and the soundtrack is a lot more of my preference.

[@ShmupJunkie]

I know how you feel on Sky Shark NES, it's just one of those oldies we remember playing and enjoying. Good point on Japan players as I didn't think about them never getting that port there. I have to admit I always preferred a faster ship as a matter of preference, so I gravitate toward Same3! more than any of the others. It just happens to take things too far and become impossible, but the other versions rectify that to some extent. And it's also why I always dug the mega drive port, very fair and accessible while still keeping a lot of what made the arcade version so cool. Despite having to evade power ups like a madman lol. It's also why I liked Twin Cobra the most of the versions, for the slightly faster chopper.

[@dariuseviltwin]

Excellent! Having spent 2 days with the game, my thoughts echo your own. I'm happy to have got the physical. The dlc for the nostalgic console ports and Wardner which I never played before. Another quality M2 release 👌

[@ShmupJunkie]

Wardner definitely surprised me! People expecting an action platformer will be disappointed, but it's very methodical and thoughtfully laid out. It was a pleasure slowly figuring out each level. It's a very chill game.

[@roberto1519]

I lost it in the bowl full of ice cream covered with flying sharks spitting fire.

[@msolom9521]

Already took the physical version, and sad for the Megadrive version of Wadona no mori (even I never really knew differences between "AC" version and "Special" MD version). The english translation for the menu isn't a must have, there's already lot of clues and translations on the web. Nice video friend.

[@Phille023]

I didn't know you could watch other players runs. That will come in handy. I agree with you about the menu. I get it is a JP release but still, people around the world buy these amazing ports. It is time they realise this and provide an English menu.

[@ShmupJunkie]

I won’t stop mentioning or pleading for it until they do. Maybe one day it’ll have some effect haha. I know they are overwhelmingly busy but it’s a pretty easy thing to implement compared to something like adding gadgets to other games. It would go a long way to more people picking up the releases.

[@arronetchells4363]

A great look at the fantastic extras included in this collection and some well deserved love given to Wardener as it’s a very under appreciated platformer, and well worth the extra cost of this collection….Hopefully people will pick this up and give it some time. Overall for me, the full asking price of the physical is 100% worth it but being a huge Toaplan fan, you know that already! Anyone else wanting a definitive version of 2 stunning shmups need look no further but for the cost of the collection and not having the nostalgia of the ports, that £60 price tag might be a stretch. And yes, please M2, include an English language menu option in future titles or with a patch and let the whole world enjoy these games without google translate 🙏☺️

[@ShmupJunkie]

Hey dude, thanks for the thoughtful comment as always. It really is all the extras they bring to the table that makes it worth it for me, at a minimum the base release. But you know us fans will always want the physical copy to own long term so we will shell out. Even if I can play the ports many other ways I still wanted it together. Wardner is really quite cool and worth the time for anyone that likes those more methodical platformers. It's very chill in that way.

[@nonentity2574]

@@ShmupJunkie i think many of us forget the Genesis games were $60+ in early 90’s. It was a lot of money back then.

[@nattila7713]

@@nonentity2574 but they were brand new games and the majority of the cost came from the price of the carts (rom) ;) so not quite fair.... also NOT having english menu + dlc is only downloadable on ps4...... in a way it is VERY hard to support these releases let's be honest. on the other hand.... M2 usually do their homework very well. so these are really tough choices :( I wish M2 could make it easier............ :D

[@Famiklor]

Sadly, it's not available for PC, but overall this game or games are realy realy awesome! Video is really well made. Keep up the good work!!!

[@ShmupJunkie]

Yes unfortunately M2 hasn’t shown interest in any PC ports as much as we wish they did.

[@aboo_fathimah]

I was waiting for this video, as always! ♥️

[@then1533]

Finally got a way to play these now so I can start collecting and playing them!

[@ShmupJunkie]

Oh yeah? On which console. That’s cool to hear.

[@then1533]

@@ShmupJunkie A cheap ps4

[@benjismith593]

Another thorough review! I'd actually be interested in your top platformers. Or underrated ones. My favorite underated platformer is Quackshot on the Mega Drive.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Yeah me and platformers go way back as I'm a huge NES kid and played a ton back then. The original Ninja Gaiden games are still my all time favs but nowhere near obscure. Believe it or not I've never got to play Quackshot, though I played all the great Ducktales games on NES. One day I will do something with platformers I just haven't found a way yet, since most of my subs are watching for shmups. So I sneak them into other videos like my fav arcade games and such haha. Like I did with Osman in that one video, now that's an obscure one.

[@LittleBigKid707b]

@@ShmupJunkie Yes we are watching for shmups, but many of your viewers, including myself, love platformers. I think it's a given that in most cases, people that enjoy shmups, also play games like platformers, beat em ups, run n guns, rail shooters and other action related games. So feel free to do some like minded videos. Thanks!

[@TheRestartPoint]

Great video as usual! If Daisenpuu is not included on this release then I wonder if M2 will ever port that one too? It just dawned on me that one of the only vert. arcade shmups that matched up to the general quality (if not style of gameplay) of Toaplan & Flying Shark in 1987 was Dragon Spirit. I only just started playing it properly recently, on PS1 Namco Museum Vol. 5 and it's very advanced in GFX and music for a 1987 game, still holds-up now.

[@ShmupJunkie]

I also wonder which other game they would include Daisenpuu with... it's kind of the odd game out but still very worth properly porting. I'm not sure where it'll fit in either. I love me some Dragon Spirit! The music in that game was always bitchin' and I used to play it on my Turbo a lot.

[@SSJSonikku]

I too pondered this question on reddit a couple months ago. Originally, I thought that it would have been included in tiger or shark games. In the reddit thread, I then thought that it would be included in a M2 collection including Vimana and/or Dogyuun. One reason being that Vimana and Dogyuun haven't gotten a home release (the new Sega Astro Boy mini not withstanding), so they might be bundled with those 2. Whatever why M2 decides to hand it, the collection(s) will be great. M2 know what they are doing.

[@kotjr9074]

Раньше совсем не интересовала эта игра, но поигравши на сложности hard, я больше немогу от нее оторваться. Сложность очень хорошо сбалансированна. Некоторые шмапы, бывает, отталкивают изза своей сложности. Но только не Fire Shark. На первом месте у меня Zero Wings и Hellfire ( на мой взгляд это самые удачные порты для smd), а на третьем месте Fire Shark. И еще очень качественныц шмап это Twin Cobra она же Kyuuoki Tiger . Ее я тоже раньше не замечал. Но а сейчас она для меня одна из лучших.

[@freon22]

Fire Shark has been an absolute fucking blast. I used to play it on a cocktail table machine at a local pizzeria I worked at when I was in high school.

[@ShmupJunkie]

I played it for the first time on mega drive actually, and only later saw it occasionally in arcades. Wasn't lucky enough I guess to come across it too often. I'm surprised it wasn't as big a hit as the original, as it sure pulls you in with the attract demo and the flamethrower.

[@freon22]

@@ShmupJunkie also dude, the thing about getting your kids into shooters with a super easy mode would have been great when my kid was younger. She just got into shooters recently when she asked “Is this a game console?” as she held up my PC Engine. Like, within an hour she found your channel because I sat there for like 30 minutes telling her how fucking awesome Compile shooters were while she was playing Blazing Lasers. You’re educating the next generation of gamers dude, and I really appreciate it.

[@ShmupJunkie]

@@freon22 Now that’s what I love to hear! ❤️

[@chocolocojames213]

Great review. I just picked up this bad boy along with a small magazine 😊😊😊

[@ShmupJunkie]

That magazine has some cool exclusive Toaplan interviews in there! Too bad it's all in Japanese lol, google translate it is.

[@sprigganxiii9339]

Got my copy 4 days ago, and have had a blast playing it. Tatsujin/Truxton next please!

[@futureskeletons66669]

Just for context - Wardner came at a time when arcade games began to take on some light RPG mechanics. Capcom put out Black Dragon that year. Sega had Wonder Boy In Monster Land. Also AFAIK Get Star was never emulated successfully in MAME - both it and Wardner are solid games in their own right. I hope the next one is Slap Fight, VV and Demon's World. I don't care about the console ports and even if I didn't play the non-shmup games often, I'd still like to have the complete package.

[@darktetsuya]

I'm not super familliar with Same! Same! Same!/Fire Shark, although I do own Sky Shark on NES! I *really* wanted the amazon exclusive version of the collection, when I was a kid the local convenience store had a Wardner machine and that was one of my favorites! And the alternate art cover made me want that version in particular, but I'd be happy with the standard edition if I have to go that route. (since AFAIK that alt art version is an Amazon JP exclusive?) the TRUXTON collection might be my next pickup whenever that drops, loved the Genesis version! Great overview definitely sold me on this collection for sure.

[@dankzilla981]

Great video! I have this coming from Playasia with the tiger heli, miss kobiashi dragon, and Pocky and rocky reshrined. Can’t wait til they get here

[@alfredocanas6802]

Let's hope M2 releases a English version, anyways those bullets are flying like Kinzhal Dagger hypersonic missiles so I get why people complain but on the other hand the 3 frames input lag is an amazing feat for a switch game.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Yeah M2 always brings the heat when it comes to amazing Switch ports. And if they can't do it, they just don't release it on Switch. Likely what happened with Battle Garegga. I will be dancing in the streets if one day they finally start patching these with English menus.

[@CrazyArcadia]

Pondering getting this finally after waiting quite a while (want something worthwhile to hit the free shipping limit to Europe on playasia when prepordering DoDonPachi :D). Toaplan releases start growing on me after mostly playing more modern bullethell shmups. It's really the amazing rocking OSTs and the intense action that gets me invested.

[@DELx999]

Wardner was great in the arcade. A very nice and rare bonus. Fire Shark - I scored 25,000,000 in the arcade. Not sure I'd want to do another 5hr+ credit on it again😶. My mate UBN did 24 loops on Flying Shark.

[@ShmupJunkie]

It was how easily many top players were looping flying shark so many times that contributed to the sequel being that much harder. Or so it seems. That's an insane score man! Even the US version wasn't easy, but at least reasonable. How anyone plays the Japan original past the first handful of stages is beyond me lol

[@DELx999]

@@ShmupJunkie Yup the Japanese original is tough. We played the Euro version in an arcade in London's Holloway Road🛩.

[@bc_uk]

Wardner (arcade) also has an awesome soundtrack.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Yeah, it actually fits really well with the game. I didn't get to highlight it too much, but the tunes were all quite catchy.

[@highscores8593]

Got my copy in the mail a few days ago. Work has prevented me from binging on it but I love it so far. I already knew I would though. Random...Man the 2 minute time limit on Pyros vs Wardner's 3 minute is so unfair.

[@duskonanyavarld1786]

I like shooters, you're very skillful. You have earned a sub.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Welcome! I have lots of great shooting videos for you to enjoy.

[@MikeMoranX13]

NES was 16 colors onscreen. Megadrive was 64 colors onscreen (out of 512).

[@ShmupJunkie]

Yeah I totally misspoke there and you're right. I did intend 64. 16 would have been ridiculous for a 16 bit console haha. Too bad I didn't catch it before I put it out.. too late now!

[@duhmez]

I played galaga. I played galaxian. I played scramble. I dabbled in some Tiger Heli. Space Invaders on atari. Megamania. They were all fine and had some fun and all that. But then it happened, the day that changed my life forever. I go into my local arcade back in the 90s, and they have a brand new shooter set up that changed my gaming lifer forever and cemented me as a shmup-o-file. That epic and awesome game that rocked the world and influenced so many others, was the awesome TWIN COBRA. 1 major flaw in this masterpiece. 2 player mode is terrible. The screen scrolls left and right and the two players at both edges will make you not able to move at times and eat a bullet because you cannot both scroll opposite directions. player 2 can literally drag your heli around against your will. The other super frustrating part is the yellow weapon. Are we being trolled here? Is the yellow just a punishment to try to avoid, an extra challenge?

[@reagandow850]

Every Sunday that there is a new video from you my friend, is a Sunday worth waking up for!! ;) That being said, do you mean to tell me that the physical version doesn’t even have all the extra features that the DIGITAL version does?? Please explain in detail before I have a coronary as I have yet to receive my shipment from play Asia. Lol (thanks man).

[@ShmupJunkie]

No not at all. Did I give that impression somewhere in the video? The physical definitely has everything included you don't even need a Japan account to play any of it (aside from the extra Teki Paki DLC which is a special download). It's all on there!

[@st1ka]

That's a coincidence, I actually just ordered this the other day xD

[@ShmupJunkie]

No coincidence, you're a man of fine taste 😅

[@soratheorangejuicemascot5809]

By looking at some old school shmups like these collection, I think I should open up to trying Eschatos. Fast bullets are still something I need to get used to.

[@DavidGarcia-qf7gc]

Got the physical one (because it will raise the price in the future). Yesterday the tracker told me that it has arrived to my country (Spain) and it comes with 2 other games: Battle Garega 2016 and Kyukyoku Tiger. But the custom expenses await me...

[@ShmupJunkie]

Ah you got a whole bunch at once! The Battle Garegga collection is really something else... the amount of options and detail in there is insane! Talk about a game that needs it. I know you will enjoy them... maybe not the custom expenses lol

[@andrewbutler9533]

Great review 👏 Looking forward to playing the arcade version as I've only ever played the Fire Shark MD version in the 90s and the original on the Spectrum in the 80s! I assume the DLC is on the disc as per Ketsui then (hopefully)?

[@nattila7713]

not, it is a code which you must redeem via a japan psn account in the japan psn store :( terrible.

[@S0METHING1986]

Right on 😅

[@Theshark15z]

It was this game and fire shark that inspired RAIDEN.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Sure did! Flying Shark especially inspired most vertical shooters that followed. It's a seminal game that really set the formula for a long time.

[@Theshark15z]

@@ShmupJunkie for sure the power up and speed up mechanic made it revolutionary.

[@bitteralmonds666]

I need this game collection... in every console 🧐🤔

[@ShmupJunkie]

I'm sure they won't complain if you buy every version lol

[@dangunheadachron1603]

FIRST LETS GO!! TOAPLAN FOREVER

[@mattmcmurry9492]

I’m thinking of getting hyper echelon that came out on switch recently. Would like to know your thoughts on it.

[@ShmupJunkie]

I would love to help but I've never played it yet, though I do know of it. It seems to have about 20 or so reviews on Steam.

[@willisjackson3080]

Hello sir, do you know when the next Toaplan compilation by M2 is coming out? I can't wait to see the next one. One game I'm waiting for is Zero wing. A lovely very playable shmup that started the Engrish meme.

[@ShmupJunkie]

The next one hasn't been announced yet but they seem to be releasing a couple a year at the current rate. I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if the next compilation was for their horizontal games so you may get your wish. The real question is will it even include the famous version we all love, since only the international mega drive port had the translation. It would be a shame if they didn't.

[@willisjackson3080]

@@ShmupJunkie Thanks

[@ParanoiaDragon]

​​@@ShmupJunkie Hellfire and Zero Wing are now coming in a collection with Horror Story/Demon World. At the very least, Hellfire S I consider a great game. Zero Wing on PCE was OK. It would be really cool if they actually brought it out in English with the cinemas in the PC Engine version dub based on the MD English script. 😂 One oddity is that they don't have the PC Engine version of Horror Story on there apparently. That's a shame. It's a good conversion with some great tunes. I can only guess they couldn't get the rights? I wanna say NEC Avenue developed it or published it, or both. Might be tied up in legal hell. See what I did there?😊

[@krissymarklewis1793]

Fireshark is maybe my fave shooter on the Genesis, better than the arcade version.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Sega was lucky to have Toaplan porting most of the games for the console. Just about every one came out top notch. 🔥

[@krissymarklewis1793]

@@ShmupJunkie People rave on about MUSHA but I love love the oldies...Fireshark, Truxton e.t.c.

[@bio_cat]

Great intro/outro

[@ParanoiaDragon]

It's tempting to buy the Japanese versions, but I wouldn't be surprised if Strictly Limited games ended up grabbing these games and bringing them West. I'm thinking of still holding out and not clocking down 60 to $70 for the Japanese versions. And I don't know if anyone else said it, but I do find it weird that at least one of the Shark games didn't make it onto the PC engine. With how popular it wasn't Japan, you would think that would have been more of a priority unless they were maybe catering to the West? In that case it would make sense.

[@jasonburt5404]

They need these games on steam. Not everyone owns a switch and I’d rather get a steam deck than a Nintendo switch. And the extras don’t mean much unless you understand Japanese.Yeah 3 frame lag per frame isn’t bad, but I’d rather have no lag on a pc and have it’s based slow down if it was part of the arcade version.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Yeah a lot of folks would love to see it. Unfortunately M2 seems to show little interest in porting anything to Steam unless it’s for contract projects like the Darius games for Taito. Most of these games they don’t seem to even plan to release outside Japan.

[@jasonburt5404]

@@ShmupJunkie I just wish these shmups were more accessible because the best ones are from Japan. Yes you could emulate the games but I'm sure not everyone wants to do that. M2 obviously does a fantastic job with these games in making them better. It's just a shame that they don't give many options as far as more consoles and PC having access.

[@weebnerdgaming4908]

The current ultimate question is what will be the next M2 STG release: Slap Fight or Truxton?

[@ShmupJunkie]

Possibly neither. I know the answer actually but am not allowed to say! I'd love a Slap Fight collection personally it's such a good game, but only if they can insure the mega drive version is part of it.

[@its_elser]

great video as always. thanks

[@hardnine]

Hi love this vid..did they ever translate ps4 version after?

[@ShmupJunkie]

No there is no translation at all from M2 on their releases sadly. They've been Japan only and no English options. We are doing our best to try and have them consider it.

[@hardnine]

@@ShmupJunkie oh I just realized the vid is only a few days old too...my bad

[@jan-niklashoffmann4683]

Mine is still in the mail but you've made me more excited for it. What do you think is next? Slap Fight?

[@sonicmania9993]

If we go by M2's initial announcements (back in late 2019) about the Toaplan Garage project, the next two releases will be Out Zone & Tatsujin Oh/Truxton II.

[@martyclarke969]

Wish Twin Hawk would get a release

[@ThorosThor]

Intro Metal Cover Link??

[@frauschmidt6113]

physical should arrive next week, finally... but timing is good, since i have just beaten maleknith in elden ring today, so i am about to finish the 3 dimensional punishment and can finally get back to 2D :) my eyes will thank me

[@packpock4369]

personally I think they should put Truxton/Zero Wing together.. So many variants they could do..I see them doing Truxton/Outzone. Which is fine lol. Idk about you guy's I can't get enough of their games.

[@ShmupJunkie]

I would personally expect Hellfire and Zero Wing to go together as the 2 horizontal games. Plus they released pretty close to each other. Truxton/Outzone would be an amazing combination, though I know they need to do Tatsujin Ou as well. So it would be weird if they didn't combine the 2. I guess we will see what comes next! Either way some sweet games ahead.

[@packpock4369]

@@ShmupJunkie Yes that is very possible, they alway's release something unique out of their library as well. M2 does such a great job, when they did the Aleste collection I was a little disappointed because it wasn't some of their bigger stuff. But then they give us a new GG3 it made it totally worth it. The fan's I know get impatient wanting certain games and I do too. But they take hiccups and perfect these older games, to reverse engineer them like they do just shows how good they're with mechanics and programming.. I'm looking forward to whatever we know they're doing the Ray series and some of those titles need touched up and some more added. Mainly the PS1 games when 3d was infant..

[@ShmupJunkie]

@@packpock4369 I can’t wait for the Ray series in HD knowing they’re doing it. The G Darius HD release was awesome and I expect no less here. While I wish m2 would care about the international market which they mostly ignore, they still do some of the best work around. So they’ve got my money until they prove otherwise. That Aleste collection and GG3 turned out to be one of my favorite releases of theirs!

[@Opimusp]

Hi! I like your channel very much. I like it's variation in shmp and how you do your videos( voice, picture etc). I collect shmp games for the mega drive(33 so far), the Dreamcast and i just started for the Saturn. Mostly because I like sega and I can afford it. I have four children and a full time job. So I can't spend all the money or the time playing. But I also like the Nintendo switch and it's accessibility I have many physical and digital shmps for it. So my question is, in some videos you talk about the ports to the switch and other consoles about frame drop or something. How much does that affect the gaming for an amateur like me? Do I notice that? One of my goals is to be a better shmp-player. If I play games with bad frame rate or drop. Is that gonna affect my development 🤗? Best regards Emil from Sweden

[@ShmupJunkie]

Hi! Sorry for the late reply, I am just catching up. I think for most of the games, the delay will be fine and not effect you. There are a few games on the Switch where it's very bad, but most games are no problem. That's why in each video I show the delays, so everyone can see which ones are high quality ports and which ones to avoid. Anything by M2 you never have to be worry about. It may be harder to play some games with high delay, but if you are learning, there are much more important things to worry about than that. Focus on practice and basic skills and just have fun. Don't worry too much about the delay until you are playing for score and mastering a game.

[@SSJSonikku]

Fewer options compared to the prior collection? That kind of is a disappointing, but I guess it is understandable. Was wondering how Wardner was as well, looks like I'll in enjoy this Platformer as I love the genre too. There was a Genesis/Megadrive version of Wardner? Why was it skipped? Great video Junkie! Gives me a good idea on what to expect for the collection. I've had it pre-ordered months ago and currently still in transit along with another game from play-asia. I'm totally gonna play these shmups when they do arrive.

[@SSJSonikku]

I finally got Hishou Same! x3 in the mail today. Now I'll totally be playing a bunch of the Shark games and checking out the differences between them. Still curious on legal reason why Genesis version of Wardner is not in.

[@danielrecommends]

Do you know if this game will be coming to Steam? I usually play my shooters on my PC.

[@ShmupJunkie]

I wish but unlikely. M2 hasn’t released any of their collections on Steam so I wouldn’t count on it.

[@danielrecommends]

@@ShmupJunkie bummer

[@bender9740]

Preordered it from Play-Asia, but unfortunately as-per usual, shipping is going to take a loooong time. But it is what it is lol.

[@Mingodough]

I’ll buy this eventually. But damn I’ve had tiger heli collection for a while and aside from custom mode using speed boost modifier and super easy mode I can’t go past stage 2 lol.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Expect more of the same with Same3! haha, that game is even harder. But the original Flying Shark is super fair and chill by comparison, a perfect difficulty tbh. Why so many enjoy that game so much, it's tough but fair and accessible.

[@futureskeletons66669]

No shame in that. As someone who hung around arcades at the time, not may could. It's a tough game, it's supposed to be.

[@Mingodough]

@@futureskeletons66669 I mean I usually can get through shmups like dodonpachi or the darius games pretty well. But damn the toaplan games eat me alive lol

[@ShmupJunkie]

@@Mingodough Not just you man. There’s a myth around bullet hell especially Cave that they’re harder than anything else and only for experts. But the first loops are very learnable with time. Whereas some of the classics like Raiden and certain Toaplan games are quite a bit more difficult. They have to be routed and memorized just as perfectly and the bullets get ridiculously fast. I’ve never or may never 1cc many of them. It’s usually working my way through slowly and learning checkpoint recovery section by section that gets me through. Even then not for crazy hard games like Same3. Plenty on my discord who are incredible at shmups can’t clear Kyu Tiger but can smoke DDP. But there are some really fair ones like Flying Shark and Slap Fight that feel just right. They didn’t have the executive meddling forcing it harder so they’re closer to what the programmers intended.

[@TBtheking405216]

Same same same!!

[@fazares]

i d like to buy the physical ed. but it's a bit too expensive, imho

[@fazares]

I ll buy it...lets bite the bullet...lol

[@roberto1519]

One thing that boggles me is that a lot (not all) vertical shooters still has scrolling left and right, this was a limitation due to how monitors were manufactured back then, there was basically one design, so if developers wanted more horizontal real state for the gameplay they ended up deciding to use scrolling, it's weird for a game like this. But today, even after reverse engineering the whole board, they could've added at least an option to expand the whole screen to avoid this, so the player would have much more visible area, also making the game look exactly how the designers initially planned. If you notice the Mega Drive port, that huge black bar at the right side is even bigger than the needed scrolling for the whole gameplay area, that's just impossible to be unseen. I believe there's a Wardner version for the Japanese Mega Drive, it seems it wasn't included here.

[@AnthonyFlack]

The way the games look now IS the way the designers intended. If they didn't want horizontal scrolling they wouldn't have included it in their games again and again. If they wanted a wider visible playfield they wouldn't have used a vertical monitor to begin with. The horizontal scrolling is a deliberate part of the design and the games would play very differently if you changed that. That's why the Mega Drive port has a black bar, because the small amount of horizontal scrolling in Toaplan (and Cave) games is actually important. Guns don't fire at you from offscreen.

[@roberto1519]

@@AnthonyFlack I was expecting someone to say exactly that. No, it's not entirely how they wanted their games to be. The Mega Drive port is one of hundreds of examples where a vertical shooter was, once again, limited with less vertical screen real state. Twin Cobra, Truxton and many, many other vertical shooters were zoomed in or cropped out, while retaining the horizontal scrolling, which is not just a bad design, it's also lazy. A few exceptions are Konami horizontal shooters ported to the Saturn, where the higher horizontal resolution of the console granted it a slightly wider view compared to the original arcade, without stretching any assets of the game. "If they wanted a wider visible playfield they wouldn't have used a vertical monitor to begin with", they wanted it to be vertical and a bit wider, that's why it scrolls, but they wouldn't manufacture these monitors themselves. Normal horizontal monitors wouldn't work in this case, as they have less vertical screen. Scrolling on those games was a by product of the era. And you may not have heard about this, but at some point, vertical monitors were plenty in a market where shooters weren't predominant anymore, and their use was encouraged due to its soon-to-be obsolescence.

[@queloide4803]

You can do that actually. Play with no side scrolling. Simply choose the 2P version of the Arcade release. Same thing with the Tiger Heli collection.

[@roberto1519]

@@queloide4803 what happens in Twin Cobra when in 2 players in the Tiger Heli collection, does it still scroll?

[@queloide4803]

@@roberto1519 yes it does. Still scrolls. But not in Same Same Same

[@scotty8598]

Will a truxton collection be the next one for Shot Triggers do you think?

[@ShmupJunkie]

I know it’s coming but I don’t think it’ll be next yet personally. Could be wrong though.

[@fingerpickups]

Are these physical only releases? I had a problem finding digital release for this :(

[@ledoudinou]

Great video 👍🏻

[@rockhyde7775]

I think Same3/Flying Shark puts most danmakus to shame in terms of difficulty and bullet speed. I could be wrong about that.

[@hardnine]

Aww no was going to buy this and pocko and rocko and their not in the ps store..any idea if they will ever be available?

[@ShmupJunkie]

This is not in any US or UK store no. You can buy it on the Japan PS store though.

[@atomicskull6405]

15:15 The Megadrive had four 16 color pallets, not 16 colors. The RAMDAC was 9 bits or 3 bits per channel of RGB, or 512 possible combinations (excluding shadow/highlite mode which had limitations). Technically you only have 61 colors available due to to having 1 "transparent" color in each pallet + a "background" color replacing the transparent pallet entries on tiles displayed on the lowest priority background layer.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Yeah it was totally misspoken on my part by mistake. I know it was 64 not 16, but somehow I just missed it before pushing it out. I should make a note in the description somewhere. 16 colors was like NES I believe haha.

[@kotjr9074]

Привет братанчик) а какие есть еще коллекции от Toaplan? И еще может есть чтото похожее как разширенная версия Darius Extra Version для mega drive? Очень качественные порты для sega это Zero Wings, и Hellfire, ну и само собой Fire Shark. Может есть какие похожие коллекции для smd?

[@KesMonkey]

I really want to buy this collection, but the lack of an English language option is a deal breaker for me. I really hope M2 fix this.

[@ShmupJunkie]

We all hope they do. Until then I just use google translate, but so far our pleas have fallen on deaf ears.