NEO Heiankyo Alien

Started by Ghegs, July 07, 2017, 08:05:15 am

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Ghegs

July 07, 2017, 08:05:15 am Last Edit: July 07, 2017, 08:11:11 am by Ghegs
Our friends at Columbus Circle are at it again.




Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34-Wptj5tRk

Kira Kira was only barely a game (and one I skipped), but this is certainly a step in the right direction. Even if it just a remake of a computer classic and not a genuine new game, but baby steps. Let's hope there's no more problems with the cartridges either.

Pre-orders are up at http://www.play-asia.com/neo-heiankyo-alien/13/70bb9h, game's out next month already.

L___E___T

 



Thank you for the news and heads up.  I saw this on Instagram on various people's feeds.

My thoughts - great that they are doing this and I ALWAYS like to see new Famicom games...

BUT...  I went to pre-order it and it's $60 full price which for me at that price it needs to be great.

If it was a game I hadn't played before, or had something new, then maybe I'd have to re-consider.

But it's already out on other systems, including Gameboy and Super Famicom.  At that price it's a no.
My for Sale / Trade thread
http://www.famicomworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=9423.msg133828#msg133828
大事なのは、オチに至るまでの積み重ねなのです。

fcgamer

Awesome, as long as they keep pumping stuff like this out, I'll keep buying.

To be honest, if you look at the NES homebrew scene, it underwhelms me, for much the same reasons as L__E__T mentioned; expensive games (Over there though, maybe $80 or $90 a crack), and just computer / Atari remakes. 

Since true Famicom releases like this are quite limited in number, I think it is not so bad to support them, as this support will help get more (and better) products produced.  I feel the scene is just starting out, and growth will be inevitable if people continue to support
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fcgamer

Just pre-ordered this one today, and also ordered the 8 bit Music Final.  Will be nice to get the latter, been meaning to order it for awhile and NEO Heiankyo Alien was just the excuse I needed to do so, especially with a release date slated so soon.
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Great Hierophant

The Famicom graphics look cute, and it looks to be similar to the Game Boy version, which offered the arcade mode.  The Famicom appears to offer two player support.  NES homebrews have done more than simply port Atari and computer games (which only one developer specializes in).  Battle Kid 1 & 2, Super Russian Roulette, Armed for Battle, all original games.  And NES homebrew cartridges will not be using 3.3v flash chips which can be dangerous to our precious Famicoms. 
Check out my retro gaming and computing blog : http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/

fcgamer

Yes, this one does have two-player support.  I just received mine on Tuesday, I've been enjoying it.  I hope to share it with my brother when he comes over on Sunday.

On another note, did anyone else pick up the Famicom versions of the homebrew Halloween 85 / 86 games?  I just ordered mine, it says they have shipped, I hope I will receive them soon as well. On those though, sadly the quality of the case is not so great, judging from the pics, but I'm just happy to see a US developer taking the initiative to release a homebrew on both 72 and 60 pin formats.
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Ghegs

Got mine today. The box is again those tiny ones that just barely fit around the cartridge, getting the game out the first time was a bit of struggle and I was afraid I'd tear it.

I had never actually played Heiankyo Alien before, though I did know of it. As I suspected, it's not the type of puzzle game I particularly enjoy myself. The Neo version works looks good, sounds excellent (lovely music in there, it even has a dedicated music player mode) and plays...alright. There's some serious, constant slowdown in the stages where the enemies number six or more. You can tell that once you kill off a few enemies everything speeds up a bit, even the lil' spaceguy feels a tad more responsive. Having the original game be in there as well is a nice piece of gaming history.

Overall, while the game itself isn't going to hold my interest, the release definitely has some good production values all around and I'm looking forward to seeing what Columbus Circle will do next. Maybe they'll do Sokoban, I'd be all over that. Or y'know, an original game would be nice too.

While all their releases have a heavy focus on the music and the graphics have been competent at the least, this is their first title that could be classified as a game (no, I don't count KiraKira) so I'm wondering if the team has just one programmer that's only now coming to grips with the Famicom. It's easy enough to make menus for music carts, but game programming is a whole different ballgame.

UglyJoe

I think Ghegs pretty much nailed it (although I do think KiraKira is a game!).

It plays like an old single-screen arcade game.  I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I'm supposed to be doing in the game.  I can set a trap and just sit there and watch the enemies not walk into it...until they do.  There doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to it.  It seems like boxing them into a corner helps.  You can kinda bait them with a semi-full trap (like it pisses them off and then they run after you).

It kinda reminds me of fishing, since no matter what I do it doesn't seem at all logical, but sometimes a fish bites.

Ghegs

Quote from: UglyJoe on September 26, 2017, 08:21:39 pm
I can set a trap and just sit there and watch the enemies not walk into it...until they do.  There doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to it.


Yeah, it's just too random to be interesting to me. Sometimes I managed to clear a stage in mere seconds when the aliens just walked directly into my traps, other times I had to either chase them or wait for them to fall in for minutes. When I got to stage 3-3 I just let them kill me because I was honestly getting bored.

I think if the concept was reworked a bit, so that each alien type followed certain patterns, and you had to figure out the most optimal way of trapping them, that'd be more interesting. Maybe give a multiplier score bonus for trapping many enemies within a few seconds.

P

I haven't played the original arcade either (except a little bit in MAME which lacked analogue sound) but it seems very similar to Space Panic, including the randomness. I guess just like with fishing, there's no sure-fire way to win, but experience will let you be able to predict the alien's moves better and greatly increase your chances for success.

According to Wikipedia this game most likely inspired Space Panic (which is basically a side-view version of the game). And BTW as Space Panic predates Donkey Kong it may be considered the first platform game depending on how you define the genre (you can't jump in it but there are ladders like in Lode Runner). This really is an interesting piece of arcade history! :)

L___E___T

 



I appreciate the effort gone into the release and to be honest any homebrew development at all, but I've played Heiankyo Alien before and know I wouldn't really enjoy it.  I have it on Gameboy.

Maybe I'm just not as rich as you guys, but I didn't buy it as a result.  I have to be extra considered with any purchases and I've grabbed some things this year already I just couldn't miss out on.

I do buy Homebrew when it's a game I know I'll play or really must keep, but in terms of my Famicom collection I pretty much only collect loose good/great games now to actually play and enjoy.
My for Sale / Trade thread
http://www.famicomworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=9423.msg133828#msg133828
大事なのは、オチに至るまでの積み重ねなのです。