RF Generation Message Board

In 1979, Kaoru Shintani debuted a manga in Japan, known as Area 88. It detailed the exploits and experiences of pilot Shin Kazama, during his time with Area 88, a mercenary military force. The manga ran for 7 years, and spawned a home video movie toward the end of its run, and a single-season anime, nearly 2 decades later. A decade after the manga began, Capcom licensed the property, and created an arcade shooting game that has since become a classic. When that was brought to the West, it was renamed UN Squadron, with the anime tie-in minimized, though keeping the art style and character names. The conversion of the game for the Super Famicom and Super NES is beloved among fans of the genre, and is often heralded as one of the best shooters on the console.

Shin Kazama has a dilemma: he's an amazing pilot, but was duped by a friend to sign up to work for the mercenary military force, Area 88. Shin's no fan of killing fellow human beings, but he's under contract now. He can either suck it up, and do his 3-year tour of duty, or earn $1.5 million and buy out his contract, so he can utilize his skills in an arena where he won't have to take another life unjustly. You can help Shin, along with Mickey Simon, and Greg Gates take on the terrorist organization Project 4, to keep them from taking over the country of Kutal. Take flight, and join the RF Generation Shmup Club, as we explore Area 88, and it's Western counterpart, UN Squadron!

Participants:
MetalFRO
Addicted
EZ Racer
shaggy
Duke.Togo
Crabmaster2000
SaturdayDevelopment
zoydo
FauxMacho
Geardo211

So in for this, but as I said on the Earthbound forum, July's going to be a crazy month for me, with unknown gaming time. Because of that I'm going to start on it in June and see how July goes, because I've really wanted the excuse to play this for a while. Hope that's O.K.

You certainly don't need an excuse to play this game, so go for it! I would say if you want to submit scores, wait until next month, and preferably, any scores you submit should be obtained during July, if possible, but don't let that stop you from sharing your thoughts on the game.

I have this one and haven't played it.  I'm so in for this!

Can count me in.

I haven't been participating in anything yet this year, but I might have to on this one. I really love this game.

Excellent! Welcome to the squadron, gents!

The fighting in this area is ferocious.  You can count me in.

Is anyone going to take a shot at the arcade game as well?

Welcome aboard! I'm hoping to get some time in with the arcade version, yes.

I bought a copy a while ago  but it's still in Japan, waiting for better shipping conditions. Maybe i can find a cheap loose copy, so i can join you guys.

will be trying to join you on this Shmup Club playthrough

Excellent! We'll be happy to have you in the squadron :D

Found a cheap loose Area 88, so i'm in.

Fun fact:  I don't think there is a way to access your high score after you "game over" on the SNES version.  I just got to the last stage on a single credit and then couldn't access my score.  I'll be taking a screenshot on my last life from now on.

Today I started with the arcade version, and did horribly.  On normal difficulty with no continues, I was only able to get to the second level and land 49k points.  Here is a dismal arcade score just for end of month reference.

Been playing for part of June, and I noticed that too on the SNES scores.

One thing that I really like about it is that it has customizable controller configuration. I have found that having X be the base weapon, with A as the the special weapon and Y as the change weapon works best for me.

I wish you could make the L and R buttons rotate through the weapons.  Anyways, apparently I suck at this game.  I can beat the first stage with no problem but can only but the first airplane level that reaches your base and I have trouble with that one.  I can't beat any other level.  Obviously, I need to figure out which plane to buy and use on each level, I think.  And yes, no high score after Game Over that I can find.

I'll apologize for the darkness on this, but I was trying to catch the score on the fadeout.  Made it to the last level, but everything fell apart there...

SNES, Normal Difficulty:  526,100

Looks like you're making good progress, SaturdayDevelopment! I, however, am not. For some reason, even once I've learned a level, I'm still making odd mistakes, and failing to execute cleanly. Maybe I get flustered too quickly, I don't know. But this one's gonna be an uphill climb for me, I think.

This might help, I started putting together screenshots of all the powerup locations.  Had a bad run this morning, so only have the first 3 levels so far, but will expand on it as I have time.

http://saturdaydevelopment.com/un-squadron-power-up-locations/

Got a 1CC on the SNES version on normal!  703,000  I'm probably going to focus on the arcade version the rest of the month (which I'm terrible at).

I got my cartridge yesterday and today I got the 1CC of Danmaku Unlimited 3 (on medium) I was trying for so I am ready and excited to switch over to this game.

Great job on the fast 1CC, SaturdayDevelopment! A great achievement to get so quickly, hats off!

Welcome to the squadron, FauxMacho!

@SaturdayDevelopment: Woah! Good Job, Congrats!

@FauxMacho: Welcome and congrats on the 1cc in Dan3!

Any tips?

@shaggy, here are a couple of tips.

Use the cluster (the circular fireball) and phoenix missiles for defense during the level, and don't be shy about wasting them.  Every hit you avoid lets you take another hit in the boss fight.  For example, if you are getting surrounded or have too many enemies behind you, hit them with the cluster.  Note that the F14D carries 10 clusters, which is great for defense on harder levels.

Don't do the dogfight level (the one with the 3 pink stealths at the end) right away.  This level doesn't have any weapon power-ups, so your level will be stuck.  Play some of the other levels (like the desert) to get your weapon powered up, then those little planes will die faster.

Memorize the hidden powerups, they are invisible but show after you shoot them twice.  These are very helpful for the boss battles.  Most bosses have 1 or 2 powerups located right before and/or after them.  I documented all the ones I know about here:  http://saturdaydevelopment.com/un-squadron-power-up-locations/

Don't buy too many planes.  You want to have the F200 for the end.  I typically buy the F14D as soon as possible, then save money for the F200.

I suicide on the Canyon after picking up the two stars for bonus points if I need more money for the F200.  This can be done on other levels with stars too.

Been very much enjoying UN Squadron, even though I'm making progress at snail's pace. Getting stuck on trying to defeat the land carrier in the desert level. Also, what does everyone else think of the different characters? I usually use either Shin or Greg.

I've mostly used Shin, though I did try the other characters. I'll probably explore them more as the month goes on. My progress is slow, as well. For some reason, I haven't been able to get consistency in several of the levels yet. One time I'll sail through fine, and the next, a minor mistake in my movement sends me on a downward spiral of taking damage, and going down in flames before the boss. I did manage to beat the desert level last night, as well as the forest boss, finally, so I think at least I'm beginning to finally get somewhere.

Do the different characters play different or are they all the same?

Been making more headway. Finally am consistently defeating the sub, and closing in on beating the boss of the desert level

Don't quite know how to explain it, but the more I play this, the more it feels like an action/adventure game disguised as a shmup. Thoroughly enjoying it though.

Played a little tonight and didn't fare very well. Goes from fairly easy in stage one to murder after that.

Greg has the quickest damage recovery (the time between taking a hit and when the health bar recovers).
Shin's main weapon powers up faster (requires fewer pickups).
Mickey can use multiple special weapons at once.  I haven't been able to take advantage of this, but I think Mickey can do things like fire off a mega crush and then switch to another special weapon and use that while the mega crush is still active.

Too bad I don't own this. I played it at the arcades and on Snes but never had a copy myself. Oh well. Maybe I can join next month if I have the game.

Hopefully I'm not too late. I loved this game as a kid. I played it on normal difficulty, and I was on my first credit with five lives when I got to the ceiling boss. He took all of those and a continue, however I think this is one of the few schmups I could 1cc if I kept trying. I used Gates and the Crusader to clear everything up to the desert carrier. By that point I had saved enough for the Efreet. I didn't run as many convoy attacks this playthrough as I have in the past either. I also had never changed the controls before, and putting the weapon select on the R trigger made things a lot easier. Clusters and Phoenix always clear the way, but I found the gun pod and napalm pretty useful this time. Mega Crush is great for the brief invincibility. I never used the Laser or Super Shell, and the Bullpup only on the last R-Type looking boss. I still love this game, and listen to the soundtrack frequently on my way to work. It's definitely classic Capcom. I never saw this in the arcade, but I played it's sequel Carrier Airwing a few times. This cabinet would make a great addition, but it seems pretty rare. I haven't delved into arcade emulation but I think these two games would be a great reason to.

Definitely not too late, Geardo211, welcome to the squadron! Looks like really good progress so far! And yes, the ceiling boss is a huge challenge. I haven't managed to reach it yet, though I feel like I'm getting closer to achieving that. That stage is really ridiculous, though, so even getting to the boss will be difficult, not to mention getting past it. That might end up being the big challenge for the month.

Been a few days since I've had a chance to play. Been busy with life stuff, and a big upgrade at work. Anyone make further progress, or have new insight to share?

I've been focusing on the arcade version, and I just started getting to the cave level (where I promptly die).  My scores are steadily going up with the progress (I'm currently circling 250K), so I haven't been uploading any pics.  I'll try to post a final score by the end of the month.

Finally got my 1cc with a final score of 677,800. Still playing normal difficulty with Greg. Plowed through everything up to the SR-71 Blackbird with the Crusader. Had to grind about 8 supply convoys to have enough for the Efreet with a few basic power-ups. Anyone who can beat this with another jet is a beast. Ceiling boss still got me for 4 lives, but the napalm/gunpod combo got me through. The last level is actually pretty easy. The miniboss goes down fast if you park in front and below of it and blast it with the gun pod. I ran out of specials on the R-Type boss, so I had to go inside, but whatever works. First 1cc of any schmup, and this is one of my favorite SNES games so it's fitting. Hopefully I can keep the momentum up in future playthoughs.

Great job, Geardo! I didn't even think about the napalm for the ceiling boss, but that's a great idea, to take out all those pesky ground enemies that get in the way. If I manage to make it that far this month, I'll have to give that a try! Also, extra congrats for getting that far with Greg. He doesn't power up quickly enough for me, and I end up losing a lot of lives just because my Crusader isn't powerful enough to take out the big planes in that first aerial stage fast enough to not get too much on screen, and get overwhelmed.

I park right behind them so my time between shots is reduced. I only use bombs on the Stealth Bomber when he first approaches, so don't be afraid to use your clusters if you need some breathing room earlier on.

Hey Geardo211.

Good work, congrats on the 1cc!

Thank you much. Now to work on my camera skills...

This is one of the most intense yet exhilarating games I've played in a long time. Now that I'm starting to get some consistency on the early levels, I'm really getting into this, and I love the music on the forest stage, even though I have yet to clear it.

Yeah, the music is something I've surprisingly taken to. I remember thinking the sound of the music was initially off-putting, when I played it years ago, partially due to my preference for Sega Genesis sound for games of this type. However, most of it is so well composed, and the "instrument" set they use ends up working really well for it, I think. Definitely one of the things about the game I've grown to really appreciate.

No pics, but stoked about recent progress. Through mission 6 on 1 credit, and admittedly after continuing, finally took down the battleship.

I managed to reach the final boss in the arcade version, though I didn't quite clinch the victory. I think I'm close, though! The arcade version is noticeably easier than the SNES version, at least on the default difficulty when running it on the MiSTer FPGA hardware. The slowdown I'm experiencing in a few spots should be accurate to the arcade, at least as far as how it's emulating the CPS1 hardware. I am using autofire that's built into my arcade joystick, but otherwise, all the DIP switch settings are default in the US ROM set. It's also shorter. Each stage is pretty short, with the exception of the "cave" stage, and the bosses go down pretty quickly. Enemies are generally less spongy. It also has a set stage order, and many of the levels we see in the SNES version are like "remixed" takes on the arcade levels. It's an interesting contrast to what we got on console.

I'm rescinding my score submission for the arcade version, because I found out that my configuration was booting up to the lowest difficulty level. I've been playing on Normal the last couple days, and haven't reached nearly as far, so I might still throw a screenshot in here for my arcade score later this week, but the previous post about reaching the final boss was on the lowest difficulty.

Haven't done better than my St.5 score, that i posted very early this month.

[img width=500 height=398]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50174204362_5f5f83ca2e.jpg[/img]

Even though i totally see, why everyone loves this game, i just can't find a groove with it. I guess the multiple special weapon system, the stage select, shop feature and story sequences is just too much to handle for my simple brains.
I see that it serves the game to have a lot of variation, but it somehow kills the flow (for me).

Anyway, i love the music and the graphics!

Also played 2 or 3 creds on the arcade version and i liked that it's a bit more straight forward but i agree, that the SFC version is the better game.

GG to everyone who cleared the game or came close (and to everyone else).

Appreciate the honesty, MetalFRO.  The arcade version on normal difficulty is no joke.  I really wanted the 1CC on the arcade version, but ran out of time.  Here's my arcade score submission for the month.  252,340, got to the cave level with Greg and bit it there.

Good game to everyone who played.

If there was another month I'm confident I could've hit the 1CC. Made it to the cave on 1 cred. No pic but broke 500K points. Love the variety in this game, and really appreciate the boss battles that scroll in both directions. I'm novice enough w/shmups that I don't know how unique to the genre it is, but it's an interesting mechanic that gives those boss battles a more epic feel. The dogfighting level is also a nice stray from the norm.

With it's level selection and grinding, I still feel like it's an adventure game posing as a shmup, and that's fine by me. Capcom got so much right, the music and the environments are all fresh enough to have their own character and memorability (if that's a word), and the gameplay and controls are super intense, but fair.

I've watched some of MetalFro's streams, and for full disclosure I haven't played the arcade version, just watched. But I can't shake the feeling that Capcom took a respectable arcade IP and reimagined it in an even better form. Can't wait to see/hear comments from those who have played both.

Really have enjoyed U.N. Squadron this month, we had right on our side!

Was listening to the podcast about the SNES port and heard the US version has screenshots of the arcade version on the box?

The PAL version only has screenshots of the port as far as I can see. My box and manual aren't in the best of condition (think it was an ex-rental so it's a miracle it's as good as it is). I play it on my modded SNES at 60Hz though. Plays just fine. The music plays at the same speed - 50 or 60Hz so it must be coded to internal timers and not the frame rate thankfully!  :)

I've always found it a tough game - one I've never spent a lot of time with I have to admit but maybe I'll look at it once I get my current 1CC challenge (Samurai Aces on PS2) out of the way.