February 2020 Shmup Club - Grid Seeker

[MetalFRO]

[img width=700 height=525]https://hyperspin-fe.com/siteuploads/downloads/screenshots/monthly_06_2015/659b9b2af99b2c13c68c2b6a7aa68402-gseeker.png[/img]

Normally, when one thinks of Taito, and shoot-em-up games, two things often come to mind. One would be Taito's Space Invaders, which ostensibly birthed the genre, or one of its many sequels, or spin-off games. Second, some would immediately think of the long-running Darius series, and its various arcade and console iterations. Occasionally, however, a company like Taito will throw us for a loop, and publish something that has nothing to do with their main intellectual properties. In 1992, they did just that, with Grid Seeker: Project Storm Hammer. Rather than scrolling horizontally, like their flagship, aquatically inspired shooting game series, Taito gave us a vertical scrolling game, based much more closely on some form of reality.

Set in a (then) future 1999, in an alternate reality, based upon some events post Persian Gulf War, an unnamed Middle Eastern nation has risen to military prominence in the region. Starving for resources, they begin attacking neighboring countries to seize their resources. Despite their lack of resources, they have devised weapons powerful enough to overcome these other nations, and have become a threat to the entire world. In response, a military alliance has formed, and is wielding a new technology, called Gyrodrive Reactive Intercept Device, or GRID. Using 1 of 3 fighter jets, along with these GRID units, you're sent into battle to take on the warring nation, and bring an end to their military might. Though not ported to consoles during that era, the Taito Legends 2 compilation (PS2, Xbox) gives the opportunity to play this game in an official form. Join the RF Generation Shmup Club in February 2020, as we take on Taito's Grid Seeker: Project Storm Hammer!

Also, remember that we'll still be working on our 2020 Score Challenge game, Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi. Please continue to post in that thread after January as well, and continue to play the game, and share your scores and progress. We hope to continue to see players jumping into that competition throughout the year. Good luck!

Participants:
MetalFRO
Addicted
SaturdayDevelopment
zoydo
EZ Racer

[SaturdayDevelopment]

Never heard of this title, but looking forward to playing it.  Count me in!

(Hope my Xbox still works...)

[zoydo]

It's a cool game, i will be around and play some credits.

[MetalFRO]

Excellent! Glad to have you both on board for this one, and looking forward to playing a few virtual credits myself

[SaturdayDevelopment]

Ready for February!

[MetalFRO]

Nice! Does the Xbox version have 480p output? I'm curious, because I've been wanting to get the Xbox version of TL2, since it swaps out a few of the games, notably, a couple shmups that are on the PS2 version, but excluded from the Xbox version.

[EZ Racer]

Borrowed TL2 from a friend. Now just have to get the PS2 set back up.

[MetalFRO]

Welcome aboard!

[SaturdayDevelopment]

Nice! Does the Xbox version have 480p output? I'm curious, because I've been wanting to get the Xbox version of TL2, since it swaps out a few of the games, notably, a couple shmups that are on the PS2 version, but excluded from the Xbox version.

Okay, dumb question:  How can I tell if it has 480p output?

[MetalFRO]

Nice! Does the Xbox version have 480p output? I'm curious, because I've been wanting to get the Xbox version of TL2, since it swaps out a few of the games, notably, a couple shmups that are on the PS2 version, but excluded from the Xbox version.

Okay, dumb question:  How can I tell if it has 480p output?

There will often be an indicator on the back of the box that will show if it’s 480p or above, like this site:


https://www.gamesdatabase...work-box-back/van-helsing


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SaturdayDevelopment]

There will often be an indicator on the back of the box that will show if it’s 480p or above, like this site:

https://www.gamesdatabase...work-box-back/van-helsing

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No such luck on this box.

[MetalFRO]

Thanks for checking! It’s probably 480i, like the PS2 version, then.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SaturdayDevelopment]

This isn't an impressive score (I'm not even the top scorer on the default scores), but I wanted to get things started:  323,720 on easy.  I can get to level 4 consistently, but things typically end there.

[MetalFRO]

Very cool! I didn't try it on Easy, but I'll have to do that. I think on my first couple attempts, I made it to stage 2, or possibly 3. Definitely need to fire this one up for a stream tonight!

[MetalFRO]

Seems I'm kind of terrible at this game! I'm definitely going to need some practice. I haven't managed to make it past the Stage 2 boss yet, at least not this evening. So far, I like the helicopter best, and I'm digging the blue weapon. The green bomb, with its homing capabilities, is pretty cool, but I like the straight ahead laser bomb of the blue weapon best right now.