They're rare. They're expensive. But are they any good? The shmups of NMK

Tarma

Old Man
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I've come across several NMK titles of late, and noticed one or two peeps on shmups.com trying to hunt down Gunnail...

I've looked at some of the gameplay vids on youtube, and most of their stuff looks pretty bland compared with some of the games that were around at the time.

With some of the NMK boards fetching asking prices of nearly $1k, is this obscure little developer actually worth following?
 

CORY

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I've come across several NMK titles of late, and noticed one or two peeps on shmups.com trying to hunt down Gunnail...

I've looked at some of the gameplay vids on youtube, and most of their stuff looks pretty bland compared with some of the games that were around at the time.

With some of the NMK boards fetching asking prices of nearly $1k, is this obscure little developer actually worth following?

Remember, the guys spending thousands of dollars to buy for those games already own enough shmups PCBs to open a freaking museum. Gunnail is more like a nice collection piece than anything else, really. It's good, but there is way better shmups arround that are going for a fraction of its price. I'd say, it really depends what kind of shmup lover you are. If you're a collector, you gotta catch them all ya know. If you want the best bang for your bucks, these games are definitely not for you.
 

Tarma

Old Man
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If you're a collector, you gotta catch them all ya know. If you want the best bang for your bucks, these games are definitely not for you.

Hmmmn.... this is what I suspected. At the end of the day, I want games I can play and enjoy... I've got a bit of collector in me from my AES days, so I do prefer kits or boards with the art work, but I still want to play the games and, hopefully, enjoy them! :D

I don't want to pay $100 for a game and find out it's shit let alone $1,000!!!

If I'm spend big bucks and I don't like it, then it'll get promptly shipped off to someone else, not parked on a shelf to make dust love.

So, no NMK shmups for me! lol :loco:

BTW, we need to get a top-ten together... :eye::eye:
 

Tyranix95

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Played it. And it's Meh, not that great.

The scoring system is geared to a 1 life 1CC run. Basically, you man down right away (loose all your extra-ships) and go for the 1CC. The sound and graphics are ok, But the HIT BOX IS FUCKING HUGE.

If I had $100 to blow, then I'd pick it up. But if I had $1,000 to burn, then I'd much rather get a couple other games. Now, if I 1K to toss, then I'd get it just for the hell of it.
 
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Tarma

Old Man
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Played it. And it's Meh, not that great.

The scoring system is geared to a 1 life 1CC run. Basically, you man down right away (loose all your extra-ships) and go for the 1CC. The sound and graphics are ok, But the HIT BOX IS FUCKING HUGE.

If I had $100 to blow, then I'd pick it up. But if I had $1,000 to burn, then I'd much rather get a couple other games. Now, if I 1K to toss, then I'd get it just for the hell of it.

Which NMK title we talking about bro?
 

Chempop

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Big Bang/Thunder Dragon 2 is supposed to be pretty good, but for $300-400 I'm not enticed to find out.
 

SNKorSWM

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It's a lot better than having to shoot the ground for good score in Zed Blade.
 

CaseyTappy

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Same thing happened to Air Gallet lately on shmups which I personally find a pretty bland game .
Someone starts looking for one and puts out a wanted ad, keeps bumping it to the top so it must be the rarez and then more search adds appear and the price goes up .
Batrider had it in extreme but that's a great game, Fire Shark is another one recently...Cyvern... the list goes on ...and the prices go up .
 
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Tarma

Old Man
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Same thing happened to Air Gallet lately on shmups which I personally find a pretty bland game .
Someone starts looking for one and puts out a wanted ad, keeps bumping it to the top so it must be the rarez and then more search adds appear and the price goes up .
Batrider had it in extreme but that's a great game, Fire Shark is another one recently...Cyvern... the list goes on ...and the prices go up .

But, with perhaps the exception of Batrider, are those pcbs not fairly uncommon anyway? I don't recall seeing cyvern or some of the other titles appearing in abundance?

Your point is still valid, because if two people are after the same board and start upping the ante on each other, then others will assume that is the going rate.

I'd quite like to try a few of their games just to form my own opinion, but as Chempop has said, not if its going to cost me $400+ to only find out it's mediocre at best...

... Although the game should be sonically pleasing according to Panda :D
 

Chempop

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Same thing happened to Air Gallet lately on shmups which I personally find a pretty bland game .

It actually went up in price in Japan first, nearly Y75000 at some PCB shops (about 1-2 years ago iirc), and then people on the forum realized how rare it was. :lolz: Bland?! There goes your aficionado status :make_fac:

Imho, Batsugun, Air Gallet, and ESPrade are the holy trinity of Joker Jun games. Air Gallet is by far the most challenging aka best ;)
 
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CaseyTappy

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A Joker Jun holy trinity without Progear, I boo you while flinging poo Chemtop !
By bland I mean a lack of variety in levels and enemy's, not the difficulty but I must admit I haven't played it in ages .
 

Tarma

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Did you see the Bakraid on O.A. ?

Thanks for the heads-up. :)

Doesn't look like it's a kit and nor does it say if it's the unlimited version. I've shot him a PM, if he's in Birmingham that's less than an hour from me!

I really really really want the kit to be honest... there's something about those Raizing kits... makes me all warm and fuzzy :loco:
 

Tarma

Old Man
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It actually went up in price in Japan first, nearly Y75000 at some PCB shops (about 1-2 years ago iirc), and then people on the forum realized how rare it was. :lolz: Bland?! There goes your aficionado status :make_fac:

Imho, Batsugun, Air Gallet, and ESPrade are the holy trinity of Joker Jun games. Air Gallet is by far the most challenging aka best ;)

Esp Ra De is an awesome game... I've not played Batsugun in ages...

From the videos I've seen on utub, Air Gallet has some of the best presentation I've seen in a shmup from that era. Doesn't mean the game is any good of course, but hopefully we'll rectify that soon! :D

Hey, did you find out what the regional differences were between Air Gallet / Akuu Gallet? I still come up with zip...
 

CaseyTappy

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I'm sure it's a bare board and the normal one, burning some roms isn't hard and Ross does it at cost on A.O.

Piles like this are not so easy and cheap to build any more :

Spoiler:
DSCF6047.jpg
:drool:
 

Tarma

Old Man
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I'm sure it's a bare board and the normal one, burning some roms isn't hard and Ross does it at cost on A.O.

Piles like this are not so easy and cheap to build any more :

Spoiler:
DSCF6047.jpg
:drool:

Nice. I'm in no rush. Someone at some point will prefer cash in their bank to a pcb kit sitting on their shelf.
 

CaseyTappy

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That's always the best thing.
My wanted ads usually attracted people asking crazy prices so later I just waited as they always pop up sooner or later .
 

andsuchisdeath

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This thread sucks.


Also, Knuckle Bash is part of the Joker Jun holy trinity.
 
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