What caused Shock Troopers 2 to be so bad compared to ST1?

heihachi · Apr 23, 2017

I played a little of both Shock Troopers 1 and Shock Troopers 2 today, and the difference in quality is pretty incredible. ST1 is imo a must-have Neo Geo game, whereas 2nd Squad is significantly worse in every way. It has less characters, less levels, less guns, less enemy variety, worse art style, worse music, and more slowdown (maybe even worse than Slug 2).

Wtf happened to cause this? Are there any articles about the development of this game? I looked on wiki and the team leaders are the same, so it's not like there was a management exodus that caused it.

RAZO · Apr 23, 2017

Slow Down

Wachenroder · Apr 23, 2017

It also took a hell of a hit in graphics department. Especially compared to ST1 which looks phenomenal to this day.

BLEAGH · Apr 23, 2017

The characters, bombs, grenades, and weapons weren't as interesting. The level design, enemies, and bosses were also inferior imo.

I would also say that the pre-rendered graphics haven't aged as well as the lovely hand drawn sprites of the first one.

MrWunderful · Apr 23, 2017

I always wondered why the sprite detail was much lower on ST2, yet it felt like it suffered far more slow down and flicker.

MetalSludge · Apr 24, 2017

I blame, at least in part, an over fondness for pre-rendered graphics during that time period. These can be used well though, like in Pulstar, or poorly, like in this example.

And personally, I'm not super fond of chibi-like chars in games.

MySoberCompanion · Apr 24, 2017

Can't be worse, it has 150 MEGABIT moar extrapowah!

Atro · Apr 24, 2017

Shock Troopers 2nd Squad isn't a bad game.

It suffers the same as Fixeight when compared to Outzone.
The later isn't bad, but way inferior to the first game.

It would have worked better the other way around. And possibly, we could have had an AES version of it.

oliverclaude · Apr 24, 2017

What caused Shock Troopers 2 to be so bad compared to ST1? Its far lesser Mercs conformities in nature, of course.

NEO G-TRON · Apr 24, 2017

Atro said:
Shock Troopers 2nd Squad isn't a bad game.

It suffers the same as Fixeight when compared to Outzone.
The later isn't bad, but way inferior to the first game.

It would have worked better the other way around. And possibly, we could have had an AES version of it.

Agreed 100% bro! I enjoy ST2 from time to time also. The slowdown isn't insanely horrible but I also understand why some people don't care for it much compared to ST1.

fake · Apr 24, 2017

Atro said:
Shock Troopers 2nd Squad isn't a bad game.

It suffers the same as Fixeight when compared to Outzone.
The later isn't bad, but way inferior to the first game.

It would have worked better the other way around. And possibly, we could have had an AES version of it.

Mostly agreed. I love ST2. I play it more often than ST1. I really like the grit, the weird graphics, the difficulty, etc. The only bad thing about it is that it's named Shock Troopers. If it wasn't related, it wouldn't get nearly as much flack.

pegboy · Apr 24, 2017

Because the first game is a masterpiece, the second game (while still good) just doesn't live up to it. While pre-rendered graphics can be down well (Prehistoric Isle 2, Pulstar), with ST2 they just look...wrong.

madman · Apr 24, 2017

Yeah the graphics are really a victim of the time, can't necessarily blame them for jumping on that pre-rendered bandwagon. Although as pegboy pointed out, that style did work well in other games (and on other consoles as well, obviously) but it just seems wrong in ST2. This may sound like a minor complaint but I always thought the explosions looked really out of place as well. It's certainly not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination, though.

Also LOLs to the AEStards who only get to play ST2 and not the original.

NeoSneth · Apr 24, 2017

They tried too hard with the pre-rendered graphics.
That's the biggest part.

evil wasabi · Apr 24, 2017

It should not have been called Shock Troopers 2. The first game was really badass.

Ip Man · Apr 24, 2017

i actually liked shock troopers 2 the most at first being impressed with the graphics and presentation. but over the years the graphics looked outdated and the first game was looking a lot better. now i think the first shock troopers is one of the better games for the system. even better than a lot of the metal slug games.

madman · Apr 24, 2017

Bogard said:
even better than a lot of the metal slug games.

MSX > MS1 > ST1 > MS5 > MS2 > MS4 > MS3

Liquid Snake · Apr 24, 2017

I don't like button placement in ST2................ST1 is much better

kitkit.com · Apr 24, 2017

No tag team and slow down.

Ip Man · Apr 24, 2017

madman said:
MSX > MS1 > ST1 > MS5 > MS2 > MS4 > MS3

lol, when did ms4 jump ms3 on your list?.

Tarma · Apr 25, 2017

I quite like Shock Troopers 2.

While it's not as enjoyable as Shock Troopers, and doesn't have some of that games charm, it's well animated, the music is good and the gameplay is still pretty solid.

It's just a shame that Saurus had such a boner for pre-rendered graphics back then.

What I never understood was why Shock Troopers never got a home release, as either a CD exclusive (like Saurus' Ironclad) or on AES.

oliverclaude · Apr 25, 2017

Tarma said:
It's just a shame that Saurus had such a boner for pre-rendered graphics back then.

I also needed time to appreciate Pulstar's & Blazing Star's pre-rendered art design, but now this ancient CGI aspect makes those games so special. They're historical artifacts of an era long gone, the pioneer age of the 3D craze and the hopeless try to apply it into the second dimension. There's much charm to be found within this desperation.

ggallegos1 · Apr 25, 2017

I enjoy it every now and then but the slowdown irks me after a while. It's not even remotely charming like in MS2. Unfortunately it is unremarkable I guess simply because of the charm and sprite work of the original, that one I can play over and over

Tenshinhan · Apr 25, 2017

oliverclaude said:
I also needed time to appreciate Pulstar's & Blazing Star's pre-rendered art design, but now this ancient CGI aspect makes those games so special. They're historical artifacts of an era long gone, the pioneer age of the 3D craze and the hopeless try to apply it into the second dimension. There's much charm to be found within this desperation.

I agree with you. These sorts of games might seem "ugly" but I find them to have a special charm now. I like seeing how the developers were trying find ways to push these systems. Whether or not it was technically pushing the systems, they were trying to create a modern look to the games. I find these graphical techniques interesting. I just recently got 2nd Squad and like it quite a bit! It has a really nice flow to the combat. I'm still look for a decent deal on the first game.

nicksbrain · Apr 25, 2017

fakeXsound said:
Mostly agreed. I love ST2. I play it more often than ST1. I really like the grit, the weird graphics, the difficulty, etc. The only bad thing about it is that it's named Shock Troopers. If it wasn't related, it wouldn't get nearly as much flack.

This. Love the game, but it has not much to do with the ST name developed by the first one.

What caused Shock Troopers 2 to be so bad compared to ST1?

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