Shock Troopers 2nd squad or Ninja commando?

[ShaolinAce]

If you had to choose one? Which gives you more enjoyment?

 

[ggallegos1]

Ninja Commando. 2nd Squad, beyond being visually different, gets me with the rampant slowdown

 

[RAZO]

Ninja Commando all day.

 

[Neo_Mike_81]

Ninja Commando would be my pick.

 

[Digmac]

Ninja Commando. 2nd Squad is one of the worst sequels on the Neo IMO.

 

[fake]

Second Squad. One of my favorite Neo games.

 

[Tron]

Ninja Commando i never enjoy 2nd Squad that much i prefer the first shock troopers more.

 

[BBH]

me before I clicked on this thread - "Certainly most people here are going to say 2nd Squad is better, right?"

....oh.

I don't get it, I think people really overexaggerate how bad Shock Troopers 2nd Squad is, because it's not a bad game at all. It's a worse game than the original Shock Troopers, but the original Shock Troopers is also one of the best games on the Neo-Geo, so there was no way it could ever live up to the lofty heights of the original. But 2nd Squad... is not bad! Yes, the slowdown sucks, yes the pre-rendered graphics are weird. Nobody's mentioned the bad balance with the lifebars and the half-assed special weapon system, and how you take >50% damage from pretty much every hit from stage 3 on... but at this point I don't really expect most people on this forum to really dig into gameplay-related discussion.

Despite all these things, I still think Shock Troopers 2nd Squad is a good game. It does do some things that the original doesn't have, like vehicles and the multiplier bonuses for consecutive close-range kills. That stuff is fun! And the game is still a fun challenge to play for 1CC purposes, although Leon and Toy got a much easier time. Pretty fun to play for score too if you don't know about the stage 4 leech point. It's a satisfying game that people write off too quickly because "eww slowdown, ewww graphics, this game is garbage". But it's not! Because it has the Shock Troopers name everyone compares it to the original, which is unavoidable but also puts this clear bias in people's minds that the game is automatically trash. I am certain more people would be more accepting of it if it was taken as its own game and didn't have to live in the shadow of it's predecessor.

So Ninja Commando... what is it people like more about this game? Is it the special moves that you're pretty much forced to do over and over if you want a chance at 1CC'ing the game? Are people okay with not having any sort of a dodge button (no, the B button backflip is not a true dodge/roll because oyu have no invincibility frames during it) in a game where you take at least 25% damage from every attack, 50% on most bosses... in a game that defaults to 1 life to start on the English versions?! There's not much complexity to the techniques you can use or the scoring... just picking up more big coins from the special attacks / backflip attacks. Oh and I guess there's some big leeching that can be done on the Prehistoric midboss. It is an interesting challenge to 1CC, but again the challenge comes from not really having much room to dodge attacks that are going to do huge chunks of your lifebar. I did 1CC it a few months ago for the first time and I can't say I'm still ever really motivated to go back to it again and again, I'm way more likely to fire up 2nd Squad if I have a choice.

Ninja Commando isn't an AWFUL game, but I would just like to know what people see in it when given this choice, because nobody's mentioned anything they specifically like about it yet.

 

[RAZO]

My reason for liking Ninja Commando is It's a 2d game with some 3d elements, pretty art style, fun gameplay, cool music, has a classic shtmup element, cool bosses.

Shock Troopers > Ninja Commando > Shock Troopers 2nd Squad

Its funny how when I first started buying MVS games, 2nd squad was one of the first games I owned. I didn't know much about the first one until people started making threads about it being better then the 2nd. When I finally got ahold of the 1st one I was blown away at how good it was and how good it looked.

Even if the slow down was fixed in the 2nd one I really hate the art direction they took. That 2d wannabe 3d art style just doesn't look or feel right compared to the first one.. 2nd Squad is a Neo game I could live without.

 

[ShaolinAce]

I thought it was pretty close comparison myself in earnest interest of the two games, I couldnt figure out a clear winner. BBH post really makes me think. I do lean more to older neo games. Ahhhg still a hard choice.

 

[evil wasabi]

Shock Troopers 1 is superior by far to 2.
Ninja Commando is fun but it’s not that great.

 

[BlackaneseNiNjA]

I really enjoy both games, but I gotta go with Ninja Commando.

 

[BBH]

My reason for liking Ninja Commando is It's a 2d game with some 3d elements, pretty art style, fun gameplay, cool music, has a classic shtmup element, cool bosses.

Errr... what 3D elements?

I'll admit that the hand-drawn pixel art of Ninja Commando is more appealing to look at than the rendered stuff in 2nd Squad of course. I don't think NC has better music though, it's not bad but 2nd Squad has some absolute bangers.

There are some cool bosses in Ninja Commando, they're huge... and then a giant samurai runs forward and takes off 50% of your life with one hit...

What it really comes down to is that I don't think the gameplay is as good. For one credit play purposes you absolutely have to be doing the special moves over and over, especially on bosses. It's neat at first doing fighting game special moves but it gets old and doesn't feel as satisfying to me as chaining together a bunch of melee kills on 2nd Squad.

Its funny how when I first started buying MVS games, 2nd squad was one of the first games I owned. I didn't know much about the first one until people started making threads about it being better then the 2nd. When I finally got ahold of the 1st one I was blown away at how good it was and how good it looked.

Even if the slow down was fixed in the 2nd one I really hate the art direction they took. That 2d wannabe 3d art style just doesn't look or feel right compared to the first one.. 2nd Squad is a Neo game I could live without.

The rest of this post is exactly what I'm talking about, people writing off 2nd Squad because the comparisons to the original are unavoidable, so nobody wants to take the game on its own merits without comparing it to the original. Or writing it off because they'd rather focus on graphics over gameplay.

Shock Troopers 2nd Squad is a hugely misunderstood game that deserves better. I'd rather play 2nd Squad over any Metal Slug that came out after X, and yes that includes 3.

 

[RAZO]

Errr... what 3D elements?

I'll admit that the hand-drawn pixel art of Ninja Commando is more appealing to look at than the rendered stuff in 2nd Squad of course. I don't think NC has better music though, it's not bad but 2nd Squad has some absolute bangers.

There are some cool bosses in Ninja Commando, they're huge... and then a giant samurai runs forward and takes off 50% of your life with one hit...

What it really comes down to is that I don't think the gameplay is as good. For one credit play purposes you absolutely have to be doing the special moves over and over, especially on bosses. It's neat at first doing fighting game special moves but it gets old and doesn't feel as satisfying to me as chaining together a bunch of melee kills on 2nd Squad.




The rest of this post is exactly what I'm talking about, people writing off 2nd Squad because the comparisons to the original are unavoidable, so nobody wants to take the game on its own merits without comparing it to the original. Or writing it off because they'd rather focus on graphics over gameplay.

Shock Troopers 2nd Squad is a hugely misunderstood game that deserves better. I'd rather play 2nd Squad over any Metal Slug that came out after X, and yes that includes 3.

I thought there was some 3d effect when performing specials in Ninja Commando. Maybe I'm mixing it up with another game.

You can Errr all you want. I could care less what you think. I've been playing the Neo-Geo for almost 3 decades and I like what like. You asked why I like Ninja Commando and I told you. I'm not arguing, just giving you my opinion.

Err the fuck off.

 

[LoneSage]

My reason for liking Ninja Commando is It's a 2d game with some 3d elements, pretty art style, fun gameplay, cool music, has a classic shtmup element, cool bosses.

Shock Troopers > Ninja Commando > Shock Troopers 2nd Squad

Word.

 

[zed7]

I thought I wouldn't like Ninja Commando, and I was going to sell it to get some other games. It's quite fun! I would recommend it as an enjoyable title, especially with 2 people. Turning into a Tiger/Phoenix/whatever the girl does is satisfying, game makes you feel skillful while also overpowered at the same time, so good game balance to me, at least for the first 2 chapters (all I've played).

I played 2nd squad through Twitch Prime, and it was alright, but I wasn't super crazy for it. Not a bad game if you can get for the right price

I will say, the "rain" effects in level (world?) 2 gave me a heart attack, I thought my monitor was dying. So keep that in mind for anyone using it on a CRT

 

[NeoSneth]

what drunk idiot would take Shock Troopers 2?

 

[BBH]

I thought there was some 3d effect when performing specials in Ninja Commando. Maybe I'm mixing it up with another game.

You can Errr all you want. I could care less what you think. I've been playing the Neo-Geo for almost 3 decades and I like what like. You asked why I like Ninja Commando and I told you. I'm not arguing, just giving you my opinion.

Err the fuck off.

So you were mistaken about something and then tell me to "Err the fuck off" when I only said that about the thing I wanted clarification on. Okay! If it was about the C button specials, I understand, but that's just good ol' fashioned sprite scaling since they always tried to work that into all those old Neo-Geo games.

I've been playing Neo-Geo games for 31 years too if you want to play the seniority card. Have a nice day

 

[max 330 mega]

Neither game is great. Sold my aes copy of ninja commando. Sold my mvs copy of 2nd squad. Never felt the need to re-acquire either one.

 

[oliverclaude]

Why do I feel like putting a bullet in every squeaking baby seal that wouldn't even care to quit sunbathing, while a heavy wooden club of a sealer is just about to crush its thin skull... right after playing 2nd Squad?? Seriously, though, as much as I like Ninja Commando, the way this game forces you to use this down/up move and other stick-breaking combos is downright bugging. The typical "one-move-game" concept was far better executed in 8man or the second Sengoku. Yet, it's NC that keeps me coming back for more, not 2nd Squad. Maybe because the former's hard to master and hard to play? Yeah, kinda like a slut in cart form.

 

[Yamazaki]

2nd Squad - although the graphics and slowdowns are not that nice it still holds up to other mid-level NG titles in my opinion.


and the OST is rad.

 

[Raguy]

me before I clicked on this thread - "Certainly most people here are going to say 2nd Squad is better, right?"

....oh.

I don't get it, I think people really overexaggerate how bad Shock Troopers 2nd Squad is, because it's not a bad game at all. It's a worse game than the original Shock Troopers, but the original Shock Troopers is also one of the best games on the Neo-Geo, so there was no way it could ever live up to the lofty heights of the original. But 2nd Squad... is not bad! Yes, the slowdown sucks, yes the pre-rendered graphics are weird. Nobody's mentioned the bad balance with the lifebars and the half-assed special weapon system, and how you take >50% damage from pretty much every hit from stage 3 on... but at this point I don't really expect most people on this forum to really dig into gameplay-related discussion.

Despite all these things, I still think Shock Troopers 2nd Squad is a good game. It does do some things that the original doesn't have, like vehicles and the multiplier bonuses for consecutive close-range kills. That stuff is fun! And the game is still a fun challenge to play for 1CC purposes, although Leon and Toy got a much easier time. Pretty fun to play for score too if you don't know about the stage 4 leech point. It's a satisfying game that people write off too quickly because "eww slowdown, ewww graphics, this game is garbage". But it's not! Because it has the Shock Troopers name everyone compares it to the original, which is unavoidable but also puts this clear bias in people's minds that the game is automatically trash. I am certain more people would be more accepting of it if it was taken as its own game and didn't have to live in the shadow of it's predecessor.

Always interesting to see feedback on gameplay mechanic by a superplayer like you. After all, lastly you were mastering fixeight and outzone.
I was playing second squad and despite big slowdown and some ugly cg rendering, it remains fun. I like large boss fight on the train and also when we fought another boss on a mini boat. Theses moments are entertaining.

To me, ninja commando is sort of continuation of time soldiers. ( same developer, same time travel with prehistoric stage, world war stage, asian medieval stage ...)

 

[Atro]

I'm all for Ninja Commando.

2nd squad is far from being a bad game tho. I think it suffers from the same illness of Toaplan's Fixeight. While Fixeight isn't bad, it just doesn't cut it like Outzone.

Fixeight and 2nd squad are the best examples of sequels that are actually worse than the first ones, while not being bad games on their own right.

 

[Digmac]

If someone came up to me and asked to play some two player 2nd Squad, I’d ask them if we could play the first Shock Troopers instead. If someone asked me to play some two player Ninja Commando, I’d take them up on it. Simple as that.

 

[ggallegos1]

I prefer the art style and quickness of Ninja Commando. I don't think 2nd squad is as bad as everyone says, however you have to admit it's going to be compared to ST, and that alone is going to knock it down.