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Playing Galaga for the Famicom, extracted from the Steam version of Namco Museum Archives Volume 2 with MArchiveBatchTool and played in Mesen!
OH! In the video I called this the "NES" version but the ROM is actually the Japanese version, the Famicom version (modified with the modern BNEI copyright name on the title screen of course).
Turns out Bosconian, which I mentioned as a separate, 4-way shooter, ran on the same arcade hardware as Galaga! And so did Dig Dug.
Galaga came out a year or so after Pac-Man and man, those sound FX are definitely Pac-like, aren't they? Galaxian, the prequel to Galaga, came out BEFORE Pac-Man and uses different, non-Pac-like sounds.
Once the ships gather in formation at the top of the screen, their descent and fire is slightly randomized! So hm if you can get all the ships as they stream in at stage start, it'll play the same every time and you can memorize the whole thing, but if any get through, probably can't memorize from there--which is more what I like.
I'm gonna play the arcade version of Galaga next (from the Steam version of Arcade Game Series: Galaga), but I tried it for just a few minutes to get that instant mental comparison after playing the NES I mean FAMICOM version and spoiler: first impression is yeah I like the Fami version way better than the arcade version. ^ _^ The Famicom version's less vertical screen aspect ratio has the enemy ships closer to you, so the action is more in your face--and their increased proximity and larger relative size due to the lower resolution means the enemies are easier to hit! Also, less distance means less time before missed shots fly offscreen, and because you can only have two on-screen at once, that means that in effect, in the Fami version you can fire faster.
AND remember how I kept saying that as a kid I'd found Galaga just really slow. It DIDN'T actually feel that slow in the Famicom version...but it feels WAY slower in the arcade version; pretty sure your ship just moves a lot slower side-to-side in that one. SLoooW.
Er hm actually ENEMY ships may be slightly faster in the arcade version. = o Definitely even just due to the lower player ship motion and lengthened screen, the arcade version must be lots harder.
So yeah, this adorable pretty baby Famicom version kinda rules. ^ _^ |
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| | | From Arcade Archives Galaga'88 (entry 1697):
"Although, enemy dives ARE randomized, unlike arcade Galaga and both NES (2020) and arcade Gaplus--but LIKE Famicom Galaga! So maybe more specifically they kind of used Famicom Galaga as their basis for this. Strange to think that they would have developed the randomization of dive attacks specifically for Famicom Galaga, or so it seems; like, were they exploring new mechanics when they made that port?? Hm and they did make its background stars scroll at different speeds, vs the single speed of arcade Galaga's background, and that multi-speed scrolling starfield style was carried forward in Gaplus and '88. Now I'm going to be thinking of 1985's Famicom Galaga port as 'Galaga '85.' ^ _^ (Although that is unfair to even earlier Galaga ports like the Sord M5, SG-1000, and MSX versions which had already had multi-speed background starfields (but NOT the Atari 7800 version!).)" |
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