Gana Blade is an Excellent Working Man's Shmup
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- čas přidán 8. 12. 2023
- Gana Blade is an Excellent Working Man's Shmup. And what I mean by this analogy is that, even though the game isn't doing anything particularly new or innovative, it is still very well made and pays close attention to the small details that a lot of other indie shmups struggle with. It's reliable and well made, but not particularly flashy. Gana Blade has tight pace, fun bullet patterns, challenging but lenient difficulty, and a full array of modes and stages. It is the quintessential solid release, though not without some big oversights like the lack of an online leader board or tate rotation (this trend of removing tate must be stopped).
This year, 2023, has been pretty slim on new shmup releases and so I was really excited to try out this new Toaplan / Compile, inspired shmup. If this release snuck under your radar, I don't blame you, it snuck under mine as well. If you are a fan of Toaplan, PC Engine, Compile, and that manic era of shmups that had a good deal of tight dodging, but also some hard memo sections (like Gana Blade's fire stage), then this release is worth paying attention to. It finds a really nice balance between having you memo your route, but then also giving you enough advanced warning (because of the background layer) to prepare yourself and react. The boss fights are generally excellent as well and I dig it's sort of NES Final Fantasy sprite style. I just wish it integrated it's pilot characters into the gameplay a bit more, but this is a common problem across the genre generally.
As of right now you can get Gana Blade on Steam only, and it is absolutely worth the humble price of $5. Even if you don't plan on spending hundreds of hours mastering its scoring system, it's still a really fun 1cc for the average to above average skill level player. I had a fun time with it and it's sort of breezy cool style.
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#shmup, #shootemup, #bullethell - Hry
There's a 3rd ship: Select the ship on the left by keeping pressed keys J and L on the keyboard. Also, I agree 100% with you, but I feel like this game has more Compile influence than Toaplan.
Oh sick I had no idea there was a secret ship! Yeah the compile and toaplan styles overlap in my mind, though I think visually at least it is getting some cool ideas from grindstormer with the whole squaresoft rpg look :-)
I'm not seeing Toaplan. This game definitely has some strong Gun-Nac and Zanac vibes, with IREM structure blended with a more modern Blue Revolver bullet hell structure for good measure and Crisis Force aesthetics. The weapons are practically the same. The Compile influence is not subtle. Probably a bit easier though. Which is fine. It's still fun and fairly exciting. The world needs more Compile.
wish there were more games that show the enemies positions before they appear on screen. reducing the memorisation helped shmups to survive as they changed from oldschool memorizers to danmaku, and there's a lot of room to evolve further in that direction.
Yeah I think it s a really clever idea. See this is the gana blade does well. It s not some mind blowing feature, but it s a really elegant touch on traditional design
It's a very good game, and I think it sets a good example of what indie shmups should strive to achieve.
I'm following his work closely, he'll release a Contra style Run'n'gun now.
Oh yes I can tell the dev really knows his stuff on a deeper level, there are a lot of really neat touches that show he gets it, so I ll def keep a close eye on future releases from him!
It goes down smooth and is a well crafted experience. Some of my favourite games regardless of genre are not innovators but instead simply joyous and high quality, GanaBlade now joins them! Good review man!
Yes exactly, that's a great way to describe the game :-)
I currently have 2 clears on Normañ as Type-B and Type-C.
I adore this game so much!
it's a really fun one!
I really like the way that this game looks! The colors of the bullets look so nice with the backgrounds. It’s a bit understated at first glance, but it also seems quite tasteful. There’s a nice subtlety to the sprites and backgrounds, which make everything seem cohesive and complimentary. There’s a lot of visual information going on, but it never seems too fatiguing or visually draining. That’s a hard balance to find, especially when trying to make a game stick out now a days.
Yes and the game plays a lot better than you would think just looking at the footage. Again, it's a game that's not going to immediately stand out as excellent at first glance, but it has a fantastic attention to detail.
Here is my review on steam , anxious to know if w share some points.
Good shmup in the style of compile but with some modern conveniences. The presentation is great (both audio and graphics), the bullet visibility is good but could improve in some areas. The level design is creative, and altough the stages may appear big for this type of game, they never feel like that because there is variety and things never got to stale.the price is a bargain. you have 3 types of weapons and can obtain two side cannons through pickup powerups. You gain coins when you kill enemyes. The atributes of the player ship (bomb, speed weapon powe , etc) can be bought in the end of the levels and are permanent for the rest of the game. Also not so easy to identify the priority of powerups to buy. I am not fan of this system. would prefer something similiar with ragingblasters, where you have the same atrributes all the game, only change speed with a specific button and change weapon thropugh pickup. There is a dificulty level without shop but the difficulty is high for the average player. The boss are amazing and the best thing of this game, very creative, with different behaviors, but not overly complex. also they have some bullet hell influences in their patterns. One thing i like in this game is that bosses sometimes have audio clues for attacks (something neglected in many shmups). The lack of speed button specially on these fights makes some battle more hard than should be, because you only have a speed and lack the control. a focus button or a 3 speed changeble button would be more suitable. Sometimes is to slow, sometimes is to fast as it depends on the spending of the shop. The difficulty is acessible and right. There is no leaderboards. In the end we have a prety fun and good shmup that could be improved . Considering the price it was a excelenT surprise and more than fair.
Oh yes there is a ton of overlap in our reviews! You should talk to m.knight on possibly working with him on the steam shmup stg curator, that was a really solid analysis!
Wow, a blue collar shmup. I never thought I’d live to see the day.
Yeah ha, I think it's a fun analogy to describe the game :-)
@@TheElectricUnderground love it bub!
Ah, now I feel old cause when I first saw this my reaction was 'whoah!' and thoughts of aleste and compile and couldnt wait to play the demo.
Great review.
Ha the game did get you a few times then :-) I think the biggest highlight for me were some of the boss fights where I could see some little nods to Blackheart and even radiant silvergun diamond dodge pattern :-)
Glad you enjoyed Gana Blade I’m glad I didn’t screw you over with my vote lol.
Totally agree about the YOKO-VERTS. I mentioned the gutters in my Missile Dancer vid… even with a TATE option there is a significant gameplay advantage to playing in YOKO. I think it was Touhou influence too, but also maybe streaming and tubes? I rarely see videos or streams in TATE.
I have an ASUS VG289Q Gaming Monitor and it has a built in swivel so it’s a breeze to switch orientation. The genre is so niche already, developers should make the effort to cater to hardcore options like TATE, practice modes, etc.
Yes great choice with your vote! The patrons tend to have really good taste :-) I think the only patreon voted game that I felt kinda meh about was that crazy treasure game, Silhouette Mirage, other than that they've all been pretty awesome! Also I watched your missile dancer commentary and really enjoyed it ha! I hope you do more game commentaries, it was a fun listen :-)
@@TheElectricUnderground Thanks brother! You were a big inspiration. Somewhere in the Underground Archives you talked about new players putting commentary out there.... glad to know you didn't regret saying that (yet) haha
In defense of this game not having a TATE option, Compile's most famous shmups were made for 4:3 TV screens since they were console games and clearly this game borrows from Compile so I don't see it as a big problem.
I get it, but I think console shmups have learned since then to include Tate. Also the game is aimed at a crossover bullet hell audience, so I think Tate would be a wise inclusion as well. It s also dead easy to put in games, especially in an engine like unity. This is where homage of an older style should be updated I think.
This game is fun as hell, and like you said, there's nothing much about it that makes it stand out. But since I bought it, I've been hella addicted to playing it on my Steam Deck. The music's great, I like the upgrade system, and its just good ol' plain fun. It doesn't try to reinvent the wheel, it just a good, inexpensive shump.
absolutely! When I first started playing the game, I was sort of surprised by how much fun I was having ha. It's really well made which is a virtue that doesn't come across immediately or in preview footage.
I’ve noticed your channel is starting to grow faster and faster. Or so it seems. You deserve it man! You’re my favorite CZcamsr at this point.
Apparently I already had this on my Wishlist but only just remembering now. Looks like my kind of game. Will have to try it out at some point!
Oh yeah be sure to pick it up, i do think you will enjoy it :-)
fan tastic, i love when games prove to be consistent and well rounded, specially now that everyone's trying to reinvent the genre to set themselves apart
Exactly! I agree. It's not a type of game that's gonna make a big splash at first, but I can see it really hanging around as a fan favorite over the years.
Thanks for showing this one off!
Will you review the new M2 Shot Triggers Switch release?
Hey Mark, is there any time window for the part 3 of beatemup video release? It's been announced for autumn and it's 10th of december now, will we even see it at that point? Most anticipated video for me
It should be here in the near future! There is another vid with Kreigor coming out pretty soon :-) Part 3 is really special to me, so I'm getting all prepped for it.
Sounds perfect! I appreciate you telling us about it.
Yes! This one snuck under the radar, so I'm glad to help spread the word about it.
Have you consider on making a video about shmup that survival depends on scoring vs survival that doesnt encoursge scoring? I know shmups where scoring is a key factor for survival like Castle of Shikigami and Deathsmiles then there are games where squeezing for score isnt recommended like ReFlex and Striker 1945(maybe i am wrong, if so please debunk me).
I tried to make a dedicated vid on this type of thing once (score splitting) and no one watched it ha. I think what I'll do though is bring up topics like this in specific game reviews, like my upcoming review of DOJ I will talk about the score and survival design of that game.
As a newer Sub to your channel I really enjoy your focus on balanced games that give you what your looking for in its Genre. I also haven't played many shmups since my days on the Dreamcast. Mars Matrix, Ikaruga, Gunbird 2, Giga Wing 2, and Under Defeat were my jelly back in the day. I have a renewed interest since purchasing a PS4 Pro recently with a MAYFLASH Arcade Stick F500 Elite. I admittedly purchased it for 2D fighters, but some Shmups are definitely a great time with this controller.
Battle Garegga 👍
I suspect a lot of the reason for ignoring the tate is twofold. First, devs probably know most people playing will do so on a standard 16:9 monitor in landscape mode. Second, if they want to make real money with the game, they'll end up pouring it to the Switch. The number of us who will go to the trouble of playing the Switch in tate mode is a small minority. So while the trend is unfortunate, I don't think it's going to change unless more fans begin to demand it.
I agree Completely. I know Tate is not a commercial option and the vast majority of players ignore it. But I am a Tate man and so I will defend the option and insist on it s inclusion till the bitter end ha. The devs will feel the pressure to include it as long as I m around lol
@@TheElectricUnderground I say keep pushing for it, and maybe eventually they'll start hearing you and include it.
But the Switch is probably the easiest console to play in Tate mode (not docked at least) - just stand the screen on its own in portrait mode and connect a controller using a USB adapter.
@@rosstee this is true, but how many people outside of the hard-core crowd are doing that?
@@GameBoyGuru No idea, but I wouldn't call myself hardcore despite still loving shmups as well as other genres. All the Arcade Archives vertical shooters and even games like Donkey Kong which used a rotated monitor support Tate mode, so the developer of a vertical shmup not including it would look quite lazy, as it's the optimal way to play.
This looks solid! Nice, simple, but eye-catching visuals as well. Oh sweet, just checked it out and it's only $5. I had pick it up for that price. Should make for a nice ep of Shmup tourism.
Loving that ice stage that is like a vertical version of the ice stage in Thunder Force 3 - similar enemies, similar background
Great review, I always appreciate coverage on the indie leg of the genere.
Do you plan on doing any updated videos on the state of the Mister project for arcade players? I'm interested in your takes on the Raizing and Cave core preformances, particularly against the best of the current software based emulation programs.
Oh that is a really cool idea! Yes I do need to make a mister update video, especially now since I can play Sin and punishment on it! That would be cool to compare it to software emulation as well :-)
Thanks for the content!
Thanks for tuning in!!
It was refreshing to hear your critiques and to see that you had fun with the game!@@TheElectricUnderground
Hey Mark, thanks for the review. I dig shooters in the style of Toaplan and/or Compile, so I just watched a few minutes of your review, read your video description, and then added it to my Steam wish list. I hope you don't mind me not watching all the review so I could avoid little spoilers with the visuals or game design, lol. Thanks again!
Ha the acceptable solution is to leave the video playing till the very end, but run out of the room to avoid spoilers XD
I see your point, I will try harder to assist with your average viewer retention rankings next time! 🤣Maybe if there is a super secret stealth launch of Battle Garegga on Steam like was done with Radiant Silvergun earlier, I will make sure it runs a lot longer!!
I do drink my coffee black and I did recently 1cc Gana Blade.
In all seriousness though, I really liked this game and it felt the shop added some utility for a relative newcomer like me without making it feel too easy. I also totally back the complaint about no real training mode. I had everything except the last boss down to a consistent 1cc, but it was really annoying to practice b/c in order to have the loadout I would end up using in my actual 1cc attempts, I would have to play through the whole game then reset after I died to the boss.
You are both the literal and figurative working man drinking your black coffee :D Yeah the lack of training mode options for the boss was an oversight, especially for the final boss so you don't have to keep replaying the last stage over and over.
Drinkin' my black coffee as I watch this 8)
Liked the video! Pretty much exactly how I felt about it. I was on the fence at first about the shop system, but, like you mention, it really rewards for playing well. Difficulty wasn't too hard either, but I think it was fun without it being ball busting. Pretty much the only reason you won't 1CC hard mode right off the bat is because of the fire pillars lol.
I *do* wish this game has replay though. I'm tired of having to use OBS D:
You are both the literal and figurative working man drinking your black coffee :-D I also agree about the replay system. From what I understand though, it sounds like making replay systems in unity is really hard, at least that's what some devs have told me. Yet another reason why unity might not be a strong option for the genre.
0:41 totally the ice stage in Thunderforce III. Nice review, the oldschool / newschool ballance is my bag.
Do you have a video on the CRT you use for TATE mode? I'd be really interested in seeing that set up
I know this is an oldish video - but I to your comments on unity/v-sync as a shmup dev making a game in unity - vsync is a configurable option - i.e. as a dev you can set whether or not vsync is enabled in your project (as well as expose it thru a UI to allow players to turn on/off). vsync will be enabled by default when you start a new project in unity, so it's up to the dev to go and turn it off.
I really like Ganablade too. In recently creator announcement that LKK Games is making a new Run & Gun title called G Warrior that currently in development and plans to be released next year. 😁👍
I will absolutely check that out! This dev definitely knows his stuff
When is your DDP3 video coming out? Holding off on purchasing it until you release your expert opinion on it! Thx
Nice rec while waiting on the daioujou review
absolutely! DOJ is coming soon.
You can turn off V sync using the launch commands in the properties window for any Steam game.
The command should be (-vsync false), I'll leave a reply with some links for it and hopefully CZcams doesn't hide it.
Have you seen G Warrior, a run n' gun by the same developer?
I'm a working man and I'm currently drinking black coffee. Sounds like this is for me.
Yes, you are the intended audience it sounds like :-)
Ahh but what about those of us who want a white collar, white shoe, high class, high society shmup?!
(Great review BTW)
A taste I absolutely respect ha! In that case you'll want to play some Ikaruga XD Ikaruga is like the fancy man shmup.
9:37 "the game is on the easier side." *dodges an inhuman amount of bullets perfectly on screen*
I thoroughly enjoyed that review!
To me the game really missed kind of feature that makes it stand out. The black coffee comparison really hit home for me though. I can see myself enjoying it as a no-nonsense kind of shmup
It definitely is visually pleasing though, and I see what you mean with the 16 bit JRPG vibes.
for sure Steve, it could really benefit from a nice meaty hook to pull in players, but it is well made and that's not something that's super common these days ha.
OK. I'm not going to get annoyed. But a bullet hell style of game is note an update. The bullet hell game you are a bullet. The ship is just for show. In trad games like Raiden Trad (Seibu Keihatsu (or something...)) the ship is the hit box. So when you combine a tight pattern of slowly moving bullets with a large hitbox, you have no choice but to simply lessen the amount of and speed of the bullet sprays. So you have bullet hell lite now. Toaplan games are quite different to bullet hell in this way. The bullets are fast and erratic and you are training in reflex movement. It's generally difficult to memorise every enemy behaviour and bullet pattern. So you have to kill them before they fire their bullet. So the emphasis is on killing enemies as soon as possible. As far as bullets go, you are trying to keep the screen as clear of them as possible by killing enemies as fast as you can at the same time as dodging incoming fire and possible stage hazards.
So if you try to combine these two styles you get less of both, not synergy.
It makes sense to stick to 240p res for this kind of game because it makes everything easier to see.
I just realized that you turned Reimu(Touhou) into a constraction worker. Who made that thumbnail?
I am a fan of Toaplan
I think you ll enjoy this one then!
Any shmup with a shop is an automatic skip for me 😂 I'm glad they included the old school mode
Yeah if you don't want to deal with the shop, just pop in to EX retro and your good to go :-) I'm glad they also have a shop-less mode as well
Reminds me of Judgement Silversword on wonderswan.
what do you think about metal gear rising revengeance? will you ever cover it? i think it'd fit along with all of the other stuff that you cover. it's my favorite character action game. i like it more than bayonetta and even ninja gaiden lol
YOU ARE IN LUCK MY FRIEND, that game won the patreon voted review this month, so I'm reviewing it next month.
@@TheElectricUnderground that's perfect lol. gonna love the video.
weapons are straight from gun-nac, even the cute anime girl in shop is still there waiting for you.
I mean I never seen the shopkeeper before, and she terrifys me.
Ha she is so scuffed lol, I think the eyes being animated but nothing else makes it worse somehow.
Is this game gonna make it to the ps4?
Hey, I drink my coffee straight out the maker, blek
Great review! - I kinda see it as more of a compile style shmup vs a toaplan style shmup as a basis... but with that bullet hell sensibility.... although I dont think it nails the brief of "new game in the style of compile" because the weapons are just so imbalanced to me.... I hear you on the toaplan thing with how tanky some of the bosses are though, now I think about it! def a mix of observations across many classic dev styles
I wonder if AI will be able to code this for the Sega Saturn.... & while it's at it expand the playing field. I do hate those black bars. They anger me. Like mental claustrophobia. Allowing a slight safety zone will be appreciated. Power ups being only dropped in the middle. Looks cool 😎
Beat the shit out of this game. Fun game.
Looks not bad at all. I don't know what's with some of these names though. Drainus. Gana Blade. They're STG's not STD's *badum-psshhhhhh*
History of beaten ups 3 where?
I'm only playing this because of the brief waifu portraits. I'm an easy, fickle mark
I respect that ha, they are pretty cute! Shame we don't get more of them though.
@TheElectricUnderground there's always a tradeoff for some reason between gameplay and fan service. One exception is Rabi Ribi, an action platformer with awesome bullet hell bosses and non linear traversal
play demo, see compile, like a lot, instabuy, never play again still
lol. A lot of “one of these days” games in my Steam library too.
Gun nac
gun nac uber alles
GanaBlade is called GanaBlade because the BLADE was GAN to begin with.
That makes alot of sense
I've never heard anyone say they prefer the red ship. For the way the levels are designed, I think it's just objectively worse. Like, it only has one weapon that can attack to the side, and it can only do so if there's also something to bounce shots off of ahead of you. It's kind of annoying to play with how much wave activity happens in the lower half of the screen.
I get what you’re saying and I’ll keep that recommending in mind when I start playing the game. But as someone that edited magazines for years, you might want to erase the word “objectively” from your post because it undermines the point you’re making. Preferences are inherently subjective and the rest of the paragraph does a good job of supporting your reasoning for that preference. All the use of the word objectively does is (ironically) make you seem less objective than you otherwise appear to be.
Claiming that having one preference over another is objectively worse is an oxymoron. Preferences can’t be measured the way DPS or speed can, so preferring one pattern over another can’t objectively be better or worse the way that a ship can objectively have a higher DPS or higher speed than another ship. :)
Sooo curious what “working man” schmup means lol
Hey Mark! How do you feel about the presence of "big-titty anime" girls in SHMUPs lately? It seems very prevalent in the genre -- but adds little to nothing to the game. I find it to be cringe and it dissuades me from wanting to play some games. Gana Blade is a great example -- Gunvein is another. These are great games gameplay-wise -- but the horny characterization seems off-kilter to me.
It's just a new compile game!
I don't like the waifus of this game though
i like guwange.
& from guwange i wanted more games like this but coldnt find any. esrade1&2 r goodtoo but guwange hasthat old jp improbable history. i just discovered vasara1&2 & amhappy. got any others?
vasara,guwange there s a common theme there i cant find other shmup that would belong in there