#CAProductions

[posthumanwanderings]

Bulk Slash (CAProductions / Hudson Soft - Sega Saturn - 1997)

[acquired-stardust]

Game Spotlight #4: Bulk Slash (1997)

Acquired Stardust’s first spotlight on a Sega Saturn game! Come join Ash as she takes a look at a game that never made it outside of Japan with 1997′s Bulk Slash!

The Sega Saturn has long been a fascinating subject to me, its rise and fall perhaps the culmination of a whirlwind of internal company politics and a rapidly changing landscape of both hardware and software. The attitude among gamers well into the 6th generation of consoles was as though its failure was a foregone conclusion not through any nuanced variety of factors, but because “duh, the Saturn sucked!”, the sort of take that time and hindsight allows to fester into a comfortable, easily repeatable opinion that you’ve heard enough people say that you too assume must be true.

But I’m happy to report that in my time experiencing a variety of titles on the Saturn in an attempt to satiate my longstanding curiosity, the Saturn doesn’t suck! In fact, the Saturn has been something that has consistently delivered games that surpassed my expectations. Daytona USA brought home a legendary racing title with a soundtrack as infamous as it is glorious (I’m personally of the opinion that Takenobu Mitsuyoshi is a genius and his involvement in anything always makes me happy), Capcom’s legendary run of fighting games was captured almost in its entirety on the Saturn, having ports of Street Fighter 2, the entire run of the Street Fighter Alpha series as well as Darkstalkers and what was at that time the entire selection of crossover games with Marvel, all of which looked significantly better than their Playstation port counterparts. SNK brought its own excellent array of arcade fighting game ports to home consoles in multiple King of Fighters releases alongside The Last Blade.

All of this is to say that the Saturn had something of a reputation as a system dominated by high quality arcade ports, which at the time was a significant thing to be able to say about a home console.  It’s a talking point that has settled into that comfortable space of easily repeatable factoid that may or may not be true, but in this case it is. The Sega Saturn was indeed home to high quality arcade ports, but something that’s lost in that conversation is just how many interesting, experimental and high quality titles don’t fit the mold of ‘taking something you played in the arcade and bringing it home’ - the Saturn-exclusive games. One such example is 1997′s Bulk Slash, developed by a little-known company called CAProductions in partnership with  since-defunct publisher Hudson. It was only the developer’s fourth game, and their first try at the emerging world of 3D games, a world in which conventional wisdom is that the Saturn struggled with.

Bulk Slash is something of a mix of Macross and Zeta Gundam, stylistically. An action game with a mech that transforms into a jet, featuring a story about military factions causing trouble of the genocidal variety to avenge alleged oppression. Switching freely between mech and jet forms, the main character Cress pilots his conspicuously Gundam-like mech in a campaign to defeat the Gardona military which has managed to wrap up his childhood friend Riizen into its ranks through political events prior to the start of the game. Playing out across seven stages each with different goals and a boss fight to close out the mission, the player can collect various score-boosting items as well as health recovery items and weapon upgrades not unlike Contra or Metal Slug. Bulk Slash controls remarkably well for a game featuring both a humanoid combatant in its mech running around shooting and throwing grenades as well as a jet, all while not utilizing a secondary right thumbstick for camera controls, which are instead relegated to shoulder buttons on the controller. The action is fairly fast paced with an impressive frame rate, only slowing down in instances of large chained explosions going off in certain circumstances. Just as well, the graphics and art style are quite good (almost reminiscent of the rise of the recent ‘2DHD’ art style), and the soundtrack very fitting for its time though not especially memorable.

Layered into the fairly standard (albeit impressive) action gameplay is the ‘M.I.S.S’ mechanic (which stands for ��Manageable Intelligent Support System’), a collection of 7 NPCs which must be located in each of Bulk Slash’s 7 stages serving as navigators for Cress, giving direction on the location of targets and bosses. Each of these NPCs are girls of various design, occupation and personality, including one who throws lots of English phrases into her otherwise Japanese speech which is very entertaining. Bulk Slash’s M.I.S.S system is more than meets the eye however, adding light dating sim mechanics into the game, with all 7 girls having their own endings and CG art unlocked depending on the player’s score upon defeat of the game’s final boss. It’s a small thing but really goes a long way in providing an experience that’s just varied and customizable enough. Having only 7 missions, the game is not especially long and only saves after successful runs through it after defeating the final boss, which itself has a boss gauntlet before it that can be a little rough while you’re still getting used to the game but if you put time into the game you’ll soon be able to defeat them without taking too much (or even any) damage, assisted by the fact that each of them seems to have timings for which you can score a critical hit, either dealing heavy damage or sometimes even outright destroying them in one blow.

Bulk Slash, as previously mentioned, was never released outside of Japan but the game is relatively simple to navigate and understand, being communicated very well visually. There was also a recent English translation patch which is a little hit or miss translation and localization-wise, but otherwise should assist people who don’t speak Japanese in understanding the story and character interactions, which is surprisingly good (and surprisingly dark at times) and a clear love letter to Universal Century Gundam.

Bulk Slash was the second Saturn game I ever played (after the all-time classic Daytona USA, for those wondering), and I’m glad it was such an early stop in the tour of the Saturn library because it shows off a lot of the strengths of the platform as well as bucking some of the usual talking points about the system, such as not doing 3D very well. It also layers in some of Japan’s big gaming trends at the time, such as dating sim elements most that most prominently and recently (at the time anyway) helped make Sakura Taisen a big hit on the platform just a year earlier. It’s a shame Bulk Slash never saw release outside of Japan as it would probably have done fairly well and be fondly remembered, and it’s definitely the sort of game that feels as though it would be pretty popular were it to have been an indie game releasing today.

A gem hidden among the stones, Bulk Slash is undoubtedly stardust.

--Ash

[vgadvisor]

[hardcore-gaming-101]

Top 47K - B.L.U.E.: Legend of Water

Join the HG101 gang as they discuss and rank a Hudson-published PS1 adventure about a scuba-diver and her dolphin.

[miloscat]

[Review] Blue: Legend of Water (PSX)

A primitive 3D diving adventure.

I’m now following up my Subnautica: Below Zero run by playing other aquatic-themed games. This one is more in line with games like Endless Ocean and Beyond Blue, a third person adventure about diving to discover mysteries under the sea. Compared to these more recent games, it has less wildlife interaction and more of a faux-archaeological focus, attached to dated Japanese adventure game conventions... but it has a cool dolphin companion!

Blue (or “b.l.u.e.” as it’s pretentiously rendered) was developed by CAProduction, who had done a few action games previously and who afterwards seem to have sadly been consigned to toil in the Mario Party co-developer mines. It’s quite unlike anything else they made and stands out for its ambition in the time of early 3D games. I played it using the English translation patch finalised late last year by Hilltop, as it was previously Japan-exclusive. They did a great job localising it so it feels very natural.

The story is set in the near future and has Maia, a young woman, visiting her dad at his research base studying some sunken ruins. She goes for dives with Luka the dolphin who is apparently “on the payroll”, finding that the ancient technology reacts to her uniquely. This leads to danger in a sunken ship, puzzles and traps in various sections of the ruin, strange creatures, some light political intrigue, and ultimately an “ancient aliens” conspiracy and destiny-of-humanity type stuff.

The diving gameplay is serviceable and simple. An air meter is your only concern, as damage from enemies and traps just drains air. A slow turning circle and dodgy camera in the often tight confines of the dives can lead to a feeling of clumsiness, but it’s difficult to get lost with the game’s generous provision of maps and frequent air refill spots. The puzzles are not too taxing, and the AI dolphin buddy is a nice addition that works well enough with its simple toolset of commands, while lending a gratifying air of companionship to the adventure.

The pain points for me were the segments in between dives, where you wander the base and interact with the other scientists and workers stationed there. The pace is incredibly plodding, with Maia slowly waddling between points of interest (many of them empty most of the time) and the dialogue crawling by. On top of this are poorly-conceived logic gates, where progress happens seemingly randomly, and hidden flags locking away the better endings are determined by you catching missable scenes and doing particular actions in the right order. A first-time player has no hope of playing these tedious sections “correctly” so I highly recommend using a guide as I did to save my sanity. After all, I’m here for the diving adventure, not for a player-hostile point-and-click experience.

My big takeaway for Blue is how ahead of its time it was. This kind of cinematic diving adventure feels very limited by the hardware with its warping textures, and the low polygon count forcing small and simplified environments, as well as by its sometimes clunky controls. But as an early example of this type of game it’s quite accomplished and has a pretty well-developed world. Also, did I mention the dolphin friend? (You also get a dinosaur friend later on!)

[viciogame]

🎮 Blue: Legend of Water (Playstation)

Complete Gameplay: https://youtu.be/Wp-Rq1hGlr0

#Blue #LegendOfWater #HudsonSoft #CAProduction #Hudson #RPG #Adventure #Maya #Sony #PlayStation #PSX #PsOne #Play1 #PS #PS1 #PS2 #PS3 #PS4 #PS5 #dolphin #golfinho #Flipper #underwater #Ocean #Water #TombRaider #プレイステーション #ソニー #Viciogame #Gameplay #Walkthrough #Playthrough #Longplay #LetsPlay #Game #Videogames #Games

[archoneddzs15]

Sega Saturn - Bulk Slash

Title: Bulk Slash / バルク スラッシュ

Developer: CAProduction

Publisher: Hudson Soft

Release date: 11 July 1997

Catalogue No.: T-14310G

Genre: 3D Action Shooting

One of the most overlooked games I ever owned. The first time I put it on, it must have lasted about 10 minutes due to the odd control system. It wasn't until 8 months or so later I was feeling rather bored with no new game bought at that time, so I decided to give Bulk Slash another chance and am I glad that I did.

The introduction while not the greatest animation in the world really does set the mood for the game with its Macross like style. The game is a 3D flight shooter based around the cities of the world you live in. All areas are fully 3D polygon generated apart from the floor which is a mode 7 effect sprite meaning that it never pops up or fades away. This is a good thing since we all know that the Saturn is no 3D power house, so using the floor in this manner constantly gives the impression of distance. The actual polygon world fades in the closer you get to it, sort of like the effect used in Sonic R. The only thing that isn't polygon generated is your ship. That's a pre-rendered sprite, but still looks 3D'ish. The ship can run across the ground or fly by transforming in to the plane mode. Now remember that I said the controls were bad. Well, actually they aren't that bad to be honest once you get to grips with them. While on the ground, your mech walks backwards or forwards using the d-pad and strafes left or right by pressing left or right on the d-pad. To turn, you must use the L & R triggers. This is why I thought the controls were bad but preserve with it for a little, and you'll soon get the hang of it.

So not only does the game look and sound good, but it is actually great fun to play. Throughout each level, you are give a task that must be completed before being able to battle the boss of that stage. The stages are quite large as well as complicated with many hidden passages, tall buildings and sneaky enemies hiding around every alcove. Thankfully, you can find co-pilots throughout the stages who will guide you to the main targets. They do speak in Japanese however, so it would be a good idea to remember that Migi = Right and Hidari = Left.

If you get the chance to buy Bulk Slash then don't pass on it. A real quality 3D shooting for your Saturn.

[classic-games]

Bulk Slash

Developer: CAProduction   Publisher: Hudson Soft   Release: 07/11/97   Genre: Action Because of its early demise the Saturn never truly had a chance to show gamers what it could really do in the West. Most of the 3d titles gamers are familiar with are the Sega’s compromised ports of their arcade games of the time. But in Japan the Saturn has a unique library full of depth in every genre and more…

[abobobo]

Hagane: The Final Conflict (Super Famicom). CAProduction, 1994. (Source)

[obscurevideogames]

Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire

(CAProduction - PC Engine CD - 1995) 

[betagarci]

Si el otro día hablé de la maravilla de #hagane, hoy me ha dado por jugar a otro juegazo de #CAProduction. Este Kishin Douji Zenki: Battle Raiden si bien es más tosco y lento en el control, posee un un diseño espectacular, supongo que heredado del manga en que se basa (que no he leído). A destacar su apartado técnico, gráficos preciosos, las secuencias manga y ojito a esas voces digitalizadas en la #snes. Some days ago I wrote about Hagane and today I woke up wanting to play another game from CAProduction. #zenki Battle Raiden is slower and with a rough control however has an amazing design inherited from his #manga ( I have readen nothing about it). Take a look at his graphics, manga secuencies and some digitalised voices!! #nintendo #hudsonsoft #retrocollective #retrocollectivespain #instagamer #retrogamer #anime #superfamicom #supernintendo #sfc #action #adventure #platform #hudson #16bits https://www.instagram.com/p/B526RlOH-ef/?igshid=76nimyitvlnc

[posthumanwanderings]

B.L.U.E.: Legend of Water (CAProduction / Hudson Soft - PS1 - 1998)

[acquired-stardust]

Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire TurboGrafix-16/PC Engine 1995

[vgadvisor]

[kadobeclothing]

8 Online Thrift Stores For Affordable Vintage & Secondhand Clothing

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source https://www.kadobeclothing.store/8-online-thrift-stores-for-affordable-vintage-secondhand-clothing/