This week we've got a horizontal Shooter to offer, developed by the Japanese niche developer NMK. Just like Psikyo or Cave, NMK was also known for releasing primarily Arcade Shooters in the 90's. Well-received titles were for example the P47 or Thunder Dragon series (for further information check our NMK thread).
Let us know what do you think of this obscure Neo Geo shooter and participate in our official High Score Challenge, Priest is already waiting for your numerous entries!
Zed Blade / Operation Ragnarök
Genre: Horizontal Shooter Players: 2 Size: 110 MEGS Released on: MVS, AES (Conversion)
Brief Description:
Zed Blade / Operation Ragnarök is an arcade game from NMK, released in 1994 as a Neo Geo MVS cartridge for the MVS (arcade) system. Zed Blade is known in Japan as Operation Ragnarök.
One or two players simultaneously choose one of three characters to play, each with varying speeds at which they control their ships. A selection of three weapons are used for the front and rear of the selected ship. The player has to destroy various enemy ships and the boss near the end of the planet while traveling through every planet in the solar system. Weapons can be upgraded during the battle, and Hyper Bombs (that cause maximum damage) can be collected.
There is a lot of uniqueness that makes this one my fav horizantal shooters. The multiple weapon selection combinations give this game a good replay value. I personally prefer 3-Way front, Homing Missile and 2-Way rear. When getting powerups its interesting that the enemy you obtain it from is tough not weak. If you'll notice the ships you play as all seem to be in the shape of futuristic handguns. Certain robotic enemies have a mild resemblance to the robotic machines from Epic Megagames' "One Must Fall 2097". The bosses indeed are a really challenge especially the insane ship which requires rear firing skills otherwise maximum bombs to defeat. When I reached Jupiter I was expecting to be hovering across one its moons like Io that you commonly see in space video games and what a surprise I got to find that level took place on the Surface of the planet itself, which is made of liquid and gas.
There are only two music tracks that I'm keen on. The music track that plays on the moon level and Jupiter, which gives that thrill of taking off. The other is the title screen track. Some of the other musics I don't quite like due to the singer yelling like a maniac blended with the music track.
I think that Zed Blade is rather overlooked and underestimated since the other shooters catch players' attention better. I don't think a first try will disappoint new players.
I used to have this on MVS and never really got on with it. To be quite honest, it looks like a Megadrive game, and that's not what I expect from a Neo Geo.
After the initial disappointment I never really could get into the game at all. I did try a few times, but why play this when you can play the sublime delights of Blazing Star or Pulstar?
So um, yeah. Guess which of the poll votes is mine..... Edited by -SD- on 06. March 2012 21:31
Man I gotta get this game fast! I've played it with some friends and I must say it really looks and plays like a dream. One of my favorite Neo Geo Shmups.
I've always really liked this NMK shoot 'em up. It's actually one of my favourite Neo Geo shooters. I like how you can customize your weapon configuration at the start and when powered up you do have considerable firepower at your disposal. Also I like that the difficulty is a lot more forgiving than some other Neo Geo shooters. The first four stages shouldn't be a problem for anyone although from stage 5 onwards it does get quite intense at times.
I like how the scoring works in this game like being able to boost your score by shooting the background scenery at close range and there's plenty of scope for milking the bosses. Sure graphically it could have been a bit better but it looks ok. The Manabu Namiki soundtrack is a major plus the music in stage 2 being particularly good.
Thanks for linking to the NMK thread Murikov. It's hard to find info on the net about this developer so if anyone comes across anything of interest please post it in there.
merlin wrote:
I like how the scoring works in this game like being able to boost your score by shooting the background scenery at close range and there's plenty of scope for milking the bosses. Sure graphically it could have been a bit better but it looks ok. The Manabu Namiki soundtrack is a major plus the music in stage 2 being particularly good.
Nice to know about the scoring system and the background scenery don't think I've been playing this enough then
Not sure how I overlooked this game for so many years.. especially since shooters are one of my favorite genres, but this game is pretty awesome! Love the music, and the levels are mostly pretty well designed. I like the customization of the ships. I don't like how the ship sprite is so large.. and I haven't played through the entire game yet, just the first 4 levels, but looking forward to putting more time in this weekend.
I plan to get this one day, sometime in the future. Shame it's MVS only though as that means I either have to get a conversion (ugh!) or a CMVS of some description.
I would never use an MVS convertor personally. UNLESS I was solely playing ONLY MVS games on that AES via the convertor, then I wouldn't mind, but I wouldn't like to keep swapping it in and out. Like I said, it's a personal thing.
Like I said though, shame this never got an AES release, as it looks great...
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