FZ: Formation Z

まだ変形ロボがロマンだった頃、こういうゲームが結構出てまして。 特に、ファミコンで結構やり込んだ方もいらっしゃるのではないでしょうか。 正直、R-Type Final2の件で開発スタジオにあまり信を置いていないのですが、このゲームに関しては杞憂でした。 実にフォーメーションZしています。 アートワークが安普請なのは否めませんし、出撃デモのスキップがポーズ＞Yを押すと煩雑だったりロゴが飛ばせなかったり、1ステージがメッチャ長いのに面セレクトが無く最初からでちょっとリプレイのカロリーが高かったり、 問題があちこちに散見されるゲームではあります。 残機が増えずゲームオーバー時にスコアが没収されるため、ゲーム内通貨が溜まりにくいのも厳しい。 ですが、80年代アーケードをねじ伏せる感がこの時代に蘇ってるのはなかなか凄い事です。 困った時の弾幕でもなく、取り敢えずギャル絵でもなく、歩いてエネルギーを貯めて変形して文字通り飛んでいくフォーメーションZの骨子を、バカが付くほど正直に令和に蘇らせてこちらに挑んでくるのですから。 受けて立たざるを得ません。 1クレ攻略、俺には無理だろうなぁ・・・

Formation Z was a horizontal shmup with a bit of run 'n gun developed and released by Jaleco for the Japanese arcades in 1984 and Williams as Aeroboto for the USA also in 1984. 1985 saw ports to the MSX (ugly, poorly scrolling) and NES (looks and plays better than the MSX version, but short) and FM-7 (haven't played). It saw some further ports over the years, including being included in Jaleco arcade collections for the PS1 and Gameboy Advance, and apparently this upcoming collection on Steam I didn't know about until now: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4074840/Jaleco_Arcade_Collection_Vol1/ Anyway, that brief history lesson to say that we're talking something of a footnote or cult classic here, however you prefer to look at it. For a game that's not talked about very often, it sure did get a lot of ports and re-releases over the years. Including the Arcade Archives versions, I think we're up to 14 different ports. The store page calls this a remake, but it's definitely not that. A reimagining would be a better description, or really it's more of a sequel that includes a few homages to the original. And like in the original, the main gameplay is horizontal shmup but one that also sees you transform from jet to robot to take to the ground. You have far more space to work with in the air, but there's a fuel cost. Run out of fuel, which can be slowly replenished if you find canisters, and you're dead. It's important to be on the ground for sections of levels not just because of the fuel situation, but some sections are easier to deal with on foot. You'll also usually find more powerups along the ground. I'm not crazy about the original but this is a good game, very old school in design but looks nice here with some cool lighting effects and the ability to set the resolution to 4K and frame rate to presumably whatever you have. It's a lot like an R-Type in that memorization is huge here, and of course that's a necessary thing in all shmups, but it reminds of R-Type in that the environment is just as big of an enemy as the enemies and you're going to need to remember what moves where as you die over and over. You'll probably find yourself as I did, yelling at the screen with a lot of "oh come on, that's not even fair!" and "how was I supposed to know it was going to do that?" outbursts. It's tough before the memorization kicks in, but it's fun tough and thankfully both your next life and your next continue starts you at the last checkpoint in the level you crossed. There are 5 levels but they're pretty long. I'd say a talented run through would take an hour. Not sure if there's a second loop. (edit: there isn't) There are five difficulty levels which might only be the number of credits you start with, I need to check into that further. (edit: the enemies seem to have slightly more health and bullets as you raise the difficulty) You can also collect FZ icons in the game which is a currency for the item shop, which is mostly cosmetic but there are a few weapon powerups in it as well. You can replay any past level and it keeps your own high scores per difficulty level, but there are no public leaderboards which is a bummer. You can also buy two new mechs in the shop which have different strengths, and those also have their own leaderboards and achievements. An enjoyable retro time with some modern flash and quality of life features. Definitely recommended if that sounds like something you'd enjoy. If you're looking for a big, bright bullet hell with waifus and maids, FZ is not that. This is old school old school.

う～ん………。 一言で言うと「面白くない」。これに尽きる。 ナントカディメンジョン3で傷心のワシ、おすすめに出てきたコイツを購入。 そして買ってから気付く。……クソゲーメーカー、グランゼーラ製やん……。 プレイして見てまず思う事は、「なんでコイツ、こんなにノロマなん？？」 そう、自機がクソノロマなのだ……。ロボ形態では地上を歩く。ノッシノッシと。。 まぁそれは原作通りなのだが、ジャンプの挙動がとんでもなくノロマで先読み操作を要求される。 ボタン長押しで変形するのだが、ボタン長押しはギリジャンでも使うので頻繁に事故が起きる。 そしてファイター形態ではスクロール速度が上がるだけで、空中敵との相対速度は変わらない。 これがどういうことかと言うと敵弾とかに追いつかれる……。FC版のマクロスでも出来ていたことができない……。振り切れよ…人類最後の希望だろお前…。 ファイター形態で高度をかなりの高さまで上げられる、がレーダーすらついていないポンコツの為、 上下から出てきた敵にあっさり衝突する……。 そして何よりも画面が汚い。ビカビカ光って汚い。あまりの見づらさに、しょっちゅう事故死する。 なんでもかんでも光らせるのはクソゲーメーカ、グランゼーラのお家芸か……。 ただ致命的なバグにはまだ遭遇していないし、ゲームとして破綻はしていない。 挙動の悪さと工夫の無さで、単純に「面白くない」のだ……。 クソゲーなりに楽しめはするが、人にはおすすめできないなぁ…。

It's alright in about every way; just how you'd expect a Granzella sequel to a Jaleco game to be, honestly. Works great under Proton since the anti-cheat is of the non-invasive sort. Gameplay-wise it's mostly more on the side of mindless pew-pew with formations of zako than deep strategy or complex pattern dodging, making it feel like a decidedly okay arcade game from the 80s that has been given Unreal Engine graphics, but at the same time there's the aspect of routing through the extremely tall stages to maximize your score while keeping energy, so it most likely becomes quite memorization heavy at higher level play. Two final levels are a cut above the rest, especially the stage 4 boss taking full advantage of hyper-vertical nature of the game and feeling like something out of an IREM title (yes, I know who worked on this game) and stage 5 featuring fairly interesting patterns coming from all directions. There's also proper stage continuity, which is always appreciated and gives the game sense of a journey even with the story being super generic (invaders being from planet Zanac was a funny reference, though). There's a built-in setting to adjust game speed from 100% up to 150% for those who prefer kicking action up a notch (I personally found 120% or 130% to be the ideal spot for me). It's checkpoint-based but there's no harsh penalty for dying and thus little recovery to worry about - you actually fully regain your energy upon restarting. Continues are gained very quickly if you just want to see the end of the game - not that they'll allow you to skip any sections, mind you, so there's no way around figuring out a survivable path through the game. Graphically the game is... quite Granzella - some nice designs, mostly solid designs, a couple are probably best not looked at for too long - not that they could be with the fairly fast pace. Backgrounds are solid - decently detailed but not overly distracting and easy to tell from foregrounds, effects are generally nice yet not overwhelming (maybe with the exception of the second boss). Those familiar with modern R-Type games might spot a few assets adapted from them, but it's not nowhere near egregious in this regard. Frame rate goes up to 144 FPS (capped to 60 by default, can be adjusted in settings). Update on graphics: it's possible to improve texture quality a lot with a manual config tweak, see https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3730485297 Music is energetic and fits action well - it's probably a bit overly repetitive but never got on my nerves. Sound effects are fine too. The in-game points shop will probably annoy some genre purists, but actual unlocks are either full blown news ships with unique features, slight damage upgrades to give you a bit of an edge - these are far from mandatory for a 1CC, or cosmetics. A bit of customization is welcome IMO. Overall: if piloting a transforming mecha sounds awesome to you go ahead and grab this - there's a plenty of fun to be had here. If you're just looking for a shmup to play this is very much a maybe - it's fairly unique but only starts to take full advantage of its features closer to the end of the game.

Hybrid shmup / run n' gun. What I find Interesting here is the constant transitions between mech and ship needed to maximize scoring.. Bit of a learning curve involved at first and route memorization is definitely at play but in motion everything surprisingly feels pretty fresh. The major drawback IMO of course is the lack of online leaderboards so the games value vs cost might be in question. At least there is still an attempt to do something slightly memorable gameplay wise and for that it still earns a thumbs up.

I don’t know the history of this company’s games, but I bought Formation Z because it was recommended to me on YouTube and it looked cool. The gameplay feels like exactly what you’d want from a mecha/space shooter. You balance ground combat as a mech with aerial combat as a jet. Flight time is limited by a power meter, and you collect energy capsules to replenish it and stay airborne longer. The controls aren’t intuitive at first, so there’s some trial-and-error experimentation involved, but that’s alright. Death is instantaneous when you get hit, though it’s easy enough to dodge most enemies, and restarts are quick. My only complaint is that some attacks feel knowledge-based, if you don’t already know the level layout, you’re probably going to die and hopefully learn what to do next time. If you’re a fan of side-scrolling Contra-style games and spaceship shooters, then you’re in luck, because Formation Z is a great marriage of both styles. I don’t regret buying it; in fact, it’s better than I had hoped it would be.

[h1]チャラーラララランラン♪チャラーララン♪チャラン♪[/h1] FZ:Formation Zは1984年にアーケード、1985年にファミコン版にてジャレコが販売した2D横スクロールSTGが原作のフルリメイクだ。 [b]良い点[/b] ・原作からパワーアップしたグラフィック(そもそも40年以上前の原作なので) 　ファミコンのパッケージやラベル絵に描かれたカッコイイ自機イクスペルが動かせる。 　ゲーム開始時の発進シークエンス演出もロボ要素有り熱い 　(演出はスタートボタン＋スキップボタンで飛ばせる) ・原作の良いところがそのままにパワーアップした良い手触りのゲーム体験 　残機制、被弾時一発アウトの一騎当千式シューティングにロボ形態と飛行機形態を 　使い分けていく要素。チャージショットのビックバン飛行機形態の維持に 　 　必要な燃料制限に加えて 　リメイク版の本作品では、近接攻撃や各形態にて燃料を消費する代わりに 　通常よりも威力のある強攻撃が使えることができ、燃料リソース管理の楽しさもある。 ・原作からパワーアップしたボリューム面 　原作アーケード版及びファミコン版等々当時の移植等は地上～宇宙ステージのループのみ 　本作品では、地上、宇宙基地、ワープゾーン宇宙戦艦墓場、反乱軍基地、反乱軍惑星の 　全5ステージ ・ノリノリのBGM 原作はBGMがありませんでしたが、ゲームが始まるとチャララチャラランと特徴的なSEがなっていました またファミコン版では電源投入時のタイトル画面でチャラーラララランラン♪チャラーララン♪チャラン♪の音が印象に残ってます。 本作品の一面BGMを聴いたとき、原作の効果音にインスピレーションを受けたBGMであーフォーメーションZだなと感じた。 [b]気になった点[/b] ・現代で一発アウトのSTGは人を選ぶ 　デフォルトで数回被弾okのモードにして一発アウトの仕様は 　別オプションで実装があれば良かったかも [b]まとめ[/b] ・綺麗になったグラフィックで 　フォーメーションZの特徴、ロボ、飛行機形態の可変、燃料リソース管理 　チャージショット等々の原作要素を活かしながら漢仕様の一発被弾アウトの残機制 　一騎当千式シューティングゲームを楽しみたい方におすすめ。

依舊是熟悉的味道，穿越了42年的感動！！！雖然只有短短五關，也有些讓人想摔手柄的要素，但這款變形機器人鼻祖游戲的重製版確實有種讓人中毒的魔力，讓人不停的一周目接一周目的重玩。

A modern remake of the old Jaleco hit. Use your mech and shoot your way through 5 stages of pure retro action, or switch on the fly and fly as plane instead. Higher scoring depends on strategic switches between those and using different weapons. There are also many additions, like secrets, a score attack mode to practice specific stages and an in game shop (factory) where you spend your currency to construct new mechs, weapon modules and cosmetic items. A fun game overall, which would have been better if it hadn't been for the absence of online leaderboards. (8.5/10)

A perfect example on how to revive a long forgotten IP. Fun gameplay, great music, simple clear art directions and very fair difficulty scale. Granzella really nailed it.