Rangok Skies

[code]Segui [url=store.steampowered.com/curator/39235514]High Score - Time Attack[/url]: pagina Steam Curator dedicata a tutti coloro che amano cimentarsi nell'ottenimento di punteggi esorbitanti, nel collezionamento di achievement e nelle sfide contro il tempo. Lottando per un posto in classifica, come ai tempi d'oro delle Sala Giochi.[/code] In origine egli soleva farsi chiamare "Operation Dracula". Potrei cominciare così e, anzi, voglio spezzare il silenzio con codeste parole. Bando alle ciance: Rangok Skies non è altro che la versione rimasterizzata appunto del gioco sopracitato, uscito originariamente su App Store per opera di Crescent Moon Games. Samurai Games attua un cambio di titolo e ci propone su Steam lo stesso identico gioco con differenze minime. Trattasi di uno shoot 'em up a scorrimento verticale che affonda le sue radici e/o a voler essere maliziosi certi suoi asset sui pilastri del genere danmaku di etichetta Cave, quali i vari DonPachi, DoDonPachi e Ketsui. Senza voler dare adito a sospetti sulla fonte di talune "ispirazioni", non si può che confermare la bontà di questo Rankok Skies, che in fin dei conti è un esponente comunque discreto del genere. Tre i personaggi da poter selezionare da subito, mentre il quarto sarà da sbloccare una volta che si sarà portato a termine il gioco con i primi tre; ognuno dei quali avrà caratteristiche differenti, pertanto riuscire a sfruttare le peculiarità di ciascuno di essi darà modo al giocatore capace e scafato di avere la meglio dei cinque (soli) livelli di cui è composto questo sparacchino, tutti estremamente divertenti da giochicchiare e con boss enormi in grado di darci parecchio filo da torcere. Tecnicamente il gioco visto in azione è assai gradevole, con grafica in pixel art stile metà anni '90 e scelte stilistiche che rimandano parecchio agli arcade in voga anni or sono in Sala Giochi. Enormi esplosioni di colori che riempiranno lo schermo con estrema frequenza e che a volte disorienteranno le nostre manovre di aggiramento dei colpi. Degnissima di menzione è la soundtrack, vero e proprio fiore all'occhiello di questa produzione. Musiche"Japanese rock-style" estremamente pompate e cariche, riprese direttamente da un altro shmup che mai ha visto la luce: parlo del tristemente cancellato Heaven Variant (che prometteva benissimo). Ottima la modalità a due giocatori, che non soffre di cali di frame rate e anzi si dimostra sempre estremamente fluida. Immancabile è anche la presenza di classifiche online e achievement. Gioco che comunque si rivela poco adatto agli achievement hunter, in quanto certi trofei sfiorano l'impossibile. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jgih-wTpBWo In definitiva Rangok Skies offre varie ragioni per essere promosso. Certo, di originale qui troverete poco o nulla e i fan della Cave insorgeranno per certe "scopiazzature". Però pad alla mano si difende estremamente bene, da giocare fa il suo e c'è un livello di sfida adeguato per chi mastica il genere. Magari non subito ma fatelo vostro in occasione dei saldi, quando si troverà in sconto. [code][b]Modus operandi[/b] Ho completato il gioco 1CC con il personaggio di Astra.[/code]

[h1] Introduction [/h1] Making a decision on whether to recommend this game or not has been a long back and forth for me. I had a good amount of fun with the game but with the issues I have with the game, I just can not recommend it. [h1] Version notice [/h1] This game has been updated to a newer version since the review. While I still do not recommend the game, some statements here may be out of date. I have checked v1.01 but I'm not going to update this review anytime soon. [h1] Art [/h1] This game's release was preceeded by plagiarism claims regarding the game's used sprites and art: https://twitter.com/KiwiSTG/status/1304355499312214016 The claim is that several enemies, bullet sprites and stage backgrounds were plagiarised from Cave shmups and that the overlay was plagiarised from Crimzon Clover World Ignition. This had caused the release to be delayed so that the dev could rework some of the assets in question. Unfortunately, two additional factors would make people even more suspicious: the dev's aggressive response to the allegation and the fact that the game was originally already released in 2015 as Operation Dracula for iOS (the store page does not mention that at this point for some reason). I think the unfortunate part of this debate is that it focused too much on the question whether it's legal or not when it is fair to assume that the majority of participants in it are no legal experts. The question should have been whether the practice of doing so is scummy or not which is subjective and the reason why I am bringing it up. The dev states in the game's website https://rangokskies.samuraigamesgd.com/ that the assets were since changed "[...] in order to clear the game's name from such claims, and to prove that Rangok Skies is an original work rather than an inappropriate reproduction of other games." and I would agree that the game is very much its own in terms of gameplay. If you still have an issue with this, you may not want to support the game. For those that don't have an issue with it, I would recommend looking into it further as I did enjoy my experience with it regardless. [h1] Gameplay mechanics [/h1] The game allows you to choose between three characters and an unlockable character. Each has its own shot type and unique special which recharges over time while the bombs appear to function the same for each character. You can either hold your shot for a slower focus shot or tap (use the auto fire button) to move faster and shoot less bullets. The game's skippable tutorial at the start explains the above but omits the following very important mechanic. Initiating your focus shot will make the ship release a burst that turns any enemy bullets into items. This is important as it's good for score and survival. There is a cooldown for the burst. If your hitbox is blinking, you can use it. The maximum amount of lives you can have is 4 and you gain an extend every 500.000pts. If you already have 4 lives and reach the next threshold, you gain 150.000pts. The maximum amount of bombs you can have is 3. You gain a bomb by collecting bomb items. After dying, your bomb count is set to 1. In addition to lives, you have HP. The first three characters have 3 HP and the Samurai has 2. HP can be restored with health items. Bosses only have one phase and cycle through a variety of patterns. One exception is the first boss, though it only adds one more pattern to the pool. Since bosses have a lot of health, you will always loop at least once. Enemies will drop items (power-up, score bonus, health or bomb). As far as I could tell the type of item an enemy drops is random, except for a few enemies that appear to have fixed item drops (like orange tanks on the left side always dropping bombs). During boss fights items will fall from the top of the screen. Those also appear random, including the position which makes it easy to miss them as they do fall fast. There is no practice mode. A run of the game doesn't take too long but you will not have the opportunity to practice the last stages over and over right away. At this time, I don't have Insane mode unlocked as I'm missing the achievement for not missing any enemies. You need to get all trophies. [h1] Aspects I like [/h1] The game is short and concise. A run takes 17 to 22 minutes and apart from the stage 1 boss, there aren't any parts that are boring. I like the way lives work. You can only have up to 4 lives but you have many opportunities to get another life again. A clear would usually get you at least ~4 million points which is a good amount of potential extends. The focus shot burst is your greatest device for scoring higher. It allows you to milk bosses as well and it will be up to you to decide whether you want to dump all your resources on the difficult patterns or go for score instead. You also want to delay some enemy kills, so the mechanic adds a lot of score potential. While there are some patterns I dislike, many are certainly no pushovers, especially during boss fights. [h1] Aspects I dislike [/h1] I do not like the random element in the item drops from enemies and during bosses. The soundtrack isn't very pleasant to listen to. It's not bad but it's basically blasting with max energy throughout 99% of a run. I found myself turning down the volume immediately to listen to other music or videos in the background. I currently find the stage 3 and stage 4 boss to be rather bs, especially the stage 3 boss. Some of their patterns are just gross to me at this moment. I'm fine with the stage 5 boss. While it has some of the types of patterns of previous bosses that I dislike, I think they're more reasonable and fit the final boss well enough. Nevertheless, I find the bosses and random items (plus location) to be a bad combination. While the game does provide you with more than enough resources for a 1cc, it certainly does not feel fair when going for a no hit run (yeah, there is an achievement for that).

[h1]◆概要◆[/h1] ハチャメチャにアツい縦シューティング。 演出・BGMが非常にアツい作品であり、[url=https://youtu.be/1BZQzWv0kRQ?si=B1KXmffVta1fm0zb]PV[/url]を見た瞬間購入を決意した作品。 視認性の悪さを跳ね除けるほどのアツさがあるほど。 [h1]◆シューティング面について◆[/h1] 操作面ではショット、ボム、スペシャルウェポン（ハイパー）のオーソドックスなタイプ。 大アイテムの中にはボムアイテムやHP回復があるどころかボス戦中に大アイテムが降ってくるので、頻繁にボムストックが回復できるのもポイント（ボス戦でボム発動中にボムアイテムが降ってきたり）。 スペシャルウェポンも実質時間経過で使用可能になる（ショットボタンを押し続けて溜まる）ので使いやすかった。 ボイスもスペシャルウェポンのゲージが溜まった時やエクステンド時などほしいと思うタイミングで鳴り、発音も聞き取りやすくて良かった。 少しわかりにくい重要な点として、低速移動開始時に弾消し効果がある点。 低速移動を始めると周囲の敵弾を弾消しが可能で（クールダウンこそあるが）使用回数制限なし。 この低速移動開始時の弾消しが地味に重要であり、スペシャルウェポンが溜まっていない時の緊急回避手段としてもスコア稼ぎ用としても重要。 稼ぎに関しては弾消し時に生成される得点アイテムが1つ500点と大きい（小アイテムは100点）ためでありエクステンドしやすさがかなり違った。 敵弾の視認性こそ良くないがバトルガレッガのように致命的なものではなく、慣れれば問題なく視認できる範疇。 （体感だが）本作は敵・敵弾・アイテム・自機ショットの視認性が同じな影響で見えにくいように思ったので、どのオブジェクトが何なのか覚えれば問題ないと思われる。 シューティングらしく覚えゲーの側面も強く、ボスだけでなく一部道中も初見殺しがちらほら。 ボスは1面の時点で予め射線をずらしていないと当たったり。 道中ではスペシャルウェポンをタイミングを見計らって使わないと敵弾に圧殺されたりも。 また弾消しゲーに分類される作品なのでスペシャルウェポンやボムを出し渋っているとかなり進行しにくいだろう。 [h1]◆気になった点について◆[/h1] シューティング面では（視認性の悪さは本作の華なのでともかく）自機を最下部まで移動できないのが気になった。 [url=https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3244996637]だいたいこのあたり[/url]までしか移動できず、弾幕から距離を離して戦いにくい。 おそらくアイテムスコア表示が隠れてしまう影響で最下部まで下がれないのだと思うが、一時的にもアイテムスコア表示の位置を変えるか非表示にしてほしかったところ。 他にゲームエンジンの問題なのか、解像度設定がなくウィンドウサイズは手動で変更す必要があるのも気になった。 それ以外だとOSTが販売されていないのも少し残念な点。 本作のBGMはどれもすこぶる格好良く、特にキャラ選択画面のユーロビートはずっと聞いていたいほど。 何ならゲーム内にサウンドテストモードが完備されているのにOSTとしてゲーム外で聞けないのは少し残念に思えた。 ちなみに現時点では本作の評価が賛否両論だが、これはデモ版公開に素材の盗用があったためとのこと。 リリース時には素材が全て差し替えられたようだがその時の評価を引き継いで一気に不評レビューが溜まった様子。 …とはいえ一部敵配置は未だに似ているようなので気になる方は気になるかも知れない。 [h1]◆終わりに◆[/h1] とにかくアツさがハンパない作品であり視認性の悪さなどの不満点も全て許容できてしまうほどの盛り上がり。 ボスの登場演出や攻撃方法も見ていて楽しいものが多く、プレイするだけでも楽しめる作品。 全体的に作り込みが良い作品だが、まさかの高品質な放置ゲーである[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1546320/Your_Chronicle/]Your Chronicle[/url]と同じ開発でさらに驚き。 こちらは無料なのでプレイしてみても良いかもしれない。

Excellent rework of Operation Dracula (Android/iOS, 2015). Despite its mobile roots, Rangok Skies oozes arcade charme on all ends. It's bright and colorful, loud and furious like the wildest 90's arcade machines. This over-the-top presentation fits the over-the-top, 60 FPS arcade gameplay: While it's basically DoDonPachi inspired bullet hell (very well-made), it is faster, more savage and has a strong emphasis on bullet cancelling. For that purpose you have your typical screen clearing bombs, but also a special weapon (different for each of the 3+1 characters), which build up and restores itself in seconds, but you cannot store more than one charge, It's meant to be used immediately. It's a savage game, where dodging all alone gives you a very hard time, so you have to be savage, too, right? It's excessive, martial fun. But don't get me wrong, dodging is still important. The art is, of course, to know where to dodge and when to cancel. First I had problems with the default control scheme for the Xbox 360 controller. I prefer to have the automatic fire on A (default is right shoulder button) and the non-automatic and focused fire with slower movement on X. Thankfully the game allows you to configure the whole button layout freely, so the problem was easily solved. Rangok Skies often gets praise for its amazing music, and I can only agree. It's high energetic orchestral keyboard rock (with a Sega vibe maybe). [code][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/39372135][b]Lists of Niche[/b][/url] is dedicated to finding games on Steam with roots in classic consoles, computers and arcade machines. We categorize them in helpful lists that will hopefully grant some insight into gaming's history, too.[/code]

4キャラクリアしたので ストアページの説明にもあるようにオーソドックスなステージクリア制の縦シュー。 多少画面が見づらい気がするけど全体的に綺麗にまとまった出来だと思います。 ライフが3つで初期残機が3機なので1クレジットで9回も被弾できる。 さらにステージ道中やボス戦中でも回復アイテムが結構出現するのでだいぶ緩いです。 ショットは押しっぱなしにすると自機が低速になり、連射力がアップ。 また、低速モードになった瞬間自機の周りに発生する衝撃波のようなものは弾消し効果あり（連続では出せない） スペシャルウェポンは弾消し効果のある（一部消せないものもある）武器で ショットを撃つことで溜まるゲージが最大になったときに撃てるが割とすぐ溜まるので気軽に使っていける。 ボムはオーソドックスな全体攻撃＆無敵効果アリのボムで 雑魚から出る赤アイテムを一定数集めるかボムアイテム取得でストックが増える。 こちらも結構な頻度で出現するので道中で気軽に撃っていける。 ライフやボムアイテムが多く出現する。スペシャルウェポンの弾消し効果はボスの多くの攻撃にも有効に働くなど難易度は易しめで、ある程度STG慣れしている人間なら1コインクリアは簡単にできるかと思います。 オプションでの難易度設定は存在せず、ゲーム開始時にINSANEモードという項目があるがロックされており解放条件は不明。 ALT+Enterでウィンドウモードにはできるがオプションでの解像度設定はない模様。

A bullet hell that wants to be a SHMUP....Dev's have no clue on how to make a shmup. MOVEMENT: Insanely slow - hurts trying to dodge a bizzzzlion bullets on the screen BOSS Battles: Good Luck - I feel that you need to always pick up the bombs that drop to even come close to not losing lives SPRITES: I'm not gonna state the obvious [Thieves] But its really hard to tell what is a point gem/power up/bomb and enemy bullets! Pixels are way too big for the screen size MUSIC: AWESOME! About the only great thing about the game! NO CLUE HOW TO UNLOCK THE HARD MODE?????? I beat the game in 40 mins on my second run. Low Number of Levels Game is not worth 20 bucks!!! Wait for it to go on a sale or if more levels get added to the game but they will need to steal more pixel art to do so and then remodel them! So dont expect more levels anytime soon NO INNOVATION WHATS SO EVER! Standard SHMUP! I would pay $5 bucks for it

[code]Steam Curator : ==> [u][i][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/38545912]Right to the Point![/url][/i][/u] <== Follow [i]For more Game Reviews![/i] [/code] [u][h1]1)Story/Concept :[/h1][/u][table] [tr] [th]Single Player + Local Co-op[/th] [th]Arcade [/th] [th]Shooter[/th] [/tr] [tr] [th]Shoot'Em Up (Shmup)[/th] [th]Bullet Hell [/th] [th]Action[/th] [/tr] [/table] Rangok Skies is a pure vertically scrolling Shoot'Em Up (Shmup), inspired by some classics of this genre.It features a campaign that can be played either solo or in local-coop with a friend.The game starts with a small intro explaining us the story behind the game. It goes back,during the great Vampire War, when the four nations joined forces to defeat the evil Lord Rangok.Wizards from all nations forged a powerful Spear that could bring an end to all this chaos Lord Rangok has caused.That's how the dark lord has been defeated back then.The weapon of victory was divided between the four nations as a symbol of alliance and and the four nations could live in peace.... ...Until the present day!A mysterious message stating that anybody who would bring the Spear ,would receive power beyond imagination,rouse the four nations and their thirst for power .And that's how the war started again. [u][h1]2)Gameplay :[/h1][/u][table] [tr] [th]5 Stages[/th] [th]4 Different Characters to choose from[/th] [th] Boss Battles [/th] [/tr] [tr] [th]2 types of movement(normal-turbo)[/th] [th]Challenging Gameplay[/th] [/tr] [/table] [h3] The Goal[/h3] The game consists of totally 5 stages and every stage ends with a boss battle.Then you can advance to the next one,until you reach the final one where you have to defeat Lord Rangok himself,who wants to destroy the Spear you brought!Will you simply hand it over? [h3]Progress & Characters[/h3] Fortunately enough, in this fight we are not alone. We can choose between 4 characters,each one having his/her own ship,unique ability and bombs.We can freely choose between the first 3 (Marco,Astra,Big Joe) from the beginning and we can unlock one more,later - The Sam Urai .In my opinion, these 4 characters(the 4 ships)cover the most commonly used types of shooting,used by most games of this genre.In other words,i think that most players will find at least one character that will satisfy their tastes. [h3]The Controls[/h3] The controls are precise and satisfying.The movement of your ship seems to be smooth and the shooting accurate.There are 2 types of movement,while shooting- The normal one that is slower ,but doing more damage and the turbo,where you are quicker ,but doing less damage. [h3]Difficulty[/h3] The game is really challenging.You have 3 lives(you can get 3 hits for each life) and 3 credits to continue for all the stages.What makes the game really challenging are the boss battles.The bosses have a big amount of health. [h3]The Flaws[/h3] Nothing is perfect they say and here are some flaws i found in the gameplay or at least some things that could have been done better. First of all the colors of the bullets.The game (especially with the first 2 characters),uses the same colors for our bullets and some enemies' bullets.This is a very important mechanic in a shoot'em up,to not share the same colors between the bullets, because it can cause confusion to the player,especially in the beginning.Of course we can get used to it,as we play more. Another flaw i found ,is the distance between our ship and the enemies and especially the bosses.It feels as if we are very close to them and this decreases the reaction time we have in our hands. [u][h1]3)Visuals/Graphics :[/h1][/u][table] [tr] [th]Great pixel art[/th] [th]Colorful[/th] [th]Cute[/th] [/tr] [/table] The pixel art is really nice.The game has a very cute appearence overall,with colorful graphics and a lot of retro vibes! [u][h1]4)Sounds/Soundtrack :[/h1][/u][table] [tr] [th]Original Soundtrack[/th] [th]Simple Sound Effects[/th] [/tr] [/table] The soundtrack of the game is really AMAZING!I really couldn't have enough of it.Also the game offers a music player in the menu,where you can listen to all 34 tracks!Also the characters' voices are really well-made with many retro-vibes as well. [u][h1]5)Strongest Points :[/h1][/u][table] [tr] [th]Really Fun[/th] [th]Challenging Gameplay[/th] [th]Great Pixel Art[/th] [th]AMAZING soundtrack[/th] [th]High Replay Value[/th] [/tr] [/table] [u][h1]Weakest Points :[/h1][/u][table] [tr] [th]Short,only 5 stages [/th] [th]Bullets' Colors that might confuse[/th] [th]Distance between our ship and enemies[/th] [/tr] [/table] While Rangok Skies is bit short(5 stages only),it has a high replay value.We can try beating the game with different characters and/or in higher difficulties. [u][h1]6)Summary/Conclusion : [/h1][/u]“Rangok Skies is a nice Shoot'em up and despite some flaws it may have,it is a very enjoyable experience.The great pixel art,the amazing soundtrack and the lots of retro vibes make it a game that is worth our time.I am sure that the fans of the genre will definitely enjoy it."[table] [tr] [th]Score : 8/10[/th] [th]Recommended[/th] [/tr] [/table] [code]Steam Curator : ==> [u][i][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/38545912]Right to the Point![/url][/i][/u] <== Follow [i]For more Game Reviews![/i] [b]Thanks for reading! <3[/b] [/code]

Rangok Skies is a shoot em up homage to many shmups of the past. The aesthetic of the game is very appealing to look at and the fluidity is on point. The game pretty much never lets up. The main mechanic of the game is to be able to use your special whenever convenient during survival and let the coins build up for your bomb. The games main scoring mechanic pretty much revolves around the focus shot that allows your ship to cancel bullets into more medals. Theres also occasionally Items that will drop to refill your bomb, health , etc. At the end of the day this is a pretty good shmup. This game is somewhat misunderstood and will unfortunately have some haters behind it due to it being very inspirational friendly however once you play it, it seems to tell a different story.

[h3][b]ー『既視感が強すぎるパクリ疑惑ゲー』ー[/b][/h3] どっかで見たような…？とにかくこれに尽きる。 このゲームはいわゆる２Dシューティングなのだが、自機、雑魚敵、攻撃、背景、あらゆる面で見覚えのある様な景色ばかり。それもそのはずで、公式自ら「「怒首領蜂」、「ガンバード」、「ストライカーズ1945」などにインスパイアを受けて開発された」と言っているのである。 なるほどと納得しそうになるが、インスパイアの意味を良く確かめてみると、これは新しい創造に対して一般的に使われる言葉で、このゲームに創造性があるかというと甚だ疑問なのだ。どちらかと言えば「オマージュ」なのでは？と思い調べてみると、なんと首領蜂や怒首領蜂からまるでそのまま持ってきたかのようなデザインが散見されました。以下にその根拠となるURLを貼っておきます。 https://x.com/KiwiSTG/status/1304355499312214016 これは流石に「パクリ」と言われても仕方がないレベルで似すぎている。 一からドットを打ったのかもしれないが、デザインがあまりにもそのまますぎるだろう。訴訟沙汰にはなっていないようなので筆者が口を出す事ではないのかもしれないが、よくまあこれで、「インスパイア」などとのたまったものである。出来がどんなによかろうとも、作り込んであろうとも、２Dシューティング愛好者として絶対にお勧めしたくないと思ってしまう残念なゲームです。 [h3][b]【レビュー評価　3.5/10】[/b][/h3] [table] [tr] [th]画面の見やすさ[/th] [th]3[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]価格[/td] [td]1[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]パクリ疑惑[/td] [td]1[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]レベルデザイン[/td] [td]6[/td] [/tr] [/table] [h3][b]【レビュー動画（ずんだもん＆中部つるぎ）】[/b][/h3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqOLh-zSMP4

This game name drops lots of really good, high profile shmups in its description but fails to reach even the worst of those developers' games. There is no difficulty curve. The screen is immensely busy with so much ♥♥♥♥ from the drop that most of the times I got hit I had no idea from what because it's impossible to keep up with anything that's happening in this game. Is it bullet hell? Yes. Is it good? No. There is absolutely zero finesse involved in the creation of this game. No thought put into the flow. If you're looking for Cave quality, look elsewhere. This is garbage.