Substance TV – Video game reviews with substance

As promised, episode 11 is out! As previously mentioned, we cover Shinobi III for the Sega Genesis. We also take a look at Klonoa 2 for the Playstation 2. You know how I mentioned we had a big game up for review, well I wasn’t lying. Substance TV has the exclusive first video review of the brand new shmup from our boys at Cave, Mushihimesama Futari Ver. 1.5.

We’ve made a few additions and improvements to the show to make it more enjoyable and viewer friendly. Give us your feedback on the show. We always strive to make it better and better each episode, and your comments and criticisms help in that.

BTW: Right click the icon below to download the Windows Media version instead of streaming it. Doing so will allow you to watch the episode in the highest quality running at 60 frames per second.

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The shmup series Raiden never caught on with the masses here in the States, compared to R-Type or Gradius, but the series has always been near and dear to my heart. And even less known then the original Raiden games is the off shoot series Raiden Fighters. Raiden Fighters took what the original Raiden did, and took it to the next level. I played Raiden Fighters 2 in the arcades when I was younger and loved it.

Three games were released in the series, Raiden Fighters, Raiden Fighters 2, and Raiden Fighters Jet. These games have been in port limbo for over 10 years now. From the Saturn to the original Xbox, it never seemed to work out. Thankfully a little known company called Valcon has taken it upon themselves to port these games to none other then the Xbox 360. Even better, the collection is budget priced at $20. Yes, $20 for all three Raiden Fighters games. Add to that, the options included in this collection are insane. You can set the framerate for the game (the original 54 fps or 60fps), You can change smoothing filters (I’ve got it on none as the crispy pixels taste so good). Then you can even simulate scanlines. You can change your overscan and change to TATE mode. You can upload replays, watch other replays, The list goes on and on, but needless to say, I need not go on. At this point, you should be either be opening a new browser window and ordering it online, or getting some clothes on and driving down to a store and picking it up.

So since you should be gone by now, I’ll be getting back to work.

Yes, go.

Now!

So I’ve been a little absent from the site as of late, but it’s all for a good reason. Now I’ve teased you all with some sort of announcement in my last update. And, as promised, I’ll let you in on my little secret.

From the creators of Press Start and Substance TV comes your bi-weekly dose of gaming goodness that you won’t get anywhere else, it’s Pixel Pill! We’re kinda like video game fiber. Though I’m not sure if I want to see anyone taking a pixelated video game dump.

That’s right, I’ve teamed up with Nick and Gerard from Press Start Comic to create a new podcast about all things gaming that not many people talk about. We had some much fun BS’ing over Live that we decided that we should just record it and maybe people will listen to it. Plus the need for quality podcasts is much needed. Our friends over at Pineconeattack are one of the few podcasts I listen to on a regular basis, so we hope to bring more goodness to the table.

We’ll be recording the first show tomorrow night (Friday) and have it up to download soon after. We’ll cover some gaming news that interests us, introduce ourselves and then jump right into our first topic, The Games of Cave. If you’re a fan of Bullet Hell SHMUPS, this is the show for you. We’ll be talking about our favorite games from Cave, and then talk about their newest game set to release on the 360 in Japan, Death Smiles.

Below is the new fancy smacy logo. Keep it tuned here for the link to our first show!

I know, some of you are saying, “What in tarnations is OGNS?”. Well it stands for “Old Games New Sound”, the series previously covered here on the site. For those of you who haven’t checked this out, it’s a show that takes old games and takes all the audio out and inserts new music and sound effects. This episode he has taken on the classic shoot em up (or shmup) Life Force for the NES. So I’ll dispense with the small talk and let the video do it’s thing. Enjoy!