Ghost Pilots | The First Neo Geo Shmup

[00:00:00] Hey Aaron, do you believe in ghosts? Uh, no. Okay, Neo Geo Go!. We here. We here, we out here, we ghosting, we piloting, we doing the thing. We out here Neo-ing and Geo-ing and going. Love it. Ghost Pilots, released on January 25th, 1991, developed and published by SNK, what a surprise. And Aaron, it's a shmup!

[00:00:37] Finally! We have our first shmup on this show, fuck yeah! This is our forte, God, well I guess it's all our forte, but this is our bread and butter. Yeah, we bonded over this, this is when we got shitty chatting about retro stuff, because we both love shmups, so like, we're here. And I'm excited to do this. So Ghost Pilots was designed by Takashi Nishiyama, which, if you don't know this guy's resume, let me tell your ass right now.

[00:01:05] I'm just gonna read his intro on Wikipedia, because it's like the biggest dick drop, like, ever. Okay? Here it is. Takashi Nishiyama is a Japanese video game designer, director, and producer who's worked for IREM, Capcom, and SNK before founding his own company, Dimps.

[00:01:24] He is best known for developing the scrolling shooter title, Moon Patrol, the beat-em-up title, Kung Fu Master, and the fighting game title, Street Fighter, the original Street Fighter, Fatal Fury, and the King of Fighters. He also helped develop the Neo Geo system. Jesus Christ. Good God! Before we proceed, I loved your typo of Moon Patrol. I really like that. I wish that would be a game.

[00:01:53] Yeah, Moon Patrol I wrote instead of Moon Patrol. Yes. I wish that was a game. But yeah, holy, yeah, you weren't fucking kidding about, like, biggest dick drop on the planet. And you just came up to a table at Benny Hanna and was like, yeah, you fucking like that? Yeah, slap, boom, fry that shit up. I have developed a Neo Geo system and King of Fighters. Dude, he did it all, man. Jesus Christ. This guy is a legend in the industry, which is why I wanted to read that. But yeah, Ghost Pilots is his baby.

[00:02:22] And Aaron, so I've never played this game. I've heard of it, obviously, but most Neo Geo games I have played, this is not one of them. So this is my first play, honestly. And right off the bat, you can tell this game is taking after Capcom's 1940X series, basically, you know? Because the World War II motif is very strong here. Oh, yeah. Yeah, there's... I don't think I can count the number of World War II shmups on both hands.

[00:02:52] There's... I feel like that shit has taken off, including sequels and everything. Yeah. Yeah. And then Psycho. You ever play Psycho's, like, Strikers 1945? Yes, that shit is my favorite. Oh, my God. Those games are so fucking good. Oh, my God. Anyway, yeah. So there's, like, so many of them. It's a very common motif for shmups. And it's like, why not? Right? But here's the thing. I put the credit in. I pick a bomb or whatever. Your ship appears.

[00:03:21] Before I fired even a single bullet in this game, I noticed a problem, Aaron. Your plane is huge. Yep. It is so big. Like, it is a really big sprite on the screen. This immediately does not feel great because it seems like everything can easily just poke your dummy thick ass. Like, it's kind of obnoxious right off the bat. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:03:50] The plane moves so fucking slow. And I mean, I guess, yeah, that's probably because it's so big. If it was, if it was like half that size, it would probably look like it was moving a lot faster. But yeah, it just, it doesn't feel good to maneuver that plane. Sorry to report. Yeah. Yeah. You know, slow movement doesn't have to be bad, right? Like, our type has fairly slow movement until you get speed ups, right? I think Raiden has kind of slow movement-ish, right?

[00:04:19] Maybe not as slow as this, but slow. Yeah. I don't know, man. Man, this doesn't, this does not hit. And I think, I think what also, I almost always say masturbates when I say this. What is the word? Exasperates? Yeah. Exacerbate. Exacerbates the problem. What masturbates the problem really?

[00:04:41] Is that the shooting in this game feels really drab because there aren't any cool power-ups, you know? Because you have your, like, basic twin fire, and then you get, like, a power-up or two, and it, like, gives you a little more sparky sparks to your twin fire. And then that's kind of it. And then you get three fire, and then four fire, and then it just kind of, like, from there, it's like, eh. Yeah, but it's not even, like, a spread shot like other games.

[00:05:10] They kind of just fire forward, which is fine. I don't mind, like, powerful forward shots. In fact, that's kind of what I gravitate towards. I always pick, like, laser versus, like, spread in most games, right? Because I like the firepower. But when you combine the very basic shooting with the very slow feel, you almost feel like a fucking tank out there, a very vulnerable tank without the firepower to compensate. And it just doesn't really feel that good.

[00:05:38] And your shots are also fucking slow. Like, I feel like most shmups, it's, like, not, like, one-to-one of you, like, hitting the button, and then, you know, your shot fires at an enemy. It's more like, I don't know how to explain it, but, yeah, the shots feel slow coming out of the plane. Yeah, it just doesn't, nothing about the speed or movement of this game feels particularly great. It doesn't feel bad. It doesn't feel like shit. It just doesn't feel very empowering.

[00:06:06] And in a shmup, I think you need to feel like a badass. In every game, you need to feel like a badass, but especially these. Yeah, and I mean, yeah, it's a World War II shmup. And I wonder if maybe they were just trying to make it feel more like a World War II plane. But, I mean, not necessarily like a fucking Microsoft flight simulator, but more like, oh, you're just a World War II plane doing things a World War II plane does.

[00:06:34] But it just, yeah, like you said earlier, it just doesn't hit. Yeah, it just doesn't hit. But think about, Aaron, think about 1942, right? The first Capcom big hit. They're shmup, right? That's from 1984 or 5. And that game feels way better than Ghost Pilots. That's like several years before it. And this is when technology moved fucking fast, right? Like we were upgrading shit so fast, especially at the arcade.

[00:07:00] So, like, something from that long ago shouldn't feel way better than Ghost Pilots. You know, and those are very basic shots, too. You just kind of fire forward and there's not any sort of crazy power ups that would come in like 1943, right? But, like, I don't know how this Ghost Pilots doesn't even manage to outshine that. You know? I don't know. It's weird. That's true. God damn it, does it look good. Looks great.

[00:07:30] Like, the way you start off a mission by, like, doing, like, the tailspin thing. Like, you're gliding on the water and then you're like, do, do, do, tailspin. And then you take off. It doesn't actually do that. I'm just making a fucking stupid reference to tailspin. But, yeah, you're skimming on the water and then you take off and you're in the air. And then when you get to the end of the mission, you'll come to, like, a depot or, like, a station or whatever.

[00:07:53] And then you, like, slowly land back on the water and skim back into your little, like, yeah, depot or station or whatever the fuck it's going to. And then, like, mission end. And then, like, I thought that was kind of cool. That is cool. Like, the way, like, some of the bigger planes, when you destroy them, they just kind of, like, plummet. Like, you can kind of almost see them, like, plummet through the clouds and shit. I thought that was kind of cool. Yeah, they're really pushing the Neo Geo sprite scaling hard on this game. I think that's what really gives it its visual identity.

[00:08:22] Especially when all the little bullshit planes come into view, too. They're, like, up there and then they kind of swoop down. You know, they kind of scale in. I think that's cool. You know? So, good Neo Geo sprite scaling power. But, ultimately, I just don't think Ghost Pilot stands up to, again, Raiden is from 1990. And that was, you know, Raiden is, like, the most financially successful shmup of all time. Did you know that? Holy shit. I didn't know that.

[00:08:51] I figured it'd be, like, something on a console. But, no. Well, I mean, for Arcade. Or financially successful at the Arcade. Yeah. Okay. So, but, yeah, I'm sure some stuff sold more at home. But, like, yeah. That is, like, the most successful shmup of all time, believe it or not. So, shmups were still viable in this early 90s time period, right? But, yeah. Ghost Pilots. I mean, I've never played it before. I never saw it for a reason, I think. It's just pretty average. Yep.

[00:09:20] Even the boss designs, too, man. Like, at first. So, the first one I thought was kind of cool. It's just this gigantic, just, like, a fucking town-sized tank. Yeah. And it's got that conveyor belt with, like, the head of the tank going, like, this way and that with a flamethrower. I thought that was cool. And then the boss after that was just a fucking big plane. And then the boss after that, wouldn't you know it, it's another big plane. And, yeah. It's just...

[00:09:49] They almost had me. Again, though, like, think back to 1942. A few of those bosses are just, like, here's a big plane. Because, like I said, it was 1984. You didn't really have much of, like, you can't really do the boss stuff like that because we didn't really have the power. But those big planes seem to feel more intimidating and more powerful than, like, these. You know, these are just kind of boring. They're just...

[00:10:12] In this game, they're just, like, big planes flying forward and shooting backwards at you. And, like, that's it. Like, I feel like other shmups of the time, they would have had the boss maybe, like, maneuvering this way and that. Or, like, I haven't played Raiden or 1940... Or, ah, what the fuck? 1940, whatever, in a hot minute. I haven't played them in a hot minute. But, god, yeah, the bosses in this just don't...

[00:10:40] They don't, like, feel alive, I guess. Yes. You're right. Even the tanks. Like, because, again, I hate to keep comparing Raiden's first boss is a tank and that shit's iconic. You know, because you're fighting one tank and then the other tank... Oh, shit, it's two tanks, right? Like, it's kind of almost a surprise. Like, they managed to do something cool visually with that. Ghost Pilots doesn't have anything like that.

[00:11:03] Dude, I just don't know why you would play this compared to, like, pick any Toa plan game of this time. Like, anything else at the arcade, right? Like, I just don't know why you would choose Ghost Pilots over it. No. You know, I... If I had the choice, even if it was just, like, choose any Neo Geo game from this year, what would you play? Ghost Pilots would probably be at the bottom. If I'm TB in a hot age. It's not bad.

[00:11:32] I don't think it's terrible. I know we're, like, kind of shitting on it right now, but it's not the worst thing in the world. It's just one of those games where it's like, I don't know why you would bother when there's just so much better. That's all. Yeah. It's not, like... It's not as bad as Legend of Success, Joe, but it's also, like... It's not remarkable. Like, it's not... It's very middle of the road. Like, sure, it's the first shmup on this thing, but... Kind of, who cares? Yeah.

[00:12:02] Yeah. Kind of, yeah. Because when we get to the next shmup on this system, I think that is a lot more notable. But that'll have to come in the future. Good music, though. Pretty good music. We'll say that much. But that's about all I can say. I'll give it a C-. That's about all I can give Ghost Pilots. That's all it really deserves. I gave it a C at first. I'm going to give myself a couple seconds to rethink it. Nah.

[00:12:31] I'm going to stick with a C. Like, it's decent. That's about all it has going for it. I mean, yeah. The music is pretty good. The visuals are good. I mean, it could be worse. Yeah. It definitely could be. Well, it's not the best, but it ain't the worst either. What are we going to play next time on Neo Geo Go? Next time, Sengoku. Sengoku. See you then. Until next time, Neo Geo Go. Get me a pack of smokes and a Mars bar, boy. Bye.