Apparently we are going to be getting a parodius collection, salamander collection and twin bee collection - shooting heaven!

I got really excited when hearing about this, especially for Parodius.  Seems unlikely that these will make it out over here, Parodius and possibly Twinbee at least, so importing seems like a necessity.  Here's what's being included on each:

SALAMANDER PORTABLE
- Salamander
- Life Force
- Salamander 2
- Xexex
- 1 secret game

PARODIUS PORTABLE
- Parodius (MSX / REMAKE)
- Parodius Da! (ARC)
- Gokujou Parodius (ARC)
- Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius (PSONE/SATURN)
- Sexy Parodius (ARC)

TWINBEE PORTABLE
- Twinbee (ARC)
- Twinbee Da! (GB / REMAKE)
- Deta na Twinbee (ARC)
- Pop'n Twinbee (SFC)
- Twinbee Yahho! (ARC)

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Each collection will be retailing for 4,179 yen.

I don't get why these collections are finding their way only on the PSP.

Well I need a PSP now.

-Joshua

I don't get why they're so expensive.  I'd get the Gradius Collection that's out here if it was $20, but $40 is too much for something I'm just going to mess around with every once in a while.

Gamestop just dropped it in price, so it's $20 now.

Those are great collections, and once again I think Konami is full of crap for only releasing it on the PSP, which also begs the question: will you really be able to play those games on such a tiny screen?

-avatar!

I just searched for it on their website, and I got no results for the search term "Gradius" across all platforms.  Lovely.  I guess I'll look for it the next time I'm in one of their stores.  Thanks for the tip.

Amazon.com $20 + free ship!

cheers,

-avatar!

My copies of Parodius Portable and Twinbee Portable came in today -- with Salamander Portable coming in next week.  I tore right into Parodius, test-running all of the games, and for the most part, I'm very pleased.  (And for the record, that secret game turned out to be the first Parodius for the MSX.  I've edited the listing above to reflect that.)

The graphics look incredible on the PSP's screen, and they're pound for pound perfect from the arcade versions. (The home-exclusive Jikkyou Oshaberi is based off of the PSOne/Saturn version.) Slowdown is minimal to none at all, although in one instance, I did notice the framerate tear up pretty badly during Gokujou's Hot Lips boss battle.

Portable offers up screen ratio options for all the titles, where you can mix and match between original aspect (small or large), widescreen, stretched and full.  Although the graphics do degrade a bit when using the stretched/full options, it still looks surprisingly excellent, and does work to the player's advantage, especially for an object-heavy game like Parodius.  Myself, I like my games to be as sharp looking as possible by using the original screen ratio, even at the expense of a smaller image. Luckily, setting it to Widescreen/Original Large strikes a nice balance of looking great, and being able to see the action comfortably.

I'm disappointed that they didn't add in "Revival" for Gokujou or Sexy (Jikkyou still has it), but the save/load feature is handy to have for all the games.  Unfortunately, it doesn't look like certain console-exclusive extras, like Upa, Goemon, or Kid Dracula being playable in Gokujou, are included.  Doubt they're unlockables, either, since none of their music themes appear on the available sound test. They did, however, keep the omake modes for Jikkyou.

The biggest change I've noticed is in some of the music.  The score for Gokujou Parodius was remastered, and it's definitely for the better.  The instrumentation is fundamentally the arcade original, but they cleaned up the synth and beefed up the bass a bit; it sounds really good now.  Jikkyou went with the far-superior PSOne/Saturn score rather than the Super Famicom one, thankfully.   What's puzzling, though, is that some music tracks had been changed completely. The first level in Gokujou, for instance, "In The Crane Game," was changed from the 'In The Mood' melody to an arrangement of Turkey In The Straw.   And the first level in Jikkyou, "I Remember That!" was changed from the 'That's The Way (I Like It)' melody to.... and get this...... a remix of Dance Dance Revolution's "B4U"! The only reason I can think of behind the changes is licensing issues.

I still need to invest some more time before formulating a final opinion, but so far, Parodius Portable looks to be a top quality effort from Konami.  Next up: Twinbee Portable!

You know, I just realized a pretty crucial blunder on my part, regarding Revival.    Turns out that both Gokujou and Sexy *do* have Revival, but only on Auto Mode.  (All this time, I've been playing on Manual and Semi-Manual modes, which sets you back to the closest checkpoint when you die.)  For comparison reasons, I fired up the PSOne versions, and it's the exact same way; Revival only on Auto.

Dunno.  Somehow, I always thought that Revival was a separate option for all the games, regardless of which play mode you choose.  (Jikkyou and the Super Famicom version of Gokujou, however, do have Revival listed separately under the option menu, and you can choose Auto or Manual for the same effect.)

Gave Twinbee Portable a few rounds, and while I'm not quite as in the know-how with this cute-'em-up series as I am with Parodius (I've only played the original Stinger and Pop'n Twinbee from years back), I will say that these are fun, solid shooters.  In fact, they're a perfect cousin accompaniment to Parodius, where we have the ever present bell power-ups, insanely vibrant colors awashed on screen, and tons of quirky crazy things to shoot; the main difference, of course, being that Parodius plays horizontally and Twinbee vertically.  (The sense of scale and height is something I remember really liking in Twinbee, what with the highly-detailed graphical land masses below.)

Five titles total, with the secret game this time being a spiffy remake of the original Gameboy's Twinbee Da!  Like Parodius, the three arcade games look pixel-for-pixel perfect, and Pop'n Twinbee is an exact replica of the Super Famicom version.  The arcade games even include the tate vertical mode option, where you can turn your PSP on its side and play with a fuller screen; very cool, and it works surprisingly well if you situate the rotation so that the analog nub ends up on the top and the buttons on the bottom.  Once again, Widescreen/Large is my personal preference, but the bevy of screen ratio options assures that everyone will be able to find a setting that fits them best.

The only downside is that the save/load feature seems broken in this one.  Unless I'm doing something completely wrong, you're able to save your game, but when loading up the data, it simply takes you right back to the title screen.  Eh?

Aside from that caveat, this is another excellent package, full of pure, twitchy gaming goodness.  There's a message that shows up at the end of each game, from the Konami folks themselves: "WE LOVE SHOOTERS!"  Amen to that.