![XII Stag [トゥエルブスタッグ] Game Sample - Arcade](/images/yt/mn/xii-stag-game-sample-arcade-ibses.jpg)
XII Stag [トゥエルブスタッグ] Game Sample - Arcade
23Also known as "Twelve Stag", XII Stag is a creation born from the fruits of labor put in by a man named Toshiaki Fujino, who has founded a small development team that goes under the name of "Triangle Service". Previously, Fujino was a programmer for Konami Computer Entertainment Japan East, as well as (the defunct) Oriental Soft Japan. He began independent development in 2001 before founding Triangle Service in 2002. As you can see, XII Stag is basically the first game put out under the TS banner.
Using the "Taito G-NET" arcade system (Taito was also the publisher of the arcade game), XII Stag is a highly functional game with great music, but for the most part, it probably feels like something you have played before...and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I have learned to sorta "curb my enthusiasm and angst" and there is nothing wrong with a game that does things well, without doing anything extraordinary. However, for the sake of padding this description field to get maximum mileage out of the bad boy, I will wax idiotic for just a bit, covering the normal game operation and the like.
The video is generally very straightforward, covering the mechanics in the opening attraction, but it's like this --- You don't have a sweeping variety of "different weapon power-ups" in XII Stag. Your standard shot can become more powerful and you have your "bomb/barrier" that is pretty much standard procedure/item to SHMUPs/shooters. The draw of XII Stag lies in its "side attack" and "rear attack" systems, with side attacks dealing heavy damage and giving you "multipliers", thus, creating a "risk versus reward" kind of system where achieving the highest score will basically always have you right in front of the jaws of death. You also can attack enemies using the flames that come out of the back of your ship. Knowing how to utilize side attacking and rear attacks for the swarms of enemies that come from behind you, will yield super high scores...and that is more or less the gist of the game mechanics. It is simple on pen and paper, but if you want the highest score, it is hard to master...you will need to have a pretty good memory of 8 stages OR some great hand--eye coordination!
The game is also two-players (simultaneously) and was actually released for PS2 as well, in Europe and Japan. North America did not receive a PS2 release...however, you can actually play this game, and several other TS games, on Steam. The Steam game is known as XIIZeal, and there are numerous "Zeals"...there isn't much Wiki information for the individual titles, but the Steam videos are actually highly informative and a great way to see what each game has to offer, so here is the link to TS' catalog of games on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/search/?developer=TRIANGLE%20SERVICE
One thing of particular note: I mentioned that I find the music great...Triangle Service has their good composer, "naoto", but also, their works have some stuff from several genre luminaries such as Go Sato (Raiden series) and Tetsuro Sato/WASi303 (Psyvariar).
It's funny that Raiden came up though, because I wanted to talk about Raiden...XII Stag is a fundamentally sound, competent game, and TS has done well, given just how small the racket is. TS works are generally viewed very positively/favorably (on Steam, at least) and I totally dig it. However, if you are a fan of many older SMHUPs, there is a possibility that the work that TS does will have little appeal to you. I don't state that as an absolute, but I am being realistic. Games like Zing Zing Zip, the Raiden games, "194X" (series by Capcom), Blazing Star...and those are just arcade titles off the top of my head...there are so many games out there to choose from. That said though, ALL of the things I mentioned are quality, to varying degrees, and that includes (not excludes) XII Stag. Check it (XII Stag) out at your leisure.
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