Samuri/Star Angel - a Hummer Team plug & play console

[taizou]

I don't think there's enough variety in that game to split it up really - maybe they could have made it into two or three games with different graphics or something, like on the 15 in 1. but either way I think the 4 in 1 release or some undiscovered version by Rinco came first, then all the 15 in 1 variations. then any plug & play version would have been made after that I guess, if one exists somewhere.

incidentally I just took a look at the Zdog's PCB, there's a smaller one mounted on a larger one, the larger one has "VT03060417-B-02" on it.. maybe 060417 is a date? (ie 17th April 2006). the smaller one seems to be the one with the actual ROM chip and VT03, that one says HZ9979 V2.0.
(theres also a number "HZ0601032 Ver 2.1" on the instruction sheet that comes with it, and the Samuri has HZ0600316 on its intro screen. I guess HZ stands for Hummer-Zechess)just found a secret in the zdog, if you hold down A, B, select and start on startup you get a screen saying "2006-05-24 HZ0601032 VER 3.8". as far as i know theres nothing like that in the Samuri though.oh wait, yes there is. in the Samuri its "2006-05-15 HZ0600316 VER 3.5". you also get a chance to hear the whole menu tune if you do that - ordinarily it doesnt get to play unless you keep moving the cursor around because it'll just reset to the title screen.

[MLX]

Awesome. I bought 2 Samuri and I'll record bunch of videos.

[Awesome Panda]

Just wondering, what's the significance with the "HZ06xxyy" thing, apart from the obvious?

[taizou]

not exactly sure - i'd guess HZ06 = Hummer Zechess 2006, then the next three digits (003/010) are some kind of product number maybe? the last two are probably the ROM size (in megabits).

[Awesome Panda]

I doubt the last two numbers are the ROM size. It seems weird that the Samuri would be smaller than the ZDog, from what I can tell there's more games on it. Then again, Hummer could've just been wasting loads of space.

[taizou]

yeah the Samuri does have more games, but the Zdog has two extra modes and sound samples, they might take up a bit more space. I'll look up the part numbers of the flash chips though, i should be able to find out from those.

edit: yeah i checked, i was right.

[Doomkid]

taizou

Jun 15 2011, 07:42:11 PM

just completed maps mode on the Zdog. and guess what!
[/quote]Ugh... I accidentally reported this image before, but the mods will knoe it was an accident. Damn that button being right next to the reply button!!

Anyway, whats up with that dog looking so 16 bit? Is this still running on NES based hardware, like some kind of 16 bit NES mod or something? Because if so that's badass.. Id like to see more 16 bit lookin' NES stuff

[taizou]

hah. i've done that exact same accidental report thing a couple of times on other boards. its too easy.

but yeah that's exactly what it is, its the VT03 OneBus system - it's basically a NES clone with a few upgrades, it's still 8-bit underneath but it supports 4bpp 16-bit-style graphics.

[ThunderBlastMan]

Do you have any footage of the hummer. i heard they were both on the ZDOG.

[taizou]

The Hummer isnt on the Zdog, its only on the Samuri. I've got some footage recorded of all the games from the Samuri though, itll be up soonish.first video is up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YKOfOtpb_A
covers the first 10 games.

[codeman38]

Amazing how much music Hummer reused. I especially love that Jelly Motor Boat uses a tune from Jing Ke Xin Zhuan by way of Kart Fighter-- it's a *double* reuse!

Also, how did they screw up the Star Light Zone theme so badly in actual Star Light Zone (the bass and melody aren't in sync at all!), but then have it sound even better than in Somari during Sky Zoo? I mean, I could even barely excuse the former on "avoid being sued by Masato Nakamura" grounds, but when they keep it intact in another game... Hummer Team is weird.

Edit: Also, the Cute Heads theme is quite jazzy and catchy, save for that couple of sour notes that really sticks out.

[Awesome Panda]

codeman38

Jun 18 2011, 01:48:25 AM

Edit: Also, the Cute Heads theme is quite jazzy and catchy, save for that couple of sour notes that really sticks out.[/quote]Funnily enough, it sounds a lot like DWANGO5 map 20's music if you ask me. Never thought Hummer Team would resort to ripping off songs from Doom WADs. :lol:

[codeman38]

Cheetahmen

Jun 18 2011, 03:44:09 AM

Funnily enough, it sounds a lot like DWANGO5 map 20's music if you ask me. Never thought Hummer Team would resort to ripping off songs from Doom WADs. :lol:[/quote]Wow, it *does* sound quite similar.

I'm guessing the music probably originated from yet another source (since pretty much all the other DWANGO5 tunes did), and now I'm curious what that source might be.

Edit: A post in this thread claims it was ripped from some SoundBlaster demo, which would definitely explain how Hummer Team could've found it.

[Awesome Panda]

TBH, I haven't got a clue whether it's more likely that Hummer would've got the MIDI through DWANGO5 or a SoundBlaster demo. I'd say the latter, because it generally makes more sense all of the music in DWANGO5 is in MUS format, which isn't easy to convert to MIDI by my experience. Then again, they probably did it by ear like I'm pretty sure is the case with most of their other games, which would explain why it isn't note perfect.

Edit: I just remembered, DWANGO5 map 1's music (HITFLOOR.mid in case you're wondering) was originally a demo MIDI itself and that was altered somewhat for the game. Map 20's music could've been the same case, which I suppose could go either way to explaining where Hummer's rendition came from. Also, about a week ago I was trying to find out what songs the DWANGO5 MIDIs were based off and ran into this thread. Not sure if that's any use though.

[taizou]

part 2 is up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGpSl-OcE4Q

3 is uploading now, i should have 4-6 up tonight if it doesnt take too long.

i also have some extra footage of the butterfly forms you dont see in the videos (theres no special ending when you get all 60 stars though), i could possibly upload that plus a couple of other extra clips (the hidden version screen and Big Hammer crashing a lot) as a bonus video for completeness' sake if anyone wants to see it. but that needs a lot of editing so i doubt i could get it on tonight.3 is up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XdLsXWXgFI
i just queued up 4, 5 and 6, they take about an hour and 10 minutes each to upload.

4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXoNG9NBcRw5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw-J5WrG_nI

6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtFbzvKrjHg

and im done!