Vasara 2

HISTORY

Vasara 2 is the second and finale game in the Vasara series of shoot-em-ups, as well as the finale game to be developed and released by Visco. Unlike most games of the genre, Vasara 2 draws heavily from the history of feudal Japan, rather than depicting a possible future. The game features a 'Sengoku-steampunk' theme similar to Psikyo's Sengoku Ace series.

The Vasara series was ported to modern platforms in the form of the VASARA Collection on August 13, 2019.

For replay videos, visit the Video Index.

Gameplay Overview

Vasara 2 is a two-button shooter.

Unlike most other games of the genre, the player is not destroyed or powered down when coming into contact with an enemy. Instead, they're knocked backwards at an angle relative to the point and direction of contact.

There are two modes available for play: Easy and Hard

Easy: 1 Loop, 6 Stages, Lower rank

Hard: 2 Loops, 6 stages(12 total), Higher rank, TLB?, and True ending.?

Controls

A (Press): Fires the players shots in tandem (Main and Sub).

A (Hold): Charges the players charge attack. Release to use.

B: Unleashes a Vasara attack.

Unlockable Secrets

The games one and only extend drops from the nineteenth mid-boss defeated (third mid-boss of stage five at earliest).

There is a TLB and ending waiting at the end of the second loop.?

Characters / Ships

Weapons

Main & Sub Shots

Each playable character has a unique main & sub shot; the shots fire in tandem and are triggered by tapping the A button.

Charge Attack

Each playable character has a unique charge attack; the charge attack is performed by holding the A button for a short period and then releasing it. The charge attack can cancel orange bullets, as well as negate the knock back usually suffered from colliding with enemies.

Vasara Attack

Vasara attacks act as this game's bomb equivalent. While using a Vasara attack, the player deals constant damage to enemies slashed, cancels orange bullets slashed, becomes invulnerable, and destroys purple bullets upon contact. A player may have up to three Vasara attacks saved(shown under the players score), and they are refilled by collecting blue gems throughout the game.

Items

Rank

There are two forms of rank in Vasara 2.

The first comes in the form of the game mode selected and is static. Hard mode has increased rank over Easy. The differences between Easy and Hard are that certain enemy bullets are upgraded to purple bullets, some enemy attack methods are strengthened and added, and there are purple suicide bullets in the second round.

The second is dynamic and will change based on player actions, this seems to only affect the number of bullets fired by a boss. Successful consecutive charge attacks will increase the rank of the game. This is referred to as a Continuous Slash Bonus The increase depends on what mode you selected. In Easy mode, a full slash chain raises the boss' rank by one level. In Hard mode it takes about forty consecutive charges to raise the boss' rank by one level, and a full slash chain will result in the boss's rank being raised by two levels.

The last thing to mention is the effect an All Slash Bonus will have on the game's generals(mid bosses). An All Slash Bonus refers to killing all 25 of the named warlords on a given stage. Contrary to the name, you don't need to kill them with a charge attack to activate the bonus. If this feat is achieved, some mid bosses will be upgraded to a more powerful form; this seems to only affect bullet speeds.

Loops

Vasara 2 offers a second, and final, loop if the player selects the Hard difficulty when starting a game. The second loop increases the overall rank of the game and the player plays through the same six stages. There is a TLB and ending waiting at the end of the second loop.?

Scoring

Continuous Slash Bonus

The Continuous Slash Bonus is the core scoring mechanic of Vasara 2. Defeating consecutive enemies with a charge attack will start a 'Slash Chain'. The chain count is shown near the players Vasara Gauges. Failing to contact an enemy / structure with a charge attack, losing a life, or finishing a stage, will reset the chain to 0. Damaging an enemy without destroying it and destroying terrain do not add to the chain. Bosses and zako will only add one slash to chains. Destructible boss parts will also add a slash to the chain count.

The formula for the 'Continuous Slash Bonus' is:

Base Enemy Value + (Chain Count x 100)

Ex: 100 + (100 x 100) = 10100

As shown in the example above, the Continuous Slash Bonus can greatly increase scoring potential. Even on the lowest value enemies.

All Slash Bonus

Each stage has 25 warlords (1 main boss, 4 mid-bosses, and 20 others). Depending on how many are killed, you will get a slash bonus when you clear the stage. The default bonus is 5000 points per warlord. If you kill all 25, you will get a all slash bonus of 150,000 points; if you kill 24, you will only get 120,000 points.

Item Collection

There are a number of items the player can collect for points. Some items(Gold Bricks and Powerups) will increase in value if they are picked up while flashing(similar to many Psikyo games). Item collection plays a fairly small part in scoring. However, depending on the character chosen, Blue Crystals can have a significant impact on scoring.

Other Sources of Points

There are two more sources of points in Vasara 2, grazing and bullet canceling.

Grazing a bullet will award 10 points. Grazing seems to be calculated in frames, so grazing the same bullet will award points multiple times.

Canceling an enemy bullet awards 10 points as well.

Both of these sources of points are negligible, and can be largely ignored.

Scoring Priority

Continuous Slash Bonus >>>>>> All Slash Bonus > Item Collection

The Continuous Slash Bonus is by far the most import aspect to scoring Vasara 2. Breaking chains at the wrong time can result in hundreds of thousands of points lost. The All Slash Bonus is a much lesser portion of overall score potential, but should come naturally when maximizing the Continuous Slash Bonus. Item collection plays very little role overall, but can have some indirect effects on other facets of scoring. For example: The collection of more Blue Crystals can lead to Vasara gauges being filled faster. This allows the player to use Vasara attacks more often, possibly raising the Continuous Slash Bonus further.

Strategy(TODO)

See (Template Page)/Strategy for stage maps, enemy and boss descriptions, walkthroughs, and advanced play strategies.

See Vasara 2/Strategy for stage maps and advanced play strategies.

Shot or Charge Attack

Vasara Usage

Rank Control

If a player wants to control rank for a survival focused clear, they have a number of options: They can skip one of the named warlords to avoid upgrading mid-bosses, reset their rank just before a boss fight(or during) to lower the boss' difficulty, or avoid long slash chains altogether. All of these methods are detrimental to scoring. That being said, it is generally recommended to reset rank before engaging an end of stage boss from stage 3 onward(even while scoring). This is due to the lack of scoring potential in comparison to the Stage 1 & 2 bosses.

Story(TODO)

See See Vasara 2/Bosses for detailed boss descriptions.

Basic story breakdowns, plot information, and endings are included here.

If there is no story at all, or any information about the setting, then this section can be omitted. Try to include at least small things here when you can.

Development History(TODO)

If available, you can include information here about the hardware, the development of the game, and its general reception. Try to have as much information in this section cited as possible.

Version Differences(TODO)

Include information here about differences in a game between various versions. This includes regional differences, patch updates/bugfixes, and the like.

Trivia(TODO)

Cool facts and random tidbits go here!

GalleryTODO)

See (Template Page)/Gallery for our collection of images and scans for the game.

References & Contributors

↑ Tar-Palantir's Vasara 2 Review on System11

↑ 2.0 2.1 STG Love's Vasara 2 Guide