They aren't working on it at all anymore, Sega gave them a C&D. Assholes.
Summarizing which level the zako appear in gave me a thought -you notice how rarely you see zako in level 1 of an arcade game - am I reading too much into it or was this a deliberate ploy to munch more coins out of perverted adolescents who just want to look at the sexy ladies?
saikogun, it's funny you brought up the "seamen" from Space Adventure Cobra. They were always my favorite zako from a tv show by far, with their blonde hair and pink bodysuits. They were so hot, yet treated like cannon fodder by both the hero and the villain.
Zakome (and everyone else, I thought you might be interested to know that there is another version of the Carol/Brenda sprite sheet from Captain Commando. This one has some sprites that I do not recall seeing in the actual game - does anyone recall the one of her splashing in the water, for example?
By the way, I got this from The Spriters Resource | Main Page , a great resource for sprites in general (and for sprites of zako as well).
View attachment 13541
I remember the last one, Amazon, quite well. She kicks a player with those legs. In the later level, she will be upgraded to Silf and Valkyrie and gains a new move like sliding, claw attack and combo. I especially like her combo that stab a claws into your stomach, following with kick two kick attacks. The game also have many moves to use on zako.Everyone's great work on this thread has shamed me into posting.
So does anyone remember these zako from Guardians (Denjin Makai 2) and the original Denjin Makai?
I hope that is coming to the 360. Fuck. I'm sold. And not for Linda, either, just because it's Double FUCKING Dragon!!
DynamiteFetish, the data/character sprites for Streets of Rage Remake version 4 were open - in fact, that's how I made the sprite sheet of Soozie. However, when it comes to Nora there are two bad pieces of news: the data/character sprites are closed/inaccessible in version 5, and Nora is only in version 5. So that leaves only the slower method that HyperZealot mentioned. Still, while that's a slower method it is still very doable.
Regarding the "seamen" and Space Adventure Cobra, it's from the late 70s and early 80s. And yes, those sexy ladies do get some pretty harsh treatment, but you know how morality often seems to work in media: the "good guys" can be as harsh/brutal as they want because they are on the good side, and the "bad guys" deserve whatever harsh/brutal treatment they get because they are on the bad side. Still, were I in the hero's situation, I think I could have found a better use for those blonde bad babes. Out of curiosity, what clip did you watch?
weediscool, now I'll have to whip out MAME and Captain Commando to see if I can find those sprites in the game.
On the subject of level 1 zakos, I think it's a result of lingering hesitation from developers to put in "expendable" female goons. The mentality is that, even if there are women in the ranks of the bad guy's posse, they are at least in positions elevated above the "front line" grunts, and therefore tend not to show up in the first level. On a design level, zakos are put in with a certain eye towards their appeal and distinctiveness to the player; they are meant to stand out due to their femininity. In order for them to stand out, the developers need to show a baseline from which they distinguish themselves, i.e. the first level.
Those scenes are pretty harsh DynamiteFetish and I'll agree I felt sorry for the zako that he was fighting against. They are all very sexy but not at all a match for the "hero," who could have spared at least some of them but instead chose to take them out in some pretty brutal ways (harpooning, lighting one on fire and smirking while she burns, causing several to drown, blasting one completely by surprise, causing their robotic fish/submarine things to turn on them and attack/eat them, and of course using one that is either unconscious or dead to gain entry into a room and then just dropping her body on the floor).
Then again that's what I was talking about earlier, how the "good guy" can get away with doing pretty brutal stuff as long as he's on the "good side," whereas the bad guys are just assumed to deserve whatever harsh fate they get. This show takes that concept even further. The hero is supposed to be a charming, fun-loving ladies man, but he is also remorseless and cold-blooded when it comes to killing anyone he sees as his enemy. The bad babes in this show are apparently part of some criminal organization that is plotting to gain power/riches through nefarious means, and they kidnapped his girlfriend as part of their plan, so the hero slaughters them with gusto.
Generally if I think of myself in a situation involving female zako, I think of myself as an observer watching the fight, and when the good guy(s) inevitably win, I'm the nice merciful dude who takes some pity on the defeated zako and helps them out even though they are, y'know, bad. Anyway...
I don't know. I guess he was a little cold, but it's refreshing to not see a gender based double standard when it comes to fates of the bad guys / gals. I think the question to ask is: If the zako in the Cobra video were men, would you feel differently? I'd link the "expendable gender" article from tvtropes again, but I think I've done that already. It's a good read and brings up some interesting questions.