Saitama's Starter Weapon is a stream pack by Zaia.
It is a companion pack to Saitama's Ultimate Weapon. It is a half-speed version of the pack with lower level charts to music already present in that pack. The pack's name is derived by taking the opposite of “Ultimate”, or if taking an alternate reading of 埼玉最終兵器 , then “Final”. As this pack is inspired by video games and JRPGs (which are the sources of many of the songs S.S.H. remixes), the references to weapons are contextually relevant. If Saitama's Ultimate Weapons are the last weapons, then Saitama's Starter Weapons are the first.
A large amount of information about this pack is documented on the page for Ultimate. Refer to that page for more details.
| Pack Director | Zaia |
| Stepartists | Zaia |
| BPM | 108-167.5 |
| Songcount | 34 (2 mixes) |
| Blocks | 9-16 (9-13 target) |
| Type | Stream |
| Format | Singles |
| Release Date | 23 Oct, 2021 |
¶ Structure
There are two charts to each simfile, including the mixes. Lowers are “cut-stream” versions of their Expert counterparts. All individual songs were cut to between 2:00 and 2:30 in length.
¶ Development
By October 11, 2021, Saitama's Ultimate Weapon was nearing completion when I decided that I couldn't risk that happening, so I started another pack and gave myself more work. The premise of this secondary pack was simple - use the existing property to produce content that lower level players could enjoy, who otherwise could not play the main pack. Split-divisions had become commonplace in ECS events, so splitting the pack in this way would have had a familiar synergy with that.
Work progressed very rapidly on this pack as all the simfile skeletons were already done and songs were both shorter and half as dense as their Ultimate counterparts. I worked on the charts whilst simultaneously working on the six mixes. It took no more than 45 minutes or so to complete an Expert + cut-lower Hard chart for a song, and since there was less of a need to design the charts, the actual production phase went by even quicker. Within six days, all charts for the pack, including all marathons (for both Starter and Ultimate) were finished, and pre-release testing could take place.
Pre-release testing was especially gruelling for this pack because of the mixes; every chart to every mix needed to be observed for errors.
¶ Artistic Influences and Chart Design
This pack had only very basic design values applied to it - the main one was that charts should favor steppier patterns over slides because of the low density and the higher likelihood that players at this level are going to be using a conventional form as opposed to an optimized, minmaxed playstyle.
¶ Graphics
This pack continued to be themed after both Street Fighter (1987) and One-Punch Man (2012). Despite the flavor text on the graphics stating that Arvin worked on this pack, he did not.
The background uses a collage of Saitama training, before he was strong, to contrast with the strong Saitama in Ultimate.
¶ Songlist
Saitama's Ultimate Weapon contains 34 songs and two mixes.
| Song | Artist | BPM | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aggressor | S.S.H. | 158 | |
| Appearance of the Demon Beasts | S.S.H. | 136 | |
| Battle (Shin Megami Tensei) | S.S.H. | 167.5 | |
| Be Careful | S.S.H. | 120 | |
| Big Blue | S.S.H. | 114 | |
| Boss Battle (Shin Megami Tensei- Devil Summoner) | S.S.H. | 158 | |
| Crossroads of Sadness | S.S.H. | 124 | |
| Crystallized Silver | S.S.H. | 145 | |
| Fierce Fight | S.S.H. | 140 | |
| Fuuga | S.S.H. | 130 | |
| Go Back Home | S.S.H. | 120 | |
| Headless | S.S.H. | 110 | |
| Hell Watchdog | S.S.H. | 131 | |
| Holy Orders (Be Just Or Be Dead) (Exploding Festival Ver.) | S.S.H. | 136 | |
| Intersect Thunderbolt | S.S.H. | 125 | |
| Mad General | S.S.H. | 162 | |
| Major Demon | S.S.H. | 160 | |
| Meia Worzen | S.S.H. | 113 | |
| Metal Squad | S.S.H. | 113 | |
| Mighty Obstacle | S.S.H. | 138.5 | |
| Momentary Life | S.S.H. | 108 | |
| Palace of Destruction | S.S.H. | 118 | |
| Satomi Tadashi Pharmacy | S.S.H. | 152 | |
| Shock!! | S.S.H. | 130 | |
| Stopper | S.S.H. | 120 | |
| The Decisive Battle With The Fugitives | S.S.H. | 113 | |
| The Spirit Chaser | S.S.H. | 128 | |
| To Make The End Of Battle | S.S.H. | 127.5 | |
| Try To Star | S.S.H. | 108 | |
| Valestein Castle | S.S.H. | 111 | |
| Venus Fire | S.S.H. | 115 | |
| Weekend Racer~R666 | S.S.H. | 115 | |
| [MIX] 135 Disaster Level- PHOENIX MAN | S.S.H. mixed by Zaia | 135 | Holy Orders Mighty Obstacle Fuuga Appearance of the Demon Beasts Fierce Fight Shock!! |
| [MIX] 160 Disaster Level- WOLF | S.S.H. mixed by Zaia | 160 | Satomi Tadashi Pharmacy Boss Battle (Shin Megami Tensei- Devil Summoner) Major Demon Mad General Aggressor Battle (Shin Megami Tensei) |
¶ Reception and Retrospect
Saitama's Starter Weapon has proven itself to be quite popular with lower level players. Not quite on the same level of popularity as The Starter Pack of Stamina or Slowstreamz, but it earns its place on the list of recommended beginner stamina packs.
¶ Trivia
- This was my first pack, along with Saitama's Ultimate Weapon, to feature volume normalization
- A special chart to Disaster Level- PHOENIX MAN was put together for Stamina RPG 7. It was a level 13 chart that was halfway between the Hard (12) and the Expert (14) charts