Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

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BIL
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by BIL »

That distant view of Earth, and a synth dirge that calls everything into question! Brings back a ton of memories. St1's BGM dialling back as Contrite smashes through a building, making its bizarre mechanimal sounds, then gradually revving up to match the scroll speed... st3's plaintive solo hitting right as the walker unleashes a cityload of munitions into the winter night sky... st4-2 receding into elemental bleep-bloop menace ("Hey, remember R-Type II?!" "Yeah, what abou - oh FFS!"), st5's primal escalation (Final's shadows are positively sentimental next to the insistent groan of the abyss)... and possibly most of all, st6 almost tangibly boiling over as the infested hangar nears.

St6's setting totally went over my head BITD, but even then I knew the game was communicating that things had gone very, very wrong, and I was about to see something even more disheartening than...
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^ this fucker!

It even rewinds to the appropriate timecode on a checkpoint restart, if memory serves? I died a lot on some of those, always appreciated the synergy of highfalootin' 32bit flash to grizzled oldschool discipline. I think it may even have motivated me to do better, like a more oblique Gradius V announcer. "You're fucking up the production, noob!" :mrgreen:

Delta's one of those polygonal STGs that'll seem to be aging suspiciously well in my head, until I fire it up again and remember it's just really well-done. Einhander's similar. I find that Instinctive Disappoint Buffer™ response is stronger where PS1/SS games (any genre) are concerned, given how rough the polys were back then. Took real directorial chops to excel.
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Doctor Butler
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by Doctor Butler »

About to finish up Shenmue II HD
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by crazyrexz »

digging nes collection, and found gun nac japan version with english lang, decided to start it , gameplay is very frantic, love the power up type 3 , upgraded it to the max and its like heatseeker cool :D
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by Klatrymadon »

I learned the second loop of R-Type inside-out in a couple of hours, but since attempting to clear the 2-ALL I've had every possible concatenation of failures over the course of about a week. It should be a breeze by now but each new game goes worse than the last.
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by Square_Air »

Klatrymadon wrote:I learned the second loop of R-Type inside-out in a couple of hours, but since attempting to clear the 2-ALL I've had every possible concatenation of failures over the course of about a week. It should be a breeze by now but each new game goes worse than the last.
Good luck with that 2-5 boss RNG, it's a doozy. I grab an extra speed up before it just so I can have a chance against an aggressive pattern, even if it makes 2-6 a little harder to maneuver through.

I was recently playing some Hishouzame, but since that 2-all i'm just kind of juggling everything again. I'm playing a bit of Batsugun Special and Cho Ren Sha 68K again since my roommate has recently gotten into shmups. He just cleared Batsugun Special a few days ago and it was actually pretty hype to see him clear an arcade game for the first time.
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Klatrymadon
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by Klatrymadon »

Thanks! Yeah 2-5 is definitely the make-or-break part of a good run. I've been lucky enough to have the boss behave itself a few times and slipped past it with one speed-up, only to make some dumb mistake on 2-6. Right now it's everything that was previously no problem that's killing me. I'll get there soon... :P

There's an interview on Shmuplations which implies you might be able to influence Bellmite's movements by being near the top of the screen, but I've found they're as random as everyone says. BTW, has anyone noticed rank occasionally seeming oddly arbitrary in this? Sometimes I'll start a run with the same rom (rtypej) and using the same default settings, but more of the stage 1 enemies will be shooting at me from the off, and by the time I reach the second loop everything is even more aggressive than usual. It shouldn't affect things too much once you've figured out all your routes - and it's possible I'm imagining it - but some runs seem noticeably rougher than others.
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Durandal
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by Durandal »

Klatrymadon wrote:Thanks! Yeah 2-5 is definitely the make-or-break part of a good run. I've been lucky enough to have the boss behave itself a few times and slipped past it with one speed-up, only to make some dumb mistake on 2-6. Right now it's everything that was previously no problem that's killing me. I'll get there soon... :P

There's an interview on Shmuplations which implies you might be able to influence Bellmite's movements by being near the top of the screen, but I've found they're as random as everyone says. BTW, has anyone noticed rank occasionally seeming oddly arbitrary in this? Sometimes I'll start a run with the same rom (rtypej) and using the same default settings, but more of the stage 1 enemies will be shooting at me from the off, and by the time I reach the second loop everything is even more aggressive than usual. It shouldn't affect things too much once you've figured out all your routes - and it's possible I'm imagining it - but some runs seem noticeably rougher than others.
I've found that the 2-5 boss' movement is more preferable to deal with when hugging the left edge of the screen, though it's not something that seems to work consistently. Also of note is that the blobs it launches are launched towards where you are moving as opposed to where you really are, so if you hold up while you are already hugging the top of the screen the launched blobs will overshoot (if the boss itself is closer to the top of the screen, anyways). Which is why you also want to avoid the brunt of a stream by hugging the top of the screen for a while and then hugging the bottom of the screen, if the boss doesn't move into you anyways. Also useful is thinning the blobs out with some charge shots before the fight begins. If you have the pod slapped on in front of you, you can take out multiple blobs if you launch a charge shot when the pod itself is inside the mass of blobs themselves, but you have to position yourself really carefully so it's not your ship which ends up colliding with the blobs. If you get really lucky you can take out a ton of blobs at once with a charge shot, but I've never figured out how to do it consistently.
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by Klatrymadon »

Thanks for the tips! Yeah, I've had a few runs come to an end because I tried to take out half the blobs at once.

I realised the projectiles were generally pre-empting my movements and trying to trap me by going ahead of me, but I didn't know you could lead them out of the way by hugging the walls, so I'll definitely be trying that. :D
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by Gamer707b »

Went back to Darius Gaiden on Saturn. I can get to level 5 on one life ( forget what zone) and don't use auto fire. But then I lose my shit and everything falls apart. Anyway, this is a game that I don't ever get tired of going back to.
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by Gamer707b »

Doctor Butler wrote:About to finish up Shenmue II HD

Don't know how you feel about it, but this is the worst port Ive EVER played. If you've got to keep releasing patches to fix your game, then something big is wrong. Thankfully I still have my OG Dreamcast copies.
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by LordHypnos »

Stevens wrote:
LordHypnos wrote:@BKR: Thanks! That's a very helpful run down on the mechanics. I'm already doing quite a bit better knowing about the steel meter. Definitely strikes me as the kind of game that makes a lot of sense once you get a feel for it.
AK is great once you wrap your head around the mechanics. Super satisfying to send a legion of swords and watch the gold pour out.

Love the art style too. Could do without the bosses being people, but it's a minor complaint.
Yeah, I'm really liking it now that it's starting to make more sense. I'm still kind of confused sometimes by the differences I can sometimes get in score between different runs in certain spots, but it's definitely coming together somewhat. I did some stage 1 and 2 practice trying to come up with some kind of route (though I'm guessing their pretty suboptimal since I haven't been watching replays). Made it to stage 4 for the first time. Also got an extend for the first time, and made it to the stage 4 boss, as well.

The art in general is very well done, though i think my favorite part is actually the crazy MC Escher perspective shit. Very charming.

Also the BIG G's, ofc.
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by Immryr »

i've been playing a couple of games which, judging by the complete lack of videos of clears online, seemingly no one really likes.

first up: soukyugurentai, holy shit i already love this game. the aesthetics of it just really, really appeal to me and this might be my favourite lock on system of all the ray esque games. so far i've made it to the fourth level on one credit, maybe i will be able to clear this with some effort! all i know about the scoring really is to destroy as many enemies at once as possible with the lock on...

oh the music is really great too, particularly stage two. shame it doesn't seem to play properly on mame, i might have to spring for the saturn version at some point....

next: mamoru-kun curse on ps3. my trajectory with this game so far has been, mess about playing around with the different characters, just trying to clear the arcade mode without really knowing anything about the game, managed to 2cc it a couple of times needing to continue once on the last boss. then i had a look at how the scoring works.... i absolutely suck at scoring in this game and even trying to do it makes me die horribly.

unlike the hd version of under defeat i actually really like the widescreen mode of this game and having all of the scaling difficulty missions is a great way to learn the game. shame it doesn't have a widescreen version of the arcade mode, unless maybe i just need to unlock it or something?


if anyone could point me in the direction of decent clear videos of either of these games i'd be very grateful.
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by Stevens »

The game it seems like the entire forum is playing.
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by copy-paster »

Just got a slim PS2 and hook up Gradius V.

Nice feeling of playing this game on real hardware.
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by KaizaCorp »

Strikers 1945 here and there. Taking a bit of a break from it to play Caladrius Blaze and (mostly) ZeroRanger though!
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Stevens
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by Stevens »

copy-paster wrote:Just got a slim PS2 and hook up Gradius V.

Nice feeling of playing this game on real hardware.
I like GV a lot - G.Rev just knows how to make a great game, but holy shit that game is an endurance marathon.

Still totally enamored with ZR. Scoring getting and progress getting better and better.
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by BareKnuckleRoo »

It really is. Gradius V was the game that introduced me to the concept of tiny hitboxes in shmup, like miniscule size.

My only complaint (other than the length) about the game is the lack of a slowdown button. There is in fact a "slow" move speed that exists regardless of your current SpeedUp level but it can only be triggered by use of the analog stick being tilted slightly. It's not a true analog in that sense, there's two ranges, the slow speed, and the current SpeedUp level/normal speed. There are a lot of insanely tight sections where having the freedom to shift speeds on digital controls would have elevated the game.
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by OmKol »

DOJ WL, day 90. A progress worth to mention - finally starting from 2-1 managed to reach 2-4.
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by mycophobia »

kinda casually picking dodonpachi and tatsujin back up, along with some other non-shmup arcade games
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by Jonst »

under defeat. extremely close to a clear, very nearly pulled it off yesterday.
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by Stevens »

A Jonst sighting?! How are you good sir? I hope life is being kind to you.

Get that clear!

After a week of not playing Zero Ranger I found some time for a few credits. Getting further though my scoring isn't anything special just yet.
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by Jonst »

^ yeah, I'm still here. Not bad man, usual ups and downs and work has been brutal but still playing when I can. Hope you're good?

Yeah, nearly there. Hopefully before Christmas. I really hate the final form of the final boss though. In between my failed attempts of ud I played and cleared ak zetsu and shin modes back to back despite nor touching it for about 2 years... I'm sure I can beat my previous shin high score. I'd forgotten how much fun it is!
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by BurlyHeart »

Returned to Super Hydorah.

It's a very good game. Cool graphics and sound. Well designed levels. But it can be rather deflating. Everything seems quite straight forward and I feel in total control of the situation. Until I somehow didn't see one bullet slowly making it's way toward me. Or I fly into a piece of the landscape while taking my eyes off the ship to scout ahead. It's like the slow pace of the game lulls me into this false sense of security. And it all feels like my fault.

I'm going to try stick with it this time. Each new stage seems a little different to the last. I probably won't 1cc it, but I want to see what this game has to offer.
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by Gamer707b »

It probably doesn't count but Im going back to Wild Guns Reloaded on PS4. This game simply does not age.
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by DialKnight »

I can not stop playing Ketsui.
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by Stevens »

First credits of Zero Ranger since last Friday. First credits of anything since last Friday actually..

Reached 2-2's boss again, and then put in some practice. Downed the boss after a few tries (think I have him sort of figured out) and continued with practicing the second loop.

All I have to say is wow, the depths of this one must be seen to be believed.

Everyone should be playing this.
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by garrz32 »

Started Shienryu ( Saturn) this morning, I know it's not the best Saturn shooter but I keep going back to it.The controls & speed of the ship are spot on, the music could be better though.. The red octopus :lol:
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by OmKol »

DOJ WL, day 107. Starting from 2-1 died on 2-4 boss fight. I should better learn railguns.
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by Gamer707b »

garrz32 wrote:Started Shienryu ( Saturn) this morning, I know it's not the best Saturn shooter but I keep going back to it.The controls & speed of the ship are spot on, the music could be better though.. The red octopus :lol:

Finally there is someone else like me playing on original hardware. I don't know what it is about Saturn shooters, but I gotta have them all. Almost bought Hyper Duel today, but "the adult and responsible" in me said "not now".
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Re: Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

Post by EmperorIng »

garrz32 wrote:Started Shienryu ( Saturn) this morning, I know it's not the best Saturn shooter but I keep going back to it.The controls & speed of the ship are spot on, the music could be better though.. The red octopus :lol:
Even better because no matter what you'll be fighting the red octo for a loooong time, especially if you are using the Blue Lightning which will net you more points on the boss.

Shienryu is a great game, some audio duds aside :wink: Pretend you are playing the real sequel to Tatsujin, ha!
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