Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

[dmk1198]

Loving my pandora, just found sonic boom and then another blast on thundercrossll great game

Sent from my Redmi Note 8T using Tapatalk

[XoPachi]

I...didn't realize how many Monolith updates I missed. I just got killed by the Database on my first run coming back
The game is generally easy unless you play on Lethal, but I really don't do well against patterns that come at you from behind. And his do double damage. It's gonna be a minute before I beat him. But man, this game really nails atmosphere.
They really know how to one up their seemingly climactic moments. The Monolith fight is very typical TLB aesthetic and made double hard hitting knowing it's Null you have to kill. But then you get to Nowhere and suddenly f e a r. Something as simple as DataBase and it's omnipresent sounding opening dialogue really makes him feel like THE mastermind of the game.

What a masterful game. Always was my favorite rogue.

EDIT: And I just killed Database.

[Gamer707b]

Got the Hypergun Ikaruga from the wife for Xmas and been playing it. Nice to be able to play this on a big screen now. Also played some Battle Garegga on PS4 last night. My absolute 2 favorite shooters. Funny how I suck at both of them though.

[XoPachi]

Hrm, I have one boss left to kill in Monolith and my Bestiary will be complete. Technically one and half as I've yet to reach conditions where I can kill a Tier 4 Warden. I only unlock the third stage of the fight since the GameBoy hasn't appeared in later floors for me yet.
But I'm looking forward to finding out what that last boss is. If it's not the Database, it must be something serious. And I doubt I have anymore hidden side mooks like Trespasser or Warden.

[Flobeamer1922]

Tatsujin Oh. Doing a loop clear of that will be my first big goal of 2021.

[Marc]

Still Game Tengoku, managing ST4 regularly on the Arcade + mode.
Messing around with R-Type Leo. Hoping for a proper conversion of this, so a little reluctant to play too far (Pandora Box), but loving it so far. Very, very different visually from it's predecessors, love the almost cartoony look. Strikes me as a far better game than R-Type 3, I could never get into that properly. Doesn't come across as anything like as punishing as the prequels either, though I've only played to ST3 boss.

[BIL]

Leo's good stuff, and a staggeringly obvious candidate for ACA, having dodged official home release for decades now (I remember EGM's R-Types review noting its absence, can't recall the writer but that was a big heads-up that there was a lot I wasn't seeing on consoles).

Besides the relatively sunny visuals, there's that almost Viewpoint-esque soundtrack too. Positively housey at times. Loved hearing the st1 theme pop up in R-Type Final's OST.

3-2-1-Let's Go!

Do you know about the regional differences? IIRC the World/US one's subweapons work pretty differently. I never heard as much about it as the more infamous Konami cases (Thunder Cross, XEXEX) but it sounded notable.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

R-Type Leo is cool. Shoutout to Ran from Oshaberi Parodius that's basically an R-Type Leo knockoff complete with homing bell subweapons, that kitty can tear enemies up pretty damn fierce. Also, screw Mike, the Darius style cat, Mike's weapons kinda suck, though the kotatsu shield is adorable.

There's two major differences between the R-Type Leo revisions:

• The JP version is a one button game and requires you to hold the shot button to activate the homing pod attack. The International release is a two button game, with one button to shoot and one that toggles the homing attack on and off. This allows you to shoot your basic cannon while the gunpod is active, protecting you from the front better.

• The JP version has checkpoints on death in single player, the International version does not have checkpoints. Can't remember if this is hardcoded or if this is a difference in dip switch/bios setting.

It's a rare case where I think I actually prefer the International version. Checkpoints suck obviously, but it's also nice that during your auto homing attack that you still can fire on stuff that sneaks past the homing pods in front of you. It feels a bit better designed. Neither one has built in autofire but setting the game up with autofire at a realistic tap speed fixes that, and it doesn't require too strenuous a tap rate to use the red weapon.

[BIL]

Aha, that was it. I remember the JP/World tables needing to be split along those lines. I hope if it ever does get an ACA release, it's with both variants included (as with current sole M92 representative Kaitei Daisensou / In The Hunt).

[Marc]

ST5 on Game Tengoku, not sure how many there are. Better bomb management should see me further than this no issues though. Died with 5 in stock at one point last night. Tried the arrange version, but it's hard to play because it's so zoomed in compared to the 'new' version.

[Licorice]

I just credit fed through the mega drive version of Granada.

Super cool movement, which I haven't quite mastered. I also fired up the x68k original which feels way different due to the fact that you can't lock and blast so if you want to blast boost you have to let go of the lock (and any direction you might be holding, lest you rotate), blast, then lock and move. It's not the easiest to pull off cleanly without rotating, which negates any speed gains due to the need for adjustment.

So I stuck with the mega drive port.

You can cheese a few of the bosses (stage 4, stage 5) while others are incredibly threatening (haven't figured out stage 6 boss, can easily consume a life). Stage 2 boss is fun to speed kill, stage 8 boss is pretty fun for a snake boss, last boss is a typical 16-bit boss which throws a few easy to figure out patterns that require focused execution to overcome.

I like how in later stages (especially final) you need to be careful with using the blast cause you can easily fall into a pit. The optional weapons are wild (reflectors, orbs, the bomb). The enemies feel like kill bots following simple programs, which is exactly what they are, I suppose, but there's lots of variety.

Very creative game. Nothing quite like it as far as I'm aware.

[BIL]

Granada is badass. This game is profound and will always be new! Now, HIT DE BOOST

Spoiler

I have you played Ex-Ranza aka Ranger-X (MD/GEN)? Sidescrolling mecha action by Granda's director Toshio Toyota. Despite the format change, the range of meticulously detailed player/enemy mechanics (and the love of screen-juddering destruction) is unmistakable. Gets off to an unfortunately trying start with stage 2's lengthy cavern maze - it's well done but aesthetically glum - but stick with it, it returns to st1's open battlefields promptly.

No fiery Sakuraba OST this time, unfortunately. Advance "GRANADA!" Now that is some fuckin heartful action BGM for making shit explode violently!

[Mykaizer]

Just beat Thunder Force IV on hard,(JP NTSC) next up will be Mania mode.
I'm trying to beat Soukyugurentai, saturn version on default settings.( Gets to bullet hell tier in the later levels, goddamn. )
Still need to beat Nexzr and Super Star Soldier (That fuckin' last boss is a bitch!)
I don't remember if I beat Winds of Thunder(Lords of thunder) TurboGFX version yet, I came close though. I did beat the sega cd version no problem. ( The music in this game is next level but everyone knows this! ( I love how each version has different mixing to the soundtrack. I have the sega cd mix on the TurboCD game.

Granada ( mega drive) is a cool game that I do want to give more time. The music encourages to play more!

It's all about the goddamned music for me!! haha

[Licorice]

Granada is badass. This game is profound and will always be new! Now, HIT DE BOOST

Spoiler

I have you played Ex-Ranza aka Ranger-X (MD/GEN)? Sidescrolling mecha action by Granda's director Toshio Toyota. Despite the format change, the range of meticulously detailed player/enemy mechanics (and the love of screen-juddering destruction) is unmistakable. Gets off to an unfortunately trying start with stage 2's lengthy cavern maze - it's well done but aesthetically glum - but stick with it, it returns to st1's open battlefields promptly.

No fiery Sakuraba OST this time, unfortunately. Advance "GRANADA!" Now that is some fuckin heartful action BGM for making shit explode violently!

I've given Ex-Ranza a whirl and it's on the backlog, but I have not played through the whole thing just yet. Loved the bike management from the little I did play though.

And yeah, Granada is definitely detailed to the point of feeling alive. Alive in a very mechanical, non-organic way, which gels well with the visuals, IMO.

Level 2 (as seen in your gif) is so cool. I love taking down giant fortress air ships.

I've long been fascinated by games that try to marry the feel of a shmup with freedom of movement. I don't know if that was what the devs were going for (first level suggests some gauntlet influence, with the generators), but it can definitely be interpreted as such. To that end, I think the positioning certainly felt like something out of a hori, especially in some of the more perilous or narrow sections. Also due to the feedback (as in, what happens with the same input next frame depends on the previous inputs) nature of the movement (in this case rotation) commonly seen in horis (e.g. option positioning). But the dodging was quite different from what you'd see in an autoscroller. Lots of hit and run and off screen shooting due to the blaster range and knockback. In some ways, it's a little disappointing (the explosions happen out of sight, although the screen shakes nicely to let you know), but it also fixes the problem where the hit and run tactics don't feel so, well, spastic like they do in e.g. Thunder Force 2 or Bosconian. It's also just plain fun. Moving away from oncoming bullets due to knockback makes them feel slow motion, momentarily, which also affects dodge timing. Nevertheless, the game did capture autoscroller enemy aggression somewhat, which is admirable - freedom of movement tends to make enemies passive.

IMO that particular subgenre is still in it's infancy, because it's so sparse and everything in it is so different from everything else in it. I'd love to see something that builds on Granada in particular (I mean, within the same format), I feel it really gets a lot right but there's also lots of room to push and refine the design.

EDIT: This run is very cool, but might be TAS. See timestamp. Or maybe there's a trick to pre-positioning the orb to break through the two top turrets.

[BIL]

Not sure about the run, but it wouldn't surprise me if that move is humanly possible. Enhasa's run does similar, boosting into the arena ahead of the Orb to break its movement, just with a bit less polish on the bullet-herding while the Orb catches up. (understandable, given Enhasa's is a speedrun)

[Marc]

DL Terra Force last night. Seems neat. Basic, but enjoyable enough, and I do like the visuals.

[minion]

Been playing Gleylancer on the regular for the last few months. There are parts I don't love, but all the satellite options keep me coming back to try different configurations. I particularly like how you can control the spacing on the gradius-style option pattern by judicious use of the speed setting. That, and the soundtrack is just so damn good.

[EmperorIng]

Been playing Gleylancer on the regular for the last few months. There are parts I don't love, but all the satellite options keep me coming back to try different configurations. I particularly like how you can control the spacing on the gradius-style option pattern by judicious use of the speed setting. That, and the soundtrack is just so damn good.

I really want to give this game a proper go one day. I have fond memories during my early genre exploration messing around with it in Kega. I think if I knew the search options were OP I would have cleared it by now!
Right you are in the music being a big motivating factor

Been diving into* Under Defeat as my first post-'rona shmup. I guess I wanted something simple?

That might have been a mistake given it's part of the 'no extends' bullshit school of design. So many runs ended because of the shitty auto-aim of the option bit. So many restarts on stage 2 because your fat pink copter didn't swivel enough to properly aim...

That being said, I did manage, in 3 out of like 90 attempts, to get to stage 1-5, which I've never been able to do before. It's been a long time coming; I'm such a different player now than when I first picked up (and loved) the game as I mindlessly credit-fed through it to enjoy the graphics and music (even voting it on my top 25 a few years). Does that new me still enjoy the game? Well I've put several more hours into it! It's enjoyable enough for a 1ALL but I don't know if I'll have the patience to go for the second loop (something I generally dislike in shmups unless they're endless), let alone qualifying for the second loop.

*under?

[Yoshinoya]

Been playing the incredible GG Aleste 3 ..A LOT~~! ʕ￫ᴥ￩ʔ it is soooo good!
What M2 did with the challenges is something that needs to become more of standard - its excellent to train stages and bosses!

Next to that the always awesome Battle Garegga ＼(￣▽￣)／

[Sengoku Strider]

I'm going to be spending the weekend revisiting Layer Section II, Radiant Silvergun, Pulstar, Darius Gaiden & Kingdom Grand Prix in sorting out where I want to put what on my top 25.

Been playing the incredible GG Aleste 3 ..A LOT~~! ʕ￫ᴥ￩ʔ it is soooo good!
What M2 did with the challenges is something that needs to become more of standard - its excellent to train stages and bosses!

Yep, the challenges seem to be standard with their ShotTriggers releases, and they're exactly what the genre needs.

[Mero]

Trying to get through Sisters Royale hard mode with Nur. Just made it to Seytan for the first time but then I blew it.

[EmperorIng]

Can't wait to see a huge breakthrough there, too

[Mero]

I'll keep working at it but it won't be miles higher than my normal score. These bosses are a pain.

[XoPachi]

So I'm trying to kill Chaos God in Monolith.
The temple is fun. Most enemies are interesting. T4 Warden is a great fight. Chaos is a fun fight.
What is not fun is how many resources the Temple as a whole chews through. You can be as ammo efficient with the most prepared loadout you think you could have by Bellows. I went in with triple, HOMING, PHASING, instant Vulcan at 180% damage and 200% ammo being as frugal as possible. how in the world did I burn through what, 1200 rounds still??
I miraculously had enough to kill Warden, but I had like 70 rounds left and Chao God's 8 year long phase 1 of course drank all of that. Even with double charges and the hitman item for A.Blaster. It still wasn't enough. I just got wittled down being stuck with my peashooter.

If some of these enemies weren't so tanky, it wouldn't be as bad. Some just unnecessarily soak up damage despite not looking as though they should and not doing much in the time it takes to kill them. I also don't understand why these minibosses don't drop ammo.....like the rest of the game's. :l

[BareKnuckleRoo]

This post may be of interest to you: viewtopic.php?p=1407199#p1407199

tl;dr: The ammo rebalancing sucks the fun out of the DLC, fighting the superbosses with the peashooter is boring as hell and lacks the feeling of having an epic fight like you'd get in a shmup where the superboss is a challenge even with a properly powerful looking, screen filling weapon to suit the occasion.

The ammo changes were a deliberate move by the developer, and a mistake IMO. The DLC is a more than a content pack, and the tweaks to the original game balance hurts the nearly perfect, fine-tuned game balance of the original where you could keep a weapon you enjoyed using if you had the skill to get the max-ammo refills from minibosses. I played through it a bit to beat the new superbosses, but ultimately I was just annoyed at how sloppy the rebalancing felt and ditched it. The weapon you have is largely irrelevant and if you're going after the superbosses literally the only thing you care about is piling on attack bonuses to buff your peashooter. Ick.

I haven't played Monolith in a year or so. The worst part is all the hyping of special artifact weapons the dev did on Twitter was a complete waste of time, since the ammo rebalancing means you'll barely get to hang on to any weapon you find, especially if you do the Temple. And, unlike other roguelikes like Enter The Gungeon where you can freely swap between your default weapon and any new weapons you find, Monolith does not allow you to conserve your ammo for a particular boss fight, with the new ammo system leading to frequent weapon loss that is 100% out of the player's control.

There was a brief period where I tried using cheatengine to give myself infinite ammo for weapons and it was amusing, but was clunky to use especially if you swapped weapons multiple times in a run. Even without the ammo issues, I also got annoyed at all the forced bomb usage to fully explore maps with the new "use a bomb to open this door" rooms. Some of the solid shmup design elements that rewarded player skill and encouraged good dodging and resource usage fundamentals got kinda cast aside to satisfy roguelike fans and their insatiable desire for being at the mercy of RNG for basic gameplay elements I guess. The original version's still a nearly perfect game for me, but I have no interest in replaying the DLC.

[EmperorIng]

Do the updates take effect even if you don't add the DLC?

I remember reading your writeup with a bit of sadness, since I really enjoyed Monolith as one of the few roguelikes I didn't get bored of. Saving weapon ammo was a big part of the strategy in the game.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

No idea how the Steam release works, but the GOG standalone release allows you to save the main game and the DLC version separately, I have both installed.

[Marc]

Some Omega Fighter, was getting my ass kicked on ST3, but after a couple of attempts I realised it's generous enough with bombs/slowdowns to breeze through most of it. Second half with the jets can still be a bit tricky, but I'm getting there. Love this game, this is one that particularly takes me back to being a kid, seems like every pub/chippy I ever went in had one of these hiding in a corner.

[XoPachi]

.Some of the solid shmup design elements that rewarded player skill and encouraged good dodging and resource usage fundamentals got kinda cast aside to satisfy roguelike fans and their insatiable desire for being at the mercy of RNG for basic gameplay elements I guess.

I wanted to say something along these lines but left it out.
Monolith was a rogue I played because I hate rogues. Like HATE rogues. I only like 3 including this one. But this game was my favorite. Still is. I love the game still but this issue is feeling like the games that pushed me away from this genre. Its unfortunate.

[Marc]

Was browsing through the Pandora last night, and noticed DonPachi 2 on there. Fires up and runs OK, so I'll be giving that a go later.
Also Rezon - I played a bit of this maybe 20 years ago, all that sticks out in my mind is that's it's a complete R-Type rip. My night sorted.