I DID IT! Share your latest 1CCs/other triumphs here...

[copy-paster]

Darius II is my least fave in the series, good job!

BTW what version of Gradius 2 do you play?

[BluesDNA]

I am also trying to clear Gradius II. I often play japanese AC version. So, in MAME is entitled as Japan New Ver. (gradius2.zip)

I've profoundly memorized the game but yet commiting quite a few small mistakes in Stage 5, 6, 7 or 8 ruining the gameplay. That being said, it is almost impossible to clear the game unless you make 1LC.

[EmperorIng]

Welcome to the forum, Blues (or rather, posting on it)! Good luck with working on Gradius II. At the very least, it's a great game! Most of the time I don't feel cheated when I die, except at the High Speed stage.

Darius II is my least fave in the series, good job!

BTW what version of Gradius 2 do you play?

Thanks! If I ever play the arcade version of Darius II again, it will only to be to record a 1CC. Other than that, I am soooo done with it.

I am playing the PC Engine port of Gradius II. I like the slight tweaks and fixes to the game (plus the awesome new stage!), though stage 1 is kind of sleepy with how few dragons pop out. The rest of the game more than makes up for that, though! I figure it is about as good as the arcade game in most respects (unless I am so scrub that I don't notice how easy it is).

In the arcade Gradius II, I can usually make it to around the High Speed stage, though in the PCE port, I currently die at the boss rush. The PCE port seems to let me recover a bit more easily from deaths at say, the Moai boss, or the high-speed stage. Losing a life at the boss rush though is practically a death sentence in either version... At least that how it feels to me. I haven't even seen the last stage yet, so surely more death awaits me.

[wgogh]

Finally managed to 1cc the first loop in Gunbird!


The real challenge was not the stages themselves, but to keep my lifes to the end while dealing with a lot of randomness. I had a strategy for every single section, and in theory I was able to face the whole game without difficult, but even then the randomness would get me. Also, there was something I was doing, dont know exactly what, that sometimes I would lose all my lifes in a row. After many tries, I did it! Using Yuan Nang. After that, I wasnt able to survive even a minute on the second loop, so my score is very very low. In fact, there were even times when I scored higher without clearing the game. I dont think the game gave me extra points at all for clearing, which is kind of shit, but I wasnt going for score anyway. But I will! Since 2-ALL is a hell of a goal, I'll start just trying to improve my score anytime soon. My thanks for the ones that tried to help me with this game.

[Perikles]

Due to an unexpected motivational apex in the last few days, I've managed to get slightly above 450 1CCs. I'm particularly glad I finally got rid of 1941, that game got on my nerves for quite some time now. Trashing 1942 afterwards was the perfect bonus. I don't think there are even enough interesting classic arcade shmups left for me to reach 500 1CCs (I've even devastated all but one Dooyong shmups, it's that dire; edit: and now Flying Tiger is also vanquished, Dooyong breathed its last), but I'll see what I can do. I think I'll go back to the second loop of Parodius Da! now, lest I think the genre might be abundant fun.

[SCOOP]

Congrats Perikles! 450 1CCs

I did no miss hard In The Hunt arcade clear lately I am quite proud of. Irem so good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1P1RF8cmcU

[Plasmo]

@Perikles
Gulf War 2 is still waiting for you. Are you ready?

[Stevens]

Perikles - The Wayne Gretzky of the genre.

*Handclap*

[Blinge]

he's the real fucken deal ay

Nice one Perix

[Perikles]

Cheers guys, much obliged!

@Perikles
Gulf War 2 is still waiting for you. Are you ready?

Considering that you mention this out of all the possible games left, I got curious, had one test credit and then I played another one, clearing it and getting almost to the end of the second loop. I have to say: this is the most unashamed, impudent imitator I've seen so far. Inspiration or even some takeovers are obviously nothing unusual in this genre (or human history in general, for that matter). Raiden is inconceivable without all the Toaplan precursors, namely Kyuukyoku Tiger. And games like Double Wings and Mad Shark take a lot from Raiden. There are innumerable R-Type epigones, ranging from really solid imitations like Last Resort to fresh adaptations like Violent Soldiers to horrible experiments like Rezon. But Gulf War II is simply a copy of Twin Cobra, only easier, considerably worse and with a soundtrack that defies any comprehensible explanation. It even shares the same bug that when you kill a boss at the same time as you get killed, the landing sequence just gets omitted. Even the high score table is the same! They horribly nerfed your point-blanking capabilities at higher levels of firepower, though, meaning I inadvertently timed out a lot of the early bosses. Perhaps I'll upload the run one day - and I do have to thank you for the recommendation, I probably never would've bothered on my own!

While on the topic of campy stuff: if you really want some epic shlock, I would recommend Dooyong's R-Shark. The Last Day is their best game, being average or perhaps slightly above that, Super-X would've been neat if not for majorly annoying power-up dodging and Flying Tiger is by far the hardest one, meaning you're at least going to spend some time with it, but R-Shark has some undeniable charm. The bullet wobble in this game is so bad that projectiles actually will describe a parabolic arc if you push the screen enough, it's amazing. It also has my favourite stage introduction of all time:

[BluesDNA]

Welcome to the forum, Blues (or rather, posting on it)! Good luck with working on Gradius II. At the very least, it's a great game! Most of the time I don't feel cheated when I die, except at the High Speed stage.

I've been out of the genre from late 2012 until now due to work stuff. Thankfully I'm back to it, stronger than ever. Back in the day, I worked on Gradius II for a domestic contest in a Spanish forum. I couldn't beat it then. At the time, I played for roughly a month. I often get too nervous after going through the high speed stage and I kinda ruin the credit for silly mistakes at either Boss rush or the final stage.

Anyway I'm working on it every day. I think I'm getting closer

I also have it on PSP and PCE. PCE is an exquisite port. Besides, it does have a cool extra stage.

Let's keep each other posted on any progress!

[Bananamatic]

dodonpachi 586m C-L

[finisherr]

dodonpachi 586m C-L

Is this a new western world record?

[finisherr]

IMO the autobombs make DFK 1.5 easier than Mushihimesama (unless you're talking about Mushihimesama Original 1.5 non-Max). You get enough of them that you can be quite careless through most of the game and still have enough to bomb through the laser wheels.

sure, but even with strong style i tried to manually bomb as much as i could

autobomb is a bad crutch and doesnt help you improve imo

This is exactly why I don't think games that force you into autobombing are good for STG players. Thanks goodness SDOJ allows you to disable autobomb. Ketsupachi is another option for folks with similar beliefs around this.

[LichbannMejolaro]

Got my first 1CC!

It wasn't nothing too heroic, but I just 1CC'd Touhou PCB on Easy.

Got all the way up to the final stage having lost only 2 lives, but on the 2 final battles I lost 5 more. It feels a bit bitter because I know I could have done better, but a victory is a victory!

I'm happy because I practiced the final battle a lot (had lost a couple runs on it before) and I was able to dodge patterns that I couldn't even when training. Yet, I still need to manage my bombs better. I could have saved at least 3 of those 5 lives if I wasn't greedy and pressed the damn bomb button.

Also, there are some game mechanics that I don't understand yet, since there was a couple times that I was hit by a enemy bullet and didn't die (I pressed the bomb button once but I'm pretty sure I did after I got hit).

A quick question: When I was going to watch the replay, the game showed the score for all the stages plus the Extra (without any points) at the end. Was there a way for me to play the Extra Stage right after the final one or the only way to access is through the main menu?


Anyway, thanks a lot for everyone that gave me a warm welcome to this forum. 2 weeks ago all I knew about Shmups was the good old Gradius that I played back on the 90's, but now I'm definitely hooked on this genre.

[Shepardus]

Congrats! My first 1CC was also a Touhou game (Imperishable Night though, not Perfect Cherry Blossom).

Also, there are some game mechanics that I don't understand yet, since there was a couple times that I was hit by a enemy bullet and didn't die (I pressed the bomb button once but I'm pretty sure I did after I got hit).

The Touhou series has a "deathbomb" mechanic that allows you to press the bomb button a split second after getting hit and it'll still count. This is most noticeable in Imperishable Night where the deathbomb is a separate type of bomb and the window is a lot longer for certain characters and under certain conditions. PCB also has the Cherry system which can give you a temporary "border" that can absorb one hit. You can read more about it here.

A quick question: When I was going to watch the replay, the game showed the score for all the stages plus the Extra (without any points) at the end. Was there a way for me to play the Extra Stage right after the final one or the only way to access is through the main menu?

No, that's just a quirk of the UI. The extra stage is only accessible through the main menu.

[LichbannMejolaro]

Congrats! My first 1CC was also a Touhou game (Imperishable Night though, not Perfect Cherry Blossom).

Also, there are some game mechanics that I don't understand yet, since there was a couple times that I was hit by a enemy bullet and didn't die (I pressed the bomb button once but I'm pretty sure I did after I got hit).

The Touhou series has a "deathbomb" mechanic that allows you to press the bomb button a split second after getting hit and it'll still count. This is most noticeable in Imperishable Night where the deathbomb is a separate type of bomb and the window is a lot longer for certain characters and under certain conditions. PCB also has the Cherry system which can give you a temporary "border" that can absorb one hit. You can read more about it here.

A quick question: When I was going to watch the replay, the game showed the score for all the stages plus the Extra (without any points) at the end. Was there a way for me to play the Extra Stage right after the final one or the only way to access is through the main menu?

No, that's just a quirk of the UI. The extra stage is only accessible through the main menu.

Thanks for the info, I'm gonna read more about the Cherry System!

[LichbannMejolaro]

Another one!



Again, I got a couple of bad deaths, where I had at least one bomb but thought I was going to be able to dodge.

This time I really needed to try harder, since the spike in difficulty starting from stage 4 is harsh. Also, I was able to experiment with all the characters and different kind of shots, and I choose to focus on Reimu A since her shot tracks the enemy automatically, which leaves me more calm to focus on dodging (I love how OP Marisa B is, but the fact that I always have to follow the enemy through the screen was really killing me more than normal. Was able to get to stage six with her, nevertheless. As for Sakuya, I thought that she's too weak and even with 4 bombs is not worth the try).


Anyway, I'll try some runs on hard now and if they are too much for me, I'll try another game for a bit.

[EmperorIng]

Good job jumping into the genre and making some great progress! I've never cleared a Touhou game, though I've tried at EOSD many times.

[wgogh]

i didnt even knew there were Touhou PCBs, actually. Anyway, we can thank the series for dragging knew people and keeping the genre alive

[Shepardus]

PCB = Perfect Cherry Blossom (Touhou 7), not printed circuit board, in the context of Touhou.

[LichbannMejolaro]

Good job jumping into the genre and making some great progress! I've never cleared a Touhou game, though I've tried at EOSD many times.

Thanks!

I quite like PCB. The songs in the boss fights are absolutely amazing and give me a extra motivation to keep going. Something I found really interesting is that depending on the character you're playing, some bosses changes their bullet patterns, is nice to add some extra challenge on top of it all.

[wgogh]

PCB = Perfect Cherry Blossom (Touhou 7), not printed circuit board, in the context of Touhou.

That definitely makes a lot of more sense.

[EmperorIng]

I've been finally able to clear another game that has given me grief for many years: the Sega Saturn port of Shienryu!


Score

Sometimes your nerd glee can't contain itself and you gotta shoot a snapshot of your hella-cool 1cc.

I have been practicing this game seriously for a few weeks now, with the intent to finally get it off my "to-clear" list. Note: with the shooters I own, this is a very big list.

The long length of this game compared to other shooters of its era (roughly a half hour for the loop) works both for and against the game. The epic length sometimes gives the game an epic quality, especially as the enemies become more alien and creative as the game blasts you off into space. The highly-detailed spritework helps with the immersion as well (cribbing Raiden II's "debris flying everywhere" shtick). However, there is nothing quite as frustrating as a stupid death on stage 2 or 3, with the crushing realization that you, in the course of your practice run, essentially just wasted a taxing, mentally-exhausting 15 or so minutes. I am sure many of you guys can relate, especially with older, slower shooters with high death penalties.

When I was practicing last night or the night before, I had gotten all the way to the final boss with two lives, and died like a chump twice in a row. I was livid; when my immediate next run was 50% worse, I knew I had to take a break. Luckily, tonight yielded a more or less "perfect" or smooth run, with a deaths occurring at just the right moments to lower rank (thankfully before bosses). I got to the final boss, a mech so big the screen zooms out for one attack (a truly epic moment in shootemups), with three lives and was on pins and needles the entire time. No respawns allowed at the final boss: you die, you restart!

Shienryu is a weird game though with its "secrets." I have no clue how it figures on doling out 1UPs - sometimes I get them as early as stage 3, or much later at stage 5. Sometimes both. Sometimes none at all. I wonder if it's random. One time I got a 2UP (years ago - that's how long it's been!). It's a little deflating to think that my run might have been dependent on the game's RNG gods taking pity on me, but hey, you use every trick at your disposal to get a clear, right?

I am up to 35 shootemup 1CCs now. I gotta pick an easier and less frustrating game next. Maybe Gradius II.

[Ex_Mosquito]

Finally got a 1LC PC Engine Image Fight (leader class) recorded. I don't know what Irem were thinking! They could have at least made the hit box smaller to compensate for the reduced vertical movement.. Solid PCE shooter otherwise.

*played on real hardware with a padhacked VirtuaStick Highgrade and captured in glorious 480i!...

I got 100% on the first 4 stages but for some reason I can never get more than 95% on stage 5, I'm not quite sure what I'm missing :/
https://youtu.be/QdPreeaM6v4 with joystick cam

[EmperorIng]

Nice job! I gave up on the PCE port because that ship was too damn big. ;____; That boss which boxes you in and shoots lasers sideways (I think the first "Real Fight" stage) was my ceiling. Really enjoy the game up until then though.

The sequel is really neat; it's worth burning a disc (or mounting an ISO) and playing through it.

[Ex_Mosquito]

Heya thanks yeah that boss is a real pain at first. The safe spot can take care of the vertical laser leaving only the horizontal ones to deal with, it can be pretty tricky to line up when you're in rush though, changing to speed 1 helps a lot.

Yeah I may tackle the 2nd game next, I've got my evaluation copy ready to go Bit pricey on original that one. I wouldn't mind if it was on HuCard but it's hard to spend that much on a CD..

[BIL]

Bah gawd PCE Image Fight is a real sadomaso head-crusher of a port. Sterlingly done Mr. Mosquito!

Re: Image Fight II, it's kind of a shame... it makes exactly the concessions (tiny hitbox + EZ option shot) the HuCard could've used, playing far smoother - but the surrounding game is nowhere as mean. Still a pretty fun "IREM Lite" time - the Hard difficulty takes some figuring out.

[Ex_Mosquito]

Ta Bil It took a bit of experimentation but I can do it pretty consistently now. I gave the arcade original a try for the first time yesterday and I couldn't believe how much space I had to manoeuvre! It's strange why Irem made the sprites so big on the PCE port. I can only assume it was to make them more detailed? It's a strange design choice if you ask me. Shrinking them about 20% smaller would've been the perfect trade off I reckon.

Ah I didn't realise the 2nd game was that much easier, I may just jump straight to hard difficulty then.

[Stevens]

Just managed to get me a clear of Strania on the 360.

Tried the demo years ago and it didn't quite click with me at the time. Last week after watching Bullet Heaven I decided to buy it and I'm glad I did.

Normal clear wasn't too bad at all. I may be wrong but it may even be a game to suggest to newcomers of the genre. Normal is pretty forgiving.

I won via time over, but his final attack is brutal if you time out. Having the correct weapons (in this case direction and side) seems to be mandatory if you want to actually kill him before time is up.

I've gotten to the 4th stage boss on hard and fully intend to go for the clear.

G. Rev give us another shooter please.