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

[BIL]

Good going! Quite a substantial game, that. I've been in the mood for a revisit now that its Konami ancestor XEXEX is finally getting a modern console release.

[To Far Away Times]

Oh man, I like Einhander. Nice job. I've dabbled in that one on and off. It intentionally goes against some traditional shmup design, and has quite a bit of varying attacks and randomness that makes it hard to master.

Xexex is a fantastic game. Criminally overlooked, and maybe the best of all of Konami's shmups. Its like a kinder, gentler R-Type with a Konami feel. It also feels good to let go of the pod and let it do its own thing, which was rarely a good idea in the R-Type games of that era.

[jehu]

I 1CC'd Razion Ex tonight.

Not the hardest game out there, but it took me a surprising amount of tries to conquer it. More than most people would take, I would assume. I've really come around on this game the last few days. I thought it was decent; but as I uncovered the scoring system I really started to like it a lot. You can get three extends via score instead of the usual two, and if you score well enough you can get all the extends before the end of stage 3. The score system here is really great, and has that Nintendo-like "layers upon layers" to it's design and how the game mechanics are woven in. Maybe my favorite scoring system in shmup ever. At least dabbling in the score system makes a 1CC much easier, since if you don't engage with the score system you probably won't reach the third extend, maybe not even the second one in a full run.

You caught my attention with this post so I went and picked it up from the eShop. I'm really enjoying it so far, and you're right that engaging with the scoring system is the key to keep it entertaining throughout. I was not the biggest fan of Fast Striker, so this was a pleasant surprise.

[To Far Away Times]

I 1CC'd Razion Ex tonight.

Not the hardest game out there, but it took me a surprising amount of tries to conquer it. More than most people would take, I would assume. I've really come around on this game the last few days. I thought it was decent; but as I uncovered the scoring system I really started to like it a lot. You can get three extends via score instead of the usual two, and if you score well enough you can get all the extends before the end of stage 3. The score system here is really great, and has that Nintendo-like "layers upon layers" to it's design and how the game mechanics are woven in. Maybe my favorite scoring system in shmup ever. At least dabbling in the score system makes a 1CC much easier, since if you don't engage with the score system you probably won't reach the third extend, maybe not even the second one in a full run.

You caught my attention with this post so I went and picked it up from the eShop. I'm really enjoying it so far, and you're right that engaging with the scoring system is the key to keep it entertaining throughout. I was not the biggest fan of Fast Striker, so this was a pleasant surprise.

Thank you! Glad you're enjoying it. I haven't played any of NG Dev's other games but I quite liked this one.

[Angry Hina]

One of the things I like about the Switch version is the different ships. Any chance you'll try them now that you got the 1LC?

Did a 1lc on hard with the Rynex in Thunder Force AC:
https://youtu.be/s4LIFoNoKWU

Aimed für the "hardest" 1 life clear but wasnt able to so far... the biggest problem with the rynex is, your damage output on some of the mid bosses. Its the same problem as in TF IV when using the high damage "blade" weapon. Its hitbox is so large, that its sometime nearly impossible to get hits on small weak spots.

Because of that I had to tolerate the Midboss in stage 3 and 4 and just dodge the attacks. Especially in Lv 3 (water) I often loose one life or at least loose the shield and Level 4 is kinda hard if your shield isnt at least in the (last) red state.

But after clearing the game, I got another ship to play. The Rynex with the Lightning Sword weapon from the later half of TF IV. Possibly I will try to get the midbosses a bit better down but its not easy, because you habe to kill so much other enemies while fighting with them... But a 2 life clear was possible afterwards. Possibly I will stick to it ^^

[Herr Schatten]

Got a new personal best in Sisters Royale. The run wasn't perfect, as I died once and killed one of the midbosses a split second too early, which resulted in a x7 multiplier instead of a x8 one, but the score was high enough to carry me to the top of the online leaderboard for the Switch version (for that character and mode, that is).

It seems I just can't stop playing this game. Even if you've played it a million times, you can still find new ways to adjust your routes and squeeze out some more points. It's so rewarding. Most addictive shmup I've played in a while.

[Sima Tuna]

I picked up dodonpachi dfk and got a baby novice mode 1cc on my first time playing. This is also the first dodonpachi game I've played. Played plenty of other shmups but not that series. Anyway, the novice 1.5 feels about as easy as espgaluda II novice, which is fine. I assume the normal modes are pretty fucking hard (espgaluda II normal isn't easy.) Played on switch in handheld. My clear was with the red ship in bomb mode.

I heard about dodonpachi for years but never had a chance to play it. I really like the variety in ship types and the insane amount of modes and arranges. I can see why this game is so popular. Seems to have something for everyone and the level of polish is top-notch even by Cave's high standards. I'd put this up with Futari in terms of sheer polish.

[xxx1993]

Good going! Quite a substantial game, that. I've been in the mood for a revisit now that its Konami ancestor XEXEX is finally getting a modern console release.

Xexex is yet another classic.

[Sengoku Strider]

Did a 1lc on hard with the Rynex in Thunder Force AC:
https://youtu.be/s4LIFoNoKWU

Aimed für the "hardest" 1 life clear but wasnt able to so far... the biggest problem with the rynex is, your damage output on some of the mid bosses. Its the same problem as in TF IV when using the high damage "blade" weapon. Its hitbox is so large, that its sometime nearly impossible to get hits on small weak spots.

Because of that I had to tolerate the Midboss in stage 3 and 4 and just dodge the attacks. Especially in Lv 3 (water) I often loose one life or at least loose the shield and Level 4 is kinda hard if your shield isnt at least in the (last) red state.

Very nice run. It seemed like hunter was working ok on the 3rd boss, but I see what you mean with the 4th. The only solution I can see is point-blanking him with something else. But it looked like the blade was a serious advantage later on, you were mopping the floor with the tougher enemies in 7 & 8.

[Angry Hina]

Many thanks ^^
Sadly you get the hunter weapon the first time right after the mentioned mid boss battle in stage 3, so you cannot use it on him. Point blanc the lv 4 mid boss is a bit dangerous because of its spread shots.

The blade is great on bigger enemies because of its very high damage (higher then anything else) but there are just very few foes where you can get use of it, because of its big hitbox. I would say, that the Sever of the Styx is the way better choice for the most enemies in comparison. The best moments for the blade weapon are the two midbosses in the final stage. you cannot kill them that fast with the Styx's Sever. And the ground bombs of the Rynex are much weaker then the ones of the Styx.

But after clearing the game, I got another ship to play. The Rynex with the Lightning Sword weapon from the later half of TF IV. Possibly I will try to get the mid bosses a bit better down but its not easy, because you habe to kill so much other enemies while fighting with them... But a 2 life clear was possible afterwards. Possibly I will stick to it ^^

Its worked as I hoped. At least on the more dangerous level 3 mid boss. After its bubble attack (you wont get hit by them if you stay near and above hin), you can point blanc him with the full charged thunder sword. you should press forward on the digi pad to let the the two thunder beams aim more in front of you because he will not die from one hit if you don't deal the maximum damage. It is useful on the level 4 mid boss as well but you have to land more hits so it will stay a bit tricky with him. But the thunder sword has no real use after that -.-

Here is my final run on Thunder Force AC (hardest, Rynex with thunder sword, no live lost) (and collected all extra lives this time )

https://youtu.be/2aGhFMUWkvY

[WeedyRainfall]

I assume the normal modes are pretty fucking hard (espgaluda II normal isn't easy.) Played on switch in handheld. My clear was with the red ship in bomb

Dfk 1.5 normal is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay fucking easier than espgaluda 2 normal.

You get hypers and like 900 autobombs in dfk. Play b-strong or c-strong and the 1-all is 100% doable for anyonr

[Sima Tuna]

I assume the normal modes are pretty fucking hard (espgaluda II normal isn't easy.) Played on switch in handheld. My clear was with the red ship in bomb

Dfk 1.5 normal is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay fucking easier than espgaluda 2 normal.

You get hypers and like 900 autobombs in dfk. Play b-strong or c-strong and the 1-all is 100% doable for anyonr

Good to know. I definitely want to play more DFK. Very fun game.

[To Far Away Times]

Got a 1CC today on Space Moth DX today.

Its an alright game. I quite like the music and the vibrant colors are nice. The game balance is a little weird. If you play for survival the stages are trivial, but the bosses are a big step up in difficulty. The game is also almost entirely made of fixed shots, and you only ever really encounter overlapping patterns on bosses, making the stages pretty mindless. The themeing is also very reminiscent of Mushihimesama. That's not neccisarily a bad thing, but it does remind me of a better game. Still, for the roughly $7 this goes for on the E-Shop its a good time.

[Sima Tuna]

1cc easy mode sisters royale with Shiro-I mean sonya or whatever her name is. It was easier than I was expecting on easy. I usually play easy first because I'm a scrub. I'll have to check to see how normal is.

I wasn't too impressed with space moth. It felt like the game punished you too hard for trying to score or play "correctly." Also yeah, it reminds me of a better game I could be playing on the same platform.

[Herr Schatten]

1cc easy mode sisters royale with Shiro-I mean sonya or whatever her name is. It was easier than I was expecting on easy. I usually play easy first because I'm a scrub. I'll have to check to see how normal is.

Congratulations! Do try normal, it's fun. It's not a particularly difficult clear either, as the game is generous with resources and you can always bomb through the nastier spots if things go wrong. Playing for score, though, is another matter, and that's where the bigger challenge is.

See you in the high score thread!

[To Far Away Times]

Sisters Royale is a fairly easy clear on normal as far as shmups go. I think I clocked my 1CC within the first three hours of playing or so. You can do it. Don't even sweat it.

[Angry Hina]

Here is my first 1cc / 1lc of Thunder Force III ^^
https://youtu.be/iDexNlyNUXE

I would say, that the "new" stages of TF AC are a bit better in terms of leveldesign but ones of TF III look way better and have these awesome tracks. I Kike the higher amount of health of some bosses in TF III also more.

[xxx1993]

Despite struggling through Wave 4, 5, and 6, I finally 1CC'd GG Aleste 3 on Special Mode!

[To Far Away Times]

Got a quick and dirty 1CC of Cotton Reboot last night. I 1CC'd the PS1 port ages ago, probably 10 years ago or so. Although I barely remember the game these days, it was neat to see I did remember a few specific stage tricks and boss strategies, though I definitely didn't remember too much of it. Just like the original version, you're supposed to bomb so much it would make the US version of DonPachi jealous. When in doubt use a bomb, don't even wait to read a pattern and attempt a dodge and react. The new scoring mechanics put it over the top for me. The best version of the game, IMO, even though its a bit easier.

[Austin]

Just got a 1CC of the arcade Giga Wing (courtesy of the MiSTer). I did the DC version years ago with the Stranger ship (totally OP), but just nailed the arcade one with Ruby. Didn't think I'd get that anytime soon!

[JJHLH]

I got a 1CC of Tiger Heli on Super Easy mode. I’m not a good player so I’ll take whatever I can get haha.

Love all of the M2 ShotTrigger releases. They are so well done.

[To Far Away Times]

Just got a 1CC of the arcade Giga Wing (courtesy of the MiSTer). I did the DC version years ago with the Stranger ship (totally OP), but just nailed the arcade one with Ruby. Didn't think I'd get that anytime soon!

Nice. That's an impressive clear. Great game too.

[WeedyRainfall]

Finished up the year with G-Darius Lambda route 1cc. Bought this game on sale on a whim last week, and i'm obsessed with it now. This shit is fucking amazing.

[Creamy Goodness]

Got a quick and dirty 1CC of Cotton Reboot last night. I 1CC'd the PS1 port ages ago, probably 10 years ago or so. Although I barely remember the game these days, it was neat to see I did remember a few specific stage tricks and boss strategies, though I definitely didn't remember too much of it. Just like the original version, you're supposed to bomb so much it would make the US version of DonPachi jealous. When in doubt use a bomb, don't even wait to read a pattern and attempt a dodge and react. The new scoring mechanics put it over the top for me. The best version of the game, IMO, even though its a bit easier.

Great game, but the shield is damn near game breaking. Just keep racking up blue gems and clearing the game is cake. Cotton Reboot is the only game I have 1cc'ed without any kind of save state or practice mode usage and it only took me about 2 weeks. I'm guessing there is more of an emphasis on getting high scores rather than simply clearing the game.

[Ice Beam]

Several months ago I 1cc'd Guwange arrange360 version. The dual stick control makes it super easy, and I was able to get my 1cc on the second try.
I then attempted Guwange original, and hit a wall with level three. I simply could not get past it, and I wasn't really enjoying the grinding, so I dropped it in favor of Mushihimesama on Steam.
I 1cc'd original mode (normal) and 1.5 (normal). Today, months later, with a total playtime of 110 hours, I 1cc'd maniac mode (normal).
My biggest problem was I kept backing into bullets. I eventually realized the sneaky nature of the game, that bullets at different speeds would be fired simultaneously. I constantly made the mistake of "intuiting" the trajectory of the bullets based on the fast ones and not paying attention to the slow ones.
Definitely the hardest game I've ever beaten.
I'm in a daze and not sure what's next. I'll figure it out next year.
Oh, and a huge 'thank you' to Kiwi and his guide on the Strategy board.

[Sima Tuna]

I don't know if this counts. I got a 1cc of Huntdown's arcade mode "easy" route. The reason I say it might not count is the way arcade mode is handled. When you select "arcade," they give you a choice of routes. Sort of like Shock Troopers, I guess? The four main campaigns of the story mode are split into separate arcade routes. So the Hoodlum Dolls are the "easy" route, while Misconducts are "normal." And so on. It's a little strange. I've cleared the Hoodlum Dolls twice now. I don't think the game even allows you to continue at all on arcade mode, so technically any clear should be a 1cc (edit: no wait it does let you continue, I just hadn't actually died enough and never saw the continue screen until after posting this lol). The game is very generous with health drops, even on arcade mode. But they definitely ramp up the enemy density on arcade. You also get way more fun gun choices in the levels themselves.

All in all, I'd say Arcade is the way to play once you've beaten these levels back to front in Story. Better enemy formations, higher level weapons available sooner and a greater challenge.

So I'm gonna technically count this as a 1cc since the game gives you a clear screen and boots you back to the main menu when you kill Troy Lawman. Next up, I need to work on the Misconducts route. Which should be a lot of fun, since I love the Unholy Goalie fight. That boss battle is a flawless capstone to the 2nd zone.

[To Far Away Times]

I've been wanting to check that game out Sima Tuna, it looks really neat. Good job on the 1CC.

I squeezed in one last 1CC for 2021. Just beat Wolflame a few minutes ago. Decent game I suppose. It's a bit of a Raiden knockoff, but clearly designed by someone who understands a lot about shmups and they made a few changes to improve the raiden formula. 1) There's still checkpoints but recovery is easy and there's an item that gets you all your weapons back. 2) Enemies still fire obnoxiously fast bullets so you still have to do the "Raiden Dance" and continously sweep the screen, but enemies will always aim exactly where you are and not 15 degrees to the side, reducing the number of times you strafe straight into a bullet.

The game is a bit amateurish with the sprite work, menus, music and has a few little production missteps but it's also got a bit of spirit too.

[Sima Tuna]

I've been wanting to check that game out Sima Tuna, it looks really neat. Good job on the 1CC.

I squeezed in one last 1CC for 2021. Just beat Wolflame a few minutes ago. Decent game I suppose. It's a bit of a Raiden knockoff, but clearly designed by someone who understands a lot about shmups and they made a few changes to improve the raiden formula. 1) There's still checkpoints but recovery is easy and there's an item that gets you all your weapons back. 2) Enemies still fire obnoxiously fast bullets so you still have to do the "Raiden Dance" and continously sweep the screen, but enemies will always aim exactly where you are and not 15 degrees to the side, reducing the number of times you strafe straight into a bullet.

The game is a bit amateurish with the sprite work, menus, music and has a few little production missteps but it's also got a bit of spirit too.

I've been meaning to try out wolflame one of these days. Nice job yourself on that 1cc! A raiden clone with easy recovery sounds... Pretty fun, honestly.

Huntdown is one of those games that lives up to his reputation. It's completely faithful to its inspiration in every way. Even the "boomer references" to old media are handled respectfully, without pulling focus from the gameplay or breaking the fourth wall. If Elevator Action Returns had received a modern sequel by the same team who made Ninja Warriors Once Again, maybe that hypothetical dream title could aspire to be as good a game as Huntdown. The more I play, the more I love it. Huntdown starts really strong, too. The first "world" is one of the most atmospheric and the first gang has some fantastic boss fights.

[Angry Hina]

GG Aleste 3 on normal. Much harder then GG Aleste 1 and 2. Plays great and has awesome visuals.
https://youtu.be/Fb5J_X-ivYA

[WeedyRainfall]

First clear of 2022 is Darius Gaiden, ABDHLQV.

I didn't like Gaiden nearly as much as G-Darius.

Gaiden is the most "classic" shmup i've beaten, and, well, yeah i don't like powering down. I really don't like that as a game mechanic.