Starfighter wrote:- They often have a lot of irritating walls I have to avoid
- Bullets going sideways are much harder to read
- They tend to have a lot of powering up management with a ton of stuff to combine
After giving this some thought I came to the conclusion that these things all are related to me not being any good at them. Walls are (almost) always irritating because
I run in to them, bullets going sideways are harder
for me to read, and of course I'm going to be struggling with weapon combinations and powering up in different ways if I can't manoeuvre the stages without dying all the time.
I think you might want to take another look at your approach here. I don't see the things you listed as major skills you need to focus on. They're sort of abstract and hard to practice specifically. Since you have already 1CC'd a few horis you likely have enough skill in those areas to 1cc many others.
The problem you run into is likely more about routing and memorization. If you have good routes down either by trial and error or watching replays and commit them to muscle memory the other problems you talk about will melt away.
"Reading bullets going sideways"
Here's a really simple example. Take the first boss in Gradius II, the firebird. He has a simple spread shot. Yeah it could be hard to read this pattern and dodge it for a beginner. But an experienced player won't "dodge" it. Just memorize the exact vertical position you need to be in to be safe. IIRC if you think of the nose of the ship as an arrow point it at a spot just below his beak. Now you're camping in the right spot before he even fires every single time. 100% consistency and no effort. Knowledge trumps reflex every time.
Of course this is a very simple example. But try to take that type of approach forward to more complex challenges. Don't focus on building raw skill. Focus on creating routes that are so foolproof they remove any need for skill most of the time. Oddly enough this will create the illusion that you are playing with tons of raw skill lol.
"Power up management"
Again commit this to memory. Stick to the same path every time then you can take worrying about it off the table. Don't think about it on the fly. If you make a change to your routine power up route do so for a specific reason. Lowering rank, need more power by this boss fight etc.
"Walls"
I doubt the main reason you are running into walls is because you lack the input precision to avoid walls. Probably the screen is getting messy with enemies and bullets and that's when it gets hard to focus and an untimely wall splat occurs. Look back at a section and think could I have memorized those enemies and point blanked them before they caused trouble? Should I lurk behind the wall and use it as cover? Should I pass it before or after x, y or z enemy wave? Ask those kinds of questions instead of how do I Git Gud at not smacking walls?
Game choice-
I think the whole good games for beginners thing in shmups is massively overemphasized. For example there aren't fighting games for beginners there are just fighting games. They all have a more or less infinite skill ceiling at the high levels of play.
Most important thing is that you find a game you really like or even love. Then stick with it and set incremental goals within the same game. Really hunkering down with one game at a time and understanding the ins and outs will see you improve. Dabbling in a variety of games and hoping for certain enigmatic shmup skills to majestically blossom forth will only go so far. And trust me I've done both lol
