Do you ever get beginner's luck in shmups?

Blue Lander · Post by **Blue Lander** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 5:10 pm

Because I apparently do.

I recently started playing Gradius II. The day or day after I started playing it, I made it all the way to level 7. Since that's the second to last level, I think "great, I'll have this game done by tomorrow. The day after at the latest."

That was two weeks ago and I still haven't beat it. For some reason, my luck just vanished and I had to start from scratch. It took me about a week to get to level 7 again, and just yesterday I finally made it to level 8 for the first time. One day I could make it to level 7 without any practice, then the next I can't beat level 4 no matter how many times I've tried. Does this happen to anybody else?

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 5:42 pm

Happens to me often. I put a shmup for the first time and I do really well. Then I say, ok let's get serious... But it seems that when I try hard, I do fare worse than before. Perhaps I can't stand the psychological pressure.

This makes me mad

Dandy J · Post by **Dandy J** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 5:48 pm

Seems like I get really lucky in Psyvariar 2 a lot. Between the sporadic invincibility, small hitbox, and small bullets, I often survive without even trying. I remember Fighting the stage 5 boss, and there were like 4 times I thought I'd totally fucked up, and I didn't die even once.

Seems to me Psyvariar 2 only functions correctly at the very highest level, where dying isn't an issue and it's just about buzzing.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 5:52 pm

As I recall, my best response to Mars Matrix was my first. It's been downhill ever since. This has happened to me several times, actually.

dboeren · Post by **dboeren** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 6:05 pm

Sometimes beginner's luck has a reason.

I just got my Twin Cobra PCB yesterday, and couldn't wait to plug it in and try it out. Well, on my first play, I did pretty well. Got quite a bit further than I usually do in MAME. At first I attributed it to using a real arcade stick instead of the keyboard. Then after I had gotten over the initial excitement and was checking the DIP switches I realized the previous owner had set it on easy difficulty!

raiden · Post by **raiden** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 6:15 pm

happens to me a lot, too. DDP is especially notorious, my best scores are always runs where I´m not focussed at all, just playing around and expecting nothing. Recently, it happened with RFJ, lost 2 ships in the first 2 stages and proceeded to beat my old score.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 6:40 pm

The 1st time I played Raiden on my life (Raiden Trad on Mega-Drive) I got to level 6. I played it only once.

Months later I got the chance to play the game again, and I needed LOTS and LOTS of plays to reach level 6 again.

Nowadays whenever I fire up Raiden, I die around level 3 or level 4

Though to be honest, in my 1st go I had a couple of friends giving me lots of advices through the game. I was playing on their Mega-Drive, and they had just got the game with another friend. They had played it the whole week, and could never get past the level 5 boss. I played it the game for a FIRST time and I BEAT level 5 boss

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 6:52 pm

Not usually...I generally do awful at the start, and after practice...well, I'm still awful, just not quite as awful as before.

gmw · Post by **gmw** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 7:32 pm

Only happened to me memorably with ESPGaluda - got it on PS2 release, popped the game in, started playing and nearly hit stage 5 on one credit. Next few runs, I died on stage 2....
Then it took me about a month of regular play to start getting back to 4/5 again.

FRO · Post by **FRO** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 7:38 pm

3rd or 4th time I fired up DonPachi on Saturn I reached the 3rd stage boss on 1 credit & almost beat him. Now I'm lucky to get through the 1st stage on 1 credit

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 8:35 pm

dboeren wrote:I just got my Twin Cobra PCB yesterday, and couldn't wait to plug it in and try it out. Well, on my first play, I did pretty well. Got quite a bit further than I usually do in MAME. At first I attributed it to using a real arcade stick instead of the keyboard. Then after I had gotten over the initial excitement and was checking the DIP switches I realized the previous owner had set it on easy difficulty!

funny story. but man that sucks. same thing (sort of) happened to me while playing Gradius V, played it for the first time in months. got just past the organic boss, and lost my last life. turns out those months ago i set it to very easy (so i could clear the game for Weapon Edit) and had forgotten.

yeah i really suck at Gradius by the way (but i love it so).

Ord · Post by **Ord** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 9:18 pm

The first time i played Espgaluda i got through to the boss on the 3rd level in one credit.

i was sooo chuffed! until i realised that it was Caves easiest game and it was made to be accesable to the manic n00b.

shiftace · Post by **shiftace** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 9:21 pm

Happens to me all the time. Maybe it has to do with changing attention, because the second/third time through I'll be trying to remember what comes ahead, so my reflexes and timing will be different, and what worked the first time won't work any more. Then after about 20 more tries I'll know in detail what's coming and do well again. Something like that. That's all just speculation if you're kind about it, or BS if you're not.

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 11:23 pm

Well, when I was 10, I beat Life Force on my 2nd try with continues. Other than that, no beginner's luck I'm afraid.

TWITCHDOCTOR · Post by **TWITCHDOCTOR** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 12:15 am

Ganelon wrote:Well, when I was 10, I beat Life Force on my 2nd try with continues. Other than that, no beginner's luck I'm afraid.

So, I guess you really didn't "beat" it then? "Played through it" yes...but not "beat it".

I don't think its beginners luck at all, its just that sometimes, your playing is just "ON".

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 12:20 am

Yeah, I didn't "beat" it. I just completed it in the confines of its 3 continues. Unimpressive by itself but still alright for my second time through the game that was only the 3rd shmup I ever played.

As for playing "on fire," I notice that it doesn't happen whenever I'm tired or stressed out.

Tomtom · Post by **Tomtom** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 6:54 am

Yeah, beginner's luck all the way. I got to the last boss (or maybe it was 2nd to last) in Battle Bakraid the first time I played and haven't gotten close since

IlMrm · Post by **IlMrm** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 6:58 am

After a few tries of playing the manic games(DDP, DDP DOJ, Galuda, Ra. De., Guwange, Ketsui, etc) for the first time, I went to stage four on all of them. I didn't know the scoring rules, enemy placement/patterns, which made it very fun. I did lots of sweeps, and bullet herding, and bombed when stuck. Bombed the hell out of the bosses too.

Also went to stage five on GWG on my second or third try. Later I played it at HEY!, but only went to the stage four boss(the mask). I was nervous since there were around 10 people watching me.

I think I play much better in the arcades.

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 6:59 am

Never happens to me. For a completely new shmup to me, I rarely last one minute through the first stage on my first playthrough.

shadowstar · Post by **shadowstar** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 8:20 am

My first play in Guwange yielded a run to stage 4 on one life. I had to go do something, so I turned the game off. My next try took me 2 credits and 2 lives to get that far.

I can repeat my 'beginner's luck' on a good day now, but I'm still working on the 1-CC.

chtimi-CLA · Post by **chtimi-CLA** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 1:05 pm

no,nothing fancy like that. i find it happens more with fighters, like soulcalibur (especially if the non-beginner doesn't adapt his strategy).

Skyline · Post by **Skyline** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 1:21 pm

My definition of "beginner's luck" is the first time playing a game, completely oblivious to the intricacies of the game's scoring/weapons system. I just play the game like a normal blaster, dodging and firing away.

Then I start to digest the game's scoring paradigms. And from then on, I try my best to utilize them to their maximum potential (read: score-whoring)

That never gets me far...heh.

Come to think of it, I'd actually get past Stage 3-1 in Shiki II Extreme Mode if I wasn't so hell-bent on x8 coins and boss kills.

kemical · Post by **kemical** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 5:15 pm

happens to me sometimes, with other games and things also..
I think that it could be similar to what happens when you see a commercial or a cool movie trailer that catches your attention for the first time, the feeling of watching it seems to last much longer than it really is, when you go back and see it again it goes by much quicker.

I've noticed that sometimes on my first try after a day or two not playing the game I will do pretty well, and then it goes downhill after that first or second try... but not all the time, kind of strange

kemical · Post by **kemical** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 5:17 pm

happens to me sometimes, with other games and things also..
I think that it could be similar to what happens when you see a commercial or a cool movie trailer that catches your attention for the first time, the feeling of watching it seems to last much longer than it really is, when you go back and see it again it goes by much quicker.

I've noticed that sometimes on my first try after a day or two not playing the game I will do pretty well, and then it goes downhill after that first or second try... but not all the time, kind of strange

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Do you ever get beginner's luck in shmups?

Do you ever get beginner's luck in shmups?

Beginner's Luck

Re: Beginner's Luck