Metal Black

[The Coop]

Took a break from the shmups tournament to play something different for a bit. Did pretty good too...

The Coop - 462,780 - ALL - PC (Taito Legends 2)

[Ed Oscuro]

Ed Oscuro - 181,390 - Stage 2 - MAME

Good progress since my first try; 131,550 a few hours ago. Not a lot of actual progress (just part of the way into Dream World), but still not too terrible.

[Limbrooke]

RFP - 306 570 - St.4 - MAME

Did ok on the 2nd Bonus Stage (first try) and got smoked early on in Crystal Lize.

[ktg]

ktg - 107,060 - Stage 2 - PS2

I've heard there are issues with the Taito Legends 2 version. If they make this score invalid, feel free not to include it in the rankings.

[Andi]

It's no Darius, but it's pretty cool.

Andi - 317,790 - Level 4 - Saturn

[Andi]

Small update...

326,980 - Level 5 - Saturn

[Limbrooke]

RFP - 488,920 - Stage 6 - MAME

500k coming up.

[Limbrooke]

Finally, the clear and 500,000. Pretty satisfying.


RFP - 521,730 - ALL - MAME

[captpain]

NOT an easy clear, grats!

[Kollision]

Kollision - 476,890 - ALL - Saturn

[KAI]

On Taito Memories II (PS2)

KAI - 496,280 - ALL

Damn, i almost made a 1-ALL.

[IDA]

IDA - 479800 - ALL - Saturn


I had to kill the final boss on my last life (because of very stupid errors on Stage 5).

[BIL]

BIL - 421,170 - Stage 6 - MAME

screencap

MB was one of my first and still few 1CCs, years ago... but damn, I'd forgotten just how diabolical the last level got! Will go for the ALL tomorrow, just to have a score attached to it.

[BIL]

Yeah, it definitely seems that way to me, and others like jp have always said this. It doesn't look like a tremendous difference, due to MB's scores being quite moderate by nature, but it's there. Kind of a shame, since the bonus rounds are rather mashy and random affairs (if satisfying; love the *CRASH* "Oaarghh!" sfx).

update #2: BIL - 451,740 - Stage 6 - MAME

Oof. Took the ALL comfortably, but thanks to not acing the second bonus stage, got a barely higher score despite playing far better than I did last night (four ships in stock). Might as well restart if you fail the second bonus. Will have another crack at this tomorrow, probably.

edit: higher score this time, but no ALL. XD Will nail down a good run at some point.

Still, the game plays beautifully. Border Down Zero, how I love you.

[Dragoforce]

All the silly noob-bashing of this wonderful game made me remember to post my score

Dragoforce - 321.120 - Stage 5 - Saturn

[BIL]

BIL - 500,230 - ALL - MAME

MAME .inp (recorded with WolfMAME Plus 0.99 and Japan version ROM)

Recon run that turned out surprisingly well. Lots of misses, but to be honest, I've given up on the whole no-miss thing. It's utterly meaningless where score is concerned - lives don't mean jack in this game (Border Down Zero strikes again!). As long as you can reliably get the ALL, extra lives are there to be risked chasing points. And hoping the bonus stage enemies cooperate! Will polish this score up a bit next week, probably.

edit: hmm, according to the invaluable http://cowboy.ikaruga.co.uk/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=147, the WR is 742,200 - set by WIZ. I was wondering if 600K was an outlandish target, but it definitely seems not!

[Klatrymadon]

Excellent! The game gets stuck in 'Test Mode' when I try to run the replay file, though. The ROM works fine, too. I'll have to have a fiddle about.

[BIL]

Excellent! The game gets stuck in 'Test Mode' when I try to run the replay file, though. The ROM works fine, too. I'll have to have a fiddle about.

That's odd, is "Service Mode" set to ON in the dip switches? That's the only thing I can think of. Should insert a credit and go straight to the game.

edit: whoops, it's apparently WolfMAME Plus 0.99 I used... it's on this page: http://wolfmame.marpirc.net/

[Klatrymadon]

Aye, service mode is on. It's probably because I'm having to use a pretty outdated version of MAME Plus (0.105u3).

Edit: ah, cheers! It's fine now.

[Dragoforce]

Oh, great work Bil! Definitely going to check out the replay a little later on

[BIL]

Thanks! It's not a very smooth run (lots of silly deaths), but since I was experimenting I know I can improve. I think 600k would be a fun target to work on.

I'd like to get to the last boss with plenty of lives stocked and milk the hell out of the regenerating tendrils (1k a pop). I believe each of his several "phases" will time out individually, which would give you a lot of time to rack up extra points.

[saucykobold]

I enjoyed the replay. Keep it up!

[3DOMan]

Also I tried downloading your .inp file and it came back a broken link XD

[nZero]

Strategy discussion split to here, carry on with the scores (nice play, BIL!)

[Klatrymadon]

YOG - 497,530 - ALL - MAME

Mostly been playing this on the Saturn, but I figured since I don't have a decent digital camera I might as well make my 'proper' attempts in MAME. Apart from being my first 1LC with the game, this was a pretty bog-standard run, with a fudged Black Out and no serious milking of any of the bosses, etc. As the score's just below the forum benchmark I'll probably start experimenting with that stuff, now.

[BIL]

Very nice! You should be able to break 500k pretty easily, if Black Out didn't go too well. st3 and st4's bosses are very milkable too.

[Klatrymadon]

Cheers, chap! I'll ask about that in the other thread, hehe.

[Braiking Boss]

Braiking - 193,480 - 3 - MAME

Having just joined the forums, I figure I should contribute some hi scores. This is the only decent one I've been able to come up with so far, I've been playing it on the saturn for years but the whole 1cc concept is sort of new to me so it's not a very good one.

Playing for score is making playing my favorite games feel new again, so I'll stick to it and try and submit better scores in the future.

[Klatrymadon]

Cool! Welcome aboard.

[BIL]

BIL - 536,170 - ALL - MAME

.inp (recorded with WolfMAME Plus 0.99 - see this page)

Comically screwed up milking Amazo (got caught off-guard by a sniper on the second lap, then accidentally blew Amazo's face off while tangling with an eel). Still, decided to keep going, as the bonus rounds didn't go too badly, and I needed the st5/6 practice.

I'm certain I can break 550xxx now; next week, probably. I don't think I'll be going for 600k in the immediate future - trying for every single 10pt item / kill, only to get bad BRs, was starting to make me feel a little burnt-out.

Playing for score is making playing my favorite games feel new again, so I'll stick to it and try and submit better scores in the future.

That's the spirit - I've found exactly the same thing when revisiting old, supposedly conquered favourites.