ImageFight and ImageFight II: Operation Deepstriker

[Despatche]

Previous thread: 1
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3 lives, Normal difficulty. World board is easier and has less points than Japan board. Various boards by request. For the PCE port of ImageFight, you should pause right after destroying the final boss to grab your score. Don't even bother with the FC port, lol.
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Post scores in this format:

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GAME
NAME - SCORE - AREA - SHIP - AUTOFIRE - DETAILS

DETAILS is for what model of console and release of cart/disc, or what emulator and version; the arcade game has at least two different versions. SHIP is for II's Omake Mode, and can be OF-1, Gensan, or R-9.

For ImageFight, stages 9~16 are the loop. Use + or ++ if you went into the Penalty Area once or twice.
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ImageFight
Arcade version
Japan board

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 1. saucykobold    - 1,682,400 - ALL++ - Yes - MAME
 2. Prales         - 1,294,500 -  12   - Yes - ShmupMAME v4.2
 3. Jaimers        - 1,081,800 - ALL   - Yes - ShmupMAME v4.2
 4. MauCast        -   994,000 -  14   - Yes - ShmupMAME v4.2
 5. Ratikal        -   752,300 -  10   - ??  - ShmupMAME v4.0
 6. Kollision      -   726,600 -  11   - Yes - Saturn
 7. CRI            -   609,700 -   9   - Yes - ShmupMAME v4.2
 8. mycophobia     -   599 200 -   9   - Yes - MAME
 9. Dumple         -   568,300 -  10   - Yes - MAME 0.212
10. EmperorIng     -   546,000 -   9   - Yes - Switch

World board

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 1. DEL            -   634,900 -  11   - No  - PCB
 2. YOG            -   574,800 -  10   - ??  - ???
 3. mulletgeezer   -   514,100 -   9   - ??  - PCB
 4. Vludi          -   488,800 -   9   - No  - MAME
 5. sven666        -   374,500 -   7   - ??  - PCB

PC Engine version
Recruit Class

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 1. UGO            -   453,400 - ALL   - Yes    - CoreGrafx

Leader Class

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 1. UGO            -   496,100 - ALL   - Yes    - CoreGrafx
 2. Ex_Mosquito    -   472,400 - ALL   - Yes    - PC Engine

ImageFight II: Operation Deepstriker
Normal difficulty

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 1. saucykobold    -   680,000 - ALL   - OF-1   - ??   - ???
 2. CIT            -   676,000 - ALL   - OF-1   - ??   - Real PC Engine?
 3. andsuchisdeath -   653,700 - ALL   - OF-1   - No   - Real PC Engine

[Perikles]

Image Fight - PCE (Leader Class)



Perikles - 469,900 - ALL - / - Yes - PC Engine Duo-R


Image Fight II - Normal Difficulty



Perikles - 704,400 - ALL - OF-1 - Int. - PC Engine Duo-R

For II, you should pause your game before killing the final boss, then submit that score + 30,000.

This is neither correct nor necessary. The final boss is worth 5,000 points (see picture below) and the game also keeps track of your highest score (permanently, even!) in the configuration menu. You have to pause the first PCE Image Fight right after destroying the final boss if you want to immortalize your score, however, since this version does not loop and it also doesn't buffer your score.



Edit: Looks like the other host I used is out of business, added working pictures.

[Kollision]

Image Fight!

Kollision - 726,600 - 11 - YES - Saturn



Natural Saturn autofire isn't really like MAME autofire, but it gets the job done.

[Perikles]

Image Fight - Arcade



Perikles - 729,900 - 13 - Yes - ShmupMAME v4.2


This seemed like a good game to start with MAME. I find it hilarious and disconcerting in equal measure that the PCE version is significantly harder than the original arcade game (first loop only, of course).

[Perikles]

Image Fight - Famicom



Perikles - 497,800 - ALL - Ext. - AV Famicom

This version is a joke. You could actually counterstop this port by checkpoint milking. Second loop is barely harder than the first one, it's pretty sad.

[Despatche]

Unrelated to this topic, but could you add my amazing Famicom Image Fight score to the respective table, Despatche?

Eh, do you really want me to? I don't really mind, but when you explained how dumb it is, I just laughed and hoped noone would play it again:

Don't even bother with the FC port, lol.

[Perikles]

Eh, do you really want me to?

Nah, it's alright. It really is a sad little conversion. I do have a new score for the PCE port, though:

Leader Class



Perikles - 500,700 - ALL - / - Yes - PC Engine Duo-R

I originally wanted to finally work on the Mr. Heli Arcade Mode clear, but jeez, is it tough. So I mused that I might try out the PCE Image Fight one more time to see if you're really and truly out of luck in a few situations if you want to apply strategies from the arcade game. And sure enough, you are. Died a few more times as a result which is why my score is a little higher.

[UGO]

Recruit Class : UGO - 453,400 - ALL - Yes - CoreGrafx
Leader Class : UGO - 496,100 - ALL - Yes - CoreGrafx

[Perikles]

I did some testing and found out that the differences between the World version and the Japan version of Image Fight are substantial in the second loop. It's not overly pronounced in the first loop, the biggest alteration between these is that there are a lot less enemies in stage 7 to shoot down in the World version, thus drastically cutting down the score. I would assume (!) from the scoreboard that everyone played the World version but saucykobold (he definitely played the Japan version), Kollision (the 32-bit ports feature the Japan version, the same is true for R-Type II, by the way, you can assign everyone who played it on the PS1 to the Japan version) and I would imagine ratikal (you'd have to do elaborate checkpoint milking to get that kind of score in the World version by stage 10). Here are some of the things that are significantly harder in the second loop of the Japan version:

- There's a huge gunship in stage 2 that comes from behind which is not present at all in the World version. You have to follow an extremely strict route to take care of both the gunship and the turrets on the side of the battleship whereas you can easily take out all the turrets in the World version since you have no other threat to deal with at this point in time.

- Stage 4 is a hell of a lot harder in the Japan version. The little spheres that bounce around are much, much faster, the hatches shoot a lot more missiles and the little walkers shoot a lot earlier (and more). You need to be much more precise to kill every enemy before it has an opportunity to strike. It's one of the easiest stages in the World version and (at least from my point of view) one of the hardest in the Japan version, it's like day and night.

- Stage 6 introduces the gliders that paralyze you momentarily in the Japan version, they are not present in the World version. There are also two flying turrets that enter the screen together with the boss from behind which again requires a very tight execution if you don't want to lose your enhancement or even die. The boss might be a tad bit more aggressive in the Japan version, too.

- Stage 7 is another important one. Since enemies in general are more belligerent in the Japan version you can't use the trick to horizontally align your ship with the "1" of the speed selection and only move vertically once in a while during the section with the armada of gunships. Enemies fire way too often to safely keep that position, forcing you to do something else.


I can't prove it, but I think some enemies are also more resilient in the Japan version, on both loops. It's really not too important for a 1-ALL (if you can beat the one version you can certainly beat the other, too), but a 2-ALL is much more of a challenge in regards to the Japan version. I'll definitely get a 2-ALL for the World version, but I'm a bit scared of the Japan version to be honest.

[Perikles]

Aaaaand a 2-ALL to go along with the explanation!

Arcade, World version



Perikles – 1,037,400 – ALL – Yes – ShmupMAME v4.2

Video


Clean first loop (had to do one crazy stunt to kill the fifth boss since he had a bad pattern), dumb death on stage 14/2-6 which resulted in a few more demises until I got to the boss with the desired power-up on top of the ship. After the first death I thought I would go back to the first checkpoint, hence the rapid thruster changing, I was baffled when I saw that enemy pop up all of a sudden. In hindsight I probably should've slammed into the core, killing it along with myself in order to get a few more points, but that didn't occur to me at that moment. Not a big deal, either way. I also want to point out that I don't like the beginning of stage 9/2-1, that's probably my least favourite part of the game. I skipped one option for safety reasons even though I really didn't want to.

Anyway, I do hold the opinion that this is one of the easier Irem arcade 1-ALLs out there – harder than X-Multiply, but easier than everything else I've played so far. This just might be personal preference; due to the fact that this game is so memorization-heavy (know where every single enemy is and they mostly don't get a chance to do much) I don't find the first loop to be grueling at all. You do have to be wary in the second loop, of course, and I'm still trying to figure out how to reliably overcome the chokepoints in the Japan version, but I do think the first loop might be a great introduction to people who haven't spend much time with games of this type before.

[Perikles]

Arcade, Japan version



Perikles - 1,218,200 - ALL - Yes - ShmupMAME v4.2

Video


What a fabulous run, it has it all: stupid deaths, an inflated score thanks to unintended milking and truly epic moments. Part of me longs for a solid 2-ALL without any deaths, but I'm extremely proud of this run not despite, but because of all its rough edges.

Decided to kill myself on the stage 7 boss since I did want to enter stage 8 with the missile launcher, yet got annoyed after a few attempts and finished the stage without one. I will say, however, that the first loop's checkpoints lose all their threat once you delved into the nightmare that is the second loop, it feels downright trivial (even though I did die prematurely once).

Got a good start with the first two stages in the second loop, stage 11/2-3 was a medium-sized fiasco after I lost my laser, though. I fortunately studied an alternate route just for this case, and it all worked out fine. Next stage went smoothly.

I wanted to cry when I not only failed to quickly kill those undescribable mother ship tentacle things in stage 13/2-5, but also picked up the blue pods by accident. Somehow managed to get through with a lot of luck, grandiose dodges and a dose of slowdown once the screen was flooded with all that nonsense. This is also a ludicrous checkpoint, recovery is pretty much impossible.

Died/killed myself a few times on stage 14/2-6 as usual before I got to end it with the desired enhancement, nothing out of the ordinary there. This stage feels oddly relaxing compared to the horror that awaits the player directly before and after it since you can easily recover here – I wish that all the checkpoints were like this in the game. When they are good, they are excellent, the bad ones are simply ridiculous, however.

Couldn't get the magic pixel on my first try in stage 15/2-7 and didn't have the guts to inch towards it. If you sit just right you can hit the huge gunships with all three pods at once which helps tremendously in the long run. So I had to perform some manual ninja dodging; I don't want to indulge myself in self-adulation, but those manoeuvres were truly befitting of a Ninja Ryukenden Task Force member, hopefully making BIRU-sama proud.

Final stage went exactly as planned. What a superb finish!


Overall I'm immensely glad I sticked to the game after finishing the World version. While I don't think that Image Fight is quite as well designed as R-Type II when it comes to merciless onslaughts of myriads of enemies at once, it has without a doubt the most awe-inspiring improvisational situations of all Irem games thanks to the vertical orientation. A 2-ALL of the World version is moreso in line with a 2-ALL of the first R-Type as far as difficulty is concerned, Japan version is congruent to the Japan version of R-Type II, so thanks for splitting the tables, Despatche.

[Vludi]

Arcade, World revision.
Vludi - 488,800 - 9 - No - MAME

Got a no miss 1-all and then got destroyed in the second loop as usual lol. Great game though, plays like a classic hori in vertical resolution.

[Ex_Mosquito]

PC Engine - Leader Ckass

Ex_Mosquito - 470,800 - ALL - YES - White PC Engine

Managed to NoMiss leader class. I took a quick video of the last boss battle but I hope to get a proper run recorded soon before I forget all my strats!

I think I'm going to have a think of the best way to suicide some lives for extra score, no extra reward for not dying unfortunately:/
https://youtu.be/JDKjIbcbC20

[Perikles]

I think I'm going to have a think of the best way to suicide some lives for extra score, no extra reward for not dying unfortunately:/

If you feel really confident about it you could try to get a double K.O. on the final boss for 50,000 points, you could likewise do the same on the boss in stage 7 to kill the various little ships over and over again, that has to be the most lucrative checkpoint even in this version. Have to say, though, that I would not put any effort into leeching this particular port, it's egregious enough as it is.

[Ex_Mosquito]

I think I'm going to have a think of the best way to suicide some lives for extra score, no extra reward for not dying unfortunately:/

If you feel really confident about it you could try to get a double K.O. on the final boss for 50,000 points, you could likewise do the same on the boss in stage 7 to kill the various little ships over and over again, that has to be the most lucrative checkpoint even in this version. Have to say, though, that I would not put any effort into leeching this particular port, it's egregious enough as it is.

Heh I kinda like it, even if it's a little overly claustrophobic it's pretty solid otherwise. Yeah I don't think I'll both trying to do the double ko business, I think I'll just get a nice 1LC recorded for prosperity while it's still fresh in my mind and move along. I may pick up Image Fight 2 next to get the series wrapped up.

[Ex_Mosquito]

Ex_Mosquito - 472,400 - ALL - yes - PC Engine

Minor improvement with a 1LC replay. I think I'm done with this game now.

https://youtu.be/QdPreeaM6v4

[Perikles]

Image Fight II - Normal Difficulty



Perikles - 1,034,300 - ALL - OF-1 - Int. - PC Engine Duo-R

[EmperorIng]

Want to add me to the list?

I managed my first Irem clear, and my overall 50th shmup 1cc with a 1ALL of Image Fight!



Image Fight (Japan)

EmperorIng - 546,000 - 9 - Yes - ACA (Switch)

This is a magnificent game. Is it too presumptuous to say that with only a 1ALL? The way that checkpoints are constructed, as damnably hard as some are, the way that boss and stages alike are intricate puzzles... It has given me a whole new appreciation of Irem style shmups. The way that everything has a logical solution, albeit with difficult execution, is unlike most other shmups out there. Playing so many irem-imitations on console and arcade show how hard it is to get things as 'right' as this 1st loop of Image Fight.

About the only things I knock against the game is that the 'solution' for getting behind the st3 boss is too finicky for my taste, and that surviving the second checkpoints of st5 and st7 seem to rely (to me) on a little too much luck.

I did all this with the Switch ACA port of Image Fight, which has the Japan version as far as I can tell (the warning screen mentions Japan, even if all the text is otherwise in English). There seemed to be little problem with emulation, though an odd bug occurred when I exited to the home screen during play: one instance made the game's music all slow down noticeably. Luckily this was solved by closing the game and booting again, but a strange incident nonetheless.

[Dumple]

Image Fight (Japan version)

Dumple - 568,300 - 10 - Default - Yes - MAME 0.212

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIGgjYtLVhc

[MauCast]

Image Fight (Japan version)

MauCast - 994,000 - 14 - Yes - Shmupmame v4.2

[mycophobia]

Image Fight Arcade JP version
mycophobia - 599200 - 9 - Yes - MAME


heres a video of a lower scoring clear:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjy6MT2bQKM

[Prales]

.

[EmperorIng]

Good on MauCast and prales for making it deep into the second loop! Like Myco I haven't survived much (despite selfishly thinking I could learn the mistakes on his replay to know what to avoid - it turns out I'm not that skilled ). As well, clearing the loop again, and not just save-state practicing, is turning out to be its own challenge.

As a final note, a slight correction for my entry if you have the chance, Despatche. My area should be 9, clearing the loop, as opposed to 8. Sorry for the mix-up!

[Despatche]

Updated and fixed. Glad this was in that winter Calice. Clearly we need to have constant tournaments!

[CRI]

Image Fight (Arcade Japan)
CRI - 609,700 - 9 - Yes - Shmupmame 4.2

[Jaimers]

Image Fight (Arcade Japan)
Jaimers - 1,081,800 - ALL - Yes - Shmupmame 4.2

Video

[andsuchisdeath]

Image Fight II

andsuchisdeath - 653,700 - ALL - OF-1 - No - Real PC Engine