shmups.system11.org

Nah, I'm done for the time being, I just wanted to play this silly game for a bit to see what would come of it. I was happy to just get to stage 6 (and triggered the bug for a bit of a score increase too, you can easily get the bug consistently I think)

Beating stage 6 would be pretty hard for me, due to the end stretch of the stage needing most likely 2 bombs, and the boss needing something like 3 or 4. I've experimented a bit on the boss with savestates and decided that, even if you decide to not bomb, you'll get so little damage in that it just won't work. there is not much point in bombing without maximizing the damage either, so you really just have to sit in a sweet spot and use like 3 bombs in a row.

Stage 7 is arguably even harder (although I have more trouble with 6 to be honest) so the only condolence is that if you do beat stage 7, as long as you have 1 bomb (but even without it you should manage unless you succumb to the pressure!) you are guaranteed to clear. and I guess it's nice that the first few stages of loop 2 are actually a big drop in difficulty! but like you said, halfway through the second loop it just doesn't seem possible anymore, and to me, 2-7 is especially comical. it's like a sick joke!

So, stage 1 is crazy fun to optimize, though a bit frustrating. Spent a little time working on stage 1, ended with 2,602,900 points after the boss. Had a really stupid death right before the boss, and I probably could have optimized edging more for the boss, but as a whole I'm very happy.

Here's replay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgNqEgWuBck

Are you sure you're playing on default settings? Please compare your replay to this one: Link

Watch out for the midboss which initially already has an 8-way shot from the very beginning compared to the 4-way from your replay. Also, you only get four flowers from him, but you usually get 8 because the rank is on max by then. All enemy bullets seem to be very slow as well. Could it be that the game is easier with english text? You can change the game to japanese text via dip switch settings.

This probably makes all scores done on the Mame version not comparable, right?

It seems to me that starting rank is set too low on mame, but as soon as you exit stage 1 everything is identical to in that replay. Eng/JP makes no difference

Very peculiar. My PCB is the same as MAME (considering the working dump in MAME is from my PCB, no surprise), so... I don't know. All DIPs are off, so I'd say that's default settings. It's possible that that video (and your PCB, I presume) have a newer version of the game (or maybe older?) that is harder. It's also possible that the bootleggers lowered the starting difficulty on my board. Lots of questions.


That's exactly what it seems like, yes.


If you'd like to do this, I've no qualms.

Perikles - 23,248,450 - 2-3 - Yes

Video

I would also argue that effectively getting one bomb less in the first stage in MAME definitely makes the game harder since the lower difficulty in the first stage is not really relevant whereas one bomb can mean the difference between a failed run and smooth sailing.

I was thinking that NMK consistently made the hardest shmups, at least as far as the classic developers are concerned. Toaplan has Same!³ and Tatsujin Ou, but all of their other games are somewhere in the middle or even on the lower end of the spectrum. NMK made the two Thunder Dragon games, P-47 Aces, Valtric, Hacha Mecha Fighter and what I consider to be the hardest classic 1-ALL of them all until further notice, Argus. I also heard that Black Heart is pretty tough, too. That's quite a respectable portfolio!

That was awesome!

Nice clear!

Only had time to watch the first loop, but that was beautiful. Bravo.

Thanks a lot, guys, and especially to Plasmo for his encouragements. Now someone needs to clear Argus for some proper NMK love.

Agreed, Argus is awesome.

It's a wonderful game.

emphatic: You can borrow my board if you like. I know where it is but not the function status.

Thanks, but I've had it for years already.

Really? You never told me! You b********!

Bought it pretty much immediately after playing it at your house.

Yes, that was Hacha Mecha Fighter but I thought we were talking about Argus?

Dudes, this is not a discussion topic for this game or your collections.

Post hard scores or remain silent. And apparently you both have the PCB, so there's not even an excuse for not posting a score!

Is there any difference between the player sides? It seems that when I play P2 the first large enemy (after the initial three waves of enemies) fires its three-way spread immediately, while if I play P1 it waits for a while before shooting.

Yeah and it's the same when you have both 1p and 2p out, but it still aims at 2p. Really strange.

・While one combined table is kept, scores are now indicated as "original" (hachamf on Mame) or "bootleg" (hachamfb on mame). The bootleg is presumably identical with the loctest version and has a lower starting rank compared to the original.
・Added the first 30 places of La Calice Cup 3 (LINK).
・Assumed "bootleg" and "autofire on" for each of these scores.

I am revisiting this game lately in order to practice for the upcoming Kumite event.

During the process, I was able to beat my old record from 2014 by a bit but more importantly reached stage 2-5 for the first time!



Plasmo - 29,926,000 - 2-5 - yes - Replay

YOU DA MAN!

Thanks man!

This is not the end. More soon!

Very excited to see how you do in the spotlight, my man. No pressure

Pretty insane too; I never expected anyone to get close to a 2ALL of this game back when I was playing it on the Calice tournament. The weird glitches/despawning, unintentional tricks, and (arguably) tanky enemies are so, er, NMK(??).