Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

[it290]

Been exploring a bunch of snes and genesis games lately and I found a gem. This has some of the tightest gameplay and mech action on the console imo, and I've been having a blast with it

Not as good as Valken! But still a good time. Also give Ranger-X a look.

[Vanguard]

Got a new win streak record in Noita. 22 wins.

[Stevens]

Got a new win streak record in Noita. 22 wins.

Damn. I'm presuming those wins are down and you turn to gold at the end?

Have you messed with mods or thought about a multi orb run?

Fucking game is crazy.

[Vanguard]

Damn. I'm presuming those wins are down and you turn to gold at the end?

Have you messed with mods or thought about a multi orb run?

Fucking game is crazy.

The 22 streak is basic gold ending wins, that's the best way to play imo. I do have a 33 orb win, you can see in my screenshots on the previous page that I have the amulet for doing the good ending. I haven't messed around a lot with mods but I do enjoy the entangled worlds mod for online multiplayer. I'd be down for doing co-op or pvp with other shmup farmers. I want to try content mods at some point, Apotheosis sounds interesting, but so far I have not used any.

[Stevens]

Damn. I'm presuming those wins are down and you turn to gold at the end?

Have you messed with mods or thought about a multi orb run?

Fucking game is crazy.

The 22 streak is basic gold ending wins, that's the best way to play imo. I do have a 33 orb win, you can see in my screenshots on the previous page that I have the amulet for doing the good ending. I haven't messed around a lot with mods but I do enjoy the entangled worlds mod for online multiplayer. I'd be down for doing co-op or pvp with other shmup farmers. I want to try content mods at some point, Apotheosis sounds interesting, but so far I have not used any.

Holy shit!? How long did the 33 orb run take you?

I've dicked around with mods and what not. Treating the game more as a giant sandbox with no real intentions of doing a run like that. I do have some basic god wins though.

I would be down for some jolly co op even though it has been a minute. I do like how easy the game is to mod with the workshop.

[Blinge]

Welp, i finally realised where Vanguard's avatar is from

I've been playing a bit of Cadash (AC) lately!

only had two sessions. Fighter then Mage. Actually I was thinking of documenting my learning process and practice and making a scripted video about going for the 1cc.
Cause i do so much mage shit on my channel i'm leaning towards staying mage. He seems like a boss killer.

What would you guys say is the ranking in terms of difficulty of all classes?

It's hard to get the hang of choosing spell when it's about holding the damn attack button!

[Vanguard]

Welp, i finally realised where Vanguard's avatar is from

I've been playing a bit of Cadash (AC) lately!

only had two sessions. Fighter then Mage. Actually I was thinking of documenting my learning process and practice and making a scripted video about going for the 1cc.
Cause i do so much mage shit on my channel i'm leaning towards staying mage. He seems like a boss killer.

What would you guys say is the ranking in terms of difficulty of all classes?

It's hard to get the hang of choosing spell when it's about holding the damn attack button!

From easiest to hardest, it goes priest, ninja, mage, fighter. The spellcasting system isn't ideal but I usually just cast my strongest spell with mage, and I spend all my MP on barrier as priest so in practice I don't find it to be a big problem.

Holy shit!? How long did the 33 orb run take you?

I've dicked around with mods and what not. Treating the game more as a giant sandbox with no real intentions of doing a run like that. I do have some basic god wins though.

I would be down for some jolly co op even though it has been a minute. I do like how easy the game is to mod with the workshop.

I don't remember how long 33 orbs took but it took a while and got tedious well before the end. I ended up using an online map to find where the orbs were because there is way too much random wandering around otherwise.

[Blinge]

Ahh yeah i tried Priest. Yep she seems much easier, although that's relative of course.

back to mage tho. Would you recommend grinding at any point? or just save as much time as possible?
I'm not at the point where I wanna study replays yet

[Vanguard]

Ahh yeah i tried Priest. Yep she seems much easier, although that's relative of course.

back to mage tho. Would you recommend grinding at any point? or just save as much time as possible?
I'm not at the point where I wanna study replays yet

It does help to grind, yeah. A good place is where the big stone dudes spawn at the start of the jungle. They're not too hard to deal with and pay out a good amount of EXP. The spiders around them are harder but not too bad, you just need to jump straight up over their projectile and them kill them when they charge at you. Spawns are based on the camera's movement and are totally nonrandom, if you keep moving back and forth in the same place you'll get the same enemies.

[Sumez]

First time I got a bit into Cadash I was a bit confounded with how you're supposed to keep up with the game, and figured that it was probably some routing thing and areas or a sequence of events I'd overlooked. So I checked a 1CC video just to see what they did at that point in the game, and the player was just grinding at that spot for ages.

At that point I decided to just not bother with the game anyway

[Vanguard]

If you don't want to do any grinding at all, playing as Priest gives you enough leeway that going totally grind free isn't too hard. I do it in the first video I posted here all those years ago. You could also play on the easier world version of the game and I bet it wouldn't be too bad even as Fighter. I don't mind farming the rock men much. I like the time budgeting strategy that comes with trading some of my limited time away for more strength to make the rest of the game easier, and killing the rock men and spiders as fast as possible is more engaging than it looks. I understand why others would hate that the game rewards grinding at all though.

Oh yeah and Blinge, if you're going for a 1CC, there's one spot in castle Cadash near the end of the game where you have to do some platforming while grey ropers shoot at you and it's by far the hardest part of the game. The easy solution is to abuse damage knockback and mercy invincibility. You always get knocked back in the opposite direction from where your character is facing. Just let them knock you to the next platform in exchange for some health. You also take no knockback when using a healing herb or elixir and you can exploit that as well.

[BIL]

I made a point of minimising grinding for my Ninja (Japan) 1CC a couple years back. (SUPER PRO REVIEW ) Whacked Rockdudes and Spiders for ~25sec, prior to Dark Continent, but that was strictly to upgrade the rad graveyard setpiece to LEGIT ~Kontora Tamashii~ pace. More aesthetic to enter all guns blazing, PWNing those rude cunts, than hop about with my dick in my hand until ~LVLUP~ arrived mid-fight. Also, my route circumnavigated the Underforest to blow my stack on Golden Bells for BIG MAX HP BOUNS, so I was gonna be teetering on LVLUP in their hood anyway. Fuck 'em. Fun routing challenge!

[Sumez]

You could also play on the easier world version of the game and I bet it wouldn't be too bad even as Fighter.

How do you tell which version of the game you have?

[BrianC]

You could also play on the easier world version of the game and I bet it wouldn't be too bad even as Fighter.

How do you tell which version of the game you have?

World version has more Engrish, if I remember correctly. It's also the version in Arcade Archives.

[Vanguard]

How do you tell which version of the game you have?

Cadash version differences: viewtopic.php?p=1352251#p1352251

Blinge may be interested in this character guide: viewtopic.php?p=1352094#p1352094

[Sumez]

World version has more Engrish, if I remember correctly. It's also the version in Arcade Archives.

Cadash version differences: viewtopic.php?p=1352251#p1352251

Both pretty vague indicators
Looked it up on TCRF though, and as far as I can tell(?) it seems the Ninja being described as "AN CHARACTER" is exclusive to the World version, which only exists in one revision(?), so I guess that's the one I have

[Blinge]

Oh.. i'm just gonna pretend the World version of the game i have isn't the easiest and that i never saw your post

[Sima Tuna]

I do that when booting up Raiden and playing in 2p mode.

[Vanguard]

Both pretty vague indicators
Looked it up on TCRF though, and as far as I can tell(?) it seems the Ninja being described as "AN CHARACTER" is exclusive to the World version, which only exists in one revision(?), so I guess that's the one I have

It only takes a few minutes to reach the first item shop. If healing herbs cost 20 gold you're on the world version, if they're 200 gold you're not.

[Blinge]

Oh wow the genesis version doesn't have a time limit?
What's to stop you just grinding up to your heart's content?

[Vanguard]

Oh wow the genesis version doesn't have a time limit?
What's to stop you just grinding up to your heart's content?

Nothing, it's a huge step down from the arcade version.

[Sumez]

Volgarr The Viking 2 is for people who enjoy the "figuring out best the best solution to each situation" aspect of Ninja Gaiden, but isn't too keen on execution being as tight

I haven't died this much in my attempt to beat a single stage since GnGR
However, once you've done so, repeating that consistently is a lot easier than in that game. Best comparison to any classics I've played would probably be Super Ghouls n Ghosts honestly.

[copy-paster]

I've been practicing MS3 for the upcoming Shmup Slam 8 in early June. Do I need to take the longest route for Mission 2 and 3 for entertainment/movie purpose or take the shortest one for easier 1CC?

[Sumez]

I credit fed to the end, and then played the game from the start two more times. On my third playthrough I had only four deaths (going from 292 on my first). I think that illustrates what kind of game it is



So, some more thoughts on Volgarr The Viking 2
Honestly I ended up liking it a lot! It is very memo, but doesn't feel forcibly so. It's honestly very similar to Ghosts n Goblins Resurrection in how it demands learning the stages, but it has almost no unpredictability. Early on you can get by just by knowing what's coming up, but the further you get the more the game demands of you to actually pull it off well. The final stage is a fantastic action/puzzle setpiece. Like I said - *very* similar to Ninja Gaiden in how you approach and learn the game.

Every stage has complete unique enemy types, and usually comes with new stage gimmicks as well. Some of them sound kinda awful, such as water that slows down gravity immensely, or momentarily toggling wind streams. But generally I enjoyed every instance of them. The final stage then throws various enemies (and a couple of gimmicks) from all the previous stages at you all at once. It can also only be accessed by not using continues, so the game definitely encourages 1CC'ing it.
My only real gripe with it is that the game *does* have a lot of waiting around for things to cycle. It's never a lot, but it adds up, making the game a very long one. It took me over one and a half hour for a 1CC. BUT people have been able to speedrun it in less than an hour, and that doesn't look particularly optimized from how I skimmed it, so it's probably not as strict as I have experienced it

One thing I DID enjoy a lot, is how good the movement tech feels!
Volgarr's controls are extremely simple, befitting the type of action game it is. You have a double jump with fixed jump arcs pretty much taken out of Super Ghouls n Ghosts, and a basic sword attack and a spear throw, and the spear throw can be held down to charge on the few occasions where you have time for that. The sword is quick, but the spear stops you in your tracks and has some recovery time. It's not really a preference which weapon to rely on - you need to constantly make use of the right approach in the right situation. The double-jump also functions as a spin attack, which gets a lot of utility - as does the downstab.
You also have a roll with iframes, but it's not Souls-style dodge-to win. The roll is very short and has very slow recovery, so unless you use it very carefully, it's more likely to get you killed that saving you.

You know how the slow Castlevania whip can be mitigated by whipping right before you land? Volgarr has a ton of that. Spear animations can be canceled by rolling, landing or jumping, and roll recovery can be canceled by jumping as well. And rolling out from the edge of a platform even gives you a short moment to jump from the air, Donkey Kong Country style. This tech isn't mandatory until the final stage. Stringing together moves is of course risky if you don't know what you are doing, but it generally allows you to act with a much more fluid succession of moves which feels super rewarding for a skilled player

Hit points work kind of like GnG armor, but you can get several levels of upgrades, and each hit takes away only one. These are found in chests which often require finding "secrets" to reach, and other items are hidden in walls like wall chicken. With one particularly giving you *two* extra hit points. The chest items also all give you additional abilities, with the most important one being the one that increases the sword range and gives it double damage.
This is basically the Contra spreadshot. As in, it rewards you for being able to stay alive and keep it, by making the game much easier, thus allowing you to stay alive and keep it even more. Recovery from a death can be pretty tough at certain parts in the game - But once you start getting into a groove, you get so much leeway handed to you that the game isn't anywhere near as tough as it first seems. Weirdly, the game's checkpoints actually stores what armor items you had when you reached it, making recovery much easier after you've reached one. But respawning at the start of a stage section always resets you entirely. This inconsistency honestly feels like an oversight, and I'm not sure which I'd have prefered.

I recorded my first 1CC, and it can be seen here for anyone who's interested. I added comments in CC because I like wasting time on that stuff:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIpfbZ55_f8

[BIL]

I've been practicing MS3 for the upcoming Shmup Slam 8 in early June. Do I need to take the longest route for Mission 2 and 3 for entertainment/movie purpose or take the shortest one for easier 1CC?

tbh, missing POWs aside, I think Mission 2 looks just as cool whether you continue the cinematic zombie rampage, or detour into the Yeti cave. The cave reverts to an almost early 80s structure, with its two-tier layout and simple, relentless waves. It's intense, but no great loss aesthetically, imo. If you do go that route, remember to let Rollo-kun off the chain before the end so he can run free, instead of going back into the freezer! Crowd-pleasing stunt. (it's my headcanon he steamrolls his way outta zombie forest hell, and is given a new job carousing with all the fine elephant honeys at the local stud farm either that, or the zombies caught him and ate he ass, literally )

Also people seem to have a visceral hatred of Mission 2 so maybe it's best to get it over with fast. I rove Mission 2, so filmic. Plinking zombies sucks but you can knife 'em quick.

Mission 3, I can't remember if the middle route is the short easy one? Top route has the raddest action for sure, but is also the easiest to die in. Actually now I think about it, I wonder if it was an MS1 Bridge callback? I always do the lower route, which is more stop/start, but is aesthetically pretty neat, with its deftly-done MGS1 parody.

Either way, no earlier choice will distinguish a run missing Mission 4's dread SHIDAN ROKU / 師団6 from one without. I've meant to record an ~MS3 The Other Side~ run featuring that forever, but it ain't gonna happen soon, and sure as shit not live, lololol.

Brutal router on par with MS1's Bridge. Best of luck with the run bud, you're a braver slugger than I.

[Sima Tuna]

I would always tell people doing marathon runs to take the easier route if it makes getting a 1cc live more possible. If you know the 1cc is RIP then go for the longer/harder route to show it off.

[BIL]

I'm a bit fucked up atm between a new baby and a new desk, the last time this happened I didn't post for half a fuckin year. But still I feel remiss that I didn't notice Kishimoto-san, father of the entire goddamn beltscroller genre, died this month. Rest in peace sir, you made this world a happier place taking violence off the streets and onto the screen. ;w;7 God willing he's with Yoshida and Sawa working on that Neo Dodgeball port for Jesus.

Superbly done as always Sumez, marked for index. Which I've rethought significantly and will return to post about soon! Ish. :3

I would always tell people doing marathon runs to take the easier route if it makes getting a 1cc live more possible. If you know the 1cc is RIP then go for the longer/harder route to show it off.

Good idea. tbh, eating shit @ Division 6 and somehow getting out with your credit intact would be pretty heroic in itself. Unlike Morden's rank and file, those mad fuckers don't give a shit when you resurrect on the spot! Different breed of fighting men entirely

[Sima Tuna]

I'm a bit fucked up atm between a new baby

Conglaturation, BIRRU! A winner is you!

New baby means a new miniature 1cc machine to train! Wishing you and your family all the best in this joyous, sleep-deprived time!

[BIL]

Conglaturation, BIRRU! A winner is you!

Ta bud

[copy-paster]

Damn congrats for BIL junior coming in this world, new hardcore gamer in the works.

After thorough realization, going for shortest routes and snail one for M4 is the best one for 1CC goal and you get best resources for Sol and speedkill him asap.