Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

[LordHypnos]

I swear! It is impossible to do well in all of the first four stages of MM. I died in like 3 places that I shouldn't have in stage 4 after no missing 1-3 SO ANGRY! >_<

EDIT: every other run I've died at least once in stage 2 or 3 for the past week or so. usually twice. How do people consistently do well at shit?

[OmKol]

Parodius da on arcade. Dat ranking... >_<

[M.Knight]

Woah, I had no idea they were so many vertical shoot'em ups with walls. They are not as frequent as horis with walls but still.

"wallmaku"

Haha, this one's excellent.


About Parsec47, I favor only playing the extreme difficulty level. Even if I sometimes get demolished very quickly by seemingly impossible patterns, I believe it is the most stimulating difficulty mode. The others seem too slow to pick up the pace and the dynamic of picking up point items to regain lives is also more enjoyable in this difficulty as the items move up very fast once they bounced at the bottom of the screen.

[iconoclast]

Been playing Crimzon Clover 1.01 over the last week or so to warm up for World Ignition and I just got my first 1cc. That was the first time I ever fought the TLB (since he's not available in training mode) and I had to beat him without any spare lives in stock. Pretty intense fight, especially since I didn't know that his patterns become more dense as he gets low on health.

[Cata]

Getting my ass handed to me by DoDonPachi and loving it

[LordHypnos]

About Parsec47, I favor only playing the extreme difficulty level. Even if I sometimes get demolished very quickly by seemingly impossible patterns, I believe it is the most stimulating difficulty mode. The others seem too slow to pick up the pace and the dynamic of picking up point items to regain lives is also more enjoyable in this difficulty as the items move up very fast once they bounced at the bottom of the screen.

I feel ya. I'm pretty satisfied with the pacing of the normal difficulty, myself though. Also I played a little bit of both hard and extreme. Sometimes I'm definately in the mood for something that's just insanely fast and almost instant death.

Today, I spent a bit more time on DC-Mars Matrix (mostly practicing stage 5 to become more familiar with it). Last night though I did finally manage what felt like a good run: 3 lives at the start of stage 5, and ended with around 400 billion points and over a million experience Did really poorly on stage 5 though. Must practice moar. I find it really hard to get burned out on MM.
Apart from MM, I played a bit of V . V, because it's awesome. Boss 2 is a bastard, tho.

[Icarus]

I'm bored enough to try and see if I can overflow Dodonpachi Saidaioujou AC stage 5. This phase probably won't last very long though, since Crimzon Clover World Ignition is imminent. :3
That, and I haven't played the game since November, so I'll be extremely rusty.

Doesn't really count when it happens in the 0.5sec as my hyper runs out at the end of the tank rush, and only adds ~4bil to the score. :p
Getting 10x hypers for the tank rush is definitely key, so far I'm either only managing ~9.5x at the start of the rush, or getting there with a potential 10x and then getting hit in dumb ways before the tank rush starts.
Almost there, going to keep trying until I get it, which will be soon.

[nosorrow]

Still playing Mars Matrix: trying to have enough cash to purchase new items (e.g. ship level, more credits...). I love the main mechanic, but man is it a hard game. For instance, on level 4 (or is it 3?) I have no answer against the barrage of kamikaze planes. I am also miffed by the green and white "angels" releasing waves of bullets while staying put. The little whirlwind thingy lasts only so long.

Been playing some Zero Gunner 2 between Mars Matrix. I really enjoy it so far. (It's nice that you can bump into enemies as Mars Matrix kind of ruined a lot of other games for me that way: playing MUSHA the other day, I kept dying in the first few minutes as I wasn't trying to avoid the enemies anymore, only the bullets... It's a subconscious thing, lol.)

[LordHypnos]

Still playing Mars Matrix: trying to have enough cash to purchase new items (e.g. ship level, more credits...). I love the main mechanic, but man is it a hard game. For instance, on level 4 (or is it 3?) I have no answer against the barrage of kamikaze planes. I am also miffed by the green and white "angels" releasing waves of bullets while staying put. The little whirlwind thingy lasts only so long.

Having difficulty figuring out which part your talking about, but I'm thinking "kamikaze planes" don't really make sense in a game where touching enemies doesn't kill you . I would say that the best survival strategy for 3 is going back and forth between the sides of the screen and using the mosquito for really short time length when you get trapped. It really just takes a lot of practice though. These days I have a pretty specific route that I use that also sometimes allows me to get a +300 or so chain before the gold waterfall, and I've managed to chain them together for varying amount of experience, a few times. I'd still recommend a route for survival, just don't worry about chaining 'til your ready . Also, always try to kill the turrets if you can, because they are the main way you get walled in the stage. I used to kill 2-3 of the circle things next to the gold waterfall to keep the screen clearer, so you might want to do that (Now I mostly go straight for the waterfall to max out gold cubes there). Then I just do basic bullet herding using short mosquitoes to get through the stream of bullets. This part is easy as long as you keep alert if you're not trying to chain it. Have you unlocked the practice ("score attack") modes? That should probably be your first priority, and also the strategy videos (though I haven't used them too much). The practice modes are super helpful, though for some stages more than others (but stage 3 is one of them).

As for 4, most people use a different strategy than I do, but I tend to abuse the auto piercing cannon and try to kill everything as fast as possible, while herding bullets in the beginning, and I use the mosquito a few times as well (note that you're invincible for the first couple seconds too, while you're flashing). then hang out on the actual battle ships while occasionally sucking up bullets and either spitting them at the enemies that shoot the hard patterns (mostly suck up their bullets by the way), or else the cannons on the ship in a few cases. Basically the idea is to prevent the screen from getting so full of bullets that you're trapped easily. Also I move away from the ships to kill the enemies with the nasty patterns, as well, every now and then. Killing those enemies is the main thing . Then there's a bunch of those guys who shoot their hard patterns at you after the second ship. I usually stay to the left of them, suck up a lot of bullets, and spit them in their direction, then pick off the remaining ones with the basic shot, because I can usually get past their patterns without dying.

I'll stop there, because this post is getting a bit long I hope it's helpful, though.

Been playing some Zero Gunner 2 between Mars Matrix. I really enjoy it so far. (It's nice that you can bump into enemies as Mars Matrix kind of ruined a lot of other games for me that way: playing MUSHA the other day, I kept dying in the first few minutes as I wasn't trying to avoid the enemies anymore, only the bullets... It's a subconscious thing, lol.)

Haha! this used to happen to me a lot too. Also I remember going back to Gunbird 2 after focusing on MM for a while, and I kept powering down against airborne enemies (though thankfully they don't kill you at least). I love enemies that you can touch. One of the best parts of MM, really.

[nosorrow]

Having difficulty figuring out which part your talking about, but I'm thinking "kamikaze planes" don't really make sense in a game where touching enemies doesn't kill you

I meant the myriad of kamikaze planes coming in and dropping buckets of bullets. Should have given more details.

Haven't purchased the strategies yet as I'm saving for more credits and a higher level ship (to start off the game, I guess).

I think it,s level 4, but like you, I abuse the piercing cannon. I'm getting incrementally better, but I'm still using a lot of lives. But I've improved quite a bit from my first playing sessions. That's a start. (I swear, this is the best game for people with two many games like myself: I am hooked like I rarely am. Too bad Takumi isn't around anymore.)

[LordHypnos]

Having difficulty figuring out which part your talking about, but I'm thinking "kamikaze planes" don't really make sense in a game where touching enemies doesn't kill you

I meant the myriad of kamikaze planes coming in and dropping buckets of bullets. Should have given more details.

Haven't purchased the strategies yet as I'm saving for more credits and a higher level ship (to start off the game, I guess).

I think it,s level 4, but like you, I abuse the piercing cannon. I'm getting incrementally better, but I'm still using a lot of lives. But I've improved quite a bit from my first playing sessions. That's a start. (I swear, this is the best game for people with two many games like myself: I am hooked like I rarely am. Too bad Takumi isn't around anymore.)

Yeah, fair enough. I'm still not sure which part. hahaha. It's so hard to explain specific parts in shooting games, especially when it's not totally clear what each enemy is actually supposed to be. The game is super addictive. Only game I can play for like 2+ hours straight if I'm not paying close attention to the time, without really realizing it and/or getting burned out.

[Stevens]

LH - I feel like I am getting closer to picking up MM again..

[LordHypnos]

LH - I feel like I am getting closer to picking up MM again..

You should! it's awesome!
Although I'm sure that the other games that you're playing right now are also awesome. hahaha. I would be interested to see if it feels easier for you this time around, now that you've been playing other games for a while, though.

[nosorrow]

The game is so fun... Can't wait to vote for it in the top 25 survey next year! (It will be in my top 3 for sure.)

[Stevens]

LH - I feel like I am getting closer to picking up MM again..

You should! it's awesome!
Although I'm sure that the other games that you're playing right now are also awesome. hahaha. I would be interested to see if it feels easier for you this time around, now that you've been playing other games for a while, though.

I'm still messing around with Valkyrius, which I cleared on default and hard. I started the next difficulty up and hit the same wall I did when I moved up to hard. I should be able to clear it in a week or so.

Also have been playing Score Rush on the 360. Which is really fun and easy to play, but it is really hard on the eyes. And the 360 version has no option to tone the graphics down.

I played Under Defeat for the first time in a month a little while ago. It comes back to you pretty quick..

[LordHypnos]

@Stevens: That sounds cool too. hahaha. I'm glad that you're keeping the UD action up. wouldn't wanna forget.

I was practicing Mars Matrix in MAME earlier, then the d-pad on my shitty knock-off USB Saturn controller broke (well, technically that happened yesterday, but then I superglued it, but superglue never works for longer than a day or so). Now I'm playing on the DC again, and working on stage practice / full runs instead, which is alright. I ordered an SAT-USB adapter online now, because I think the d-pad on my legit saturn gamepad has a few more years at least in it. Almost got game over in stage 2 on my first try, but managed to make it to stage 4 with only 1 life, instead.

[lmagus]

Ketsui...

My first goal is to reach 5th stage.

[eatdogs]

Ketsui PS3 (finally got it and it's AMAZING!)
Ikari Warriors nes
Image fight nes
Legendary wings nes
Super c nes

[NitroJava]

Playing RefleX, Sub-Terrania (Sega genesis) and Touhou 12.8 tonight.

[chempop]

[LordHypnos]

Pretty sure I've started sucking at Mars Matrix again. Currently struggling with things that I was finding trivial a few days ago, and haven't made it to stage 5 for few days

[Ruldra]

Don't you have invulnerability for that fight?

[M.Knight]

This is the last boss, not the TLB. (where you are indeed invincible unless you bomb)

[Kollision]

Pretty sure I've started sucking at Mars Matrix again. Currently struggling with things that I was finding trivial a few days ago, and haven't made it to stage 5 for few days

yeah these highs and lows are a pain
but it's all worth it in the end, so keep pushing it

[LordHypnos]

Pretty sure I've started sucking at Mars Matrix again. Currently struggling with things that I was finding trivial a few days ago, and haven't made it to stage 5 for few days

yeah these highs and lows are a pain
but it's all worth it in the end, so keep pushing it

Hey thanks! I definately will, too. MM is the sort of game that is hard to put down. This has happened before, and I'm sure it will pass eventually. On the plus side, I've broken 1,000,000 experience every time I've actually made it to the 4th stage without dying during the gold waterfall in stage 3, which never used to happen

[Stevens]

@Stevens: That sounds cool too. hahaha. I'm glad that you're keeping the UD action up. wouldn't wanna forget.

Was just messing around with stages two and three in practice. I was a little rusty, but I no missed them both by my 2nd or 3rd try. There was definitely no 1 CCing going on after a month off, but it comes back pretty fast.

Spent part of the morning playing Valkyrius on extreme (3rd stage boss), and Mars Matrix just for laughs. That did not go well at all:).

I've also started always using two continues when I play (all games). It really seems to help me improve faster.

[LordHypnos]

I've also started always using two continues when I play (all games). It really seems to help me improve faster.

Yeah, I think that's a good idea. There's always something worth practicing shortly after losing all lives.

[hermosaguy]

Been playing some Gorf on mame. Dated as hell but I'll always come back to it.

[endoKarb]

I've also started always using two continues when I play (all games). It really seems to help me improve faster.

Try using 10-15. It's even more awesome!

[LordHypnos]

I've also started always using two continues when I play (all games). It really seems to help me improve faster.

Try using 10-15. It's even more awesome!

Not sure if sarcastic or not, but I generally don't because after a certain point I'm dying too frequently to learn anything. Practice modes and the like are better for parts a lot further along in the game.