Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

[ACSeraph]

Even if the games natively support auto-fire, often the custom settings are better because the native support is too slow/fast. I've played Darius before on cabs with only native auto-fire support and it's brutal. The native speed is 1/30 on a game with a 4 shot limit running on three screens. It makes crowd control hellish, and probably just totally impossible for a lower level player. It tends to be really important in old games to have access to both auto and non-auto buttons. Definitely agree that that it's nice for charge shot games too.

I often wonder about some older stuff like 1942 with it's endless gauntlet of stages, did anyone ever even complete it without autofire? For me the greater majority of NES shmups are unplayable without some kind of turbo controller. Why didn't anyone think that was bad design at the time?

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I often wonder about some older stuff like 1942 with it's endless gauntlet of stages, did anyone ever even complete it without autofire? For me the greater majority of NES shmups are unplayable without some kind of turbo controller. Why didn't anyone think that was bad design at the time?

Probably because it was meant to increase the difficulty of the arcade game while increasing the necessity for button repairs (thus generating more income). At some point they realized games could be profitable and fun, without requiring constant button mashing...

Agreed, there's a lot of NES shmups that really benefit from an autofire feature. Button mashing when you're likely wanting to hold shot down 99% of the game isn't fun.

[ACSeraph]

while increasing the necessity for button repairs (thus generating more income).

That's an interesting angle I'd never thought about before. I wonder if repair costs were one of the reasons arcades moved towards custom auto-fire buttons in old games. Seems like the costs of repairs may outweigh the additional credits squeezed out of players by higher difficulty.

[cave hermit]

I tried out Dimahoo; I didn't think too much of Sorcer Striker, and I haven't played Kingdom Grand Prix, but man, Dimahoo, it's really good, dare I say GREAT! I understood that Sorcer Striker was more about its thematic style rather than the gameplay, but in Dimahoo I can actually see that idea expressed in a much GREAT!-er way: Backgrounds are nice and colorful with interactive scenery, enemy sprites and animations are very detailed, and the item quality system is a pretty neat scoring mechanism. Music is good but a bit forgettable. This almost makes me want to buy a PCB, but even if I could (not happening until I get through college and med school) I doubt I would want to deal with the CPS2's suicidal tendencies


I'm still trying to 1cc Battle Garegga, but I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon given I'm preoccupied with college, and I'm spending my free time sampling new shmups in MAME

[nosorrow]

Played some Space Megaforce last night for the first time in years. Very fun game still, though it's not my favourite Compile release. Love the soundtrack too.

Another thing I must add is that it's harder than I remembered it to be. The second stage is annoying if you happen to lose your firepower.

[Zapf]

I just got salamander 2. I noticed there is an AAB and a JAA version (I have aab). Whats the difference, and is there a preferred version?

[Jonst]

I thought I could move on after clearing ketsui x mode... Now I feel obliged to carry on with it and get the arcade clear... Back to it then. Fuck you ketsui!

[LordHypnos]

I thought I could move on after clearing ketsui x mode... Now I feel obliged to carry on with it and get the arcade clear... Back to it then. Fuck you ketsui!

Hopefully you'll have at least a bit of a head start already having cleared X mode. Good Luck!

[Jonst]

In theory!... I think I'm gonna have to go for it, but I won't put myself under so much pressure. I went for x mode first because it was more fun for me and I'm really happy I've got the clear but a tiny bit of me feels like it doesn't count for that much because its the 'easier' version...

[Sasupoika]

Getting back to DOJBL and Garegga.
Had a DOJBL run yesterday, almost hit 2-5 boss, died to those last ships just before it.
I think I can 2-ALL this if I practice a lot. I still can't Hibachi.
The score was pretty shit too.

[Bananamatic]

Getting back to DOJBL and Garegga.
Had a DOJBL run yesterday, almost hit 2-5 boss, died to those last ships just before it.
I think I can 2-ALL this if I practice a lot. I still can't Hibachi.
The score was pretty shit too.

It looks a bit easier than I remember, is the game set to Normal?

[Sasupoika]

It looks a bit easier than I remember, is the game set to Normal?

Yes.

[broken harbour]

Stahlfeder, for kicks. Got it sealed and cheap recently, it's quite average and not that interesting to be honest, easy too, 1cc'd on my 1st playthrough.

[Bananamatic]

It looks a bit easier than I remember, is the game set to Normal?

Yes.

Guess that's from playing too much SDOJ, now that I compare it the popcorn in sdoj is way faster even on low rank

[nosorrow]

First time I've seriously played Gate of Thunder tonight - on my recently acquired Duo-R, no less.

Anyways, it's a very fun, fast paced, Thunder Force-like game. Got to level 3 today. I'd love to focus on it, but I'm expecting Spriggan, Nexzr and Dracula X any day now - I might get side-tracked.

[Kiken]

Been playing Radirgy (DC ver) again thanks to the Sakura Flamingo Archives announcement. I never did capture an SCC run of the game, so that's my current focus.

[To Far Away Times]

First time I've seriously played Gate of Thunder tonight - on my recently acquired Duo-R, no less.

Anyways, it's a very fun, fast paced, Thunder Force-like game. Got to level 3 today. I'd love to focus on it, but I'm expecting Spriggan, Nexzr and Dracula X any day now - I might get side-tracked.

Nice. I really like Gate of Thunder. It's right up there with the best of the Thunderforce games, it nails a lot of what makes a classic style shmup great. Spriggan is great as well.

[kuze]

Been playing quite a bit of Ketsui. Finally made it to the first extend and almost beat the 3rd boss. Still got a long ways to go

[BareKnuckleRoo]

1CC'd Chronoblast on normal. It's nice playing it on a proper vert setup, had been meaning to spend some more time with it. Difficulty is... really erratic though. Bullet speeds are generally crazy fast, but then there's a lot static attacks bosses have that you just need to be aware they're coming. The TLB on Practice is stupid hard and has an absurd amount of health. Your hitbox or the bullets feel way too big to deal with it, and even with resource spam galore I can only make it to the second form. Makes DDP Hibachi look rather easy...

Also: Nandeyanen!? It's a weird game. The mechanics feel like they're at a very experimental stage, and I'm not sure if I love the bullet counter system or hate it completely. The style and presentation of the game is super slick though for something that feels like it's somewhat early in development as far as mechanics go.

[nosorrow]

Nexzr... that game is pretty hard and necessitates more memorization than I thought. I like it, but it's at the bottom of the "must have" pile for me (i.e. below the Soldier/Thunder games and below Spriggan and GunHed too).

[amdiggywhut]

Chronoblast

Would really like to get back into Chronoblast but I can't get it to work on my 360. It always fails to load. I've deleted and re-installed it multiple times to no avail. Any thoughts on what I'm missing?

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Does it give you that Code 7 failure or whatever? I know that it still gives that to me occasionally... I'm not sure if deleting your Xbox's cache might help? I don't know if the original Chronoblast is getting an update or if the sequel is what's being focused on more.

Also I just tried Raiga: Strato Fighter. Amazingly fun game. It feels like an oldschool style Deathsmiles what with being able to change directions, but there's more weapon options to choose on-the-fly. Also, the goop you can fly into that slows you down in the third stage is a neat touch. Fantastic game, really.

[null1024]

In the Hunt [Arcade/MAME].
First time playing.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Is there supposed to be that much shit getting fired at me? Playing the World version on defaults. Like, holy fuck.

RayForce [Arcade/MAME].
I keep forgetting how big the hitbox is. Dropped in a few credits to see how much of the game I remember.
Also, I didn't even notice how much I took from this game when I was still working on scalegunner, heh. Stage 5's boss in particular, going down the corridor.

oh, and MAME still doesn't draw some laser graphics, which is silly [and I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't played the Saturn port]

[LordHypnos]

Been playing Samidare mostly recently. I bought it not long ago...It may have had something to do with it looking like a Dreamcast game
>_>
<_<
I do think that's a nice touch, considering the GW / MM influence, and that it first came out in '02.
The game is super fun though. Also like that the full game is around 10 minutes long. I haven't gotten too serious about it yet, but I've figured out the first stage, first boss, and second stage, but the second stage boss is really rough. He's got some insane patterns. Also I'm pretty out of practice.

[drunkninja24]

Just picked up a copy of Gradius Gaiden on PS1, been digging into it. Loving the feel of the game, though I've only managed just barely past the Stage 4 boss using all the available credits right now lol

[amdiggywhut]

I'm approximately 4 credits into my Crimzon Clover & I already get the feeling it's going to remain an all-time favorite.

[FerociousSwan]

Currently playing Gunbird 2 on my supergun, so much better than the first one!

[spadgy]

Having another blast at Shiki 3. Can't quite fall for it as much as I wanted to.

[leadwing85]

dodonpachi daioujou WL PS2, beautiful game from the music to sprite work to the artful scoring

[davyK]

Flitting between Gunbird 2 (DC version with my CRT rotated) and Mushi Futari on the 360 (1.5 original).