Shmup Related Questions That Don't Deserve a Thread

[xxx1993]

I was playing Thunder Force VI on my PlayStation 2 yesterday and when I got to the final boss, the ORN Emperor, and I was at his final form where he was a giant head and crawled on four legs, the boss's fireball-like projectiles suddenly became invisible and I kept getting killed. Is that a glitch? Has anyone ever experienced this before?

[monouchi]

In DOJ, what does it mean when the hit-counter turns Blue or Green?

[Squire Grooktook]

Might be a silly question, but what's the exact size of the playfield in Cho Ren Sha 68k? 640x480?

[Shepardus]

It runs in 640x480 resolution but not the entire width is used. I took a screenshot and after cropping out the unused area I got 512x480.

In DOJ, what does it mean when the hit-counter turns Blue or Green?

I think both happen when you've lost your chain, the color depends on how high your chain was when you lost it.

[GGA_HAN]

I saw an ebay post for something called "Konami shooting best" which looks like a superplay vhs tape...are the videos on the tape available to watch anywhere, or does that go into the "grey area" of whats permitted to be talked about on here?

[d3vak]

I saw an ebay post for something called "Konami shooting best" which looks like a superplay vhs tape...are the videos on the tape available to watch anywhere, or does that go into the "grey area" of whats permitted to be talked about on here?

Come on man, it was an easy one.

[xxx1993]

Are Otomedius Gorgeous and Otomedius Excellent canon to the Gradius series?

[trap15]

No.

[Captain]

Alternate universe.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

No.

Coincidentally, this is also the answer to "Does what's canon and what's not matter in the Gradius series?".

Parodius is the only Konami shmup series where the canon totally matters.

[xxx1993]

But on the Gradius Wiki, it keeps mentioning that sometime after either Gradius V or after NEO and NEO Imperial, the Bacterians attacked 21st century Earth, and the organization G was formed to fight the Bacterians. I think Otomedius is canon to Gradius, is it not?

[trap15]

No.

[ACSeraph]

Yes.

The pilot in Gradius V was actually a penguin. This is revealed in a super secret ending after clearing 15 loops.

[Blinge]

Maybe.

[Satan]

Is there a working dump of Get Star anywhere?

[xxx1993]

Yes.

The pilot in Gradius V was actually a penguin. This is revealed in a super secret ending after clearing 15 loops.

I thought the pilot in Gradius V made a cameo in Aoba Anoa's ending in Otomedius Gorgeous?

[xxx1993]

Are there any shmups that involve terrorism instead of aliens or something? And I'm not counting run 'n gun games like the Contra and Metal Slug series (both of which involve aliens and terrorists) or light gun games like the Time Crisis series. I can think of a few shmups that do involve terrorism, such as Silpheed, Radilgy, Raiden Fighters Jet, and Soukyugurentai, aka Terra Diver.

[Shepardus]

Armed Police Batrider kind of counts - it's never called a terrorist group, but the Gigantech corporation you fight against could probably pass off as a terrorist organization especially given the urban setting of the game.

[xxx1993]

How about Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire for the PC Engine? It involves a squadron of female police pilots traveling through time fighting terrorists, right?

[xxx1993]

Or how about Grid Seeker: Project Storm Hammer? That one had you fighting Middle Eastern extremists in the Second Persian Gulf War.

[LordHypnos]

Is there anyone out there who has the opinion that Mars Matrix is more of a rhythm game rather than a shmup sort of like how some people think that Ikaruga is more of a puzzle game?

[nasty_wolverine]

Is there anyone out there who has the opinion that Mars Matrix is more of a rhythm game rather than a shmup sort of like how some people think that Ikaruga is more of a puzzle game?

like how you have to use the shield or polarity mechanic to get past most of the patterns or you're fucked? yes.

[LordHypnos]

Is there anyone out there who has the opinion that Mars Matrix is more of a rhythm game rather than a shmup sort of like how some people think that Ikaruga is more of a puzzle game?

like how you have to use the shield or polarity mechanic to get past most of the patterns or you're fucked? yes.

Not exactly what I was thinking, although I suppose that's another thing. In fairness though, while you probably could make it through MM with no shield, why would you ever want to? Why play a game with an awesome shield mechanic just to pretend it doesn't exist?

It's more that I've been noticing recently, at least when you're chaining, between the shield recharge time, the timed chaining, and local rank missing your timing is pretty much the root of all screwing up. It's almost like some sort of rhythm game / shmup hybrid. Personally I think it's really awesome, though (and definitely a shmup).

[Rob]

Not exactly what I was thinking, although I suppose that's another thing. In fairness though, while you probably could make it through MM with no shield, why would you ever want to? Why play a game with an awesome shield mechanic just to pretend it doesn't exist?

It's a fun challenge. Also, unlike Ikaruga, it pays to see what kinds of bullet patterns will appear without interfering too much.

[LordHypnos]

Not exactly what I was thinking, although I suppose that's another thing. In fairness though, while you probably could make it through MM with no shield, why would you ever want to? Why play a game with an awesome shield mechanic just to pretend it doesn't exist?

It's a fun challenge. Also, unlike Ikaruga, it pays to see what kinds of bullet patterns will appear without interfering too much.

Good point. Actually, on that note, it would be interesting to try timing out all the bosses just to see the patterns, because they seem to get pretty elaborate after a while. I wonder how much repeating there is?

On a more thread-related note, does anyone know what was the first game to have local rank?

[ACSeraph]

How many stages are in 1943 Kai?

[Blinge]

^ Whatever the answer is, it's too many

[Chaos]

How many stages are in 1943 Kai?

10

[xxx1993]

What's the difference between the arcade and Sega Saturn port of RayForce (or Galactic Attack)? Or are they both the identical to each other? The same?

[BulletMagnet]

I seem to recall that the difficulty settings didn't quite match up in some fashion, but otherwise the Saturn port is pretty faithful to the arcade version, AFAIK.