Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

[ACSeraph]

cool thanks for the info

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Popped in a random credit of Ketsui, very nearly nomissed to Stage 5 (got interrupted by something at ST4 boss, paused, died immediately thereafter). Very nearly a clear, even though I missed the stage 5 extend somehow (I don't remember bombing the prototypes?) but I died in the vertical shaft twice in a row, once with a fresh bomb stock. Even with four bombs against the final boss, no chance. :/

[Jonst]

Sounds good roo, keep going! Evacaneer isn't that brutal (at least I was surprised that it was more doable than I thought when I was learning the game) 4 bombs and maybe a life in stock would be enough to do it. Even more so if you're familiar with the patterns.

[LordHypnos]

Mostly been playing Fast Striker recently, but I really need to stop making stupid mistakes, or I'll never make it to the final boss with enough lives. Still haven't figured out the extend in stage 3, again, but I can get the secret by skipping killing the two blue enemies at the end of the first laser section, for some reason, just doesn't come soon enough to get the extend that way, but seeing as I don't usually even get the secret, anymore, when I actually kill those two in addition to others, I guess I should probably start not killing them

Also played a bit of rRootage, because talking about it made me want to play it again

And finally, I threw in a random credit of Giga Wing in MAME to see if I could notice any differences from the DC version (not played that recently, but sort of recently). It does seem as if the shield has more delay in the DC version, which is pretty sucky (I think they might of increased the rate of fire for it, so it's probably just that that animation lasts a few extra frames before the shield initiates). Additionally, the bullets of the lava stage boss (Isha's first stage) seem a little slower and therefore more actually micrododgeable in the bullet fan part, but I might be imagining that. I think there's more slowdown when shielding in MAME, as well, but that really doesn't affect the game at all.

[S_Fang]

I recently managed to find Ketsui Extra for PS3 and play that once for a week. A great personal achievement of mine was pulling no-miss/no-bomb the first two stages, despite lacking of consistency during some runs (dying for very dumb mistakes). It will be a long way before I master the rest of the game and pulling a no-miss.
Also, X-mode is really interesting, especially using medium-sized enemies to cancel bullets like in Mushihime-Sama. I wonder how can you reach the TLB, though: 1CC? No Miss?

[blackoak]

I've been neck-deep in translation work the last few weeks and haven't been able to play much, but I am still working on my Guardian Force score. 13m should be possible if everything goes right, but the WR of 14.5 remains a mystery.

Also mixing things up with occasional relaxing (?) Undeadline MSX session. Brutal but pretty fun. When I'm back in Japan later this year I am going to be on the lookout for an affordable MSX Turbo-R, as I'd love to play this and a couple other games at full-speed.

[Chaos Phoenixma]

Got Mamoru-kun off PSN earlier today and started messing around with it. Played a bit of Netherworld Adventures clearing some of the courses. Also played some Arcade credits.

The leaderboards stuff for Netherworld Adventures is kind of annoying with how many levels of it there are. Cleared the Casual Course, the Mission course and got a decent ways in to some of the others. Escape is annoying, and I'm only on the first of those which only requires clearing 2 of the stages. If it's like the other courses, you'll pretty much be forced to 1cc all the main stages with Deaths constantly chasing you on the later ones, and I'm having trouble on the first 2. I doubt I'll take any of the Netherworld Adventure stuff too seriously, but it does let me experiment more with the other characters since you get to choose 3 per run in that mode.


As for Arcade, I've already reached the last boss with Nowa with a bit over 3 million(best with Fululu has been the extra mission that appears after doing 2 missions which I skipped with Nowa). Would not be surprised if I 1cc'd the game with Nowa tomorrow or this weekend depending on how hard the rest of the last boss is(got to phase 2)

[ProjectAKo]

Getting pretty close to WR in aero fighters 2. I just need a good run and the last boss with a 1% chance to spawn to spawn.

[CloudyMusic]

and the last boss with a 1% chance to spawn

That sounds unbelievably maddening.

[Stevens]

Wednesday I reached stage 5 in AK zetsu, didn't get to play yesterday
.

[CloudyMusic]

Started playing Pork to break up the Garegga grind a bit. Fun and not too complicated. The shot-switching and huge showers of medals feels simple but satisfying in the same way that Futari does to me.

[Jonst]

Wednesday I reached stage 5 in AK zetsu, didn't get to play yesterday
.

Excellent! What kind of scores are getting?

[Stevens]

I scored north of 60 million twice and my high is 89 and change.

Not super duper, but enough to earn the extends.

[broken harbour]

Zero Gunner 2, finally bought a boot disc so my DC can run it.

So far... well the rotating mechanic is weird, Judging from online video's, I assumed the rotating was mapped to the shoulder buttons, but it isn't, and it's awkward for it. It's sort of like Under Defeat where you hold down a button and push the d-pad in whatever direction you want to rotate, but it feels broken. Eventually you have to use the diagonals and up/down on the d-pad to continue rotating... it's weird, almost feels like it breaks the game, though I spent maybe a half hour with it last night.

Am I doing it wrong?

[Jonst]

Stevens, what sort of shape are you in by stage 5? Any particular trouble spots?

[ProjectAKo]

and the last boss with a 1% chance to spawn

That sounds unbelievably maddening.

It's dumb, but it's what, 100 runs average before it happens? Small price to pay for a record that has stood so many years

[Stevens]

ZG 2 - Am I doing it wrong?

I'm far from the best ZG 2 player (I can reach 1-7), but maybe this will help.

I do a lot of rotations where I hold the fire button and tap the rotation button so the rotations are very brief. Kind of like the button equivalent of tap dodging. Also if you hold the rotate button and fly straight into the cross hair you'll do a quick 180 turn. I also have some boss help if you want it, but won't post it unless you ask

Edit - Like most I started with the Hokum, but once you get used to the mechanics I would recommend the Comanche. Which is funny cause I used to hate it.

Jonst - Nah....nothing in particular. Only made stage 5 the one time, but I've only put 3-4 hours into it so far. Thanks for asking!

[LordHypnos]

Zero Gunner 2, finally bought a boot disc so my DC can run it.

So far... well the rotating mechanic is weird, Judging from online video's, I assumed the rotating was mapped to the shoulder buttons, but it isn't, and it's awkward for it. It's sort of like Under Defeat where you hold down a button and push the d-pad in whatever direction you want to rotate, but it feels broken. Eventually you have to use the diagonals and up/down on the d-pad to continue rotating... it's weird, almost feels like it breaks the game, though I spent maybe a half hour with it last night.

Am I doing it wrong?

I played ZG2 on a backup at one point recently (making it to 1-3 a few times), and actually found the rotation mechanic to be pretty natural. Not 100% natural by any means, but that's why it's so much easier than a normal Psikyo game. Think of it like a lock-on strafing button. it actually functions very similarly to the strafing in Dreamcast MDK2, but it doesn't seem to lock onto an enemy. You still rotate around your "target" though.

Also note that the Hokum ship has homing missiles, so you don't need to rotate quite as much. Don't forget about the subweapons, either (There's a gauge on the left side of the screen that's charged by the E icons).

ZG2 is one game that I wish was far more affordable

[pegboy]

and the last boss with a 1% chance to spawn

That sounds unbelievably maddening.

It's dumb, but it's what, 100 runs average before it happens? Small price to pay for a record that has stood so many years

Damn is it really 1%? Does it only appear on loop 2? That sounds absolutely terrible.

[pawwa]

Just got Espgaluda II.

I was under impression that this is an easier shmup for some reason, and man it punished me real hard Novice mode is easy to 1CC though.

[Immryr]

the first espgaluda is definitely an easier game than the second, so easy i almost got my first real 1cc with it when i was playing it a lot... but the last boss is pretty brutal.

[Chaos Phoenixma]

Still no 1cc on Mamoru-kun. That final boss is a complete pain since I always get killed in that second phase of the fight where you have to circle around and destroy the platforms. Still using Nowa which definitely doesn't help on that phase since red bullets and her shot is also red when cursed, but I'll try doing it with the others after.

I have no idea what I should be setting the rank to when using practice mode.

My current route is

Entrance of the Netherworld ( I can get an okay chain during the middle and maybe late part of the level, and it's my weakest boss fight not counting the final, so may as well get it done first. Castle boss is easier but the stage is a lot harder and I can't chain that as well)

Mission 1 (Yet again, one of my weakest bosses, but I need to do the mission for time and to get Original Mission unlocked for higher rank to score with)

Southern Temple (Not too difficult a stage and has some nice chain opportunities I usually mess up)

Mission 2

Original/Final Mission (I've got a strat for Nowa at least to no miss this, though I usually die a lot during the run so my rank sucks anyway)

Aerial Gardens (I can chain a decent amount of the level if things go right though I ignore the portals and the boss while one of the hardest for some characters is easy with Nowa Curse Shot).

Mission 4 (May as well kill that easy boss again for more points)

Home of Cherry Blossoms (some okay chains as last stage, but I kind of suck at doing them. I'm considering switching this and Aerial Gardens though, but this mission is harder than the Garden one and I'm not sure if I would still be able to chain the garden as last stage, so I'd have to try it out a bit first)

[iconoclast]

I haven't played Mamoru-kun in a long time, but I think I put the rank at 80~ for the final stage in training mode (assuming a no miss up to that point). You can get way more points when it's at 100 rank, but I couldn't figure out how to max it out on a real credit.

[Stevens]

Edit - Just dropped my last credit for the weekend.

Stage 6 - 133 million!

Problem areas:

Stage 4 boss last pattern is ridiculous!

The other thing I have noticed is because zetsu is in 16:9 I am sometimes killed by things I never see. I think it may be because my eyes are still getting used to the expanded play field, but it isn't a constant occurrence and it is always from an enemy I let live and wound up getting behind me.

How is everyone else doing?

[Jonst]

^ the final pattern of the stage 4 boss is easily handled by the laser trick as well as, when it's clear for a brief time get in close, draw some green energy, pull back when the bullets start and evolve it then switch to ninja mode, rinse and repeat and or bomb...

[Stevens]

^ the final pattern of the stage 4 boss is easily handled by the laser trick as well as, when it's clear for a brief time get in close, draw some green energy, pull back when the bullets start and evolve it then switch to ninja mode, rinse and repeat and or bomb...

Haha. I meant strictly from a dodging stand point. Should have been more clear.

[Jonst]

But that's the point you don't really need to dodge it! This game isn't about dodging...

[Stevens]

Well that is a good ting - cause I'm not sure I could ever handle that shit without ninja mode on my best day

[Jonst]

Wait until you meet the stage 5 boss then!

[Stevens]

Already defeated!