Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

[Stevens]

All over the place lately - 2nd loop, AK Slash (made stage 4), Fast Striker Maniac, Broken Pearl, BWR+, and Sense of the Seasons.

[MintyTheCat]

dodonpachi : PS1
raiden DX : PS1
Gradius : PC-Engine
raiden-Fighters : PCB

I need to learn DDP properly and not just play for survival. I consider myself to be an ok beginner at DDP when playing for score so there is a lot to learn and improve up on. Any one have some useful DDP guides? Also, what was released by way of DDP guides in print? I do know of the DDP DOJ guide book in Japan but not for DDP.

I also need to find a way to play the Arcade ROM through MAME or MESS and I need to find a machine to play it on. I was thinking of getting the Raspberry-Pi 2 and playing it on that provided it runs fairly well.

Many of the 'higher up' issues I have read about between the Arcade and PS1 port are a bit above me for the time being

Cheers,

Minty.

[pegboy]

I'm playing Biometal for SNES, a very cool game that's a welcome relief after the absurd hell that was Super R-Type.

[MintyTheCat]

I'm playing Biometal for SNES, a very cool game that's a welcome relief after the absurd hell that was Super R-Type.

Try:

R-Type 3
Darius Force
Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie

Super R-Type is a blasphemy and should never have been released in the state it was released in - waaay too much slow-down.

[pegboy]

I'm playing Biometal for SNES, a very cool game that's a welcome relief after the absurd hell that was Super R-Type.

Try:

R-Type 3
Darius Force
Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie

Super R-Type is a blasphemy and should never have been released in the state it was released in - waaay too much slow-down.

I've done Darius Force already (great game), but those other 2 are actually next on my list after Biometal. Hopefully they redeem themselves with R-Type III, I've heard a lot of good things about it.

[MintyTheCat]

Hopefully they redeem themselves with R-Type III, I've heard a lot of good things about it.

My favourite R-Type thus far and up to now I have played many ports and versions but have yet to play R-Type Final.

[Stevens]

AK Slash again, stage 4 boss. I tried the other two ships but I am sticking with the Marigold which almost got me a clear in Zetsu. Then I saw something shiny and didn't play AK for months.

Valkyrius. Y U NO HAVE PRACTICE MODE?

No missed to the stage 4 boss (see a pattern here?) and then had to burn two continues to get past the fucker.

[copy-paster]

Hopefully they redeem themselves with R-Type III, I've heard a lot of good things about it.

My favourite R-Type thus far

III's stage 4 is fucking ridiculous though, and the final stage too.

[Squire Grooktook]

Memorized the last two stages in RefleX. Now that I have that instant death puzzle bullshit down, I can finally take this game down.

Then onward to the real fun: Alltynex Second. Can't wait to finish the trilogy!

*edit*

Nailed it!

[ACSeraph]

Been casually playing Jamestown+. I didn't like it when I first bought it because I found the ships unfun and frustratingly slow, but Lazar (Drop, Spread) saved the game for me. Practiced a half-assed route for the final stage last night, and intend to finish off the Gauntlet Legendary 1cc this evening. I doubt it will take more than a couple tries (if that). Also really enjoying the scoring system, though I'm a bit frustrated it failed to record and upload the best of my gauntlet runs.

Also intend to get the Gradius III SFC clear this weekend. It is mostly just laziness on my part that it's taken so long. I just really hate the cheap speed rush in this one and never felt like to commiting a route to memory. Generally I get there on a single (rather long) uneventful credit, then get cheaply killed and don't feel like playing through it again.

[MintyTheCat]

Hopefully they redeem themselves with R-Type III, I've heard a lot of good things about it.

My favourite R-Type thus far

III's stage 4 is fucking ridiculous though, and the final stage too.

R-Type 2's stage 2 boss is also insanely difficult I found. R-Type the first game is pretty easy going but from 2 it got a lot harder. The stage 2 boss on R-Type 3 is also a bit of a difficult one compared to stage one. Yes, they generally let you get through level one then throw it at you R-Type was a hard going game and to this day I have not completed the arcade version of R-Type 2

[Stevens]

Now that I have fully wrapped my head around the scoring I am really starting to enjoy AK Slash.

[Immryr]

Woohoo, I just broke the one billion point mark on futari 1.5 original, and got to the fourth level for only the third time. The second half of level 3 feels like it's getting easier, need to practice the boss though.

[SMC]

Been practicing Futari stages with max rank, because it's fun. Still having some trouble with getting cornered on stage 4, especially in the second half.

[OmKol]

Trying to 1CC Kamui on Normal.
And did it. Of course I need to improve my score because I enjoyed the game.

[Shepardus]

You'd think that after all this time I'd be a bit more consistent at the Naval stage in Battle Bakraid, but I don't feel like that's been the case. Spent a good chunk of my day today doing Axebeak over and over again, which really wears thin after a while. I want to work on routing stages 7 and 8 but I feel like it'd be pointless with how rarely I get that far to begin with, so I've just been trying to optimize Cyclops and Naval to get a couple million extra points out of those.

[Jonst]

Nice one Stevens!...Still cracking on with doj. So damn close now. Made the final boss a couple of times in the same session today, got him down half way, died with bombs in stock.

[SMC]

Finally did a no-miss Larsa fight in practice mode. I really really wish they didn't make you sit through the little cutscene every single time.

[broken harbour]

I bought Metal Black a while ago and only just played it this weekend.
Its..... not very good, unless I'm missing something. I despise the beam mechanic that nerfs your main shot when you use it. On top of that, the beam can't be turned off once it starts.
Also the music is annoying.


Fired up Batsugun again, hadn't played it in about a year, and tried the Special Version for the first time. Wow, I forgot how intense it gets starting on stage 3, wheeeee! Still becomes brutally unfair starting in stage 4... I don't forsee ever getting the 1cc on this game, due to the massive memorization that would be needed. Still quite a rush considering its age. The shrunken hitbox on the Special Version is much appreciated tho.

[Eaglet]

Metal Black
not very good,
Also the music is annoying.


Batsugun
Special Version
intense it gets starting on stage 3,
1cc
massive memorization that would be needed

WHAT

[Erppo]

Yeah come on. One loop is Special is one of the easiest arcade shmups in existence, there's no way you can go calling it "unfair".

[Eaglet]

Yeah come on. One loop is Special is one of the easiest arcade shmups in existence, there's no way you can go calling it "unfair".

Yup.
Got to the end of the second or beginning of the third loop the first and only time i've tried it and just walked away from the credit because it was too boring to play out (this was the summer of 2012 at HEY).

[broken harbour]

Yeah come on. One loop is Special is one of the easiest arcade shmups in existence, there's no way you can go calling it "unfair".

Yup.
Got to the end of the second or beginning of the third loop the first and only time i've tried it and just walked away from the credit because it was too boring to play out (this was the summer of 2012 at HEY).

??? I should check the difficulty setting then, it started feeling like Giga Wing with the firestorm of bullets, all aimed directly at me coming at light speed.

[trap15]

Tap tap tap

[Stevens]

After two months of near misses I have finally cleared Under Defeat's 2nd loop for a 2nd time.
I figured it was going to take a while, but I didn't think this long.

It almost ended in abject failure yet again. On the bosses last form I managed to miss my target three times in a row. Because of my shitty aim I had to dodge an additional NINE attacks with one (1) bomb.

Feels good to get this one again.

[CWM]

DOJBL, practice run of Stage 5, complete without dying. Start a normal credit, get to Stage 5 with 3 extends, game over on the honeycomb section. Just... why?

I know I'm going to get this clear eventually, but stuff like this really makes me want to punch a wall. Spent so much time practicing the hard parts just to die to the first midboss like an idiot.

[Squire Grooktook]

I blind 1-alled Batsuugan Special. You're difficulty settings must be off or something.

I bought Metal Black a while ago and only just played it this weekend.
Its..... not very good, unless I'm missing something. I despise the beam mechanic that nerfs your main shot when you use it. On top of that, the beam can't be turned off once it starts.
Also the music is annoying.

The game really comes together on stage 3 and 4.

One thing you definitely don't want to miss is the standard shots wide attack area that covers your sides and even behind your ship. VERY important.

Also about the beam mechanic: it works well, but it's not really a Yagawa style thing where you get to beam all over the place to your hearts content. Beams are for special, pre-planned moments in stages where you can annihilate hairy sections and then power up before anything threatening gets back on screen. It's actually kind of fun, and the momentary feeling of vulnerability following a good beam is interesting.

It's not the best shmup in the world gameplay wise, lacks a bit of polish here and there, but it has plenty of memorable setpieces and agressive moments that make it well worth the ride. The more interesting concepts would also be refined into something magical with G-Darius and Border Down, but I think Metal Black is still worth putting time into on its own right.

Also stage 1 theme is god tier.

[Ikazu-san]

So, apparently Mahou Daisaskusen's very hard is WAY harder than Sorcer Striker's.

[Squire Grooktook]

^^^funny you should mention that, was just about to post this after last night

-Mahou Daisakusen

I always wanted to like this game, but never could due to the absurdly fast move speeds on characters, which felt unwieldy and pointless. However, I recently found out that Bornam has a speed that feels more or less "right" (I could have sworn I tried him before, and he was the same as Gain and Miyamoto, but eh must have remembered wrong), so I've been putting more serious efforts into this one.

Pretty enjoyable game. I like how it gives you an overload of bombs on stage 2 then suddenly snaps you out of your early game doldrums with a super tense stage 2 boss that'll have you tempted to use all of them.

Stage 3 is a bit slower paced in parts, but stage 4 is so super fast paced that it more then makes up for it.

The stage 5 boss is also amazing. Great balance of offense/defense in gunning for the core while attempting to macro dodge his garbage. Really tense, unpredictable fight.

And of course it's a Mahou game so amazing aesthetic and art direction.

-Nostradamus

Had heard references to this one quite a few times before, but never put much time into it. It's actually a nice little game, has a very simple feel, with not too many bullets or hazards on screen at once, but challenging enough and with a nice one button based offensive/defensive melee/ranged suite to make the combat feel pretty tight and unique. I'm up to stage 4, enjoying it quite a bit so far.

Lovely aesthetic too. The sunken city on the first stage is a great locale that's well presented here, as is the floating ruins of stage 2. I find it funny how lowtech the music is compared to the pretty decent looking sprite work.

[stoneroses]

M.U.S.H.A.

At last, after 24 or so years I finally decided to pick this one up. Just kind of missed my radar back in the day as I was too busy with Sega CD, 3DO and chasing the next big thing. Wow! A different breed of game compared to other Genesis shooters. Its like they got everything right and utilized all the resources available from the Genesis. I went the cheap route and got it from the Wii VC as I have not been able to find a decent reproduction cart. Sure I would love to add a complete copy to my collection but I can't justify the price for a 16 bit game or risk getting a fake instead. A loose cart perhaps someday or a nice working repo, but just happy to finally getting to play this masterpiece at last.