HARDEST shmup ever!

[pegboy]

I'd still argue that the PS2 Gradius III loop 2,no wait (nevermind loop 3 or 4, which are even worse) clear is every bit as hard as these Cave 2-ALLs or Futari Ultra. As far as I know it's never been done.

Even that Japanese wiki on shmup difficulty ranks Gradius III loop 2 at a 40 (DOJ WL 2-ALL is a 45, Futari Ultra is a 44), and that's with all the slowdown present in the arcade PCB.

If we are strictly talking 1 loop games, than I'd agree Futari 1.01 Ultra or Saidaioujou Inbachi clears are definitely up there. There's also these obscure games Argus and Valtric by NMK that are listed as extremely difficult by that same Japanese wiki.

[SMC]

I haven't played very much of either version of Ultra but, looking at replays, the main things that stand out to my untrained eye as making 1.0(1) harder are that you don't do as much damage and bombs don't damage bosses at all, which means you have to survive difficult patterns for far longer, and several enemies that cancel bullets in 1.5 don't cancel in 1.01.

[thetricker24]

i got to go with futari ultra (no black label) , DOJ white label 2all and saidaioujou expert clear

[Bananamatic]

saidaioujou expert is nowhere near hardest unless you mean with inbachi, then even shot is the hardest

speaking of ultra 1.01:

abnormal palm was total shit, normal palm was stronger, normal reco is the only playable shot type pretty much
st3 boss and st4 boss were way harder, most of their patterns were made much easier in 1.5
bombs did no pretty much no damage

i think 1.5 with normal palm would be even harder than 1.01, he's ridiculously weak

[Lord Satori]

I think the fact that only one person has completed 1.01 Ultra (iirc) speaks for itself, really.

[iconoclast]

Ultra 1.01 is also a console exclusive game. It's definitely harder to beat than 1.5 Ultra, but the lack of clears is mostly due to the fact that almost all of the elite players won't touch anything but arcade games.

[Bananamatic]

Don't forget that it was an on release exclusive as well, so if anyone wants to pick it up now, tough luck

[AntiFritz]

saidaioujou expert is nowhere near hardest unless you mean with inbachi, then even shot is the hardest

speaking of ultra 1.01:

abnormal palm was total shit, normal palm was stronger, normal reco is the only playable shot type pretty much
st3 boss and st4 boss were way harder, most of their patterns were made much easier in 1.5
bombs did no pretty much no damage

i think 1.5 with normal palm would be even harder than 1.01, he's ridiculously weak

Wasn't abnormal palm also completely incapable of beating the stage 2 midboss? It's like they didn't even test it.

[ELabit]

Rayxanber 1+2