Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

[Weak Boson]

I sort of agree with the "more skill means less memorization" - it's certainly true that there are some challenges in shmups that you can get by with good fundamentals if you know what you're doing. Like, every stage in Raiden IV is just dodging aimed shots, at least on the difficulties I've been playing. As difficulty increases the focus shifts.But that doesn't mean pure memorization takes over.

When I think about my Futari God mode 1CC (I still can't believe I did that holy shit) of course there was a lot to remember, like, where every enemy in the game is, but that's just learning the game, you don't have to script your every move. You just have to have a strategy, like, "that queasy pterodactyl is gonna throw up all over that side so I need to get here so I can quash it before the triceratops swell their numbers" - the difficulty was in the execution. If you can find a perfectly memorizable way to do it that's great (and that would surely be a skill) but I found that the difficulty came from dodging incidental bullets on the fly that I just couldn't rule out. And I had to improve my skills for it to be able to work.

[CWM]

Go into the final bossfight in PCB Lunatic with 4 extra lives, game over with 15 seconds left on Resurrection Butterfly. This is after repeatedly needing 1 life to clear the whole stage in practice. I even died to the super easy nonspell somehow, not even sure how I managed it. Choke of the year right there.

Then again, it was my first "real" credit after spending the past week in stage practice, so maybe I got a bit too excited. Stages 1-4 didn't really go that well, so I think I got this in any case.

[Stevens]

And my ADD continues.

I haven't played Under Defeat in about a month, played a bit of the 2nd loop yesterday. I used to adhere to a very strict path, but after spending that time with SDOJ I've been improvising and trying new things a lot more. Much t my surprise deviating from my normal path used to mean instant death. This is no longer true.

And Mars Matrix Elite mode. The stages are different (took me only 30 minutes to figure out how to chain stage 1), but mercifully the bosses are not. Already reaching stage 4 with this one.

[o.pwuaioc]

I took a break from vertis and stuck in Gleylancer these past two days.

[Squire Grooktook]

Mecha Ritz and practicing stage 4 of Ikaruga.

I swear, everytime I play Ikaruga, I feel kinda disgusted by the anti-hype surrounding it. It's not for everyone, and it's not my favorite game ever, but it does a lot of cool things that are very unique to itself, and it's very well executed. Most of the complaints about the game feel incredibly hypocritical to me to be honest ("stage 4 is too memo heavy, chaining is too sterile" coming from people who like Dodonpachi lol).

[Shepardus]

I think Ikaruga's stages are actually pretty fun for the most part, my favorites being stages 1 and 3. It's got a nice rhythm to it and the chaining is something you can recover from with enough skill if you make a mistake, at least until you've reached the level where you need perfection to improve your score, similar to Garegga/Batrider medalling. I really dislike the bosses, though - they have some interesting gimmicks but they just feel like such a chore to me, and purely time-based scoring just doesn't interest me. It feels like a letdown to me after how awesome Radiant Silvergun's bosses were (and how many there are too), save the milking; I think it's because of the multi-part design of Radiant Silvergun's bosses and the wider range of weaponry you get to experiment with in the game.

[Squire Grooktook]

I actually really like the stage 1-3 bosses. Particularly fond of the stage 2 boss's weakpoint opening. Learning the stage 4 boss now, so can't judge it yet, and stage 5 I haven't reached yet but the boss looks fun.

RSG bosses are really one of a kind, but their not focused on the same gimmick. You can't have giant beam cannons or whatever in a game based around black and white dots.

[Mania23]

DonPachi - Holy shit! Amazing game!
Darius Gaiden - Level choosing mechanics are awesome. Sound track for the first level, classic!
Vasara - Only just started this but so far so good!
Einhander - Awesome!
Gradius 2 - Holy shit, that game is hard!

[copy-paster]

Gradius 2 - Holy shit, that game is hard!

Gradius 2 is very cakewalk, you should try G3 then (arcade version, not SFC port).

[Mania23]

Gradius 2 - Holy shit, that game is hard!

Gradius 2 is very cakewalk, you should try G3 then (arcade version, not SFC port).

Thanks i shall try that

[Obscura]

Playing some of the games mentioned in the Raiden/Hishouzame-like thread:

Viper Phase 1: Not as Raiden-like as I expected given its reputation (very few snipers, at least in the first three stages!), but a heck of a game. The power-up system is oddly sensible for Seibu.

Raiden II: Wow, that's hard! I was not expecting it to be that much tougher than the Raiden DX Bravo course. No medal flash means I can at least focus on delaying my deaths.

Daioh: Six button shmup O_o. I like a lot of what it's doing... but six buttons. Yikes. If I could figure out what bomb is the "right" one, I'd probably just simplify the setup so that I could have my bomb on button 2, which would make things a lot less confusing. Amazing 2D art here, though.

Trigon: I want to like it, but.... eeeeeh. Sooooooo little ship firepower (three shot on-screen limit!), the vulcan missiles might be the worst weapon in shmup history, respawning with zero(!!!!!) bombs is really not a great idea.

Rapid Hero: Feels more like an Aero Fighters than a Raiden or a Shark, but it's a pretty neat game.

On the "to be played" itenarary:
Daisenpu, Gekirindan, Fire Barrel, Vapor Trail.

[SapphireDensetsu]

Daioh: Six button shmup O_o. I like a lot of what it's doing... but six buttons. Yikes. If I could figure out what bomb is the "right" one, I'd probably just simplify the setup so that I could have my bomb on button 2, which would make things a lot less confusing. Amazing 2D art here, though.

If the 6 button interface makes it confusing for you, try playing the JP version, which has a more traditional 2-button setup.

[Aquas]

Sub-Terrania on the Genesis.

Let's just throw it into the shmup pile. Really enjoy it!

[Squire Grooktook]

Made it to stage 5 of Ikaruga. My frothing hatred of all the anti-hype for the game continues to grow the more it amazes me with how good it is.

[ACSeraph]

Sub-Terrania on the Genesis.

Let's just throw it into the shmup pile. Really enjoy it!

I loved this game as a kid but don't have it anymore. the flight controls make the difficulty really brutal. Very interesting and unique game.

[wiNteR]

Made it to stage 5 of Ikaruga.

Don't forget to near-timeout the second-last form(just before stone-like I think). That form is lot of fun to milk.

[Shepardus]

Just made it to the last phase of the TLB in Cho Ren Sha again and still failed to get the 2-ALL. This time I even managed to use all my bombs in my last few lives, and got the last form down to blinking red and then some, but still just barely missed it... I know I could have gotten it, too, since I accidentally missed three extends in a row by grabbing the wrong powerup (one or two of those were me being greedy and trying to get all three, but at least one was just me being really clumsy in the heat of the moment). My high-score table is almost entirely filled with 3-0 scores now, only #10 is a 2-5.

The more I play this game the more I love it, and it was always one of my favorite shmups.

[Aquas]

Sub-Terrania on the Genesis.

Let's just throw it into the shmup pile. Really enjoy it!

I loved this game as a kid but don't have it anymore. the flight controls make the difficulty really brutal. Very interesting and unique game.

The game is dirt cheap anywhere you look. My theory is that it's because it's difficult. But it's a really solid title. I used to play a lot of Subspace Continuum, which was an asteroids like, multiplayer game with inertia controls like Sub-Terrania--so I may have settled in faster than most to the control.

About games being played: I had cleared one loop of Xevious NES recently and was curious tonight to see how the Arcade compares. Xevious is a superb challenge and designed quite well (though frustrating at times.) Gonna be at it a bit more untill I clear the first loop, got 250K so far.

[mastermx]

Sub-Terrania on the Genesis.

Let's just throw it into the shmup pile. Really enjoy it!

My childhood consisted of that game. I was actually talking to my friend about this title a few days ago. Back when we used to trade Genesis games it has some nostalgia.

I found it soo hard back then. I wonder how I would fair if I played it now.

[EmperorIng]

I was messing around with Grid Seeker: Project Storm Hammer. I watched a 1CC of the game on nico which gave me some decent ideas on how to beat the game.

Changing the autofire delay to 1 on mame really makes a difference (I usually have it set at 3 - am I alone on this?), as bosses are not so agonizingly long (particularly the canyon-scaling boss on level 2). As a result the game improves immensely!

I was only able to make it to the 5th stage when things got a little too hot and heavy.

Too bad the GRID shields are a little under-baked (I don't see a reason to not have them always in front - Varth handled this idea better) and the glut of colors in the game sometimes make it a bit hard to see where attacks are coming from. However, a game that forces you to aggressively bomb is somewhat a novelty.

[Bonus!]

After a longer break from shmupping due to other commitments, I picked up Kokuga again. I'm getting pretty decent at it, and I'm now able to beat quite a few of the bosses even on 'boss mode', and many stages on 'ultimate' don't pose much of a challenge anymore either. Still, there is that nasty F1 boss.

[Stevens]

Still at Mars Matrix elite.

In one of my last posts I said I figured out how to chain stage 1, now I have actually done it. Much like arcade mode I won't have to chain everything to get the clear. Like Battletoad said in that ancient thread - there are a lot more bullets though. Stage 5 is no longer a gimme, and stage 6 is even worse.

I also received my copy of Strikers 1945 II. Thinking of picking up a PS One on the cheap so I can play it on my breaks at work since the console is tiny and there are a ton of CRT's here:D

[copy-paster]

Playing one credit on Metal Black and died on stage 3 boss. Still the game has some fantastic moments like boss explosion, psychedelic backgrounds, and I can say that the high speed section on stage 2 is my favorite star-scrolling ever.

[Squire Grooktook]

Playing one credit on Metal Black and died on stage 3 boss. Still the game has some fantastic moments like boss explosion, psychedelic backgrounds, and I can say that the high speed section on stage 2 is my favorite star-scrolling ever.

Wait till you reach stage 4, that's where the game gets really amazing IMO

[Kiken]

Still working on Raiden IV (Arcade Normal). Managed to get to 2-5 just a couple of hours ago. Broke 48 million.. got really sloppy at the beginning of the stage. But 50 million is definitely within reach now.

[copy-paster]

Wait till you reach stage 4, that's where the game gets really amazing IMO

Honestly I once beat the game via credit-feeding.
And yes the music, boss battles and design in stage 4 is amazing (yet this stage always ended my 1cc attempt). The reason I died in stage 3 cause I always lose when beam-dueling with Daio, also the minor flaw is the player ship speed should increased a bit.

[Squire Grooktook]

The best strategy for Daio is to use a low level beam to contiuously speed kill the garbage ball before it can fire.

[Shepardus]

Got to 1-5 in Dodonpachi Daioujou for the first time, making it up to the first midboss. It may be the last stage but I have a feeling I've only just gotten started in my 1-ALL attempts...

[Squire Grooktook]

Actually I beat stage 5 on my second attempt. Unlike Ketsui, which is a bitch, DOJ's constant rain of hypers really lets you cheese a lot of the final stage. If you can 1 life clear the first 3 stages, and snag the 1 up on stage 4, you should be golden.

[Jonst]

I find ketsui to be much easier than doj.