I DID IT! Share your latest 1CCs/other triumphs here...

[Squire Grooktook]

Congrats Blinge, I know how hard you worked on that one.

Gradius II introduces the concept of unwinnable recoveries to the series. Crystal Stage is near impossible/luck shit, and I've never seen anyone recover the checkpoint at the gunwall boss on the last stage without getting a lucky blue crystal (even with that, it's insanely tough).

If we're talking the first loop then there's nothing even remotely "unwinnable" in any Gradius game, much less II which is one of the easier entries in the series.

Here's a vid of ZEUS recovering on the two checkpoints prior to the gunwall on the second loop. There's also a Type-A vid where he recovers here on the thirteenth loop.

Pretty impressive, that is literally the first time I've seen anyone make that recovery without a blue crystal.

Do you have any of the checkpoint right before the random crystals on stage 3?

[Stevens]

UNFFFF Finally did it.

Got my precious 25mil in Ikaruga ^O^

would've been 26 if I could just stop choking on the final boss.

Great work homey. Seriously.

I think I topped out at 12 million and stage 4. That game beat me into the fetal position by that point.

[Blinge]

Cheers guys, and a big thankyou to Squire for putting up with my rants and whining on steam!

I'm not done yet.

[CWM]

Perfect Cherry Blossom Lunatic 1cc with SakuyaB. So much for not playing while sick. Died twice to the Stage 2 boss' last attack, but no-missed Stage 3, and did quite well in Stage 4 as well, very nearly capturing the boss opener, which is one of the hardest things in the game with the character I used. Then it was mostly a question of not screwing up horribly in Stages 5 and 6, which I find easier than 3 and 4. Got to final boss with 5 extra lives, and mindful of yesterday's failed run, played it really safe, finishing with 3 lives in stock.

Clearing a Touhou on Lunatic is kind of an important milestone for me, as I played PCB Normal as my second shmup ever back in January, and at the time Lunatic seemed completely impossible, so clearing it is a major confidence boost. I still like this game a lot, so I'll continue playing with the intent of actually learning all the difficult stuff and aiming for a no-bomb 1cc in the future.

Speaking of important milestones, Crimzon Clover Arcade Original beckons.

[Squire Grooktook]

Whoa congrats. Clearing Mountain of Faith on Lunatic was a big milestone for me as well.

I should get back to PCB Lunatic. I could make it up to the stage 5 boss pretty consistently, even with the stage 3 boss taking 3 lives each time lol.

[Jonst]

Nice one blinge, congrats man!

[CWM]

Whoa congrats. Clearing Mountain of Faith on Lunatic was a big milestone for me as well.

I should get back to PCB Lunatic. I could make it up to the stage 5 boss pretty consistently, even with the stage 3 boss taking 3 lives each time lol.

Thanks. Honestly, based on your stated preferences (large hitbox, random patterns, lots of macro dodging), I'd expect you to dislike PCB, which is mostly micrododging dense static-ish patterns with a small hitbox. Then again, I think the Stage 3 boss is a good example of static patterns which aren't easy to simply memorize.

Anyway, once you get over the hurdle of Stages 3 and 4, it's not hard to get the clear, especially if you do a good enough job of routing for point items and get the 1000 and 1200 extends.

[Squire Grooktook]

I like those things, though I can make exception for Touhou since it tends to have a lot of random patterns generally.

Is PCB all that static? A lot of things seemed random to me, but I could be wrong.

[CWM]

I think it's one of the less random games in the series (along with IN and SA), though it does a pretty good job of obfuscating this fact. For example, as far as I know the only attack with random elements in the Stage 3 bossfight is the last one. Stage 5 boss has the most truly random stuff, but the Stage 6 boss - mercifully almost none.

[Perikles]

Just cleared Dragon Spirit (New version). This emerged to be one of my favorite vertical shooters so far. Supreme mix between memorization and tense action, adequate challenge and flawless recovery upon dying. The random power ups can make or break a run sometimes, but as long as you play with autofire you're able to conquer anything that stands in your way. Great audiovisual presentation with a seamless transition between stages, it really feels like a grand adventure. Comes highly recommended!

I'm also very pleased with my progress over the last few weeks. I managed to clear the first loop of Image Fight and Raiden, the latter without losing a life and using too many bombs which resulted in a decent score, concerning the former I was able to get to the fifth stage of the second loop which was very surprising. I also beat Carrier Air Wing and Darius Gaiden (1LC, but with rapid autofire enabled and a rather exiguous score, will try to do better somewhere down the road) which was fun to do in its own right.

Whilst doing that, one thing came lucidly clear to me once again: the underlying scepticism against 16-bit ports is completely unjustified in quite a few cases. The only reason I was able to conquer Image Fight in such a short span is because the PCE port is way harder (albeit not in a good way). The final level & boss in the PCE Dragon Spirit are unfathomably more tricky than their counterpart in the arcade original. The MD Raiden might not be as hard as its source, yet it still is considerably difficult. There are dozen of exceptions to this rule, of course (I'm just thinking of the SFC Konami ports, for example), but this (sometimes unuttered) myth of "ridiculously easy 16-bit games/ports" is not based on a complete chain of evidence.

[Mania23]

Just finished DonPachi. Holy Shit! 4th and 5th stages DAMN!. Finished on hardest difficulty with 3 specials to go

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Just finished DonPachi. Holy Shit! 4th and 5th stages DAMN!. Finished on hardest difficulty with 3 specials to go

DonPachi actually has 10 stages, not five (1-1 to 1-5 then loop 2-1 to 2-5 ending with Hibachi). Clearing the first loop is still good mind you, but it loops automatically so it's not the entire game (unlike DDP where a 1-ALL clear is possible where you end the game without triggering the second loop).

I always found stage 5 was a massive difficulty leap - there's some really unusual enemies there that can throw you off.

[Shepardus]

You're not finished with the game until you counterstop it!

[ProjectAKo]

Welp, I've improved the site highscore for Sonic Wings Limited by 1 million, and I also made a basic video guide for it, because when I started playing the game I couldn't find ANY info about it, not even on Japanese sites. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKQ2yZW87DI But I'm gonna have to move on now because I can't figure out how to even get close to the WR which is another million away. Whatever tricks they discovered in the arcade aren't anywhere on the internet.

And speaking of Dragon Spirit... I have no idea how you're supposed to do the spears on PCE. I have a savestate right before there and I still can't find any way to get through that without getting hit (unfortunately my savestate only has 1 health left)

[Perikles]

And speaking of Dragon Spirit... I have no idea how you're supposed to do the spears on PCE. I have a savestate right before there and I still can't find any way to get through that without getting hit (unfortunately my savestate only has 1 health left)

And that's exactly the reason why I think that the PCE port is ultimately harder than its parental version. That last stretch and the final boss afterwards are significantly harder here than they are on the arcade format. I'm almost certain that you either have to get hit at least once (with a normal-sized dragon) or you have to have a small dragon who can barely fit between the gaps. Since you power down upon getting hit (including the PCE-exclusive speed ups) the final boss becomes almost impossible for his boomerangs randomly accelerate and there's almost no space to maneuver in. It's incredibly frustrating to be honest, it almost ruins the entire experience.

And great job as always regarding Sonic Wings Limited. I've only seen a few snippets as of now, but I'll make sure to watch the whole video later.

[EmperorIng]

Ing continues the pain train. This victim? PCE's Kyuukyoku Tiger. Or am I the victim???


~Score submission~

The first half of the game, up until roughly 1-4, is pretty lackadaisical. Just get the blue weapon and strafe with the occasional panic bomb.

The second half is very intense, and I had a lot of close calls getting to the final boss. The checkpoints before the bosses of 1-5 and 1-10 leave you woefully unprepared for the challenges ahead. What is far more likely is that you die over and over again (thanks to stocking up on 10+ lives!!!) and you are sent back to an even further checkpoint to be properly powered up. I cannot tell if this is a blessing or a fumble on Taito/Toaplan's part.

The game's difficulty resets completely upon clearing a loop, which by and large killed my motivation (the same slow 5 stages, again!). However, it was a fun and intense ride, and my first Toaplan clear! I am glad I was able to teach Taito something about courage, and I hope to honor their commendation to live my life accordingly with justice and strength.

Having exhausted my possibilities with the game, it will now serve a second purpose by earning me some extra cash in the Trading Station.

[ACSeraph]

UNFFFF Finally did it.

Got my precious 25mil in Ikaruga ^O^

would've been 26 if I could just stop choking on the final boss.

Missed this one, nicely done man!

[Squire Grooktook]

1cc'd Ikaruga on Normal.

Spoiler

I honestly think this game deserves the hype. It's a masterpiece, and definitely in my top 5.

[pokemon123]

congrats. yeah i'll admit i dislike ikaruga, polarity isn't really my thing.

[EmperorIng]

I'd give it more time if it didn't run like sun-baked butt on my laptop. Congratulations though, because some of maneuvering on stages 4 and 5 are really quite a pain.

EDIT: fucking around and clearing Darius Gaiden, again, lol

[Squire Grooktook]

For the record, stage 4 is way, way easier then it seems. I actually find stage 3 more threatening overall.

The "flower" part that kills everyone is actually really simple. Just rotate around it, and switch color and change direction every time you go as far as you can. So (white) clockwise (black) counter-clockwise (white) clockwise (repeat until over).

Stage 5 on the other hand is an insanely tough boss who's patterns seem mostly random and just require good old fashioned sight reading and reaction.

[Shepardus]

Congrats on the clear! I'm too much of a pussy for Normal, though your talking about this game makes me feel like trying to score on Easy.

I had more problems running into the environment (the plates that spin around the center) than the bullets themselves, easy to miss them against the background if you're not paying attention. Stage 3 took me more practice than stage 4, but I find stage 4 more difficult to execute once you know what you're doing in both stages (at least on Easy, and not playing for score). I definitely found the stage 5 boss toughest, though, especially that one attack with the claws that follow you and leave behind trails; never found out a consistent strategy for it before clearing.

[Blinge]

Cheers Jonst & ACSeraph!

Big congrats, Squire. Was I helpful to you?

[Squire Grooktook]

Was I helpful to you?

Were you ever!

[ciox]

1cc'd Ikaruga on Normal.

Spoiler

I honestly think this game deserves the hype. It's a masterpiece, and definitely in my top 5.

Great work man, reminds me of when i posted my Normal clear here. Good score too that's like 3 extends, which you usually need since the Stonelike can't be practiced outside normal runs.
It definitely deserves the hype and it's in my top 5 as well, I realised most of the arguments about its rigidity were bullshit when I managed to get about 60% of the max score and my replay looked nothing like the superplays (way more relaxed and less reliance on homing laser), it might be too rigid at an extremely high level but that's hardly a problem for the vast majority including me who's tried pretty damn hard since the game came out on Steam

[copy-paster]

And I still stuck on fourth stage...

Great job man, cookies sent.

[horaceappleton]

Cleared Phantasmagoria Trues Unlimited mode! This one was a nasty grind. No more!

[Stevens]

Damn Squire!

And while I can't get into Touhou I can definitely respect a hard fought clear. Nice work HA.

[EmperorIng]

Another clear off the "to-do" list:

~Score submission~

Phelios! Not pictured: the awkward pre-credits sequence where Artemis gives you the bedroom eyes for a pregnant 30 seconds (and no you ain't skippin' this! ~Namco)

I'm glad I was finally able to clear this one; the final boss was a stumbling block for quite some time. The way he flies directly into you at the bottom of the screen and spam bullets really made things tricky for me - for a while at least.

There isn't much to say about the game (other than that it's a good game, for starters!). In order to spare your thumb a mash-session, you should know when to just use your regular shot (mostly just popcorn waves - anything else and the shot is too weak). I love how each level is different from one another, from the HIGH SPEED GRIFFON KNIGHT CHASE to the GIGA AND MEGA ball busting, and the final level's trippy crystal paths with psychedelic music in the background.

[PurpleTheGuy]

Hey again, it's been a while, everyone! There's been a certain game I've been working on since early August, in-short, and now, as of earlier this morning, I finally managed to 1cc that certain game, in which that certain game is eXceed 3rd: Jade Penetrate Ultra Mode! So very happy I managed to finally get this one!

Spoiler

Yeah, I've always wanted to do this game on Ultra, ever since I saw Jaimers' video of his own 1cc of eXceed 3rd: Jade Penetrate well over a year ago. I never imagined the day would come so soon, when I'd actually 1cc eXceed 3rd: Jade Penetrate on Ultra Mode! It's a pleasant surprise, much like how I didn't expect that I'd 1cc Judgement Silversword back at March of this year!

Purple is back?!

Ahaha, I usually just lurk every once in a while to see the scoreboards, and get some other info. I don't really have anything to say about the many threads around here in shmups chat, so there's not much of a reason for me to say anything in them, and even then, I can't say I'm too interested in participating. No offence intended, of course. That's just me.