What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[Chaos Phoenixma]

World 4 boss in Boshy was easy. Took some time to get it right, but none of the patterns on it were hard.

Now stuck on World 5 boss. Sonic is way too damn hard, haven't gotten close to beating him yet.

This run is on Hard-On difficulty. I've read that EZ denies you the title, I considered Totally Average but decided against it, and wasn't going to touch the You're going to Rage mode(which I didn't even realize that the name was changed, it used to be something inappropriate for it)

[Obiwanshinobi]

I don't know how are Shadow Warrior remake's explosions, but "explosive pr0n" games to match vintage Silent Bomber or Apocalypse in that department have been always rare, despite increasingly superior technology at developers' disposal. It must take some fetish rather than raw tech I guess.

[Durandal]

I don't know how are Shadow Warrior remake's explosions, but "explosive pr0n" games to match vintage Silent Bomber or Apocalypse in that department have been always rare, despite increasingly superior technology at developers' disposal. It must take some fetish rather than raw tech I guess.

It seems to be a thing with Flying Wild Hog, as even Hard Reset had a ton of destructible/explosive environment, except it was less likely to blow up in your face since you weren't using a sword all the time. I heard the Redux version added dashing, and I love dashing. I've even made a SHMUP prototype in Game Maker based around dashing for a school project. Though Demonsteele is still the best example of doing so in a FPS, and until FWH learns the magic of i-frames, they won't get it.

-level design is Painkiller-tier since the enemies aren't really designed around using the environment in one way or another, and also features colored locks you have to unlock by destroying statues of the respective color which the game considers 'old-school' ("Enough of this old-school bullshit")
-encounter design isn't all that special either with the enemy variety being sucky and all
-there's plenty of secrets, but so are invisible walls

The second and third bullet points I've pulled in here are examples, I think, of why this game isn't Painkiller-tier. There were some very memorable secrets and encounters in that game. The colored locks are something I don't remember having to fight with in Painkiller; in any case, they aren't welcome. Agreed about the thrown-in "upgrade" system, and high ranks with the sword (although you can get much of the way to high ranks using just the sword, maybe even all the way in some cases, but it's tough).

Heck, you're probably right. It might be even worse than Painkiller. Most secrets just involve you walking around the beaten path, looking for a golden statue under a pile of cardboard boxes, or just doing some base exploration (which is even more painful with your incredibly limited unupgraded stamina bar, Painkiller got bunnyhopping to alleviate that). Painkiller's tendency to use new enemy types every three levels on top of the level setpiece being something entirely different each time, does tend to make things more memorable based on sheer ridiculousness. Like the ninja assault in the opera, fighting biker gangsters in a Mediterranean harbor city, fighting ninjas on a snowy (slippery) ice bridge, undead nazi soldiers in a train station, stuff that doesn't make sense in the slightest, but manages to stand out because of that. In SW fights tends to happen in some Japanese or industrial place fighting some demons in no particular order. There are some memorable bits (I thought having the full Nobitsura Kage with a blade wave being formed on every strike as zillions of enemies keep swarming you on the last level while you reduce every single one of them to pieces was a neat powertrip, but then that's because I just finished the game), but nothing I'd look back on and say 'damn, that was some fine ass level design'.

[Squire Grooktook]

If you like dashing in shmups, you should give Rayxanber and especially Sora/Suguri a try if you haven't already.

I was toying with such a mechanic in mine, but ultimately decided to limit it to a certain bomb since I wanted to do something a bit more traditional and focus on manual dodging over gimmicks for my first game.

[Blinge]

Ys II: The Bodying.
God that combat is at once amusing, dumb and enjoyable.

Plugging away at Circle of The Moon now and then but it really is like pulling teeth.

Finally finished Final Fantasy Five Four Job Fiesta, with fellowship of feeble fellows, yet fortunate fighters. Feck.
Recorded the final boss, If any o' you weirdos are interested ;]

[atheistgod1999]

Ninja Gaiden, because that's the only NES game I own that I haven't beaten yet.

[Shoryukev]

Ninja Gaiden, because that's the only NES game I own that I haven't beaten yet.

I wish I could say that!!! Of course I probably have 130+ NES games lol

Right now I'm still playing Chrono Trigger and Popful Mail....though I haven't really touched PM in awhile now. I started playing Shovel Knight a few days ago, I wish I had a way to hook my PS4 up to my PVM so I could play it with scanlines.

[EmperorIng]

Ys II: The Bodying.

Ys II almost plays more like a 4-directional run-n-gun than the bumpocalypse of Ys 1. It's a great time! Though Solomon Shrine is so confusing that it is easy to frustrated finding out where to go.

===

Dabbling with The Immortal, for that classic EA game "die from everything" design (and gratuitous gore!) - not exclusive to EA I suppose, but I appreciate a lot of their old director-driven video-games. I haven't gotten too far because my wizard seems prone to dying every couple of pixels.

I am also made some belated progress on the arcade Tower of Druaga game, getting to a personal best of... floor 14 out of 60. Watching this replay which really explains a lot of the strategy towards dealing with enemies has certainly helped. It has allowed me to better plan out strategies to get through this first and hardest hurdle: judging by my experience with the PC Engine version -my favorite ver. of the game- and other replays, at about the half-way point you finally start to have enough armor and equipment to effectively deal with what the game throws at you.

Also: trying out Wizardry: Lyllgamyn Saga. I've made it to floor 4 of Wiz 1's labyrinth. The game's RPG dungeon-crawling (the first of its kind, essentially!) is pure and addicting, with the added niceties of automap, streamlined menus, and whatnot. But it is still quite pure! As evidenced by lowly Lvl 3 ninjas being able to effortlessly decapitate my party members, or phantasmal mists gang-banging me through chained Paralyze castings. I despair a little when I look at an online walkthrough that recommends me being 1 or 2 levels higher than I currently am.

[wgogh]

Ninja Gaiden, because that's the only NES game I own that I haven't beaten yet.

I wish I could say that!!! Of course I probably have 130+ NES games lol

Right now I'm still playing Chrono Trigger and Popful Mail....though I haven't really touched PM in awhile now. I started playing Shovel Knight a few days ago, I wish I had a way to hook my PS4 up to my PVM so I could play it with scanlines.

PM can be easy if you spend your money in a big amount of food and some bosses have ridiculously safe spots. I'm sure I could clear the game with less biffing now, and I would be playing Popful Mail all over again by now if werent for my brother that gave me TimeGal for the Playstation, and somehow made me like it. Never thought I would ended up playing one of those FMV games.

[Shoryukev]

PM can be easy if you spend your money in a big amount of food and some bosses have ridiculously safe spots. I'm sure I could clear the game with less biffing now, and I would be playing Popful Mail all over again by now if werent for my brother that gave me TimeGal for the Playstation, and somehow made me like it. Never thought I would ended up playing one of those FMV games.

I enjoy some of those type of games. I play Dragon's Lair 1 & 2 on my mame cabinet all the time, as well as Road Avenger on my Sega CD.

I haven't really had any trouble with PM, I just kinda lost focus and stopped playing it. Hopefully I don't have one of those "what am I supposed to do" moments when I go back to it.

[Chaos Phoenixma]

Boshy is going to have to wait for quite a while due to computer issues. Really need to get a new one. But won't be able to for quite a while.

It shouldn't take too long to get back to where I was anyway. Stuff is generally never as hard the second time.

Going to focus on trying to finish the fiesta run. I wanted to do 4 of them, 1 on each version, but I think I'll have to settle for 2(hopefully I can actually finish this run). Of course, randomly crashing sure doesn't help matters.

[Bananamatic]

sick of the fiesta myself
unless you get some total meme team it's a joke every time anyways

[Blinge]

Ys II: The Bodying.

Ys II almost plays more like a 4-directional run-n-gun than the bumpocalypse of Ys 1. It's a great time! Though Solomon Shrine is so confusing that it is easy to frustrated finding out where to go.

Playing the steam/complete version. So we've got 8 directions, but yeah I'm loving that fast movement, fast everything.

Banana what party you running?

[Squire Grooktook]

Ninja Gaiden, because that's the only NES game I own that I haven't beaten yet.

Where you at in that? Please keep us updated on that, it's far more interesting or relevant than most of your posting habits.

Do remember to seek help and share thoughts here http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=45206 the task force needs fresh recruits!

[WelshMegalodon]

I recently cleared the Master System versions of Hang-On and Out Run. Easy clears, I know. I thought I might do the same for Space Harrier SMS, but despite my love for 80's Super Scaler games, the choppy scrolling makes it difficult to appreciate the faithfully recreated enemy patterns.

After Burner and Thunder Blade on the Master System really don't seem worth playing...

[Shelcoof]

I recently cleared the Master System versions of Hang-On and Out Run. Easy clears, I know. I thought I might do the same for Space Harrier SMS, but despite my love for 80's Super Scaler games, the choppy scrolling makes it difficult to appreciate the faithfully recreated enemy patterns.

After Burner and Thunder Blade on the Master System really don't seem worth playing...

Hang On was super easy when I was a kid but damn Out Run made me want to break my controller lol.

Luckily the music in the game relaxed me

[Ed Oscuro]

Fearlessly onward to Thief: Deadly Clutter Factories

(Expert mode, which must be selected after the intro level.) So...the stalking has a totally different feel and it is no coincidence that the game has a lot of that Deus Ex: Invisible War feeling. It's basically the Invisible War version of Thief, for good and bad. I do like how it is possible to stealthily go through areas and I've actually been ghosting about most areas, and the crawl / creep speeds are just right. But unfortunately they're too perfect, and many small consolizations of control make the game feel off and out of my control. For instance: The viewpoint does weird things when strafing side to side, as Garrett's body has to turn (Hey, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic might have been inspired by this game, but I think it learned from it too). Or: All the broken and weird stuff surrounding the blackjack. Enemies will often freeze up and even turn slightly to help you land your blackjack hit from behind, but you can't hit them up close, which eliminates the low success but high daring rush maneuvers possible in the original games, and also just feels consolized and dumbed down. Of course, the game tries to "help" you gauge your blackjack hits by having Garrett automatically raise the blackjack, but it doesn't work consistently - and at the same time it seems that calculating distance is more critical than in the original games.

The first person FOV never feels right and the game's settings are very claustrophobic. There's actually some nice architecture in here but it's buried under a mass of copy-paste and dull purple textures.

Pagans vs. Hammerites is kind of a dumb story when I think about it, but at least you're not revealed to be the love child of the Hammer god and the Trickster. Be careful what you wish for, I guess.

Playing the game again, not only is it too dark, but I'm also reminded how badly they screwed up the Pagan Cornerstones. I might have discovered something interesting, as well: The Xbox compass might be rotated 90 degrees clockwise compared to the PC version. In the PC version the cornerstone you first see when entering the Docks from the South Quarter is directly east, but an Xbox player swears it's south. Likewise, I see the Docks Tavern cornerstone as north, and the other player says it's east. I haven't found the one near the Abandoned Inn / sapling yet, though, but it should be southwest of the sapling if the pattern holds. Alternatively, there might just be a variant in the PC version, maybe it got changed in a patch. There might be a clue here as well.

Game doesn't seem to work right with G-SYNC and uncapped FPS. Still crashes repeatedly when forcing 100Hz, and Garrett often jumps and won't come back down for a while - annoying if you want to jump, mantle, or controlled fall anywhere, but it is useful to have him silently gliding everywhere...

I recently cleared the Master System versions of Hang-On and Out Run. Easy clears, I know. I thought I might do the same for Space Harrier SMS, but despite my love for 80's Super Scaler games, the choppy scrolling makes it difficult to appreciate the faithfully recreated enemy patterns.

After Burner and Thunder Blade on the Master System really don't seem worth playing...

Reverse psychology, maybe, but gosh, suddenly I want to try these out.

[WelshMegalodon]

Hang On was super easy when I was a kid but damn Out Run made me want to break my controller lol.

Luckily the music in the game relaxed me

Even though it was too fast?

Reverse psychology, maybe, but gosh, suddenly I want to try these out.

The first half of Master System After Burner is actually a walk in the park if you use a certain well-known trick.

[wgogh]

PM can be easy if you spend your money in a big amount of food and some bosses have ridiculously safe spots. I'm sure I could clear the game with less biffing now, and I would be playing Popful Mail all over again by now if werent for my brother that gave me TimeGal for the Playstation, and somehow made me like it. Never thought I would ended up playing one of those FMV games.

I enjoy some of those type of games. I play Dragon's Lair 1 & 2 on my mame cabinet all the time, as well as Road Avenger on my Sega CD.

I haven't really had any trouble with PM, I just kinda lost focus and stopped playing it. Hopefully I don't have one of those "what am I supposed to do" moments when I go back to it.

ROAD AVENGER! Thank you! I was trying to remember the name of this game. Looks good.
Ah, yeah. Then the only think that can happen with you in Mail is to get a little lost, but it doesn't have any too mazey dungeon.

[rapoon]

EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair popped up on steam yesterday. anyone gotten it?

[Shelcoof]

Hang On was super easy when I was a kid but damn Out Run made me want to break my controller lol.

Luckily the music in the game relaxed me

Even though it was too fast?

Reverse psychology, maybe, but gosh, suddenly I want to try these out.

The first half of Master System After Burner is actually a walk in the park if you use a certain well-known trick.

Actually the speed in Hang On made it feel like an actual Motor Cycle Racing game... great racing game for its time honestly.
The shifting from low to high speed was implemented very well.

As for the trick.... was it just flying at an angle? I remember my brother and his friends just doing that for most of the game...
It was long ago so its really hard to remember.

[TransatlanticFoe]

I recently cleared the Master System versions of Hang-On and Out Run. Easy clears, I know. I thought I might do the same for Space Harrier SMS, but despite my love for 80's Super Scaler games, the choppy scrolling makes it difficult to appreciate the faithfully recreated enemy patterns.

After Burner and Thunder Blade on the Master System really don't seem worth playing...

After Burner SMS is okay (even ignoring the stay sideways and never die for most of the game trick) but Thunder Blade is legit unplayable. It's impossible to judge where something is in the depth field and the whole thing is so choppy it's pointless to try anyway. It's blind luck all the way, most notably when you go into caves and it makes you feel dead inside.

Super Thunder Blade on the MD is more playable but still terrible.

[Mero]

Super Thunder Blade on the MD is more playable but still terrible.

Definitely, especially those boss fights where you're glued to the bottom of the screen like Space Invaders.

Could get to the last stage on 1 credit but the pipes of doom were just too much

[Durandal]

I have sold my soul to Payday 2, and have already gotten my first infamy level.
I am seriously considering to buy the DLC.
Someone send help.

[Shoryukev]

PM can be easy if you spend your money in a big amount of food and some bosses have ridiculously safe spots. I'm sure I could clear the game with less biffing now, and I would be playing Popful Mail all over again by now if werent for my brother that gave me TimeGal for the Playstation, and somehow made me like it. Never thought I would ended up playing one of those FMV games.

I enjoy some of those type of games. I play Dragon's Lair 1 & 2 on my mame cabinet all the time, as well as Road Avenger on my Sega CD.

I haven't really had any trouble with PM, I just kinda lost focus and stopped playing it. Hopefully I don't have one of those "what am I supposed to do" moments when I go back to it.

ROAD AVENGER! Thank you! I was trying to remember the name of this game. Looks good.
Ah, yeah. Then the only think that can happen with you in Mail is to get a little lost, but it doesn't have any too mazey dungeon.

No problem, Road Avenger is awesome LOL. My only real complaint is that it's more fun to watch than it is to play, you have more time to soak in all the crazy things happening in the video and really enjoy it

[WelshMegalodon]

Actually the speed in Hang On made it feel like an actual Motor Cycle Racing game... great racing game for its time honestly.
The shifting from low to high speed was implemented very well.

Oh, I meant that the music in Out Run was too fast. And I agree, Hang-On is great. The SG-1000 version isn't bad, either - while it doesn't look as nice, it plays well and even retains the background music.

[wgogh]

No problem, Road Avenger is awesome LOL. My only real complaint is that it's more fun to watch than it is to play, you have more time to soak in all the crazy things happening in the video and really enjoy it

I found it good (in that case, TimeGal) to play with a friend, as you can learn with each others mistakes. You could do the same with Road Avenger. Actually, Road Avenger seems to have more predictable moves judging by gameplay videos.

[Ed Oscuro]

Overlook Mansion sure is sexy, annoying NPCs and conservative level design aside.

The overworld / town map is really badly done. Claustrophobic, detail isn't well spread out, and there's very little to do once you've swept out the ground floor of a place. Ninja Gaiden was much better in all these respects, and that's not even trying to be a stealth title. The only reason that I can think of for Thief DS's small levels is the dynamic lighting. Climbing gloves are almost entirely useless except for showing off how restricted your movement really is. Funny thing, back in the Jacknall's Paw mission you could almost climb out of the level in a variety of places, so even the mantle maneuver was barely understood by the level designers.

[Shelcoof]

Oh, I meant that the music in Out Run was too fast. And I agree, Hang-On is great. The SG-1000 version isn't bad, either - while it doesn't look as nice, it plays well and even retains the background music.

Ahh okay.... to be honest though the best thing about Out Run on the SMS was the music lol
The game play was forgettable but the music is what kept things memorable for me.

[Neathyr]

For some odd reason, I've been playing a bit of Tibia for this past week, just because every once in a while I really, really hate myself more than usual.

A few years ago, I was able to shape up my actual taste in gaming, and I've come to realize there are several game design choices that I hate with a burning passion (and Tibia has some of those in spades, most of them are really obvious, since it comes with the territory).

Huge grindfests/MMOs are definitely not my thing, so I've been asking myself why in the freezing hell I returned to that fucking game. But I don't know. I think I only came back to it for light bursts of nostalgia. I mean, I played the damn thing for the first time in 2004 (I even got to the point where I got a premium time for my character), then I got hacked for some unknown reason. A year later, and I created another one to play for a little while. After a 4-year hiatus, there I was walking the tibian world once again. Fast forward to 2013 and guess what? Playing that stupid game after such a prolonged absence, because reasons.

But as they say: "all is well when ends well". After 8 days of constant torture and mentally punching myself without even noticing, I said "hey, get your shit together and stop playing that!", so I have seen the light! And I didn't even need to ask for outside help!

Not to mention that the brazilian community for this game gives us brazilians a really, really bad name. Oh well. So this game is now confined to my darkest corners of shame. This time, for good.

I am barely playing games because I'm pursuing other interests of mine, but it feels good to get rid of such a huge burden that's been on my shoulders as of late. Hopefully, I'll never touch it again with a ten foot pole.
So when I do play, it's back to my usual shit (F-Zero GX, a somewhat crapload of other arcade/arcade-style stuff, ResiEvil, Thief, all those console-exclusives I consider to be worthwhile, a few SRPGs, along with a few non-arcadey PC FPS, bla bla bla... et cetera).

Puta que pariu, what a terrible week! Wish I had a Men in Black memory eraser thing to erase all that.