RANK your 1CCs from easiest to hardest.

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Special World
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RANK your 1CCs from easiest to hardest.

Post by Special World »

I find it hard to figure out which games to go for if i'm looking for the bext step up in difficulty. I've seen some "absolute" lists, but maybe it'll be easier for everyone to have their two cents? And I know you may have made progress with your overall skill, but do your best to honor the difficulty of the game and not the difficulty you had relative to when you played them.

I'm pretty okay at STGs, so no amazing clears here. You could approach this as an "easy 1CCs to get started" and be about right.

---EASY---

Deathsmiles 2X
Deathsmiles
Mecha Ritz
Mushihimesama v1.5 Original
Eschatos Normal
Mushi Futari Black Label Original

---HARD---

I'm not positive which of the Deathsmiles games is harder, but I know the final boss in 2x I beat in one life because a ton of projecticles just went through me. I don't feel like I needed much practice for them or Mecha Ritz. Eschatos I needed a decent amount of play, and Mushi Futari i needed a ton. Really not sure how to rank Mushihimesama v1.5 Original--it seems harder than Eschatos normal, but for some reason i did a little practice and then just crushed it one day after not playing it for months.

Not sure what the next easiest Cave 1CC is. Seems like Deathsmiles 1 and 2, Espgaluda, and maybe Muchi Muchi Pork? are the easiest, then Futari, then everything else is butts hard for a player at my level -_- DFK is also considered easy, but that's with autobomb so MEH! I'd love for somebody to tell me what the next level up is. Esp.rade seems less hard than others but in practice it still whips my butt.
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Lags
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Re: RANK your 1CCs from easiest to hardest.

Post by Lags »

I'd love for somebody to tell me what the next level up is. Esp.rade seems less hard than others but in practice it still whips my butt.
Pick one of the games you like and cleared and try playing for score. Why not?
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Re: RANK your 1CCs from easiest to hardest.

Post by DDDP »

Lags wrote:
I'd love for somebody to tell me what the next level up is. Esp.rade seems less hard than others but in practice it still whips my butt.
Pick one of the games you like and cleared and try playing for score. Why not?
Seconded. The time invested to get the 1cc is significant enough, it seems like a waste to not spend at least a bit more time cleaning up your route and pushing for a higher score before moving on to the next game.
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Re: RANK your 1CCs from easiest to hardest.

Post by Buffi »

Special World wrote:I find it hard to figure out which games to go for if i'm looking for the bext step up in difficulty. I've seen some "absolute" lists, but maybe it'll be easier for everyone to have their two cents? And I know you may have made progress with your overall skill, but do your best to honor the difficulty of the game and not the difficulty you had relative to when you played them.

I'm pretty okay at STGs, so no amazing clears here. You could approach this as an "easy 1CCs to get started" and be about right.

---EASY---

Deathsmiles 2X
Deathsmiles
Mecha Ritz
Mushihimesama v1.5 Original
Eschatos Normal
Mushi Futari Black Label Original

---HARD---

I'm not positive which of the Deathsmiles games is harder, but I know the final boss in 2x I beat in one life because a ton of projecticles just went through me. I don't feel like I needed much practice for them or Mecha Ritz. Eschatos I needed a decent amount of play, and Mushi Futari i needed a ton. Really not sure how to rank Mushihimesama v1.5 Original--it seems harder than Eschatos normal, but for some reason i did a little practice and then just crushed it one day after not playing it for months.

Not sure what the next easiest Cave 1CC is. Seems like Deathsmiles 1 and 2, Espgaluda, and maybe Muchi Muchi Pork? are the easiest, then Futari, then everything else is butts hard for a player at my level -_- DFK is also considered easy, but that's with autobomb so MEH! I'd love for somebody to tell me what the next level up is. Esp.rade seems less hard than others but in practice it still whips my butt.
Esp Galuda is pretty easy, and is a great game. If was my first Cave 1CC.

Might as well do that ranking thing since my list is quite short:

---EASY---

Twinkle Star Sprites (Story mode)
Prehistoric Isle 2
Metal Slug
Last Resort (Loop 1)
Esp Galuda
Blazing Star
Mushihimesama (Maniac)
Ibara

---HARD---
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Despatche
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Re: RANK your 1CCs from easiest to hardest.

Post by Despatche »

The Esprade final boss is significantly harder than the rest of the game.

Mecha Ritz isn't so simple to define, due to the sheer range of difficulty settings. The original game has a "regular" mode (anything up to rank 99) that's fairly simple. Steel Rondo doesn't have this and I'm pretty sure the rank goes much higher. The new ura stages in Steel Rondo are also much tougher than the original stages.

Also, simply clearing a game is usually something very different from, say, a no miss no bomb. I say usually because sometimes they're basically the same thing, cough Raiden cough. People should talk more about NMNB or various levels of scoring... all we ever see is easy cheezy clear rankings.
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Special World
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Re: RANK your 1CCs from easiest to hardest.

Post by Special World »

Lags wrote:
I'd love for somebody to tell me what the next level up is. Esp.rade seems less hard than others but in practice it still whips my butt.
Pick one of the games you like and cleared and try playing for score. Why not?
That's what I've done thus far. Also, i love pretty much every Cave game except DFK.
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CyberAngel
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Re: RANK your 1CCs from easiest to hardest.

Post by CyberAngel »

Despatche wrote:Also, simply clearing a game is usually something very different from, say, a no miss no bomb. I say usually because sometimes they're basically the same thing, cough Raiden cough. People should talk more about NMNB or various levels of scoring... all we ever see is easy cheezy clear rankings.
Seconded, improving survival should also be a goal worth considering. Especially if it factors into scoring. Even if you don't think you'll ever want to play for score, seeing better results thanks to that might spark your interest.

I'd also say not to write off games that are "above your league" as far as 1cc-ing goes. It's a widely recognized milestone, but not the only one worth recognition. Improving your result in a game you can't 1cc, be it by reaching farther on one credit or reducing the amount you need for a full run, can still be a considerable improvement.

But yeah, bottom line - don't go for what you can 1cc next, go for what you find fun to play.
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Special World
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Re: RANK your 1CCs from easiest to hardest.

Post by Special World »

Well, if I'd analyze a surface level problem (i don't consider whether i have a bunch of 1CCs a problem BUT) it's probably rather that I'm playing exactly what i want to play too much--i.e., i am playing widely in Cave's catalog rather than staying faithful to one game. So in pretty much every game I am good through stage 3 and rarely make it to stage 4. That's kind of based on the make-up of Cave's games but also I think I haven't done a ton of practicing, but mostly just playing one credit and seeing how far i can get, which is just bad for improving.

But my thoughts on which Cave game I would really LIKE to 1CC look like this at the moment:

-Esp.rade: the new hawtness with a great dedicated training mode that incentivizes bitesized training goals
- Futari Black Label Maniac: the next "step up" in my favorite game
- Dodonpachi Daioujou: pretty much the most "perfect" shooter that exists and one that's great fun. It's a bastard, but perhaps that's to its advantage--perhaps i'd gain skills more quickly overall, and when i get slammed i can say "well, it's DOJ!"

But for right now I am playing Esp.rade because it's great fun.

But I would still like to see your difficulty ranking lists out of pure curiosity :)
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Zaarock
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Re: RANK your 1CCs from easiest to hardest.

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Last edited by Zaarock on Mon Mar 09, 2020 6:35 pm, edited 23 times in total.
chum
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Re: RANK your 1CCs from easiest to hardest.

Post by chum »

using format of Japanese STG difficulty list and Perikles difficulty list, meaning it's from hardest to easiest:

Arcade:
Gunbird 2 (2-ALL & 1 loop all characters) 38 (19 for 1st loop, up to 23 with Hei-Cob)
Same! Same! Same! 38
Strikers 1999 (2-ALL) 32 (16 for 1st loop)
Daioh (2-ALL) 31 (18 for 1st loop)
Thunder Dragon 2 26
Sexy Parodius (With Special Stage) 24
Dangun Feveron 24
Hishouzame (7 loops) 23 for 3+ loops (13 for 1st loop)
Twin Cobra (2 loops) & Kyukyoku Tiger (1 loop) 22 for 2+ loops/11 for 1 loop (Twin Cobra) 22 for 1 loop (Kyukyoku Tiger)
Batsugun Special (4-ALL) 21 (2 for 1st loop)
Sengoku Ace (2-ALL) 20 (12 for 1st loop)
Battle Garegga 19
Dragon Blaze (2-3) 18 (22-ish for 2-3 specifically)
Guwange (all characters) 17
Ketsui (2-5) 17 (28-ish for 2-5 specifically)
Mahou Daisakusen (2-5) & Sorcer Striker (2-all) 17 (4 for Sorcer Striker, 24-ish for 2-5 specifically)
Armed Police Batrider (Advanced Course with every solo character) 17 (With Shorty, up to 25 with other ships) 5 on Normal Course
DOJ Black Label (2-5) 16 (27-ish for 2-5 specifically)
Sengoku Blade (2-2) 16 (18-ish for 2-2 specifically)
Strikers 1945 (2-3) 16 (20-ish for 2-3 specifically)
Strikers 1945 II (2-3) 16 (21-ish for 2-3 specifically)
Esp Ra.De. 15
Progear (1-ALL) 15
Gemini Wing 15
Gradius 2 (2-3) 15
Nam 1975 14
Mushihimesama 14 (For Original)
Raiden Fighters 13
Twinkle Star Sprites 13
Wyvern Wings (2-2) 13
Metal Black 13
Gradius (2-2) 13
Batsugun 13
OutZone (1 loop) 12
Salamander 2 (2-2) 12
DoDonPachi (2-4) 11
EspGaluda 11
Rapid Hero 11
Gundhara 10
R-Type Leo 10
TwinBee (1 loop) 10
DonPachi (1 loop) 9
DeathSmiles 9
Exzisus (1 loop) 9
Armed Formation F 8
Sky Adventure 8
Alcon 7
Battle Bakraid (Normal Course) 6
Darius Gaiden 6
Ashura Blaster (1 loop) 5
Kingdom Grandprix (2-6) 5
Macross II (Beginner Course) 4
Sand Scorpion 4
Fighting Hawk 4
Vimana 3
Twin Cobra 2 3
Lethal Thunder 3

Touhou on Lunatic:
Embodiment of Scarlet Devil 1MNB 41 (27 for LNB, 18 for 1cc)
Fairy Wars LNN A2: 28 B2: 30 A1&C2: 32 B1&C1: 35 (22 for LNB, 18 for 1cc)
Imperishable Night 3MNB 33 (26 for LNB, 17 for 1cc)
Ten Desires 2MNBNT 31 (17 for 1cc)
Undefined Fantastic Object LNB 30 (24 for 1cc)
Perfect Cherry Blossom 3MNB 26 (21 for LNB, 15 for 1cc)
Mountain of Faith LNB 26 (16 for 1cc without glitch)
Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream 22 (29 with Chiyuri)
Subterranean Animism 19
Mystic Square 18
Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom 18
Lotus Land Story 11
Double Dealing Character 10 (up to 22 with other characters)
Phantasmagoria of Flower View 4 (up to 15 with other characters)
Weeb Hawk ??? (Don't remember, probably lowish)

Crimzon Clover on Boost Mode: 28 or so

Other pc and console shmups ive cleared that i can remember would all be low plus i never did write down them all

A lot of the clears are old and things might be a bit wrong here and there

sorry for bad format (most of this i had already done for my own amusement to compare with perikles list)
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Re: RANK your 1CCs from easiest to hardest.

Post by Buffi »

chum wrote:using format of Japanese STG difficulty list and Perikles difficulty list, meaning it's from hardest to easiest:
Twinkle Star Sprites 13
Uh, that seems way to high. I think I 1cc'd story mode in this after like 2-3 evenings.
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Re: RANK your 1CCs from easiest to hardest.

Post by CloudyMusic »

This is going to be just quick gut feelings based on my memory. Some of this may be really off because I did some of these clears years apart when I was at different skill levels. Sorry.

---EASY---

Eden's Aegis (Original, wait on, auto-guard on)
Dariusburst Another Chronicle (H/I/J routes)
Armed Police Batrider (Normal course, Strawman)
Deathsmiles Mega Black Label (no death mode, no EX)
Mushihimesama Futari Black Label (Original)
Last Resort (1-ALL)
exceed3rd Jade Penetrate Black Package (Normal, no extra stage)
Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu 1.5 (1-ALL)
Mushihimesama Futari Black Label (Maniac)
Touhou: Lotus Land Story (Lunatic, Reimu)
Touhou: the Story of Eastern Wonderland (Lunatic)
Dodonpachi (1-ALL)
Gradius II (1-ALL)
Progear (1-ALL, Bolt/Nail)
Mahou Daisakusen (1-ALL)
Guwange (ALL)
Espgaluda II (ALL)
Espgaluda II (ALL + Shin Seseri)

---HARD---
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Re: RANK your 1CCs from easiest to hardest.

Post by ZPScissors »

yeah i guess i'll do the difficulty list format

will only count the hardest way i've cleared and am not counting any novice modes or no misses

R=&Game&Achievement&Notes R=32&Touhou 12: Undefined Fantastic Object&LNB&Reimu A, +1 for Sanae B, +3 for others R=29&Touhou 6: The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil&LNB&Reimu B R=29&Touhou 7: Perfect Cherry Blossom&LNBNBB&Reimu B or Sakuya B R=28&Touhou 11: Subterranean Animism&LNB&Reimu A R=25&DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu&Omote 2-ALL&B-Strong R=24&Touhou 5: Mystic Square&LNB&Mima R=23&Touhou 4: Lotus Land Story&LNB&Marisa A, +1 for Reimu A or Reimu B, +3 for Marisa B R=23&Touhou 3: Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream&Lunatic 1cc&Reimu and Yumemi, -5 with autofire R=21&Touhou 2: Story of Eastern Wonderland&Lunatic 1cc&Reimu A, -4 with autofire R=21&Touhou 14: Double Dealing Character&Lunatic 1cc&Reimu A, Marisa B, or Sakuya A, +2 for Reimu B, +6 for Marisa A or Sakuya B R=20&Touhou 15: Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom&Lunatic 1cc&Reisen, +1 for Sanae, +3 for Reimu, +4 for Marisa R=19&DoDonPachi DaiOuJou BL&1-ALL&A-EX R=19&Touhou 16: Hidden Star in Four Seasons&Lunatic 1cc&Reimu or Marisa, Winter or Autumn R=18&Touhou 1: Highly Responsive to Prayers&Lunatic 1cc& R=18&Touhou 9: Phantasmagoria of Flower View&LNC&Aya or Medicine R=18&Touhou Shining Shooting Star [fangame]&Lunatic 1cc&Sanae, -6 for Koishi, +1 for Reimu, +2 for Marisa R=17&DoDonPachi&1-ALL& R=17&Touhou 8: Imperishable Night&Lunatic 1cc&Border Team Final A, +1 for Final B, +1 to +7 with others R=17&Touhou 17: Wily Beast and Weakest Creature&Lunatic 1cc&Marisa Otter R=16&Touhou 10: Mountain of Faith&Lunatic 1cc&Reimu B, -8 for Marisa B 3 power glitch R=15&Mushihimesama&Maniac 1cc& R=14&Batsugun Special&2-ALL&Type B R=13&Espgaluda&1cc& R=12&Hishouzame&1-ALL&Autofire On R=12&Mushihimesama Futari BL&Original 1cc& R=11&Deathsmiles&Lv. 2 1cc& R=10&eXceed 3rd: Jade Penetrate Black Package&Normal 1cc [no autobomb, no TLB]& R=8&Sky Adventure&1cc&Autofire On R=5&Battle Bakraid&Normal Course 1cc& R=2&Ai Cho Aniki&1cc&
Last edited by ZPScissors on Fri Jan 17, 2020 3:13 am, edited 2 times in total.
Vludi
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Re: RANK your 1CCs from easiest to hardest.

Post by Vludi »

From my hazy memories and using an arbitrary 8 points system. Didn't include the ones I don't quite remember.
8:
DDP 2-All (For survival this game isn't thaat bad most of the time, but for people bad at dodging like me Hibachi is quite a challenge)
Strikers 1945 II 2-All
7:
Strikers 1945 2-All
6:
Gradius II 2-ALL
Gunbird 2-All
5:
Thunder Dragon 2
Battle Garegga
Dimahoo
Dangun Feveron
P-47 Aces
Raiden (No auto)
Batrider advanced (pretty variable though)
R-Type 2-All
4:
Ketsui 1-All
Aero Fighters 2-All
Air Gallet
Gunbird 2 1-All
1943 (Probably a 2 game if not for the final stage)
Sengoku Ace 2-All
Esp Rade
3:
Darius 2 (Somewhat harder than the other Darius but not enough imo)
Raiden III
Daisenpuu 1-All
Mahou Daisakusen 1-All
Strikers 1945 I & II 1-All
Image Fight 1-All
Batsugun (no auto)
Gradius II 1-All
Darius Gaiden (No auto)
R-Type 1-All
Truxton 1-All
Darius
2:
Flying Shark 1-All
X-Multiply 1-All
Last Resort 1-All
Gradius 1-All
Area 88 (no auto)
Twin Cobra (World) 1-All
Fantasy Zone 1-All
Fantasy Zone II DX ez route
Shippu Mahou Daisakusen 1-All
Slap Fight 1-All
Gekirindan
1:
Twin Cobra 2
Batsugun Special 1-All
Scramble
Thunder Force AC (World, JP should be 2 probably)
Last edited by Vludi on Sun Jan 12, 2020 8:46 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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5pectre
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Re: RANK your 1CCs from easiest to hardest.

Post by 5pectre »

I don't consider myself good at shmups, and some of these entries are up for debate, but I'd consider them a subgenre atleast

--EASY--

Deathsmiles 2X
DoDonPachi Daifukkatsu Novice
Guwange Arrange
Mushihimesama Futari Maniac Novice
Mushihimesama Futari Ultra Novice
Star Wars (1983) 1-loop clear
Star Fox
Contra
Gradius 1-loop clear
Deathsmiles no EX
Darius Burst Chronicle Saviours
Time Pilot
Metal Slug Supervehicle-001
Space Invaders Extreme
Strikers 1945 1-loop clear

--HARD--
Anomalocaris
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Re: RANK your 1CCs from easiest to hardest.

Post by Anomalocaris »

This is really hard because a lot of the newer clears feel easier just because I'm slightly better overall. I tried to adjust for that.
I'll put shot types if I remember them
Using the highest difficulty I cleared a game on for games with difficulty and excluding Normal 1ccs for Touhou:

Easy clears:
Batsugun Special Edition 1-all
Mushihimesama Novice Maniac
Eschatos Easy
DoDonPachi Daifukkatsu Novice 1.5 Omote 2-all (C-strong)
Touhou 17 - Wily Beast and Weakest Creature (Lunatic, Youmu Otter)

Medium clears:
eXceed 3rd Normal (no autobomb, no TLB)
Touhou 6 - Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (Hard, ReimuB)
Touhou 13 - Ten Desires (Hard, Reimu)
Mushihimesama Original
DoDonPachi Daifukkatsu 1.5 1-all (C-strong)

Hard clears:
Touhou 7 - Perfect Cherry Blossom (Lunatic, ReimuB)
Touhou 8 - Imperishable Night (Lunatic, Border Team)
Touhou 10 - Mountain of Faith (Lunatic, ReimuB)
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Verticen
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Re: RANK your 1CCs from easiest to hardest.

Post by Verticen »

---EASY---

Hydorah
Gyruss - Arcade, 1 Loop Clear
1941: Counter Attack
Danmaku Unlimited 3 - Medium (Just got this today :) )
Battle Bakraid - Normal Course
Armed Police Batrider - Normal Course
Battle Garegga (Golden Bat)

---Hard---

Some of these, like 1941, seemed a lot harder to get to a clear when I did clear them, as I was newer to shmups. Now I can practically clear that game in my sleep. My portfolio is a little light compared to some of the stuff I've seen in this thread. Probably time to get some Cave on this list.
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