Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

[jedinat]

Tried to play Super Galaxy Squadron Ex-Turbo, but my stick wasn't compatible sadly. Have never seen the game mentioned on here but it seems to have decent reviews.

This works fine with my stick, and considering it has gamepad support it should work pretty easily with any stick. Steam controller options will let you reconfigure literally anything as well.

[Sanguis]

Progear no Arashi.

For now it is amazing. I hope the honeymoon will last.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

It will last until you play it for high-end scoring or a second loop clear. That's what breaks most people because of... reasons specific to Progear.

[XoPachi]

Is Sky Force any good? It looks...like a lot of PC shooters I really did not and still cannot stand as a kid. Maybe I'm wrong. It's very pretty though.

It will last until you play it for high-end scoring or a second loop clear. That's what breaks most people because of... reasons specific to Progear.

ProGear was something I fiended on in college. I thought it was pretty rad and I couldn't help but make jokes about being Code Named Kids Next Door but cool.

[To Far Away Times]

Is Sky Force any good? It looks...like a lot of PC shooters I really did not and still cannot stand as a kid. Maybe I'm wrong. It's very pretty though.

It will last until you play it for high-end scoring or a second loop clear. That's what breaks most people because of... reasons specific to Progear.

ProGear was something I fiended on in college. I thought it was pretty rad and I couldn't help but make jokes about being Code Named Kids Next Door but cool.

I've not played it myself but I had the same reaction you did. And it's not talked about much on this forum.

[40wattstudio]

Is Sky Force any good?

How ironic, that's what I'm playing right now. Just got it yesterday.
First impressions: It's definitely not a bullet-hell game. There are projectiles, but even boss projectiles are pretty predictable and easy to dodge.
The graphics are fantastic and I see lots of replay value, but I'm not too big a fan of its grinding aspect. I have to collect about 4-5 weapon upgrades before I start to notice even a slight improvement in firepower.

[Licorice]

Playing MUSHA. Awesome, awesome aesthetics.

Moment to moment gameplay reminds me of Soldier Blade, but harder to read. I blame the fact that most things are destructible, but have different amounts of HP, with little way to tell. Bigger = hardier is certainly not true. Also, whereas some patterns in Soldier Blade were like little puzzles you could solve with careful manipulation of your option, here the option feels simply as an afterthought that can give you some lucky saves every now and then.

I'm currently practicing the ending boss rush, which I'm finding less obnoxious than other 16-bit examples. The game is paced quite well at the macro level I feel.

The final bouncy ball boss feels like a simplified and easier version of the Biometal one.

[Queen Charlene]

loving me some DOGYUUN right now

i streamed it for 3 hours this morning (like 2am-5am morning, lol) today just credit feeding in order to learn the enemy layouts and boss patterns, and the further i got, the more i realized how cool the game is

i'm really looking forward to sinking my teeth into this one. i'm gonna go for a 1-ALL.

[m.sniffles.esq]

I've come back to Karous
Last year, I was attempting a normal mode 1cc, and Radirgy Swag sort of took my attention away.

Well, it's grabbed my attention again. I've been playing little else the past couple days. I still think it's really, really unique and underrated.

Plus, the break seems to have upped my skills a little bit, as breaks sometimes do. The third stage used to be a huge sticking point. But suddenly, I been having an easier time with it (especially the mid-boss).

I actually think Radirgy Swag may have even helped as I noticed I go to my sword naturally much more than I used to (previously, I would have to make a effort to constantly remind myself in order to level it up)

Is Sky Force any good?

Personally, it bored the hell out of me. It took SO much grinding to get your main weapon above a pea shooter, and the upgrade is so slight it hardly feels worth it.

Maybe if you really put the hours in, it opens up, but yeesh...

[Licorice]

I am playing Repulse, which is the semi-fixed shooter ancestor to Hishouzame, and feels that way. Very addictive. Stuck on level 5 with those bouncy balls. The movement fundamentals are a lot more modern than 1985. Threading the needle through the thick bullet patterns reminds me of Batsugun which I was playing just before.

Very good bullet herding and gap finding training. Also good "oh shit" button training.

[Licorice]

So I 1CC'd Repulse, and am now playing the PC Engine port of Detana TwinBee.

It's very infuriating, but very addictive. It's infuriating because you're multi tasking all the time. Land enemies require a different shot (I guess this could be alleviated by putting auto-fire on the ground fire button) which is the easiest thing you have to manage. The next is the charge shot. After that is either the giant shield that probably takes up 1/8th of the screen, or the option shield that collapses into you if you stop moving. The option shot itself is another thing. Then the big one, which is the bell power up cycle. Admittedly, this is only on recovery, but recoveries are very perilous or take a long time. It's very common for me to lose a life to the (pretty easy tbh) bosses, and then spend the rest of the next stage balancing not dying to juggling bells to get the color I want and not have it fall off the screen.

There's a bunch of subtleties like the fact that you have 2 recoverable hit points for hits occurring against your sides (your arms), but 0 if you're hit from the front.

The great thing about the game is that it's a scoring game, so replaying the early stages is actually really fun because even though e.g. survival is no longer a problem for me for the first 3 stages, maintaining a bell chain is still really fun. Also so is recovery when I mess up going for the bell chain.

On the other hand I can see myself getting burnt out on this one if it takes too long for me to clear it because yeah as fun as it is, it is also very infuriating lol

[EmperorIng]

Playing games for the Calice Cup tournament organized by Dent4F

The current line up is:

Darius Gaiden
Frog & Spiders
GI Joe
Game Tengoku
Hacha Mecha Fighter
Ketsui
Raiden Fighters Jet
Strikers 1999
Tenokomori Shooting
Turbo Force

What a lineup (?).

Of those, I've already 1cc'd Darius Gaiden (again), Game Tengoku (first loop), and Tenkomori Shooting. I'm hoping I can get one or two more 1cc/1ALL's out of the lineup. Maybe Strikers is my best bet? RFJ? I've made it to stage 6 in Turbo Force but as I've found, success is not a guarantee in that game. Or consistency!!

[m.sniffles.esq]

I was about to say "That's quite a line-up..."

So, Sisters Royale has inspired me to blow the dust off of my copy of Shikigami no Shiro II for the Dreamcast, and it's a lot better than I remember or it's reputation would lead one to believe. I seem to recollect a pretty solid 'meh' from just about everyone (not to mention I picked it up used for $15 about six months after release...)

Anyway, back in '04 I put about two hours into it, regarded it as "ugly" as "dull" and probably went back to Border Down (or something)

Well, I still think it's ugly. The 3D backdrops don't work at all. Maybe because they don't do anything to try and blend the two together, I'm not sure.

But gameplay-wise, I find it much more fun, maybe it's because I can now see what they were going for thanks to Sisters.

[To Far Away Times]

Been playing a bit of Sapphire lately. I don't know how this slipped under my radar. I think somehow I had confused this with Sylphia, which should indeed be forgotten about.

It's a top tier PC engine game for sure. It is quite hard for a console shmup though.

[Jonpachi]

So, Sisters Royale has inspired me to blow the dust off of my copy of Shikigami no Shiro II for the Dreamcast, and it's a lot better than I remember or it's reputation would lead one to believe. I seem to recollect a pretty solid 'meh' from just about everyone (not to mention I picked it up used for $15 about six months after release...)

Same! I found a PS2 copy for dirt cheap on Ebay and have been having a good bit of fun with it. I had played 2 way back upon its initial release, and then kinda forgot about it. I never played part 3, and don't currently have a system hooked up that can run it, so 2 was my only choice. I think it's a damn solid game, and it's really fun to retroactively go back and see the origins of some of the character archetypes that they used for Sisters Royale.

[Ajora]

I'm playing Gaiares because I've often heard that's extremely difficult and I've been craving something hard. So far it's not disappointing on the difficulty front. I really like it so far.

[Kiken]

Been swapping back and forth between Sonic Wings 3 (MVS) and Caladrius Blaze (Switch ver). I've finally managed to get through loop 1 of SW3 on a single credit... was thrilled to find out that the loop did not have suicide bullets... was not thrilled by the sheer nonsense of the stage 2-1 boss. As for CB... just like the Switch port of Raiden V, I'm finding that this game also has visibility issues that certainly aren't in the 360 original. The extend tears being this ultra faint pink instead of bright purple... the HUD not being as transparent when your ship overlaps and the general blurriness of everything make the already modified original mode even more difficult than it has any right to be. And yet, I'm still determined to single credit it with default Maria.

[EmperorIng]

It's such a shame that these Switch versions of 360/xbone games are so borked. The console can't be that inferior to LAST - GEN hardware.

[To Far Away Times]

Continuing on my PC Engine kick I tried a bunch of games including Super Star Soldier, Violent Soldier, Override, and W Ring.

Super Star Soldier is cool. Very Compile-esqe. I got up to the stage 4 boss after two attempts and got wrecked by the homing missles. Seems like a pretty easy game but theres a lot to like here. The game is very frantic but you have powerful weapons and there's some rocking tunes well. This was the clear winner of the games I played tonight.

Violent Solider is interesting. Kinda like R-Type, but you have a pair of jaws on the front of the ship that can expand. As the claws expand you gain more firepower but you lose the bullet blocking protection. The charge shot is small ring that expands from the center of your ship and destroys bullets and deals damage. Some cool ideas in this one... Worth going back to, I think.

Override is very console-like, even for a PC Engine game. You can take 3 hits per life and lives come pretty frequently. Nothing that really stands out here.

W Ring is just kinda there I guess? It seems competent buf thats about it. No unique hooks in this one and presentation wise it gets the job done but nothing further.

[Square_Air]

Still working on the second loop of Gunbird 2.

• Finally made it to 2-5 for the first time!
• No Miss loop 1 with full frog milk is getting consistent. No Bomb loop 1 still needs work, but entering loop 2 with 5-6 bombs on average isn't bad at all.
• Managed to solve my problem with 1-7 midboss first phase, now I just need to go hard on the 1-6 boss (uhhg, 2-6 as well) so I don't keep choking and dumping bombs on it.
• Figured out how to reliably NM1B loop 2 Italy (2-2) by doing some whack shit at the start, but can't quite figure out how to do the last section yet with those pesky water turrets...
• The 2-5 boss is the best boss ever made, I will fight all of you at the same time, my word is unchallengeable.
• When I get the yellow head in 2-6 it makes me a sad boy.
• The 2-6 boss & and the 2-7 stage/midboss are what I need to work on next.

Play more Gunbird 2, this game is magnificent.

[BIL]

Plus Alpha is out on PS4 after a couple weeks' delay due to the CERO shutdown. That's three Jaleco games I like! It's been a tough road (the others being Game Tengoku and the Famicom version of Teh Lord of King!). What a mean little bugger - the Toaplan grit is unmistakable and not at all diluted by the whimsical aesthetic. Sniper tank game is strong, I especially like how those cute roly polys just trundle across their meadows pelting you relentlessly. Better tribute act than Gekirindan/10! That is damning with faint praise, but I really like this one. Like its spiritual sequel Game Tengoku, the firepower lacks a bit of oomph even with 30hz auto, but it's easily forgiven with healthy swarms of zako popping as God and Jebus intended.

[SAM]

Plus Alpha is out on PS4 after a couple weeks' delay due to the CERO shutdown. That's three Jaleco games I like! It's been a tough road....

I recall that I once had a Plus Alpha PCB. haven't play much before I sold it off.

I played it again on PS4 today, and find it quite interesting. The game are real tough, and I think the bombs are intended to be used, since they would be refilled between Stage.

What I have been playing recently? Mushihimesama's Original Mode. Still practicing at Stage 5.

[BIL]

Yeah you definitely don't wanna hoard bombs, at least early on! Those twin spider tanks kick things off with a lethal web of bullets, and their dying four-way revenge shrapnel isn't very nice either. The contrast of adorable looks and murderous intent is sharp.

[Flobeamer1922]

Continuing to work on Truxton II. I've reached the final stage several times at this point, and with my most recent attempt, I almost got to fight the final boss for the first time in a full run. I should clear this one before too much longer if I keep up regular attempts.

[6t8k]

Whoa, people are playing so many great games here lately.

I'm currently oscillating between Kururin Paradise and Gradius III on SNES with the SA-1 patch.
Having a lot more fun playing the latter as opposed to its original SNES variant. You're much more unlikely to flail your way through crowded sections by way of - mostly - happenstance, the occasional lull gets compressed, and some bosses (or even the occasional whole stage) feel a bit like going by in time lapse. That 5th stage, man..

Much more frequently, it's vital to have a clear understanding of your positioning in advance, and applying specific boss strategies instead of bluntly avoiding what gets thrown at you whilst firing away goes a long way. All the same, there's still plenty of leeway for your own deliberation and ad-hoc decisionmaking giving character to individual runs. It makes an already very good game almost perfect, and I always love me some of that classic space-journey feeling augmented by a sublime upbeat soundtrack. It's awesome!

[Ajora]

I've beaten Gaiares on normal mode. Not sure if I want to beat it on very hard mode or not.

[EmperorIng]

one and done I say. I don't think you get any new boss attacks on hard.

Only a few console shmups give you that nicety: Image Fight 2 has bosses throw out some new attacks on Hard mode, as does Darius Force's bosses (whether or not you want to put up with Darius Force's difficulty on Hard is another question!).

[Lethe]

After getting bored of repeatedly dying to trivial things in ESPrade I've been playing IKUSAAAAAAAN!. Got to thank Shepardus and Zaarock for drawing attention to this one because it's fun and I never would've known it existed if not for them.

Despite wearing the Feveron influence on its sleeve it's much more like, I don't know, Psyvariar? It's not really like anything, barely classifiable as a shmup even, since the shooting is basic and you spend most of your time working out how to ram into as many bullets as possible without killing yourself. The gameplay's so specialized I might have to play it exclusively until I get tired of it or risk having to re-learn the entire thing. Music's great, some of the best Touhou arrangements I've heard. The choose-your-own-max-lives concept is a really neat idea, but it seems to become irrelevant after a while given extends are so regular and you'll fail captures if you die constantly anyway. And the numbers are hilarious which I'm a complete sucker for, you can't go wrong with multipliers in the millions on stage 1 and 16-17 digit final scores.

[Gamer707b]

I've beaten Gaiares on normal mode. Not sure if I want to beat it on very hard mode or not.

Nice!! Beat it on normal last year myself. What did you think of it? I personally really enjoy 16 bit shooters.

[XoPachi]

Trying to learn how to chain in DOJ. Gonna be honest, it's actually legitimately starting to piss me off. This shit is just way above me.