Easiest Switch shmup to 1CC

[BareKnuckleRoo]

SLANDER AND DISTORTIONS

wait until he discovers there's three difficulties higher than the default, and the hardest ones are legitimately scary

[Steven]

If you need something else easy, try Power Strike II on Master System, which is on the Aleste Collection. Like GG Aleste, the hardest part of the game is not falling asleep mid-game. I couldn't finish Power Strike II because I got so bored that I couldn't take it anymore and turned it off.

SLANDER AND DISTORTIONS

I don't care how good you are at staying powered up, you still have to at least learn the boss patterns to beat it.

I'm going to argue that, no, you don't, at least up until the stage 6 boss. That one might be harder, but that's the point where I gave up because the game was so unbelievably boring, so I don't know. I don't remember if I had the kaiteki mode on.

Maybe this game is for younger kids or something, and if it is, the default difficulty is probably fine, but for me it was way too easy.

wait until he discovers there's three difficulties higher than the default, and the hardest ones are legitimately scary

Do they make the game not insanely boring or at least prevent the player from being so powerful that the zako might as well not exist at all?

[BareKnuckleRoo]

On Wild difficulty it's probably the hardest game in the collection. It's like Harmful Park (and many other console shmups really) in that it defaults to a relatively tame difficulty for the sake of younger or casual audiences, but has more serious, tough difficulties if you go into the options and crank it up.

I can understand the complaints about GG Aleste 1 given it only has one difficulty with a choice of with or without revenge bullets, but I've never heard anyone complain about Power Strike II not being fun before. It's possibly the best game in the whole collection, the charge shot gives it a Giga Wing cancelling vibe, and the difficulty is rock solid.

[TransatlanticFoe]

It's also much harder if you turn on the option to disable slowdown and flicker. I think I cleared the game on my 2nd attempt on real hardware, there is some memorisation to avoid cheap deaths on some of the bosses - but the game hands you so many extends that it's fairly trivial. Turn slowdown off and pick one of the special difficulties, it's a different beast entirely.

By 1993 the Master System was being marketed as a starter console for younger players, so possible Compile were asked to tone it down (Power Strike is challenging by console games of the era) by default. But thankfully they included harder difficulties, unlike some later stuff like Sonic Chaos which is just pathetically easy.

[To Far Away Times]

My immidiate reaction was to say that Powerstrike II is the best of the old school 8-bit blasters on console but I think that title might actually go to NES Salamander or Famicom Gradius II.

Powerstrike II definately punches way above it's weight though, well worth checking that game out in any case.

[BrianC]

It's not like Power Strike II is the only Compile game with an easy default difficulty. I doubt it had anything to do with SEGA's marketing for GG and SMS.

[evil_ash_xero]

Espgaluda II?

??

My reaction as well.

[Jeneki]

Ark Area was probably the quickest "full arcade difficulty" 1cc I've ever done, in any genre. (warning: psychodelic flashing lights if you're sensitive to that)