Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

[To Far Away Times]

I hate the laser wheels so much even on the normal route. There’s a good minute or two during stage 5 where I’m auto bombing every 10 seconds.

Also, I’m not a huge fan of DDP DFK Black Label’s game play changes, but it’s soundtrack is so rad. I like it more than the normal DFK soundtrack. If the sound design seems lackluster, maybe try it with Black Label’s OST.

[Sengoku Strider]

I hate the laser wheels so much even on the normal route. There’s a good minute or two during stage 5 where I’m auto bombing every 10 seconds.

But all you have to do is hit the laser button for a second to block them. It's like a fighting or rhythm game.

[Steven]

I just realized that I am currently playing

nothing

That's unusual. I guess that's what happens when you work for 6 days a week for like a month straight. Fortunately that's only possibly going to continue this month. I need to get back to Same! Same! Same! eventually.

[To Far Away Times]

I hate the laser wheels so much even on the normal route. There’s a good minute or two during stage 5 where I’m auto bombing every 10 seconds.

But all you have to do is hit the laser button for a second to block them. It's like a fighting or rhythm game.

My usual strategy in the laser wheels section is to deftly block the lasers with my hitbox and use all my autobombs. A strategy I've used many times.

[Lemnear]

1943 (Capcom Arcade Stadium 1)
Varth (Capcom Arcade Stadium 1)

I don't know, sometimes i feel the need for something "simpler", without abstruse scoring systems or gimmick mechanics.
I'm one step away from diving into Hishousame!Same!Same!...
I'm finding that there aren't many (well done) ports of pre-90 games and while the two Arcade Stadiums have an excellent selection, they don't have many options other than the really basic ones, and they're not even excellent ports after all.

[ryu]

OK, hold on tight, cuz this gets a little bit crazy. There are two home computer Gradius games, the confusingly named Gradius 2 (<— with Arabic "2" as opposed to Roman "II") and Gofer No Yabou: Episode II, known as Nemesis II & III respectively in Europe, both for MSX computers. Neither of which have anything to do with Gradius II: Gofer No Yabou for arcade and many other systems.

The MSX versions of both games are available for PlayStation and Saturn as part of the Konami Antiques MSX Collection, and Gradius 2 was remade twice, once for X68000 as Nemesis '90 Kai, and once for PSP as Gradius 2 Refine Version (on the Salamander Portable pack). Both these remakes kick ass btw.

Coincidentally I'm struggling with Gradius II. What's with the sudden shot limit? And why does the movement feel even jankier than it did in the first game?
This is nothing like what I was expecting.

Not sure what you mean by shot limit, but yeah, the controls are a little jank. Overall though I find the game very manageable and engaging, one of my favorite Gradius games for sure (maybe even my favorite tbh). If you stick with it I'm sure you'll get used to its quirks and find it very enjoyable, if Gradius games in general are your thing.

Oh man. I always ignored the Salamander Deluxe Pack on PSP because I thought it was the same as the one on Saturn. Definitely would have bought it had I known about the extra game. Thanks for letting me know, I'll have a look sometime in the future.

Think I got used to the way the ship controls in Gradius 2, but I think I'm liking the first game more still. That one is chaotic in a really fun way with bullets flying all over the place. This one seems to rely more on gimmicks than the genre's core mechanics - and the ones in stage 2 and 3 are just annoying. I encountered a boulder pattern in stage 3 once that was plain undodgeable (talking about the ones you can't blow up).
Maybe it gets better at stage 4? Haven't made it that far yet more than once, but I'm crossing my fingers.

I'm one step away from diving into Hishousame!Same!Same!...

Hishouzame is definitely worth checking out. The game is simple but really fun. Just a shame it's got that generic military setting

[BIL]

1943 (Capcom Arcade Stadium 1)
Varth (Capcom Arcade Stadium 1)

I don't know, sometimes i feel the need for something "simpler", without abstruse scoring systems or gimmick mechanics.
I'm one step away from diving into Hishousame!Same!Same!...
I'm finding that there aren't many (well done) ports of pre-90 games

Have you tried Fighting Hawk? It's easily written off as an early Hisouzamelike - Taito had published Flying Shark/Sky Shark to huge success just a year before - but on closer inspection, the locked horizontal pan, quick ship, and flexible bomb (more a YGW-style Special Weapon) distinguish it comfortably. Nice moderate difficulty, and a single set loop, too. A 1CC is longer than a HZ 1ALL, but the definitive end makes it a nice cruising STG. (by arcade standards, at least) Mild BGM's not outstanding, but I think it suits the game's chilled tenor. The classic ZTT eccentricity always lingers in my mind a bit.

Was on PS2 forever via Taito Memories. I never thought about it much until the ACA release, I suppose partially thanks to Hishou finally receiving a definitive home translation. I love my epigones, but not when the definitive article is AWOL, y'know? Unusually easygoing Toaplanesque, especially with Toaplan and their competitors alike quickly ramping the pressure up ala Same1P, Trigon and Raiden, et al.

[Lemnear]

1943 (Capcom Arcade Stadium 1)
Varth (Capcom Arcade Stadium 1)

I don't know, sometimes i feel the need for something "simpler", without abstruse scoring systems or gimmick mechanics.
I'm one step away from diving into Hishousame!Same!Same!...
I'm finding that there aren't many (well done) ports of pre-90 games

Have you tried Fighting Hawk? It's easily written off as an early Hisouzamelike - Taito had published Flying Shark/Sky Shark to huge success just a year before - but on closer inspection, the locked horizontal pan, quick ship, and flexible bomb (more a YGW-style Special Weapon) distinguish it comfortably. Nice moderate difficulty, and a single set loop, too. A 1CC is longer than a HZ 1ALL, but the definitive end makes it a nice cruising STG. (by arcade standards, at least) Mild BGM's not outstanding, but I think it suits the game's chilled tenor. The classic ZTT eccentricity always lingers in my mind a bit.

Was on PS2 forever via Taito Memories. I never thought about it much until the ACA release, I suppose partially thanks to Hishou finally receiving a definitive home translation. I love my epigones, but not when the definitive article is AWOL, y'know? Unusually easygoing Toaplanesque, especially with Toaplan and their competitors alike quickly ramping the pressure up ala Same1P, Trigon and Raiden, et al.

Never heard of it before.
Fire Shark//Flying Shark seems better in every way (at least audio-visual) of course i tried them first...but if they exist elsewhere i'd rather not emulate them, it's still a way to keep the genre alive.
The problem is that once you get to a practically zero input lag and all the gadgets (M2 Premium Standard).. it's hard to go back. even if there are some exceptions, especially for the lesser known games, i prefer them more..."crude" (with ACA/CAS filters i go crazy *-* )
Oh, i wish i still had a CTR TV, and a PS2 pad... or my PS3 that my ex-best friend stole from me...

Also the "serious"(saturn-like) controller i use doesn't have a touchpad (Playstation) so i have to avoid all games that use it (like unfortunately the ACA, and you can't even remap it )...The other controller i have (which has the touchpad) is terrible for diagonals... but great for other movements [Up, Down, Left, Right]...or maybe is my impression.

Ah! i tried R-Type Leo, it's much easier than i thought, graphically it's the best R-Type in pixel art ever made the BGMs are magnificent even if they clash a lot with the R-Type vibe.

[BIL]

You might still like Fighting Hawk, despite it looking nowhere as cool as Hishou or Same1P; it's a milder game, but not a total pushover. Still demands good fundamentals, has a couple neato setpieces too. And the locked horizontal pan minimises the surprise side-snipes you face in most Toaplanesques. Tanks will still flank you, just like in the similarly non-panning Raiden III, but you can at least see the bastards, plus you have a nice quick ship with a generously-stocked Itano homing barrage.

Then again, Fire Shark / Same2P shares several of FIghting Hawk's traits, so perhaps that's a yet better pick. Locked horizontal pan, much milder intensity than the notoriously balls-hard Same1P, plus a manfully bloodening OST from Masahiro Yuge. All three Toaplan Arcade Garages are must-haves in any case, but HishouSameSameSame's my favourite just for the sheer achievement of breaking that 35yr wait for Hishou! Imagine if Xevious or Gradius had been AWOL that long.

I couldn't mention ACA and CAS in the same sentence. At least on PS4, CAS is the definition of Big Pack Better Value. Input latency's not awful, but it's noticeable, and gets annoying in the STGs... I 1CCd Gun.Smoke after a little de-rusting, didn't enjoy having to constantly work around the lag. Apparently it's somewhat better on Switch, but I don't have the time to play stuff decently as it is, so I've left it for now.

I sometimes wish more companies would realise there's a happy medium between M2's unrivalled super boutique approach, and the CAS/SNK40th Big Lots with middling-to-poor performance and tons of goofy fluff. I'd pay AAA retail for ACA-responsive Gun.Smoke alone, and a couple dozen other CAS titles the same, no problem. I'd put a nice G.S nomiss up within the week, too. :/ I could even finish my ST rewrite without resorting to MAME! (my usual means, the beautiful PS1 Capcom Generation 4, is on the other side of the Atlantic currently)

I hate whatcouldabeen talk, though. So I'm just happy we got one super-deluxe and one low-frills specialist house apiece. It's not the worst luck! Actually, it's pretty damn good luck. Nobody cares about Hishouzame, and even fewer care about Trigon. Nobodies did well, this last decade.

of course i tried them first...but if they exist elsewhere i'd rather not emulate them, it's still a way to keep the genre alive.

Nothing wrong with roadtesting stuff in emulation! No sense taking a chance on something you won't like. Sometimes it's more satisfying to jump in blind, but sometimes... shit happens. (I still like AC Jackal, but god damn, it's comical reading my posts in hindsight... "might have some endemic Konami issues," more like "cranks them to their utter limits then steals all your napkins")

[BareKnuckleRoo]

My usual strategy in the laser wheels section is to deftly block the lasers with my hitbox and use all my autobombs. A strategy I've used many times.

Thank you, that was well worth a hearty chuckle.

Manual bombing lasts a long time, and you can usually use the period of hyper invulnerability to avoid having to sneak between the rings. The hardest part I find is the set of rings that come from behind, followed by the last ones before the midboss.

[Jack Emerson]

I haven't played a shump since my Sega Genesis days. Now 30 some years later, I am giving them another go.

Currently playing some Dreamcast Shumps: Ikuagra, Gun Bird 2 and Zero Gunner 2. I think everyone knows these games well, and I am loving all three.

[Lemnear]

Spoiler

You might still like Fighting Hawk, despite it looking nowhere as cool as Hishou or Same1P; it's a milder game, but not a total pushover. Still demands good fundamentals, has a couple neato setpieces too. And the locked horizontal pan minimises the surprise side-snipes you face in most Toaplanesques. Tanks will still flank you, just like in the similarly non-panning Raiden III, but you can at least see the bastards, plus you have a nice quick ship with a generously-stocked Itano homing barrage.

Then again, Fire Shark / Same2P shares several of FIghting Hawk's traits, so perhaps that's a yet better pick. Locked horizontal pan, much milder intensity than the notoriously balls-hard Same1P, plus a manfully bloodening OST from Masahiro Yuge. All three Toaplan Arcade Garages are must-haves in any case, but HishouSameSameSame's my favourite just for the sheer achievement of breaking that 35yr wait for Hishou! Imagine if Xevious or Gradius had been AWOL that long.

I couldn't mention ACA and CAS in the same sentence. At least on PS4, CAS is the definition of Big Pack Better Value. Input latency's not awful, but it's noticeable, and gets annoying in the STGs... I 1CCd Gun.Smoke after a little de-rusting, didn't enjoy having to constantly work around the lag. Apparently it's somewhat better on Switch, but I don't have the time to play stuff decently as it is, so I've left it for now.

I sometimes wish more companies would realise there's a happy medium between M2's unrivalled super boutique approach, and the CAS/SNK40th Big Lots with middling-to-poor performance and tons of goofy fluff. I'd pay AAA retail for ACA-responsive Gun.Smoke alone, and a couple dozen other CAS titles the same, no problem. I'd put a nice G.S nomiss up within the week, too. :/ I could even finish my ST rewrite without resorting to MAME! (my usual means, the beautiful PS1 Capcom Generation 4, is on the other side of the Atlantic currently)

I hate whatcouldabeen talk, though. So I'm just happy we got one super-deluxe and one low-frills specialist house apiece. It's not the worst luck! Actually, it's pretty damn good luck. Nobody cares about Hishouzame, and even fewer care about Trigon. Nobodies did well, this last decade.

of course i tried them first...but if they exist elsewhere i'd rather not emulate them, it's still a way to keep the genre alive.

Nothing wrong with roadtesting stuff in emulation! No sense taking a chance on something you won't like. Sometimes it's more satisfying to jump in blind, but sometimes... shit happens. (I still like AC Jackal, but god damn, it's comical reading my posts in hindsight... "might have some endemic Konami issues," more like "cranks them to their utter limits then steals all your napkins")

Tried, it's a much more relaxed version of a Hishousame, like Toaplan under chamomile. The BGMs are not bad even if they sound strange (or at least different from the usual ones), softer than average (while Toaplan's BGMs are more rowdy than the average BGM... a lot of sounds they use drill your brain), but compositionally they are impeccable.
PS: I love From the Sun to Me though.
Sniper Tank are honest this time!

I thought there was a "middle way" among developers who do porting... wasn't it City-Connection? For the series "We choose exceptional games but we serve them to you with a bit of spicy input-lag"?
A bit like in a restaurant where they serve excellent food but with too much salt and the table service is not the best, while M2 is the multi-starred restaurant where it is difficult to find a flaw (that is, they should publish worldwide anyway ).

[BIL]

like Toaplan under chamomile.

Perfectly said.

PS: I love From the Sun to Me though.

That's my favourite too, barraging yet plaintive with a great enigmatic title.

[DarkSlayer]

Having never played my Toaplan games properly I have been checking out:

Grind Stormer - my favourite in terms of vibe/athetics. Really nice flow to it, shame about the check points which kind of does the opposite

Batsugun/special - definitely prefer the special version, makes you feel really good at Shmups. Not loving how many loops there are to reach the end, an hour is long….

Truxton 2 - I might be missing something but this didn’t grab me at all like the two above

[Lemnear]

Having never played my Toaplan games properly I have been checking out:

Grind Stormer - my favourite in terms of vibe/athetics. Really nice flow to it, shame about the check points which kind of does the opposite

Batsugun/special - definitely prefer the special version, makes you feel really good at Shmups. Not loving how many loops there are to reach the end, an hour is long….

Truxton 2 - I might be missing something but this didn’t grab me at all like the two above

Even the standard Batsugun gives a similar feeling, I think it's the selling point of the game for many, and that it is in a way the basis of all future CAVE titles.
That sense of "being phenomenal" without doing much, but what happens on the screen "seems" to suggest the opposite, with explosions everywhere, lots of graphic details, a ton of shots both from you and your enemies. There is a certain sense of excitement both visually and in gameplay (DoDonPachi, Ketsui but also a GigaWing gives a similar feeling).


_____________

I just got my first two M2 ShotTriggers, and I chose Ketsui and DoDonPachi DaiOuJou.
I have to say that playing DoDonPachi on PS1 really helped me a lot with this version, since they both run at 60fps (and the lack of slowdown on PS1 made the slowdowns in DOJ almost ridiculous)...while with Ketsui it was the opposite, my training with the emulator went to the original frame rate, which is slightly slower than the M2 version...or maybe it's the emulator that's going bad?
Awesome games anyway, and the arrangements are funny, especially DOJ, has various arrangements that seem to be made on purpose as training to get to the Black/White Label version, step by step. Ketsui does not "accompany" you in the same way.
Truly a premium experience, even above the Darius and Ray'z collections (let's say these are Golden Standard while the ShotTriggers are Platinum Standard).
The only flaw is that... i would have liked a Type-C in DOJ, at least that way there were 3 dolls and 3 ships.

I'll definitely get a Toaplan Garage in the future, and maybe GG Aleste 3, I'm not really a Yagawa style person...sorry

[Gamer707b]

Been on ESpRaDE for a few months of on and off playing. I can no-miss the first 3 or 4 stages, but the shit hits the fan on stage 4 boss. I can no-miss him but only with bombing. Still need practice on Mis. Garra. I'm a good 80% proficient with the game, but not there yet. Almost tempted to go to another shmup, but I must keep the fight going. I can smell and almost taste victory.

[Ice Beam]

Boy howdy am I ever smitten with Gunnail. I've been stuck in the pit of Toaplan for so long that I forgot what a fun shooter feels like (which sounds like something an asshole would say, but I'm not, so I won't).
But GOD is that beeping sound when I'm out of shields ever annoying. Is there a way to turn it off?

...

Yes there is.

...


GUNNAIL

[BIL]

But GOD is that beeping sound when I'm out of shields ever annoying. Is there a way to turn it off?

I knew Hamada-san and co were SHOOTING MEIJIN when they chucked in that Alarm Toggle FO FREE ;w;7

[DarkSlayer]

I have been playing a load of Sophstar the last week.

Probably my favourite Indy shmup I have tried in the last year!

Scoring system and flow of the game is so fun and the music/sound effects never burn me out.

I like how many leaderboards there are, so I actually have a chance of being on the top page.

Definitely more Shmups need good leaderboard integration

[Daytime Waitress]

Just credit-fed my first ever run through of Very Aggressive Darius aka Metal Black after picking up the Senba double courtesy of Hamchan's latest sale.
Certain I'm a lifetime away from even a half-dozen-CC for it.
Not so sure I didn't just have a religious experience.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Not so sure I didn't just have a religious experience.

The developer's cat is truly an icon to be worshipped. :3

[Lander]

Recently, I've been feeling a compulsion to reconnect with the Gradius series; there was a time when I'd have told you Vic Viper and its cohorts were the coolest spaceships ever bar none, but the years (and gradual understanding of checkpoint restart shooters) have had me drift away on grounds of disliking recovery play. I've revisited it here and there - mostly via the excellent PS1 Gaiden - but always cried off after the first death or so.

So I put on Gradius Advance / Galaxies / Generation, ostensibly the game that cemented my love for the series to begin with, opened my mind to rediscovering it from first principles, and have been having a grand time.

I think my strategy has been the biggest issue with enjoyment after the first life - lasers are cool, but picking them up early is a total trap. Nothing beats the multiplicative power boost of an Option (or Multiple, if you're playing with the Salamander-tastic B Ship ) for getting back on the area denial treadmill and working back toward ludicrous overpower; the default shot may seem piddly on its own, but is more than sufficient when multiplied.

If anything, it feels quite easy versus my expectations. Sure, I'm only on the first loop and haven't bagged the clear yet, but there are a ton of situations that can be solved by dragging your option tail into a diagonal line and saturating half the screen with death. The terrain and stage hazards have been the biggest danger, since they can't be point-blanked, and some (like those multi-joint biological things in the Life Force level) are a bit unpredictable.

Notably, the game includes a 'Hint Mode', which is effectively a comprehensive set of replays demonstrating (in considerable lacadaisical style) how to recover at every checkpoint in the game, and is unlocked progressively as you reach each section. Not really a superplay, since it's all segmented and every part starts from zip, but a fantastic addition that should be a standard for console checkpoint shooters as far as I'm concerned.

And - much to my surprise - the Japanese release flips that on its head by including not one, but two unlockable modes that challenge the player to pull off each recovery themseves. Criminal that they didn't make it into the US or EU versions - the idea is coming dangerously close to having me enjoy the process

Not so sure I didn't just have a religious experience.

Ha, that's exactly the vibe I had on my first scrub-through I think I have a post or two gushing about its thematics hidden away somewhere in the forum backlog, interleaved with interesting snippets from MB veteran Birru - bless Taito and their love of ballz2wall weird shit.

[Shatterhand]

I have been playing a load of Sophstar the last week.

Always... insanely crazy to see people playing and enjoying the game I designed/programmed. I'm so glad you are enjoying it.

-

I've been jumping between Batsugun Special Version, Hyper Duel (those on the Sega Saturn) and Psyvariar Revision (PC.... actually playing it on Psyvariar Delta which I know isn't 100% accurate, but it's pretty close.).

A couple of months ago I've beaten Gluon playing Medium Unit. Revision is a different beast, it's way harder. I actually played it a bit on the PS2 eons, eons ago but, for some reason, I gave more attention to Psyvariar 2 back then. Probably because of the better graphics.

I had never tried Batsugun Special Version for some reason, it took me 3 tries to beat the 1st loop without continues, but I guess it doesn't count as an 1CC, right? I've managed to get to the third loop, but then the game gets brutal. I know it has some crazy scoring strategies by doing Hadoukens or something, I remember reading about it eons ago here, but I'm not bothering with it right now. I still remember the 1st time I got to the 2nd boss of Batsugun (normal version) when I was a teenager, and I was like "This is stupid, there's no way to beat that thing, this is such an obvious coin muncher". Oh, the naivety of someone who was still going to play the likes of Dodonpachi and on.

Hyper Duel I actually started yesterday, I remember I was able to get very close of the 1CC a decade ago? Maybe 2 decades ago? Really can't remember, but I still remembered the strategy for the 3rd boss, heh.

Jumping between such different games makes easier to not get tired from any of them. I'm just playing for fun, no trying to beat any world hiscores or anything, and maybe the 1cc will come, maybe it won't. I don't have a lot of gaming time lately as work is being really hard, but shmupping is a good way to decompress from work.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I had never tried Batsugun Special Version for some reason, it took me 3 tries to beat the 1st loop without continues, but I guess it doesn't count as an 1CC, right?

It's a 1CC of the first loop. It's not a clear of the whole game technically, but it's a good stepping stone to go back to the normal version of Batsugun, and Batsugun Special is kind of like Donpachi in the sense that a 1CC of the first loop is quite doable whereas a true clear of the game is brutally hard and takes orders of magnitude more effort to accomplish. Those revenge bullets get pretty nuts, and you made it to the third loop which is pretty darn impressive!

[Shatterhand]

I had never tried Batsugun Special Version for some reason, it took me 3 tries to beat the 1st loop without continues, but I guess it doesn't count as an 1CC, right?

It's a 1CC of the first loop. It's not a clear of the whole game technically, but it's a good stepping stone to go back to the normal version of Batsugun, and Batsugun Special is kind of like Donpachi in the sense that a 1CC of the first loop is quite doable whereas a true clear of the game is brutally hard and takes orders of magnitude more effort to accomplish. Those revenge bullets get pretty nuts, and you made it to the third loop which is pretty darn impressive!

The shield and smaller hitbox on Special makes it a lot easier though, at least up until the suicide bullets go bananas on you. I got it to the 3rd loop (not on my third try though ), but I've abused that shield. Normal Batsugun will still kick my ass, I believe

[BareKnuckleRoo]

The smaller hitbox and shield are nice, but I think the thing that really makes it tough is your bombs. In Batsugun Special, the bomb you fire is actually the much stronger bomb you get in 2 player mode from a second player using a bomb while one is active onscreen. The damage boost and range are very significant whereas the bomb you get in single player Batsugun isn't that strong and is limited in range, with it being centered on your ship.

[copy-paster]

After taking like 2 months of STG vacation (this resulted of me getting some nomiss runs of classic Castlevania games), it's time to get back on the genre. Goal is to learn this one son of a bitch:

[locoBro1196]

I'm having a go at Espgaluda again. I first played this on PS2 when it came out ages ago, then it's been on and off throughout the years, never getting any further than stage 5.
Now I can finally get to stage 5 on a consistent basis just losing 1 or 2 lives at most after getting used to the Kakusei mechanics. I will probably spend the next few weeks/months drilling the game starting at that stage
and trying to make it to the final boss and learn its patterns. It's something that seemed impossible to me until not too long ago but I've regained some confidence on my own skills. Even then, I've never understood why many people say this game is "Easy", sure it's easy compared to many other Cave titles but the later part of Stage 5 all the way to the very final boss has been way too much of an ordeal for me, extremely discouraging.

This game is at the top of my TO-DO list and it's about time I get that 1cc.

[To Far Away Times]

After taking like 2 months of STG vacation (this resulted of me getting some nomiss runs of classic Castlevania games), it's time to get back on the genre. Goal is to learn this one son of a bitch:

R-Type II is a ball buster. Hardest R-Type game with maybe the exception of the hilariously difficult lava maze in R-Type III. Great game though. Stage 2 is a real classic.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Even then, I've never understood why many people say [Espgaluda] is "Easy", sure it's easy compared to many other Cave titles but the later part of Stage 5 all the way to the very final boss has been way too much of an ordeal for me, extremely discouraging.

It's pretty easy for an arcade clear in a relative sense I think is the general meaning. You get a lot of resources and freedom how to use them, the score 1ups and the 1up in stage 3 don't require much effort to obtain, patterns aren't particularly brutal in terms of speed, and so on. It's a difficult game as expected of an arcade shmup, but not relative to other real monsters out there where you've got high bullet speeds, gargantuan hitbox sizes, etc.

Couple things to consider:

1) You get a ton of resources on your first life if you know how to max out the overmode gauge. The best place to do this seems to be the last phase of the Stage 1 boss. It'll last until you die, at which point it's too risky to recharge. Maxing out the overmode meter makes it more dangerous if you're prone to suddenly running out of gems, but if you keep a close eye on that you get a large number of extra green gems by being at a higher overmode level, so it pays off for survival and scoring.

2) Tateha, contrary to what you'd expect as the spreadshot character, is stronger in this game. Her laser damage in normal mode is noticeably higher than Ageha's, thanks to those two piercing shots doing a lot of damage. Her kakusei is about even in strength but is harder to use, but you still can use the laser during it to dodge otherwise tough attacks if need be.