Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

[AkitaRonin]

Well, now I am very curious to check this out for myself haha

[Jack Emerson]

Playing shikigami 2 and ddp dfk. Love them both.

[XoPachi]

I'm trying to clear Blue Revolver on Hyper again. Something always goes wrong by the 4th boss. :c
I had to turn on score transparency because the items were getting me killed on the 3rd boss which is the first that has ever been a thing for me in an STG. So I'm grateful for that option and the bullet color adjustment. I can't remember if those are in the base game.

My only major complaint with this game is still the audio. This is a very, very quiet game and I just really wish it had more gusto in it's effects. Everything is so flat with points where it's only the music playing in the first 2 levels. Really don't like the anemic SFX of indie games in this genre these days. Coming off Devil Blade, it's super noticeable. Maybe it only bothers me, but it is a pet peeve of mine with games in general now. It's especially more noticeable in a high octane niche such as this.

EDIT: "Clear on hyper again" as in I've once again started attempting to clear the game. I've never beaten this game. :(

[Lander]

Burnout has set in with Gradius V. Practicing with the Konami code improved the process greatly, and I've gotten markedly better at the asteroid field and super walker bosses as a result, but even with the arse-shattering power of the optimal weapon edit loadout - now unlocked after hitting Free Play - the 1CC feels out of reach.

Having experienced the triumverate of Treasure STGs in full, I've derived a theory - their work is the Total Perspective Vortex implemented in shmup form.

To elaborate: All shooters have a certain progression in learning. You start out with no knowledge, feeling out the game and its systems, without any context of what it's going to take to clear - the mountain is so big you can't see it, so just play and enjoy. Then comes the deeper dig, committing to playing on the regular to gain familiarity in the broad sense, learn the deeper secrets, etc. - the mountain takes shape, but you couldn't say offhand how long it'd take to climb. Things progress, systemic familiarity is established, and it eventually becomes a matter of execution. Somewhere around there is when you could maybe hazard a guess at how long you'd have to train in order to reach the peak and bag the clear.

But Treasure - console STG Treasure - have this knack of making you think you could make that guess after the first 20-ish hours of play, only to reveal that you know nothing are in fact a huge scrub. Ikaruga probably has it the least, since it's quite straightforward about how much of a mind-fuck high pressure polarity management is, but Silvergun has the successive play -> arcade die now you no-chain-having peon transition, and Gradius V has stages 7 and 8 as the heavily-armed space base crown on an already-marathon campaign. I wasn't expecting a totally free ride after the super walker, and it's not intractable, but lies at a precise difficulty equilibrium where dropping the first run there is going to be the worst ever ughhhhh. And that's after shaving 20-some credits off my current best!

Which is to say, I'm not complaining, just displaying an ill-advised sense of proportion incredible game, but I need a break.

To wit, I've been on a bit of a tourist trip around the rest of the series: Confirming 3's general insanity firsthand, finally getting to Generation / the lore iceberg that is the Nemesis subseries (do the second loop, James!) and reaffirming my bittersweet love for Gaiden's gorgeous presentation contrasted against its brutal moai respawn trap. V has improved my classic piloting enormously, which is a relief - half expected the option strafing to have stymied me on that front, but I can feel the familiarity developed long ago on GBA coming back and then some.

Options really are a beautiful mechanic. This far down the line, and I can still think up at least four interesting ways you could build on them that haven't already been done by the many imitators / homages they've had over time.

[AkitaRonin]

Finally got Gunvein, since it's on sale!!!
Only did one run of the game for now, on Mild, got to Stage 4. Pretty great, and I always love a good cashout scoring system, so this is right up my alley.
Also, I LOVE Stage 3 Boss, first because I love a good duel boss and second because it uses the screen space in such an interesting way, forcing you to circle it constantly. Good stuff. Excited to see how it plays on the other difficulties as well.

Playing shikigami 2 and ddp dfk. Love them both.

These two are so good. DFK is so addicting, if you ask me
Please tell me you are enjoying the masterpiece dub of Shiki 2

I'm trying to clear Blue Revolver on Hyper again. Something always goes wrong by the 4th boss. :c
I had to turn on score transparency because the items were getting me killed on the 3rd boss which is the first that has ever been a thing for me in an STG. So I'm grateful for that option and the bullet color adjustment. I can't remember if those are in the base game.

EDIT: "Clear on hyper again" as in I've once again started attempting to clear the game. I've never beaten this game.

I got to get back to it, I only got the clear on the Normal difficulty and it's a blast. I was working on Hyper at some point and got usually get to Stage 4 as well, but I got seduced by too many other games haha
4th boss is a nightmare to me, I have to practice it hard at some point, because patterns 2 and 3 confuse me every damn time, I'm never consistent with those.

[Jack Emerson]

AkitaRomin: yep, I picked Gunvein as well with the sale. Though, I am playing have too many titles right now, so I am going to save Gunvein until Christmas. It will be a great Christmas!! DFK is just too much fun! Shiki 2 is amazing. It really gives the player a sense of adventure progressing towards the enemy structures. While it is not an adventure game, it really gives that vibe while being a great shmup. I am an old fart with hands that don't work well, so I am not near a 1CC, but love it!

[Steven]

Now that I've had Raiden DX for a while, my opinion of this game is nothing other than "after the initial impression of the astonishing graphics wears off, holy shit this game is frustrating as hell and I kinda hate playing it".

I really don't know what to think of this game. I think even Same! Same! Same! 1P is probably significantly easier, or maybe that's just me, but I am playing it on Expert, so maybe that's why. I haven't touched Novice yet for some reason. Might try that instead.

[Lemnear]

I'm playing Irem Collection Vol.1
So far I haven't found any bugs, except 1, trying to shoot with the right stick rotating 360 degrees, some bullets remained still on the screen (only the sprite).
For the rest nothing abnormal, with all the ROMs, the only thing is that compared to how I tried it emulated, it seems less precise in the movements, but maybe it's the different controller I don't know.

Anyway I'm really enjoying Image Fight 1.
It's at 50% discount, it's less than the respective ACA versions of Image Fight and X-Multiply at the moment, plus they have multiple ROMs (yes, I'm also playing the NES version, I like its roughness), and as an extra there is Image Fight 2, but it is of an immense difficulty...

I put both Ketsui and DodonPachi DaiOuJou on hold for a while, I was on a CAVE overdose

[Steven]

Had a sudden influx of PCBs today, all borrowed, so while they aren't mine and I will have to give them back, I now temporarily have Tatsujin, Batsugun, and Same! Same! Same! 1P PCBs.

Somehow I have never cleared regular Batsugun, but no more excuses now. The game's pretty easy and I almost cleared it today after not playing it for like a year, so with a little more practice it should be relatively effortless. Might see about playing it for score later, but I don't know yet and I really should be playing Same! Same! Same! 1P instead. Batsugun also has one of the worst scoring systems in anything ever (I think like 90% of the points in the game comes from milking the stage 4 boss and milking is boring), so there's also that.

Tatsujin and Same! are going to suck a little on PCB because I don't have enough buttons to set up optimal autofire, but if I put the PCBs in upright mode I can do auto buttons on 1P side and then have the Thunder Laser/flamethrower buttons on 2P side. Not a good way to play since I'll have to move my hand over to the other player side when switching weapons, but I might as well try it.

[AkitaRonin]

Played more Gunvein and got the Mild clear on the third try, as I was checking the ships. C is very powerful! I even snatched a top 100! (Though I don't know how many people are actually in the leaderboards for Mild haha)

This made me feel kinda good! It's been almost one year now that I really got into STGs, so I feel I'm steadily improving. I might be coming to the point of starting the game straight up at normal/arcade!

Also, THE SALE IS UP! I bought SO MUCH STUFF! So much in fact I don't know what to play. Got a first-try Easy clear on Touhou Makuka Sai II (those Ran patterns are amazing, btw), which is more proof I'm reaching the end of my Easy Modo phase. I'm thinking of limiting myself to 5 STGs max installed in my computer, then I rotate when I'm through with it. Gonna think hard on the 5 I want to play the most.

AkitaRomin: yep, I picked Gunvein as well with the sale. Though, I am playing have too many titles right now, so I am going to save Gunvein until Christmas. It will be a great Christmas!! DFK is just too much fun! Shiki 2 is amazing. It really gives the player a sense of adventure progressing towards the enemy structures. While it is not an adventure game, it really gives that vibe while being a great shmup. I am an old fart with hands that don't work well, so I am not near a 1CC, but love it!

I feel you so much. So many games... And I totally agree with Shiki 2! I really love games where you control actual characters, so it's right up my alley. If I made my dream STG, it would absolutely be inspired by Shiki vibes! I played more Shiki 1 (and I'm SO TRASH at it), but I gotta dive deeper into 2 at some point!
Also, heck yeah DFK!! Cancel those bullets!!

Oh, I would not call this experience standard to STGs by a looooooong shot

It was like "Ready? Go!" then enemies and bullets just RAIN on you before you can even get your bearings. I hadn't even figured out which button did what before I was seeing "continue?"

The girl was like "Uh... are all these games like this?"

"Not quite"

Bought the game on sale and now I understand what you mean. This game goes CRAZY right at the start! I get it's because of the Fever system, that gets more and more lenient as the stage goes on, but damn, it is a striking first impression and an adjustment.
I'm planning on playing it to completion, but for now, just messing around, got a S+ on Stage 1! I don't know how or why, I'll leave that to when I actually dive into it! haha

[DrTrouserPlank]

Playing the PS4 Ketsui port and grinding the arcade challenge mode it doesn't seem too bad, but I guess it's because you forget the odd deaths you have. Doing a run is a complete joke however, dozens of deaths and taken as a whole the game is absolutely not possible on 1 credit. Absolute horse-shit.

I feel as though if you literally can't do a stage 99 times out of 100 back to back without losing a life you might as well not even try to clear it. I don't really know how much time I should waste trying to find ways to make things easier by routing, or just try to dodge all the bullshit by going for smaller gaps than I'd like to and fuck the concept of a solid route.

When it's obviously impossible to clear on 1 credit though I don't know how much more time I'll be willing to stick into it for the prospect of clearing it on what? 3 credits....maybe... even that is probably borderline impossible.

[BIL]

I know a guy, little chap (5ft3in, ~125lbs in junior high) who gambled his future hulking up to a savage ~205lbs for the rugball as a teenager. Strong and fast as an absolute motherfucker, did well in regional play, but he had to hang it up or risk a heart attack or stroke by 25. Wasn't even on gear AFAIK, that foul shite. Just too much mass for his heart, lean or fat doesn't really matter at such extreme ratio. A still impressive but much healthier ~160lbs now. I am pretty sure I could throw him a good distance but he'd take both my arms with him then come back and batter me with them. I know his measurements because my big brother went to medical school with him and co-published several papers, I don't hang around his house taking creepshots or anything!

Anyway my point is that man entered a realm of physical prowess far beyond his normal station, and might've died for it.

You and I and most of this forum dwell at a much lower station of STG prowess than the champs! You might indeed die if you sit on your ass too long practicing in front of a screen, or at least get fat as your wiener goes soft - less trouser plank than trouser taffy! But! The consequences of attempting ~vidya feats~ without sufficient training response are nowhere so elbow/face brutal, compared to the field.

So, it is much easier to unknowingly train badly, then tell yourself a game is simply IMPOSIBRU. And with subpar training methods, it may effectively be impossible! Simply expending time does not guarantee a training response.

As with athletics and academia, before contemplating an STG of Ketsui's stature, what you should secure is your training methodology. And just as importantly, your attitude. Also, consider whether any of this daft business is really what you want to go fuckin balls-out for. It might be! But if it's not - there's no shame in that - consider other avenues of this vast genre! You can have a great time with less supremely demanding STGs, and rack up many impressive runs in the process.

Well anyway, I just don't want you to torment yourself DTP. I know you've never asked for pity, nor is that what I offer. 3;

EDIT1: Have you considered Mahou Daisakusen / Sorcer Striker? It's on ShotTriggers too, utterly first-rate port, and no slouch itself difficulty-wise. But being relatively grounded, it may prove a smoother difficulty ramp than Ketsui. The latter is, along with DOJ, avowedly fin de siecle amongst STGs. There's a reason its INH Superplay DVD is called "THE SECOND APOCALYPSE!™"

It has been a while, so I cannot say if it was for that particular DVD - but one Superplayer was found to have used a specially-adapted Practice PCB outfitted with stage select, to meet the publishing deadline! When this crutch came to light, they DOGPILLED HIM MERCILESSLY (;｀ω´;) Pills raining down like high-level DR. MARIO! It's no joke, this business!

EDIT2: I would also suggest Dangun Feveron - again on ST! - which is aggressively harrowing, but has a more elemental simplicity, compared to the pixel hitbox esoterica of CAVE's later stuff. It will likely slap you around, but perhaps you will find footholds more easily, in its relatively conventional macro-dodging. And these conventions are by no means inapplicable to Ketsui, or other danmaku!

Apologies if you've explored these already, old friend. ;3

[AkitaRonin]

Honestly loved the story, Bil. Very good parallel and a great way to see things.

I am still a beginner, in my own eyes, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I only booted Ketsui once to check it out for now, so I only know the legendary difficulty of it through legends and one or two superplays watched. Still, I'd like to recommend alternatives as well...

Have you played Blue Wish Resurrection+ and Blue Wish Desire? First one is freeware, very easy to find, and the second is pretty cheap on Steam. Both are heavily Cave inspired (more DDP than Ketsui, tbf, from what I understand, but the vibe might be similar), and both have a scoring base similar to Ketsui, in which proximity matters a lot. They are both very accessible games, and even I, who began the hobby this year, could get a 1CC on Normal (with the default auto-shield). Maybe you'll find it too easy, but I think it's worth a look if you haven't seen it.

There's also DoDonPachi Resurrection Black Label Arrange, colloquially called Ketsuipachi.

And to finish, I think Outside games have proximity-based scoring. I'm not completely sure, but Like Dreamer absolutely does, and stage design lowkey inspired by Cave. That said, the vibe is COMPLETELY different, so might not make for a good alternative. I'm only considering scoring system here. It is much more Touhou as a whole than Cave in art direction and theme. Still, if you can vibe with it, those are great games.

Maybe working your way up with these other games, if you haven't tried them, might be a good way to slowly climb the Ketsui gargantuan wall. I know that sometimes you want to play one game, so saying play another one is not the greatest advice, but still, if you're enjoying Ketsui maybe you'll enjoy these ones!! Know we are cheering for your Ketsui success (:

[BIL]

Honestly loved the story, Bil. Very good parallel and a great way to see things.

Ta bud! Yours is a superb insight, too! With our community's collective experience, I believe DTP can learn to love shumps again ;w;7

[Jack Emerson]

Played more Gunvein and got the Mild clear on the third try, as I was checking the ships. C is very powerful! I even snatched a top 100! (Though I don't know how many people are actually in the leaderboards for Mild haha)

Also, THE SALE IS UP! I bought SO MUCH STUFF! So much in fact I don't know what to play. Got a first-try Easy clear on Touhou Makuka Sai II (those Ran patterns are amazing, btw), which is more proof I'm reaching the end of my Easy Modo phase. I'm thinking of limiting myself to 5 STGs max installed in my computer, then I rotate when I'm through with it. Gonna think hard on the 5 I want to play the most.

Yep , I cashed in on the sale also. Aside from Gunvein, I picked up Mushi, DM3, and Raiden 3. Of those, I only dislike DM3. I only paid a few bucks, but I will give a few more goes to see how it is. Mushi is awsome (obviously), and Raiden 3 surprised me with quality. I played the heck out of Raiden Trad on the MD, and III is a nice entry so far.

[XoPachi]

I spent the latter half of November playing GunBird 2 and Strikers III. I've played these briefly over the years but, I tried to really force myself this time to seriously get into them. I know I'm supposed to like Psikyo games but, I just...don't. I like Gunbarich and Zero Gunner 2 and that's about it.
There's also no way I'd ever be able to even clear something like GunBird, so I was kind of just beating my head with games I wasn't even terribly enjoying.

[Kiken]

Saw that Trigger Heart was on sale on Steam so I quintupled down on it. Did a handful of runs on Arcade Normal with Crueltear to reacquaint myself with the game and with a lacklustre 156 million point run I managed to make it into the top 10 on the leaderboards.

Also, the way they censored the bad ending image in this version was really awkward... it starts out completely zoomed in (like at 600%) on one of Crueltear's bangs.

[DrTrouserPlank]

Playing the PS4 Ketsui port and grinding the arcade challenge mode it doesn't seem too bad, but I guess it's because you forget the odd deaths you have. Doing a run is a complete joke however, dozens of deaths and taken as a whole the game is absolutely not possible on 1 credit. Absolute horse-shit.

I feel as though if you literally can't do a stage 99 times out of 100 back to back without losing a life you might as well not even try to clear it. I don't really know how much time I should waste trying to find ways to make things easier by routing, or just try to dodge all the bullshit by going for smaller gaps than I'd like to and fuck the concept of a solid route.

When it's obviously impossible to clear on 1 credit though I don't know how much more time I'll be willing to stick into it for the prospect of clearing it on what? 3 credits....maybe... even that is probably borderline impossible.

For science I actually ran Ketsui yesterday on arcade challenge level 7 in custom and it's absolutely impossible on one credit. I ran it on arcade 5 today and it's still pretty bullshit by the time you get to stage 5, probably still not possible even with tons of practice based on how many times I continued in the end. Arcade 5 when you play the practice mode is not hard, but trying to clear the entire game with so few lives it's still too difficult. It puts into perspective though what an exercise in utter futility trying to clear it on arcade is. Absolutely not worth even bothering with. Designed to be impossible, and a triumph of design in that respect.

I just can't memorise routes that are so strict even for survival. You cannot do anything free-style at all. It's either be on a pixel-thin route for the entire game and speed-kill everything (baring in mind that if you don't hit your timings by a millisecond you are dead), or don't bother trying to 1cc it. Even on arcade challenge difficulty 5 you need a strict route for most of it.

Ironically I don't think this game is any harder than most of cave's output, save for maybe DOJ.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

but even with the arse-shattering power of the optimal weapon edit loadout - now unlocked after hitting Free Play - the 1CC feels out of reach.

Don't feel bad, Gradius V is a brutal game due to some of the crazy hazards you have to deal with (I think the green goop is actually worse than the asteroids!) coupled with its insane length. Even with the rather potent and fun Weapon Edit options, a 1CC has eluded me too!

[Lander]

Odd thought: Are there any 'legitimate' shmups renowned for being piss easy? I know there are a few obvious cases here and there like that cute baby dragon game on PC Engine, and beginner modes in things like Crimzon Clover and Mushi, but there's a certain comfy but not patronizing difficulty window that seems relatively under-served given the genre's arcade roots.

I spent the latter half of November playing GunBird 2 and Strikers III. I've played these briefly over the years but, I tried to really force myself this time to seriously get into them. I know I'm supposed to like Psikyo games but, I just...don't. I like Gunbarich and Zero Gunner 2 and that's about it.
There's also no way I'd ever be able to even clear something like GunBird, so I was kind of just beating my head with games I wasn't even terribly enjoying.

I feel that; took GunBird 2 for a spin the other week, and unsurprisingly got pasted. Nice to see it again after being apart since the DC port, and the mechanics - meter charge, turning bullets into pickups, NICE BOMB! - are lovely, but it doesn't seem like my domain skills are very transferable to Psikyo

I need to try more of their games. The impression I have so far is 'Toaplan, with slightly fewer catch-you-out patterns, but way more bullets'.

Don't feel bad, Gradius V is a brutal game due to some of the crazy hazards you have to deal with (I think the green goop is actually worse than the asteroids!) coupled with its insane length. Even with the rather potent and fun Weapon Edit options, a 1CC has eluded me too!

Well, that's a little comforting makes me feel better about my super fun but not tractable for the inexpert position on Treasure shooters, and talking about it again after a while is already making me want to go back!

And yeah, the goop's pretty nasty; some of those upward-scrolling setups that require you to keep the downflow controlled and break through safely seem like they need loadout-specialized tricks to overcome consistently. And that final funnel before the reverse area, though that's a lot more manageable with aggressive play.

[AkitaRonin]

Decided on my 5 installed STGs and been getting down with one of them: ESCHATOS!
There's something just so charming about how straightforward the game is, while repackaging how direct it is with some impressive setpieces... It's hard for me to describe why so many seem to find the game so good, but I also feel like that. I think it's phenomenal.
I had already played Ginga Force and Natsuki Chronicles, both of which I'm very fond of. Had a good time getting S ranks on each stage. That said, Eschatos is just so charming and it's hard to put in words for me.

Anyway, great stuff. Gunning for that Original Normal 1cc at the moment

Yep , I cashed in on the sale also. Aside from Gunvein, I picked up Mushi, DM3, and Raiden 3. Of those, I only dislike DM3. I only paid a few bucks, but I will give a few more goes to see how it is. Mushi is awsome (obviously), and Raiden 3 surprised me with quality. I played the heck out of Raiden Trad on the MD, and III is a nice entry so far.

DM3 is Dunmaku Unlimited 3, maybe? I tried to find which STG this was but couldn't find it, got curious...
I need to get me the newer Raiden games. My only true experience with Raiden is the Fighter games, though the series intrigues me a lot

I spent the latter half of November playing GunBird 2 and Strikers III. I've played these briefly over the years but, I tried to really force myself this time to seriously get into them. I know I'm supposed to like Psikyo games but, I just...don't. I like Gunbarich and Zero Gunner 2 and that's about it.
There's also no way I'd ever be able to even clear something like GunBird, so I was kind of just beating my head with games I wasn't even terribly enjoying.

Psikyo is such a specific flavor of game I totally get people just not getting into it. I'm endlessly charmed by them, though I'm working my way up from difficulty 1 up to 8, so at this point, some might say it's not even a Psikyo game anymore haha But anyway, I enjoy trying. Currently I can 1cc 1 and 2 of most of their games, but 3 already kicks my ass
I found Strikers III to be very hard, imo, but maybe it's a question of adapting myself to the game (that and there are less difficulty settings). Gunbird though it's one of those games I can't stop trying to play when I begin.

Odd thought: Are there any 'legitimate' shmups renowned for being piss easy? I know there are a few obvious cases here and there like that cute baby dragon game on PC Engine, and beginner modes in things like Crimzon Clover and Mushi, but there's a certain comfy but not patronizing difficulty window that seems relatively under-served given the genre's arcade roots.

Wouldn't say it's piss easy or renowed for it, but maybe Blue Soul Resurrection+? Given the slowdown and autoshield?
I don't know if people find it easy, but I consider myself very much a beginner in the genre and I got the 1cc Normal in a short while.
In the same vein, Outside games (Cosmo Dreamer, Like Dreamer and Redneg) might also get into this with their autoshield?
I feel like authoshield might be THE system that is the bridge between comfy and madness. It's one of the reasons I believe DFK resonates with people getting into the hobby (which is something I heard of, so Idk for sure if it's true, tbf haha)

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Odd thought: Are there any 'legitimate' shmups renowned for being piss easy?

Oh yes, there's a few out there, and that's not counting Novice / Easy modes aimed at making a game accessible for beginners. Does Rolling Gunner's Casual difficulty count? It's a decent challenge for a beginner (compared to Novice which is meant for "never played a shmup before" beginners), but it features autobombs and relatively slow bullets compared to Original and Expert, and the Casual difficulty is present in the arcade release totally unchanged, so it's still playable there.

Other games that come to mind include:

Terra Force: An incredibly easy 1CC by Nichibutsu, I literally cleared this on my first or second credit, it was the first arcade game I played that was truly easy. The explosions your bomb subshots fire are huge and satisfying.

Vastynex: Made by a prolific dev who's made some fairly tough games such as Kaikan, this one's extremely easy by comparison but still very fun.

Donpachi: Beating both loops is incredibly hard, but the first loop is relatively easy to clear due to your ship's relative strength and the sheer number of bombs you get. Bosses are much easier than in later games in the series too. The difficulty cranks up a lot in Stage 4, but Stage 5 eases off a fair bit and gives a LOT of bombs.

Crisis Force: NES shmup that's got plentiful resources to work with, some fairly powerful shot types, and one insanely strong telefrag bomb where you warp on top of enemies to kill them that can wipe bosses super effectively. It's a lot of fun in co-op, without being as brutal as some of Konami's other NES shmups, which makes sense because it was made for the system unlike arcade ports like Gradius, Life Force, and Jackal.

Harmful Park: Extremely rare PS1 shmup that's very, very easy due to having some quite potent weapons and bombs at your disposal. The default difficulty is Very Easy which is basically aimed at someone who's never experienced a shmup before. The middle and hardest difficulties are still easy for someone used to arcade games, but are nevertheless quite fun. There's also a score attack stage that's legitimately quite tough and necessitates some weird strategies to get by, mainly owing to starting at low shot power and not having a supply of powerups readily available.

Wouldn't say it's piss easy or renowed for it, but maybe Blue Soul Resurrection+? Given the slowdown and autoshield?

It's one of X.X's easier games (Eden's Edge is a lot tougher I find, in part because you move way too slow when lasering for my tastes, and the patterns are harder) but Original and Hell will both give average players a good run for their money. Note that turning off autoshield is necessary to play it seriously for score, as there's a massive bonus to your end of game life stock if autoshield is disabled, which you absolutely want to aim for.

[BIL]

Odd thought: Are there any 'legitimate' shmups renowned for being piss easy? I know there are a few obvious cases here and there like that cute baby dragon game on PC Engine, and beginner modes in things like Crimzon Clover and Mushi, but there's a certain comfy but not patronizing difficulty window that seems relatively under-served given the genre's arcade roots.

Thunder Cross might an interesting detour, especially given your recent Gradius V exploits. Friendly hori with innovative Option control, imported to GV as Type 3. Keeps a good pace. I would put the 1ALL difficulty around Gradius 1's, maybe a bit lower; it's similarly controllable by good Option play, with more generous firepower atop that, and - IIRC - less brutal recoveries. (might be wrong on that last one, been a while ;3)

Usual Konami caveat to the revisions. Old Japan is the OG. New Japan introduces harder loops, reportedly at request of arcade OPs; too many players were sitting on the machine all day. US is one of those infamous Konami localisations - chops out the signature Option mechanic, and most of the special weapons, adding a traditional Tiger Heli-style bomb. (named "LIL BABY," to general bewilderment; with the ship's codename "Blue Thunder 45," I've wondered if it's a reference to Fat Man and Little Boy) Finally, I seem to recall EU being pretty much Old Japan.

I just go with New Japan, myself. Worth a look just for the irrepressibly tuneful OST; easily ranks with Gradius II, Salmander/Life Force and Gradius III. Got some fookin eavy metal too!


EDIT: also, for console stuff, I'd give Elemental Master a look. Ground-based vert with heavy terrain features ala GunSmoke. It's the kind of STG you could put straight into a cab with the barest of parameter tweaks. Generously big guns, two-way fire, and high mobility, balanced by a strict hitbox; would suddenly become rather tough with 1HKOs and checkpoints. Not a lifebar slummer! Think of each hitpoint as a reserve life.

Absolutely killer metal OST, as expected of Tecno Soft. I consider this their joint best STG along with Hyper Duel, both having intensity comparable to TFII/III/IV with less thorny memo, and smoother difficulty ramps than the very back-loaded TFV. And having said that, yeah, Hyper Duel. Foot-to-the-floorboards Macross-inspired hori, with a transforming fightercraft and massive Super Metered guns. Easy to get into, with a couple of notably mean endgame bosses to shoot for. I prefer the Saturn rev, which gives the mech form an always-welcome Valkenesque strafe lock. Either AC or Saturn is a great time though.

[Steven]

Odd thought: Are there any 'legitimate' shmups renowned for being piss easy?

Thunder Force III. Also AC if you want, as that's even easier somehow despite being an arcade game.

Karous on easy is probably the most famous one, though. Of every game in which it is possible to achieve both a victory state and a game over state, this is almost guaranteed to be the easiest ever made.

[Mero]

Said ages ago that I might have a look at Tatsujin Ou and now I'm finally doing it. Made it to the stage 2 boss. If I die on that part (near the boss) where tons of enemies swarm the screen I can't go any further, need at least 1 bomb to clear that part.

[Steven]

Tatsujin Ou is stupidly hard. Definitely gotta watch out for that crazy zako rush right before the stage 2 boss, though. I forgot who told me this (might have been flobeamer), but at that part if you hold the down input at the bottom of the screen, some of the zako will go down beyond the lower boundary of the screen and cease to exist, which helps a little.

[m.sniffles.esq]

Odd thought: Are there any 'legitimate' shmups renowned for being piss easy?

Deathsmiles II, off the top of my head

And while I would go as far as 'piss easy', but I played the updated Blue Revolver a couple weeks ago, and I really liked how it didn't seem like it was just trying to constantly kill the shit out of you, but still felt challenging.

[Jack Emerson]

DM3 is Dunmaku Unlimited 3, maybe? I tried to find which STG this was but couldn't find it, got curious...
I need to get me the newer Raiden games. My only true experience with Raiden is the Fighter games, though the series intrigues me a lot

Yep, I was refering to Dunmaku Unlimited 3. Sorry about the poor abbreviation, I guess that is not the correct acronym for the game. I know this game is held in high regard by many expert shmupers. But I just could not get into it. I gave it a second go, and had he same bored feeling. I don't want to knock the game, because it is obvious a good game, just not for me.

Regarding Raiden 3. So far I am very impressed with this game. It lacks some important features like save states and a decent practice mode (which is somewhat hidden as the scrore attack mode which allows level select). If you enjoyed the original Raiden, I imagine you would like Raiden 3. Nothing really new, but fun. More like Raiden 1 than the fighters games

[Mero]

Tatsujin Ou is stupidly hard. Definitely gotta watch out for that crazy zako rush right before the stage 2 boss, though. I forgot who told me this (might have been flobeamer), but at that part if you hold the down input at the bottom of the screen, some of the zako will go down beyond the lower boundary of the screen and cease to exist, which helps a little.

Yeah I saw that, it's in the score thread I was looking at it a week or two ago.

That area has two checkpoints, one at the start and one halfway through. I can get through the first checkpoint at minimum power but the second is too much, even with holding down. But as long as I don't die it's not too hard now, I just definitely have to use 1 bomb near the end.

[Lander]

Excellent suggestions, folks. I'm morally obliged to start maintaining a list of Relaxed After Work Shooting now.

Wouldn't say it's piss easy or renowed for it, but maybe Blue Soul Resurrection+? Given the slowdown and autoshield?

Interesting, it's certainly got the doujin charm to it. Though for good and bad - I can tell getting it to run on my weird nerd computer is going to be a challenge: After considerable triage, it fills 1/4 of the screen, runs at 2x speed, and the lynchpin config.exe steadfastly refuses to run!

Though I did manage to clear St1 under those conditions without dropping credit, which is something

Does Rolling Gunner's Casual difficulty count? It's a decent challenge for a beginner (compared to Novice which is meant for "never played a shmup before" beginners), but it features autobombs and relatively slow bullets compared to Original and Expert

For piss easy purposes, Novice probably counts

I'll definitely keep an eye on that one, looks fantastic; bit of an Akai Katana vibe to its hori treatment, and I do enjoy a nice clever option/force-a-like. Those inter-stage animatics are awesome too, perfect example of how to story in a modern shmup without breaking the bank or spreading what you do have too thin.

Random aside: I really don't understand MarkMSX in terms of difficulty / alleged elitism. For Gradius V he was giving it I feel like I could clear this after playing a few days swag, whereas his Rolling Gunner Casual seemed phoned-in and apparently too much to clear in time for review. Wat.

Donpachi: Beating both loops is incredibly hard, but the first loop is relatively easy to clear due to your ship's relative strength and the sheer number of bombs you get. Bosses are much easier than in later games in the series too. The difficulty cranks up a lot in Stage 4, but Stage 5 eases off a fair bit and gives a LOT of bombs.

Man, I've been casually practicing OG Diddley-P since I joined!



Though it does feel tractable if given a proper drilling; I can clear most of the stages deathless in isolation and remember a respectable amount of bee icons, but am still a fair ways off from stitching it all together.

Thunder Cross

Ah, yes! I've been meaning to get to what I always assumed was Thunder Force's gaiden sibling. Though now I'm starting to second-guess that, given the Konami provenance.

Though I didn't know it was an option game - was probably watching footage of Strangelove Label

Elemental Master

Blast from the past, that - used to make rounds on one of the emulation-me-do handhelds I carried around in my teens. Doom and Gain Ground were strange bedfellows to say the least

Definitely one to remember; I've a soft spot for the tangibility of ground shooters. A noted exception to the fighting machines or GTFO rule!

And having said that, yeah, Hyper Duel. Foot-to-the-floorboards Macross-inspired hori, with a transforming fightercraft and massive Super Metered guns. Easy to get into, with a couple of notably mean endgame bosses to shoot for. I prefer the Saturn rev, which gives the mech form an always-welcome Valkenesque strafe lock. Either AC or Saturn is a great time though.

Cor! And I thought I knew Tecnosoft front-to-back. That's a lean, chiseled ride - and strong proof that lore needn't be dry or textual! Lovely swan-song for the 2D era of their show-don't-tell style.

Fun that the mech chum options have no fear in the face of a boss fight, too - lemme at 'em, i'll knock 'em flat! SPINSTUN

Karous on easy is probably the most famous one, though. Of every game in which it is possible to achieve both a victory state and a game over state, this is almost guaranteed to be the easiest ever made.

After seeking out M. Knight's Ennui Challenge Run, this suggestion gets the:
Letter of the Law Award

Probably high time I gave Milestone a serious look, in fact, as a midpoint between classic Compile shooting and modern Compile Heart idol lampoonerie. They seem quite beloved by the people who know, if quirkily intimidating to those who've yet to join that number