Updates (27.04.2005):
- Just opened the ST guide. There might be a few additions and corrections that need to be made/added, so if you spot anything, please let me know, and I'll add it to the guide.
Like most of Raizing's output, Soukyugurentai is a game that demands to be learnt, to be understood, and to be mastered. Like the games before and after it, it features an intuitive but complex weapon system, a simple scoring system and the infamous rank system, all intertwined together in such a way that to learn to manipulate one system, you must understand the others.
In this short guide to all things Soukyugurentai, I'll be attempting to compile a detailed guide to everything that needs to be understood in order to maximise your scoring efficiency in the game.
So anyway, lets get to it!
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> WEAPON SYSTEM: <
To get to grips with Soukyugurentai, you must first understand the weapons in your arsenal and the many differences between each available ship. Although it may not be immediately apparent, each available ship affects your scoring ability greatly, and each must be controlled in a particular way in order to maximise your potential score.
- SHOT:
Each ship is equipped with a forward firing Shot, and each ship's Shot varies in power and range. Like most of Raizing's games, this Shot is powered up by collecting powerup icons in increasing multiples:
- Lv 1 (0 powerups - starting state)
- Lv 2 (2 powerups)
- Lv 3 (4 powerups)
- Lv 4 (8 powerups)
- Lv 5 (16 powerups)
- WEB:
The secondary weapon of your ship is a visual targeting radar of which has two differing ranges and attack types depending on the ship you're using. This targeting radar (hereby referred to as Web) has the ability to attack enemies on three planes - on the same plane as your ship, above, and below - and the attacks fired from the web are homing attacks of varying power.
The Web's targeting range is limited to a particular shape, and any targets that move within this shape will immediately be locked onto. The amount of maximum lock-ons you can have is dependent on the ship you have selected. Some of the targeting webs can be moved in various directions in order to extend the maximum range of that particular lock-on attack.
Another feature of the Web is that it affects the type of Bomb you release. More detailed info is in the Bomb section of the Weapons System guide.
One other thing. Much like Taito's Rayforce series of games, Souky's Web weapon is closely tied to the scoring system, and it is by learning skillful manipulation of the Web weapon which will see your scoring potential improve. - BOMB:
The Bomb in Souky is a very powerful panic button, that also benefits from being linked to the Web weapon:
- If Web is not active: the Bomb is a forward firing impact blast that renders your ship temporarily invincible. The impact can sometimes send large ships off-course
- If Web is active but no lock-ons: the Bomb is a short range circle sweep of small blasts, radiating from your ship, that nullify bullets and renders your ship invincible. Great for a quick panic attack.
- If Web is active and active lock-ons: the Bomb is a cluster of small blasts that home in on whatever is locked onto. Great for quickly damaging large ships and boss target points.
> SCORING SYSTEM: <
There are two scoring systems in Souky that are closely tied to the weapons you have available:
- THE WEB AND THE MULTIPLIER:
The Web weapon has the ability to lock onto several enemies at once, and you are granted a multiplier for each enemy destroyed by a group of lock-on attacks, depending on the maximum amount of lock-ons you had active when you released your lock-on attack. Here's a handy table summarising the active lock-on amounts for each multiplier value, ordered by ship:
As you can see, in order to get the base points value multiplied from anything destroyed with a lock-on attack, you need to have at least four lock-ons active at the time of attack. The more active lock-ons you have when you attack, the higher the multiplier you will gain. Destroying something with three active lock-ons will grant you base points value only.
One important thing to note is that you will only get points for anything you destroy with a lock on, and not for anything that is simply damaged by an attack. You can exploit this by using a few lock-ons on high resilience targets, and your remaining lock-ons on destroyable targets. This way, you'll be damaging the high resilence targets and still be gaining maximum multiplier points from the destroyable ones. The only other piece of advice for score attackers is to not waste lock-ons in any situation. If you still have available lock-ons, make sure you use them up before you release your attacks. - THE BOMB AND SURPLUS BOMB BONUSES:
Given that usage of the Bomb results in a 1/4 multiplier being applied to all enemies destroyed by the Bomb, it would be advisable to try not to bomb in any situation if you can help it. This is made doubly important by the amount of bonus points you can get from collecting surplus Bombs. Here is a small chart detailing the amount of bonus points you can get:
As you can see, for every surplus Bomb you collect after the 11th, you will get over 655,000pts as a bonus. For score attackers, this is gold, as you can get more points than a 100% Enemy Destruction Bonus. The only possible way you can get this many Bombs and more is by manipulation of the Rank System, and more will be detailed in that relevant section. - ENEMY DESTRUCTION RATIO BONUS:
At the end of each stage, you will be awarded a bonus depending on the total percentage of enemies you have destroyed. The maximum bonus you can get is 500,000pts for 100%, and anything less than 100% is calculated by the formula:
500,000 - 200,000 - (enemy remaining % x 20,000)
The maximum destruction bonus is tied to the Rank System, and not in a good way. More info in it's relevant section.
> RANK SYSTEM: <
Like all good Raizing games, Soukyugurentai features a rank system that alters the game's difficulty depending on various factors, and as stated before, this rank system is tied to the weapon and scoring systems of the game. In order to control one system, you must understand the others.
- WHAT DOES RANK AFFECT?:
When the rank level increases, it changes:
- The speed of enemy bullets
- Enemy aggressiveness (rate of fire, number of bullets)
- Enemy resilience (large enemies and bosses toughen up)
- Enemy numbers (more smaller drones appear)
- Appearance of powerup carriers (they appear more frequently the lower rank is)
- HOW DO I AFFECT RANK?:
There are several things you do in game that will increase the rank level:
- Powering up your Shot.
Yes, your Shot is effectively crippled if you wish to play rank controlled, although this does have the upside of forcing you to learn to play with your Web only. - Survival.
The game will gradually get more difficult the further you progress on your current life. - Getting 100% Destruction in a stage.
- Picking up surplus items.
Picking up more Shot powerups than you require increases rank as well. According to Rando, surplus Bombs also increase rank, although I haven't noticed any difference in increase. (Can anyone verify this for me?)
- Powering up your Shot.
- TIPS TO MANAGE RANK:
First and foremost, do not powerup your Shot. Powering up Shot will yield the biggest increases in Rank. This, as stated previously, also forces you to learn to use the Web effectively as your primary weapon, which also forces you to learn to maximise lock-on potential to score high. Even though your Shot will be crippled, you can still use it to weaken high resilience targets in order to gain multiplied points from Web usage, and to accelerate powerup carrier appearances by shooting them as soon as they appear (as opposed to using them as lock-on fodder).
Learn the stages, and in particular, learn which enemies you can safely release to lower your enemy destruction percentage, without making too much of a dent in the overall bonus. At least you should aim to leave one enemy of some kind, which should give you around 98-99%. - EXPLOITING RANK:
The inverse of this serious rank control nonsense is in the exploitation of one key feature of the rank system: the increase in the number of enemies that appear. Remember that you get a multiplier active depending on the amount of active lock-ons you have, therefore you can increase your potential pointgain by purposefully increasing rank (within manageable levels) to make more enemies appear. More enemies means more lock-on bonus points
So what would be the best way to do this? Since powering up the Shot jumps the rank up, it would be theoretically safer to increase rank via the 100% Destruction bonus. However, an increase in rank means less chance of achieving the Bomb surplus bonuses, but this is in theory negated by the amount of points you can get from an increased number of enemies.
Definitely something to look into.