RQ: Recca "Summer Carinval 92"

For posting and requesting strategic gameplay tips on shmups!
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SheSaidDutch
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RQ: Recca "Summer Carinval 92"

Post by SheSaidDutch »

I need a strategy to beat the Level 2 boss, so far I cant see a pattern whatsoever :oops: .
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Herr Schatten
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Post by Herr Schatten »

Shatterhand is the resident Recca specialist around here.

Maybe he can help?
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incognoscente
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Post by incognoscente »

Right when the screen changes to the boss area (black background), stop shooting, drop to 2 or 3 speed (pressing Select), get in the center column of the screen and move just over 75% of the way up. This might take a couple tries to find the right spot and a comfortable speed to reach it. Wait for your bomb to reach full charge, then press and hold the fire button until the boss dies.

After the boss's arms unfurl, I wait for the moment the arms change direction before I launch my attack. This has ensured enough charge for the attack to be successful. Too little charge and you become vulnerable to the boss's bullets. Executed correctly, this will take down the boss before its arms retract the first time.
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SheSaidDutch
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Post by SheSaidDutch »

Thanks I'll give that a try, also if Shatterhand would be kind enough to post considering he's the Recca specialist :wink:
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shiftace
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Post by shiftace »

I didn't know you could rush that one and kill it before its arms retract.

I perfer to set speed up to 3 or 4, bomb it once before the arms appear, then sit at the bottom, charge up, and and wait for the arms to reteact. If you hold still at the bottom and center of the screen, the arms won't touch you. When they reteact, run into bomb range. You can hold still there for a second and fire, on top of your bomb, and then you need to start backing out. You have to learn some timing to know if you should stay near the top, in case the arms try to stab you instead of just uncurling, but it shouldn't be too hard. The boss should die then by the time the second bomb finishes detonating.

Nasty spoiler:
I don't know whether this is a game feature or an emulation bug, but the arms *always* swing in the same pattern each time you play. I've noticed this in 3 emulators, with no counterexamples. The swing pattern will change each time the arms retract, but the different patterns still occur in the same sequence. The second swing pattern always lets the left arm swing very high twice, bringing the weak spot into bomb range from below the arm. I hope that makes sense.

Oh, and here's another RQ: Why does the game clock run at 50 FPS? Is it a quick and dirty way to compensate for lag?
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SheSaidDutch
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Post by SheSaidDutch »

Are you thinknig of the level 1 boss? the level 2 boss has no arms to extend, he uses lazers as his main attack
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shiftace
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Post by shiftace »

I was referring to the stage 2 boss. I think of the blue beams more as arms than lasers because aren't exactly shot at you. Call them whichever you want.
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SheSaidDutch
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Post by SheSaidDutch »

I've still had no luck, I've tried to stay away from those lasers :roll: then those missiles get me :wink:

I've had no luck so far :)
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shiftace
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Post by shiftace »

Missiles? Do you perhaps mean stage 3's boss? That's the red thing with a twin laser and six turrets. It's quite a bit trickier than stage 2 and a much more likely thing to have trouble with.

In general, you should blow up the missile turrets first -- they're the ones at the bottom. When the boss appears, bomb a little bit right of the bottom left turret. If you can, fly inside the explosion for a couple seconds of protection, while you keep firing at the turret. Once it's gone, you have to pop the lower right one, without the help of a bomb. This is harder but still very doable.

Once those are gone, there will be no more missiles. Charging bombs will shield you from all the bullets, so you can just bomb the boss at your leisure. But don't kill all the other turrets in the meantime, because each time you kill a turret, the laser's firing rate increases. If they are all gone, the laser fires continuously.

If you have front weapon B, especially at power level 2-3, you can use a different approach. Center yourself above and a couple pixels right of the last digit in the high score. When the boss appears, immediately bomb the weak spot, hide inside the explosion, and fire continuously. Move a little bit to keep your shots on target, and you can destroy the boss before the bomb even finishes. If you have power level 1, or your aim is a little off, you should back up as you fire, to make dodging easier.
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SheSaidDutch
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Post by SheSaidDutch »

Deffiantly Stage 2, The level with that purplish haze, He's green
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shiftace
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Post by shiftace »

Oh. That's stage 1. Just set your speed to zero, stay about halfway up the screen, fire continuously, and move with the boss. If you have 2 S pods, it's possible to use them to stop the missiles while you charge a bomb, if you don't stray too far off center. :lol:
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SheSaidDutch
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Post by SheSaidDutch »

Thank you Shiftace I'll give your suggestion a try :)
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Shatterhand
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Post by Shatterhand »

Ugh, only NOW I saw this thread.

I must admit I havent played Recca for at least a year, and I see my time attack score has been beaten in the hi-score thread EXACTLY by Shitface. I also dont remember having strategies as good as his for beating the bosses... so probably you just got better tips from him than you would from me :)

I remember I once thought about writing a faq for it, but I never did it. I developed some cool strategies to make good scores in this game (Something I rarely ever do in any game). Shame I havent played it for so long.

Is help still needed? It would be a great excuse to dig up the game again :)

Next time send me a PM or something :)
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shiftace
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Post by shiftace »

Well, I actually have most of the material for an ST written, apart from stage/boss descriptions. It seems like kind of a simple game, compared to all the other games with STs posted, and I haven't ever played it on a real cart, but if people want to see, I can finish up and post it. I could maybe post the stuff as a GD, but I think I can cover it all pretty thoroughly. Recca is the game that got me really interested in shmups, so I have done a lot of analysis and research on it, more than on any game except possibly Radio Zonde (which is seriously a work of art).
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Post by Ghegs »

I'd certainly be interested in seeing an ST. Now that I got the actual cart to play the game on I've dedicated much more time time on it than before. I almost have Shatterhand's 2-minute score beaten ;)

If hardware-related things go my way, I intend to start capturing my runs soon so I can study them better and maybe even share them.
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shiftace
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Post by shiftace »

Cool, I think I have enough time to finish it today.
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