Nanostray 2 - it's finally out in the stores
The blue coins replenishes a bit of your special weapon (like a fifth if I'm not mistaken). With the enemy placement in this game, I believe it incourages you to use your specials. You get a blue coin for every complete wave you destroy, so they're not uncommon.MathU wrote:How do the blue coins work this time around, and does it completely discourage special weapon usage again?
-
DBHashman93
- Posts: 78
- Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:33 pm
Woohoo as of right now I'm second place on the overall leaderboard! (not that there's much competition....but I'll enjoy my glory while I can!). Blue coins have nothing at all to do with scoring this time as far as I can tell (besides giving you a couple hundred points), and I'm actually growing to like the scoring system. If, for example, there is a large ship that is tough to destroy, it is worth a lot more points than the small ships. So if you are able to weaken a large ship enough, you can kill a small ship (worth 200 pts) and then kill the large ship (worth 3000 pts) immediately afterwards and get a x9 multiplier on the large ship. The main thing that still bugs me though, is that the hit detection is pretty spotty. This can best be seen at the beginning of the Naizoh Habitat level (which I currently have the highest score on!)
I´ve been wondering about this, too. It´s a shame the bigger enemies don´t blink if they´re almost killed, which will need a lot of practice and timing to get that right. But I just figured the Nanogauge out five minutes ago after thinking it was a DDP-mechanic and wondering why I got so weird numbers. I actually like the "kill shit in groups quickly", it is very satisfying with that laser weapon (the first one).DBHashman93 wrote:So if you are able to weaken a large ship enough, you can kill a small ship (worth 200 pts) and then kill the large ship (worth 3000 pts) immediately afterwards and get a x9 multiplier on the large ship.
There is also that clockwise laser gun with walls stopping the laser like that one boss in RSG (it´s in the bay level; I can´t remember these level names). I don´t mind the nicking, somehow - many games are inspired by others, and even though many parts are "inspired" very obviously, I see it more like a hommage than outright stealing. Or maybe I am just forgiving with these guys since they are such a small team and slapped together such an impressive game. And as long as they are nicking stuff from GOOD games... The claws that come out of the walls in the organic level are a bit too much, though. They look almost exactly like in Gradius V. *cough* Anyways...UnscathedFlyingObject wrote: I just want to know what the heck is it with all the bits and pieces stolen from other shmups. The moment I start the first level, I go "the hell!? that is the beginning of Gradius V!" Here's a list of other stuff:
- those green goo spewing holes (Gradius V)
- vertical fire level (Salamander)
- organic level (Gradius V. Extremely obvious.)
- the R-Gray.
- Cores.
- that crustacean seemingly pulled out of Darius.
- those boxes from Ikaruga.
- that wheel boss thingie (Ikaruga).
- pink bullets (DDP).
- that spider boss walking over a chasm (Rayforce)
- Daitoshi's beginning seems straight out of the first level of RayStorm.
Did you notice you can manipulate the position AND the angle of you pods in the weapon select menu by touching them and the dot below? Right now I have a straight focussed shot, good for concentrated firepower when I don´t want to use my secondary weapon; some sort of light spreadshot and a pretty concentrated shot for the back. But seeing how enemies and bosses are attacking from all sides, that must be adjusted for each level. It really adds a lot of strategy to the game.
And I also love that you can choose your ship speed (sadly not while in-game), I´ll stick to the fastest one right now since it´s easier to control the screen that way, even though things get a bit twitchy at times.
As for the leaderboard, I guess I´ll wait a bit until I really get satisfying scores and the initial rush on the board wears off
Also, every time I try to score properly I constantly run into things.Did anybody find these "secret" spots in the levels? Iridion II had those, too, and they seem to have quite an impact to the final score (8000 per secret IIRC).
It seems that weapons like the Raydion or that remote bomb are much better suited for score-play - in the Daitoshi Station level you can easily chain three enemies together, often with a bigger enemy in reach for big points. Later on in that stage you can quickly destroy many of the boxes that block your way all at the same time for x9.
Max speed is, while fun to play, a bit too hectic to play - I die way too often by slamming into the scenery
Overall there is a lot to figure out, but it´s fun. Only the midbosses are slowing the pace down since they take so long to kill if you don´t want to waste your secondary weapon on them; I wish those midbosses had some more scoring potential, too.
Max speed is, while fun to play, a bit too hectic to play - I die way too often by slamming into the scenery
Overall there is a lot to figure out, but it´s fun. Only the midbosses are slowing the pace down since they take so long to kill if you don´t want to waste your secondary weapon on them; I wish those midbosses had some more scoring potential, too.-
DocileMouse
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Mon Nov 12, 2007 3:27 am
The manual says that if you have a full subweapon gauge, you get more points for blue coins. So it's sort of like Nanostray's score system, but not as unforgiving of subweapon use.sfried wrote:The blue coins replenishes a bit of your special weapon (like a fifth if I'm not mistaken). With the enemy placement in this game, I believe it incourages you to use your specials. You get a blue coin for every complete wave you destroy, so they're not uncommon.MathU wrote:How do the blue coins work this time around, and does it completely discourage special weapon usage again?
-
DBHashman93
- Posts: 78
- Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:33 pm
Ahh good to know. I'm ranked #1 on the leaderboard now! C'mon shmups members, I know I haven't been scoring THAT well...you guys need to get on there and knock me down a few pegs!DocileMouse wrote:The manual says that if you have a full subweapon gauge, you get more points for blue coins. So it's sort of like Nanostray's score system, but not as unforgiving of subweapon use.sfried wrote:The blue coins replenishes a bit of your special weapon (like a fifth if I'm not mistaken). With the enemy placement in this game, I believe it incourages you to use your specials. You get a blue coin for every complete wave you destroy, so they're not uncommon.MathU wrote:How do the blue coins work this time around, and does it completely discourage special weapon usage again?
Not as unforgiving? Doesn't this mean you have to refrain from using subweapons to get the best scores again?DocileMouse wrote:The manual says that if you have a full subweapon gauge, you get more points for blue coins. So it's sort of like Nanostray's score system, but not as unforgiving of subweapon use.
Of course, that's just an opinion.
Always seeking netplay fans to play emulated arcade games with.
Always seeking netplay fans to play emulated arcade games with.
-
DBHashman93
- Posts: 78
- Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:33 pm
Nono it's really not like the old system at all. If you just so happen to not need to use your subweapons then don't because you'll get a little extra bonus...however the sub weapons are practically REQUIRED in order to get good scores with the new scoring system. For example, the electrical field subweapon returns (the one that does light damage all around your ship). If there are a group of small weak enemies flying right above a large strong enemy, using the electricity while in between them will kill all the small ones first, and the large one will die a split second later since it can take more damage, giving you a huge multiplier for an enemy with a huge base score. That's the main gist of the system.
Here´s a little rundown of the subweapons in the game and how useful they seem to me for scoring.
-----
Pulse: A thin, straight laser weapon which has very little energy consumption. Kills small enemies quickly, but it still takes a time to take down bigger enemies. Can be useful to quickly kill lined-up enemies or these blue cells at the very beginning of Naizoh Habitat, but you won´t be able to kill a lot of enemies simultaneously otherwise.
Seeker: Fires two strong homing lasers. Haven´t used it all that much till now but it seems to come in handy for killing small enemies with your main shot while quickly killing nearby bigger enemies. Also good when you start panicking and want to clear the screen a bit. Making them hit the target you want might need a little practice, though. Might also be great for stages where enemies attack from many sides at once (for instance, killing enemies in front of you while firing the seeker behind you).
Raydion: The old spark weapon from the first game. Unleashes a strong electrical aura around your ship that lasts as long as you press the button. Very handy for killing groups of enemies and get big points; however, you have to be in the center since this is a close-range attack. It´s also easy to improvise with it, but I always seem to run out of energy too fast. If you destroy wave after wave with this and don´t use it for too long it is a very good weapon for scoring. The aura also has a surprisingly long range. The most risky but also the most rewarding weapon and THE choice for chaining big guys together. Hands-down my favourite weapon in the game next to the Ionstrike.
Ionstrike: Another good weapon. By holding down the button you see a little "cursor" running across the screen, and if you let go it releases a very powerful explosion that seems to do a lot of splash damage. The moment the cursor starts flying down the screen it doesn´t change its direction, so you don´t have to stay in place, which makes it also suitable for surviving. Steer it into groups of enemies and you get x9 points instantly. The downside is that it takes a tiny moment to place the bomb, and it can only be fired straight up (or in front of you in hori levels). You can´t improvise like you can with the Raydion, it´s too slow for that, sadly.
Shockmines: Think of the bombs in Dangun Feveron - slowly travelling mines that explode when colliding or after running out of time. You can release many at a time, but they travel very slowly. If find them very hard to use properly. Maybe there are some secret tricks about this weapon that make it suitable for scoreplay, but I really don´t like them since they move very slowly. The explosion radius is also not nearly as big as the Ionstrike one.
Spin: Bolts of pink energy rush across the screen, seeking enemies for a short amount of time. It seems too unpredictable for systematic use, it doesn´t seem strong enough nor does it last very long. I used it only two times and didn´t like it at all.
-----
Overall, the Raydion and the Ionstrike seem very useful to me, and the Seeker might be practical too (haven´t used it much yet). These weapons are best for taking out multiple enemies at once while being strong enough to kill big enemies in one hit (or maybe after weakening them a bit).
On a sidenote, after playing the arcade mode for a couple of hours, the levels are much better designed than I first though. Some spots really scream after a specific subweapon. The fact that you have to choose ONE weapon for a stage forces you to consider the situations in that specific level, so I can´t really judge whether or not there is THE perfect weapon for scoring. Still, it´s a shame that the midbosses only take up your time rather than offering additional scoring potential (other than simply destroying them).
I´m also thinking about putting together a little Strat Guide with everybody joining in as we take a deeper look at this game. It definitely seems to be worth it. At the very least we need a list of the "Secret" spots, since finding them all by yourself could be a bit of a hindrance.
-----
Pulse: A thin, straight laser weapon which has very little energy consumption. Kills small enemies quickly, but it still takes a time to take down bigger enemies. Can be useful to quickly kill lined-up enemies or these blue cells at the very beginning of Naizoh Habitat, but you won´t be able to kill a lot of enemies simultaneously otherwise.
Seeker: Fires two strong homing lasers. Haven´t used it all that much till now but it seems to come in handy for killing small enemies with your main shot while quickly killing nearby bigger enemies. Also good when you start panicking and want to clear the screen a bit. Making them hit the target you want might need a little practice, though. Might also be great for stages where enemies attack from many sides at once (for instance, killing enemies in front of you while firing the seeker behind you).
Raydion: The old spark weapon from the first game. Unleashes a strong electrical aura around your ship that lasts as long as you press the button. Very handy for killing groups of enemies and get big points; however, you have to be in the center since this is a close-range attack. It´s also easy to improvise with it, but I always seem to run out of energy too fast. If you destroy wave after wave with this and don´t use it for too long it is a very good weapon for scoring. The aura also has a surprisingly long range. The most risky but also the most rewarding weapon and THE choice for chaining big guys together. Hands-down my favourite weapon in the game next to the Ionstrike.
Ionstrike: Another good weapon. By holding down the button you see a little "cursor" running across the screen, and if you let go it releases a very powerful explosion that seems to do a lot of splash damage. The moment the cursor starts flying down the screen it doesn´t change its direction, so you don´t have to stay in place, which makes it also suitable for surviving. Steer it into groups of enemies and you get x9 points instantly. The downside is that it takes a tiny moment to place the bomb, and it can only be fired straight up (or in front of you in hori levels). You can´t improvise like you can with the Raydion, it´s too slow for that, sadly.
Shockmines: Think of the bombs in Dangun Feveron - slowly travelling mines that explode when colliding or after running out of time. You can release many at a time, but they travel very slowly. If find them very hard to use properly. Maybe there are some secret tricks about this weapon that make it suitable for scoreplay, but I really don´t like them since they move very slowly. The explosion radius is also not nearly as big as the Ionstrike one.
Spin: Bolts of pink energy rush across the screen, seeking enemies for a short amount of time. It seems too unpredictable for systematic use, it doesn´t seem strong enough nor does it last very long. I used it only two times and didn´t like it at all.
-----
Overall, the Raydion and the Ionstrike seem very useful to me, and the Seeker might be practical too (haven´t used it much yet). These weapons are best for taking out multiple enemies at once while being strong enough to kill big enemies in one hit (or maybe after weakening them a bit).
On a sidenote, after playing the arcade mode for a couple of hours, the levels are much better designed than I first though. Some spots really scream after a specific subweapon. The fact that you have to choose ONE weapon for a stage forces you to consider the situations in that specific level, so I can´t really judge whether or not there is THE perfect weapon for scoring. Still, it´s a shame that the midbosses only take up your time rather than offering additional scoring potential (other than simply destroying them).
I´m also thinking about putting together a little Strat Guide with everybody joining in as we take a deeper look at this game. It definitely seems to be worth it. At the very least we need a list of the "Secret" spots, since finding them all by yourself could be a bit of a hindrance.
Last edited by Frederik on Sat Mar 15, 2008 4:54 pm, edited 3 times in total.
-
dave4shmups
- Posts: 5630
- Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:01 am
- Location: Denver, Colorado, USA
It´s MUCH MUCH better in everything, really. As a matter of fact, the first hours I still had a hard time to wash the bad taste the first game had out of my mouth; I didn´t really expect it to be THAT much better. This game is harder, better designed, has a really deep scoring mechanism, and most of all it doesn´t suck at all. Plop in Nanostray 1 after an hour with this here and you will wonder if NS1 isn´t just a bad joke (especially the cruel and joyless scoring).dave4shmups wrote:So, in a nutshell, how is this game better or worse then the first Nanostray? And, how many of the stages are horizontal?
Vert to hori stages are 50/50 (8 stages in total - 8 very long stages, though). I can´t say which I like more - I am usually a vert game fan, but both types are really good in this game. The pace doesn´t differ that much between the two types, which makes it feel very natural (unlike in, say, Axelay). I can´t recommend it enough. To sum it up, Nanostray was a typical euroshmup, whereas Nanostray 2 doesn´t have ANY of these bewildering euroshmup trademark left. What hasn´t been said enough is that this time you die in one hit; no more healthbar bullshit.
BUY IT NOW.
DoneDBHashman93 wrote: Ahh good to know. I'm ranked #1 on the leaderboard now! C'mon shmups members, I know I haven't been scoring THAT well...you guys need to get on there and knock me down a few pegs!
I´m "?JRK?" on the board. I had little hearts instead of question marks (like in "Please try again" in the original Gameboy Tetris). Haven´t played all stages so I suck at the Championship, but Daitoshi and Kingan Belt are MINE 
I still died a lot in these stages, and didn´t find any of the secrets yet, besides one in Daitoshi (it´s above one of the blue-greenish jet exhausts in the second part of the stage, to the right), but that was after I submitted the scores.I´ll do a review of this game as soon as I think I have formed a final opinion. (And as you can tell by the number of my posts I am totally hysterical about it.)
-
dave4shmups
- Posts: 5630
- Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:01 am
- Location: Denver, Colorado, USA
I will get it then, thanks for the feedback!FrederikJurk wrote:DoneDBHashman93 wrote: Ahh good to know. I'm ranked #1 on the leaderboard now! C'mon shmups members, I know I haven't been scoring THAT well...you guys need to get on there and knock me down a few pegs!
I´ll do a review of this game as soon as I think I have formed a final opinion. (And as you can tell by the number of my posts I am totally hysterical about it.)
"Farewell to false pretension
Farewell to hollow words
Farewell to fake affection
Farewell, tomorrow burns"
Farewell to hollow words
Farewell to fake affection
Farewell, tomorrow burns"
-
UnscathedFlyingObject
- Posts: 3636
- Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 1:59 am
- Location: Uncanny Valley
- Contact:
How about weakish main gun and bosses that take too long to defeat.FrederikJurk wrote: To sum it up, Nanostray was a typical euroshmup, whereas Nanostray 2 doesn´t have ANY of these bewildering euroshmup trademark left.
"Sooo, what was it that you consider a 'good salary' for a man to make?"
"They should at least make 100K to have a good life"
...
"They should at least make 100K to have a good life"
...
-
UnscathedFlyingObject
- Posts: 3636
- Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 1:59 am
- Location: Uncanny Valley
- Contact:
Blasphemy. Those two "features" are at the base of the Euroshmup pyramid.FrederikJurk wrote:If you want to be especially picky, then yes.UnscathedFlyingObject wrote:How about weakish main gun and bosses that take too long to defeat.FrederikJurk wrote: To sum it up, Nanostray was a typical euroshmup, whereas Nanostray 2 doesn´t have ANY of these bewildering euroshmup trademark left.
"Sooo, what was it that you consider a 'good salary' for a man to make?"
"They should at least make 100K to have a good life"
...
"They should at least make 100K to have a good life"
...
So... I guess I'll be the odd man out and say that I think I like the original more.
I mean, yes, the original had its problems, but it did a lot of stuff BETTER than Nanostray 2 does. For one, I think the levels were a bit better designed. Like, Nanostray 2 seems to fall into a very repititious pattern during its (long) levels, whereas Nanostray seemed to have better enemy patterns and especially bullet patterns. Like, every level I've seen of Nanostray 2 so far feels like the same level only with a different background and a different orientation. Granted, since I'm trying to 1CC Adventure Mode, I've only played levels 1-4 or so, so... to be fair, I haven't seen half of the game. BUT, even in the early levels of Nanostray it was DIFFERENT ya know? Though Nanostray did shine in the later levels (though I did love the early levels in that one too), so we shall see. But even with that considered, like I said, Nanostray "first three levels" were very different. Nanostray 2... not so much. And I know the fans of N2 will yell at me all day about how different each level is and how each level has this that or the other... but... no, it... really just feels like the same levels only with a different "giant non-attacking object" to blow up and the same exact "enemies flying in from the background" waves over and over and over...
Also, I don't care much for the weapon system. I know we all hated the touch screen weapon swapping, but it sure as hell beat out being stuck with what is practically a pea shooter and a couple of options. Yes, the option customization is neat, but I miss having my super awesome lighting gun or those curving lasers or my side shots... I mean, those made the game a lot more fun, and added a lot more strategy to it. Of course, the super weapons are now gimped too! I mean, its sad when your giant laser beam adds virtually nothing to your pea shooter.
Speaking of weak weapons... oh my God, what happened to the bosses? Nanostray had pretty good boss fights that DIDN'T last forever and a day (and were actually the better part of the game). Also, I seem to recall Nanostray bosses changing up their attacks as you blew off parts of them. In Nanostray 2 every boss (I've seen so far) has three attacks and could come out without a scratch after a nuclear explosion, let alone an assault from a pea shooter. So basically, you're dodging the same three attacks for minutes, while you wait for these very boring bosses to just keel over and die. Making matters worse, the midbosses ALSO have the super-armor, and THEY generally have 1-2 attacks! Every single boss fight in this game (be it mid or end stage) is just boring. Even their bullet patterns are far lesser to the ones Nanostray's bosses dished out (and this is completely ignoring the fact that the Nanostray's bosses CHANGED as you damaged them).
Also, the graphics and music are a solid step back in my opinion. This game does not look as good as the original and the music doesn't even compare. Nanostray had some pretty good tunes that I can STILL hum, I can't remember a single song from Nanostray 2 and I JUST put it down to make this post.
I mean, Nanostray 2 is a good game, don't get me wrong. But despite the fact that they took away the dreaded camera angle (which was lame) as well as the touch screen weapon swapping, its not designed as well as Nanostray was.
I mean, yes, the original had its problems, but it did a lot of stuff BETTER than Nanostray 2 does. For one, I think the levels were a bit better designed. Like, Nanostray 2 seems to fall into a very repititious pattern during its (long) levels, whereas Nanostray seemed to have better enemy patterns and especially bullet patterns. Like, every level I've seen of Nanostray 2 so far feels like the same level only with a different background and a different orientation. Granted, since I'm trying to 1CC Adventure Mode, I've only played levels 1-4 or so, so... to be fair, I haven't seen half of the game. BUT, even in the early levels of Nanostray it was DIFFERENT ya know? Though Nanostray did shine in the later levels (though I did love the early levels in that one too), so we shall see. But even with that considered, like I said, Nanostray "first three levels" were very different. Nanostray 2... not so much. And I know the fans of N2 will yell at me all day about how different each level is and how each level has this that or the other... but... no, it... really just feels like the same levels only with a different "giant non-attacking object" to blow up and the same exact "enemies flying in from the background" waves over and over and over...
Also, I don't care much for the weapon system. I know we all hated the touch screen weapon swapping, but it sure as hell beat out being stuck with what is practically a pea shooter and a couple of options. Yes, the option customization is neat, but I miss having my super awesome lighting gun or those curving lasers or my side shots... I mean, those made the game a lot more fun, and added a lot more strategy to it. Of course, the super weapons are now gimped too! I mean, its sad when your giant laser beam adds virtually nothing to your pea shooter.
Speaking of weak weapons... oh my God, what happened to the bosses? Nanostray had pretty good boss fights that DIDN'T last forever and a day (and were actually the better part of the game). Also, I seem to recall Nanostray bosses changing up their attacks as you blew off parts of them. In Nanostray 2 every boss (I've seen so far) has three attacks and could come out without a scratch after a nuclear explosion, let alone an assault from a pea shooter. So basically, you're dodging the same three attacks for minutes, while you wait for these very boring bosses to just keel over and die. Making matters worse, the midbosses ALSO have the super-armor, and THEY generally have 1-2 attacks! Every single boss fight in this game (be it mid or end stage) is just boring. Even their bullet patterns are far lesser to the ones Nanostray's bosses dished out (and this is completely ignoring the fact that the Nanostray's bosses CHANGED as you damaged them).
Also, the graphics and music are a solid step back in my opinion. This game does not look as good as the original and the music doesn't even compare. Nanostray had some pretty good tunes that I can STILL hum, I can't remember a single song from Nanostray 2 and I JUST put it down to make this post.
I mean, Nanostray 2 is a good game, don't get me wrong. But despite the fact that they took away the dreaded camera angle (which was lame) as well as the touch screen weapon swapping, its not designed as well as Nanostray was.
RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!!!!!!
Wait until you a) have seen the whole game and b) tried to achieve a good score. Things will look a lot different after that. When you are looking for good scoring spots with different weapons you´ll see that the levels are well designed.
The game is build around the scoring mechanism, which can´t be said about Nanostray - this game used to throw tons of shit at you that you could barely counter without the power attacks, and it penalized you all the time for sucking in coins, for shooting too much, for using the secondary weapons power...
And all levels look the same to you?
EDIT: In case it wasn´t clear enough, the levels are designed for scoring. If you don´t take the time to figure out how to score well, you won´t realize how well it´s done.
For instance, in Daitoshi station (which you haven´t seen yet I guess) there are cannons mounted to the walls that I used to simply kill. Shortly afterwards a big enemy appears. One time I realized that if leave the cannon alone for a while and kill it together with big enemy simultaneously with the Raydion (that spark-aura weapon), I get a x9 multiplier for the big one. That´s one example for the finer parts of the levels. Preserving enemies to chain them together when there is much shit on the screen is a great risk/reward system.
The game is build around the scoring mechanism, which can´t be said about Nanostray - this game used to throw tons of shit at you that you could barely counter without the power attacks, and it penalized you all the time for sucking in coins, for shooting too much, for using the secondary weapons power...
And all levels look the same to you?
EDIT: In case it wasn´t clear enough, the levels are designed for scoring. If you don´t take the time to figure out how to score well, you won´t realize how well it´s done.
For instance, in Daitoshi station (which you haven´t seen yet I guess) there are cannons mounted to the walls that I used to simply kill. Shortly afterwards a big enemy appears. One time I realized that if leave the cannon alone for a while and kill it together with big enemy simultaneously with the Raydion (that spark-aura weapon), I get a x9 multiplier for the big one. That´s one example for the finer parts of the levels. Preserving enemies to chain them together when there is much shit on the screen is a great risk/reward system.
Last edited by Frederik on Sat Mar 15, 2008 9:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
DBHashman93
- Posts: 78
- Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:33 pm
Ohhh YOU'RE JRK...hope you're still sticking to it cuz although the main site isn't refreshed yet I'm back at #1! Unless you're improving your score too haha. And btw, the bosses are my biggest complaint about the game as well. EXTREMELY easy, and I don't even know where the above poster got 3 attacks per boss from....as far as I can tell they only have 2 each (including level end bosses).
Last edited by DBHashman93 on Sat Mar 15, 2008 9:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Oh dear god, I am not playing the Himoru stage again, I died so many times on the final bossDBHashman93 wrote:Ohhh YOU'RE JRK...hope you're still sticking to it cuz although the main site isn't refreshed yet I'm back at #1! Unless you're improving your score too haha.
I hope I can wring out some more points in the other stages. Not today though, I have to get some other things done here... Anyways, seems we´re kicking some ass on the leaderboards. 
-
DBHashman93
- Posts: 78
- Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:33 pm
Dude... for awhile I was on top of the Nanostray score board... I can assure you, when playing for score Nanostray was very much well designed. It was just a pain in the ass because you had to play each level PERFECTLY.FrederikJurk wrote: The game is build around the scoring mechanism, which can´t be said about Nanostray - this game used to throw tons of shit at you that you could barely counter without the power attacks, and it penalized you all the time for sucking in coins, for shooting too much, for using the secondary weapons power...
I mean, I even said this in my original post, if you played Nanostray for score, yes, it sucked because the scoring system was just ridiculous. But, it was very well designed FOR that scoring system. If you made good use of your weapons then it was actually very doable and (in a lot of cases) very rewarding.
The levels themselves don't look similar, but the way they are designed is PAINFULLY repititious.And all levels look the same to you?
Though my main complaints with Nanostray 2 don't stem from the scoring system. My main complaints stem from boring bullet patterns, tedious bosses, lesser graphics, lesser music, them taking out the weapon system from the original, and now that I've finished Challenge Mode, Challenge Mode because it was a joke.
RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!!!!!!
What are the differences between difficulty modes? Please don't say just enemy health...
Are harder difficulties actually harder than others, or does everything just take longer?
The game also doesn't appear to have any way to differentiate between hitting and not hitting enemies. Is this true?
Are harder difficulties actually harder than others, or does everything just take longer?
The game also doesn't appear to have any way to differentiate between hitting and not hitting enemies. Is this true?
Of course, that's just an opinion.
Always seeking netplay fans to play emulated arcade games with.
Always seeking netplay fans to play emulated arcade games with.
Wave formationsMathU wrote:What are the differences between difficulty modes? Please don't say just enemy health...
Are harder difficulties actually harder than others, or does everything just take longer?
The game also doesn't appear to have any way to differentiate between hitting and not hitting enemies. Is this true?
Number of bullets
I honestly didn't have enough time to look. I'm still busy clearing Adventure mode on Normal. But from what I can tell between easy and normal...
-
DBHashman93
- Posts: 78
- Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:33 pm
Enemies do flash when you hit them, and there are other differences between difficulty modes. I haven't played with the higher difficulties yet, just easy in the main mode to quickly unlock the levels and normal for the arcade mode (which is the only way to play arcade mode...so there's not much use playing the higher difficulties for score unless the forum here wants to make its own campaign leaderboard). One immediately noticeable difference between easy and normal is the first level's midboss. On easy, he only shoots streams of green bullets while on normal he shoots those same streams in addition to a red laser that bounces off the floor/ceiling. Unfortunately bosses do indeed take much longer to kill on the higher difficulty levels.
-
DBHashman93
- Posts: 78
- Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:33 pm
Just played through the first level on hard. In keeping with my thoughts that bosses are the weakest point of the game, it seems that the boss firing patterns/attacks do not change at all depending on the selected difficulty. Bosses just have more life. With that said, there are significant differences in midboss attacks as well as enemy placement and firing patterns throughout the levels. The first level had extra turrets generously distributed, including a couple whose shots bounced off the walls. Also, the giant battleships in the first level shoot out sprays of green bullets on hard, where they didn't do anything on the normal difficulties. Normal enemies also spam more bullets. The midboss now shoots two green streams of bullets in addition to the red bouncing laser, and he has more life as well.
EDIT: Just played through one of the 2nd levels (shinkai bay), the differences weren't nearly as obvious. A FEW more bullets shot by the purple bullet turrets, however the extra bullets did not really change the difficulty. The midboss shot a couple more green bullets that did change the difficulty a bit, but once you learn the "trick" to dodging his attack he's easy as ever. One extra purple spinning laser towards the end of the level was the only new obstacle that seemed to add any difficulty to hard.
EDIT: Just played through one of the 2nd levels (shinkai bay), the differences weren't nearly as obvious. A FEW more bullets shot by the purple bullet turrets, however the extra bullets did not really change the difficulty. The midboss shot a couple more green bullets that did change the difficulty a bit, but once you learn the "trick" to dodging his attack he's easy as ever. One extra purple spinning laser towards the end of the level was the only new obstacle that seemed to add any difficulty to hard.
Last edited by DBHashman93 on Sat Mar 15, 2008 10:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.