Best "practice" shmups

[KindGrind]

I've been playing lots of Mushi recently, especially on Ultra, and while the game kicks my butt, I still really enjoy it. I have also realized that when I put it down after a couple of nights, and came back to other shmups (DDP, DDPDOJ, Galuda), I was, surprisingly, A LOT better.

The improvement is more than notable. Is there a game that does this for you? Which shmup is the best "practice" for others?

[Ed Oscuro]

I practice the game I want to improve in.

Of course, I play older verts mainly.

But for even newer games (for me, Rapid Hero and Zing Zing Zip, I guess), bullet patterns are unique for each game and I can really only learn those in the context of the game.

[nimitz]

Usually the harder a game feels (when its well made and not cheap) the faster you will improve playing it.

I played Gradius 3 Arcade a bunch few months ago and I got so much better at every Gradius (and other horis too).

Mushi on ultra or Dai-ou-jou seems to be the best to improve in terms of cave style shmups.

[Ruldra]

It seems that the mere fact of being exposed to insanely difficult patterns makes you better. I definitely noticed that when I played Daioujou Death Label for an afternoon, then played normal arcade mode. It was like everything was in slow motion.

I'm sure there's something about the brain adapting itself to the situation at hand. Even if you can't handle it, the brain tries to keep up with all the madness going on the screen. And when you get to play something easier, suddenly you can handle it much better than before.

Another way this was put into use: My brother has a computer software that trains you to read at faster speeds. The exercise is like this: you have to read the whole text on the screen before it disappears. But it only stays on screen for like, 3 seconds. It dissapears, then appers again for another 3 seconds. Then it stays on screen for 5 seconds, then 10, 20, etc. After that exercise, he could read entire pages at a much faster speed.

The principle is the same. The brain tries to handle a difficult task, and when that same task is easier, you can do it more efficiently.

[KindGrind]

I feel the same, Ruldra. Your points are very well laid out. I should mention that my only former experience with Cave shmups was DDP, which I had played about 50 hrs.

I played many Cave shmups recently, mostly on harder difficulty levels. When I play DDPDOJ Death Label (PS2), bullets are too fast for my brain to register and yet I still manage to survive longer and longer the more I play. When I face the same bosses in the game, they're really a walk in the park. Everything's in slow motion, so to speak.

I had left DDPDOJ aside for some time, turned down by the greatly unforgiving scoring system and the overall difficulty. After playing Mushi on Ultra, I came back to it and grew to like it a lot. I think it's only logical that a tougher game be good practice for a simpler one. I however feel that the best practice for a game in particular is that game itself, as someone pointed out.

The more time I put into Cave shmups, the more I feel magically attracted to Ketsui.

[Zebra Airforce]

Tatsujin Ou! If you can get 10,000,000 in this game you'll be set for life.

[Marcel1CC]

blue wish resurrection is great to practice imho!

[elfhentaifan]

blue wish resurrection is great to practice imho!

Discussion ended right here

[ktownhero]

I don't think there are any good "practice" shmups, just that diversity is always good. If you feel like you hit a brick wall on a certain game, take a break from it for a few days and play something else. When you go back to it you'll have a fresh perspective which often leads to improvement.

[moozooh]

I'm not completely sure Mushi is very good for practice just because so much of it can (and sometimes have to) be bullshitted through.

I would name rRootage, YGS2000, Shoot the Bullet and Siroi Danmakukun.

[PROMETHEUS]

just avoid memorizers and you'll be fine

the harder the game, the faster it will force you to improve I guess. So Mushi Ultra or even futari Ultra are perfect ^_^;

Methodical games won't make you good at manic as fast as manic themselves, and vice versa, I guess.

[it290]

Aside from the aforementioned rRootage (the quintessential 'practice' shooter), I think the later Psikyo games are really good for practice. They tend to have fairly dense bullet patterns by Psikyo standards, but the speed is still quite a bit faster than that of your average Cave game, so you get used to navigating through dense swarms quickly. Also, the starting stage order is randomized, so you don't have a chance to fall into rote memorization right away.

[ROBOTRON]

Hmmmm...you practice the shmup you want to improve in. As far as "Whats an easy shmup to just pick up and play?" Maybe ones that teach basic skills like Raiden.

[PROMETHEUS]

Isn't Raiden a memorizer ? How does it improve anything beyond reflexes and low level accuracy @_@

[ROBOTRON]

Isn't Raiden a memorizer ? How does it improve anything beyond reflexes and low level accuracy @_@

I read Kindgrinds post and he is non-specific about what he's trying to improve...in the latter part of his post, he simply ask:

Which shmup is the best "practice" for others?

He did not specify between hori's or verts or memorizers vs ?. I consider Raiden a basic game...along with a few others, unless he meant basic games to practice to improve with "Mushi" (1st paragraph)...but he said he'd already improved with Mushi so I named Raiden as another basic shmup to practice with.

[lgb]

Anything you please. Different games generally require different tactics and skills, so there is no real "practice shooter". However, there are easy shooters, such as Gleylancer and Easy/Very Easy/Novice difficulties in games. However, it IS a fact that being good at say, bullet hell shooters will give you a significant advantage in older games or other shooters. Still gotta watch your back though.

This can actually apply for pretty much every genre in the history of the world. Except maybe a sim.

[Limbrooke]

Gunbird 2 comes to mind. If you can master this game, everything else becomes a real walk.

Gradius 3 Arcade(Japan region) is also another good game to better your skills on.

Some others... Raiden 2, R-Type 2, DoDonPachi Dai Ou Jou, etc..

[freddiebamboo]

Gunbird 2 comes to mind. If you can master this game, everything else becomes a real walk.

Gradius 3 Arcade(Japan region) is also another good game to better your skills on.

Some others... Raiden 2, R-Type 2, DoDonPachi Dai Ou Jou, etc..

I agree, play the hardest, most unforgiving games and you'll improve much faster.

[nimitz]

Raiden maybe oldschool. But it ain't a memorizer.

[henry dark]

I don't see how playing Mushi on ultra makes you better at DOJ, or how getting good at Gunbird 2 would make me better at Ikuragoora or Batsugun.

[Ganelon]

I'd say Image Fight and Image Fight II are far better teachers than most other classic shooters. They're aggravating at first but rather than forcing dull memorization upon you, they focus on punishing bad practices like greedily snatching power-ups at first notice, getting lazy when an enemy passes you, losing caution in dull situations, staying directly in front of bosses, not zeroing in on enemies, abusing supposed safe spots, not using your head, and all that other good stuff you'll need to be aware of to excel at other classic shooters.

[bay]

i can say that playing an insanely fast paced, or intensely bullet hell shmup then going over to a slower or more classic shmup gives me an edge since everything seems slower.

however, it does nothing to help me with boss patterns and enemy patterns. but at the very least it gives more confidence in navigating the screen such that i can focus more on the task at hand rather than the rudimentary issue of not getting hit by a bullet.

[Etrian]

Ikaruga helps for memorization and Mushihimesama helps for dodging. Especially on Oriignal, since the bullets are faster (yet less of them).

Raiden Fighters also happens to be good for dodging. Just don't pick a ship with a big hitbox.

[henry dark]

Ikaruga helps for memorization and Mushihimesama helps for dodging

How? I still don't understand how getting good at one memoriser (say, Ikuraguraa) will help me with another (say, Image Fight)

[captain ahar]

if i'm looking to get used to a certain game rather than playing something totally different, i just jack the difficulty as far as it will go. similarly to the person who said DOJ seems like its running in slow motion compared to Death Label.

a thread i started here on a related note :

Anyone relax on harder difficulties?

[ktownhero]

Ikaruga helps for memorization and Mushihimesama helps for dodging

How? I still don't understand how getting good at one memoriser (say, Ikuraguraa) will help me with another (say, Image Fight)

There's a forest beyond the tree, my friend.

[PROMETHEUS]

Ikaruga helps for memorization and Mushihimesama helps for dodging

How? I still don't understand how getting good at one memoriser (say, Ikuraguraa) will help me with another (say, Image Fight)

I don't think Ikaruga's a memorizer... It'll teach you to move very precisely and execute complicated and time-accurate actions.

Memorizers are games in which the actions and path you are supposed to do through the game are easy to execute/follow once the game is memorized. I don't think those games improve much skill, although they probably help keep memory fit in the long term. But Ikaruga's not like that, it's not easy to execute at all once memorized, as far as I know, but rather very hard. It does take skill.