Sky Shark PCB is hard darn it.

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 12:37 am

Whoa, who would think a game with no more than 5 bullets on screen would be hard?

This game is nails hard, I have just printed off the dip switch settings to check what mine is set at.

After an hour of Sky Shark I put on Bakraid and even though the mayhem went up 1000% I still manged 1-5 on 1 credit.

On SS I am up to area 41 atm. Its my first time playing it and enjoying it alot.

I tell ya, those SS hit boxes really throw you after playing a manic.

zaphod · Post by **zaphod** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 12:42 am

Yeah, this game is hard because it has the AI from HELL. The enemies are complete and utter bastards who are VERY good shots. No mindless ducking and weaving and watching all the bullets miss here! Some will lead your ship, some will go straight at it, and some will aim behind it in case you reverse. Total concentration is DEMANDED.

adam76 · Post by **adam76** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 1:26 am

I could swing both ways on this one. After a good go i love it to pieces, but more commonly i die midway through level 2 and promptly lose my remaining stock at the same restart point. Its just too damn hard. Graphics are ok and the music is nice in a Raiden-ish kind of way but the enemies are crackshots and at best, your ship feels like its moving through treacle. Having said all that, it does keep drawing me back in a way that makes me understand the moth's attraction to a flame.

Damn those burnt fingers...

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 2:06 am

I absolute LOVE this game! Yes it's extremely difficult, but it's SO much fun, IMO!

This is THE game that really got me into shmups. So congrats on the PCB purchase!

IMO, it's really quite a shame that this game was never ported to the Genesis; especially considering how well the Genesis ports of Fire Shark and Twin Cobra turned out.

gameoverDude · Post by **gameoverDude** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 3:51 am

When you're at full power, you can very well have the better of things in Sky Shark. Lose your plane and it gets tough to come back- not like Gradius III, but still quite a task.

This is one game where I will resort to bombs- usually on the bosses. Bosses here are actually a bit more intimidating than in Giga Wing- just my opinion.

yojo! · Post by **yojo!** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 1:22 pm

I don't really agree. I find the game almost too easy. It's like Rtype, once you practice a bit you can easily 1 life the first loop.

now if you want one hard game, try nebula ray this one is a bitch to 1 CC.

But I still love Sky Shark, It still sit in my cab right now.

Tomtom · Post by **Tomtom** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 1:46 pm

I don't really get what's so hard about Flying Shark. I never did 1CC it, but I came close a few times. Once you get used to the pace and dodging in the game and learn how to take out enemies quickly it's really not bad. Truxton, on the other hand...

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 9:58 pm

Tomtom wrote:I don't really get what's so hard about Flying Shark. I never did 1CC it, but I came close a few times. Once you get used to the pace and dodging in the game and learn how to take out enemies quickly it's really not bad. Truxton, on the other hand...

Agreed, Truxton is more akin to Gradius III in terms of difficulty, and it's MUCH harder then Flying Shark, IMO. That's why I wish Truxton II had gotten more then one home port (FM Towns Marty) as it's more reasonable on difficulty, IMO.

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 11:31 pm

Area 49 with an hour more practice.

Sky sharks ability to kill you with a surprise is the problem. I powered up 4 times and just relaxed at the bottom as the spread caught everything nicely. Then BAM, a plane comes up the rear

Never really recovered at that point even with 4 lives left.

My point was that its hard for a 5 bullet shooter, not thats its too too hard overall. It just came as a surprise when 2 mins in a single bullet on the screen killed me then I struggled to get back on my feet.

gameoverDude · Post by **gameoverDude** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 1:15 am

yojo! wrote:I don't really agree. I find the game almost too easy. It's like Rtype, once you practice a bit you can easily 1 life the first loop.

now if you want one hard game, try nebula ray this one is a bitch to 1 CC.

But I still love Sky Shark, It still sit in my cab right now.

It is easy as long as you keep that gunpower maxed. I've had myself a good 5-6 planes in reserve at a time before.

The 3,000 point bomb bonus is insignificant IMO. I hog bombs so I can have them for the bosses or other heavy targets to dispose of them quicker.

yojo! · Post by **yojo!** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 10:01 pm

gameoverDude wrote: It is easy as long as you keep that gunpower maxed. I've had myself a good 5-6 planes in reserve at a time before.

Not really, I can die about anywhere in the game (even with the 5th level final boss) and recover to complete the game.Once you know the patterns by heart and the blind spot everything turns easy. I am currently working on the 3rd loop where the pace runs up drastically so the timing changes from the 1st loop which start to make things harder.