How are black labels different from the original shmups??...

[dave4shmups]

I'm really getting into bullet-manic shmups, so I was wondering, what are the essential differences between a "regular" release of a shmup, and the black label?

[brentsg]

I'm really getting into bullet-manic shmups, so I was wondering, what are the essential differences between a "regular" release of a shmup, and the black label?

It really depends on the particular title. At minimum they will have a new scoring system. Sometimes they alter the level of difficulty, shot types, additional characters, slight graphical differences. DeathSmiles MBL even had an additional stage added.

Some of them just come off as re-tuned, while for others it can play like an entirely different game.

[dmauro]

At minimum they will have a new scoring system.

Not necessarily. DOJ Black Label keeps the same scoring system and just has some minor difficulty adjustments and some fixes. Then on the other hand you could have something like ESPGaluda II's Black Label which plays like an entirely different game. So yeah, completely depends on the game.

[brentsg]

At minimum they will have a new scoring system.

Not necessarily. DOJ Black Label keeps the same scoring system and just has some minor difficulty adjustments and some fixes. Then on the other hand you could have something like ESPGaluda II's Black Label which plays like an entirely different game. So yeah, completely depends on the game.

Ahh thanks, DOJ BL is the only one I haven't played.

I would argue that these play like new games:
-Ibara BL
-DFK BL
-Espgaulda II BL

And these play like tweaked games, though they are quite different:
-Futari BL
-DS MBL

And it sounds like DOJ BL is in the latter category.

[ncp]

They cost more.