Battleship Stage 3... a shmup tradition?

Zweihander · Post by **Zweihander** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 1:47 am

is it just me, or is having a battleship for a third stage mandatory?

R-Type: no example needed.

Espgaluda: third stage has you taking apart a battleship.

Border Down: ditto.

Trizeal: and again. hell, the stage's name is "Destroy the Core"

i know there's more out there following this pattern..

JBC · Post by **JBC** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 1:53 am

I love saying 'Destroy them all!' when i get a chance.

I believe that R-type is the daddy of this trend or tradition. I like it, though.

SFKhoa · Post by **SFKhoa** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 2:04 am

IIRC, DDPDOJ has you flying towards some giant floating thing in the sky in Stage 3.

Zweihander · Post by **Zweihander** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 2:51 am

SFKhoa wrote:IIRC, DDPDOJ has you flying towards some giant floating thing in the sky in Stage 3.

Just remembered Mars Matrix shows you the stage boss at the beginning of stage 3... dunno about it being a 'battleship' tho, Mars Matrix's battleship was stage 4... rats.

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 2:58 am

Mushihime-sama's third level is a level-long giant bug.

Zweihander · Post by **Zweihander** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 3:23 am

Cthulhu wrote:Mushihime-sama's third level is a level-long giant bug.

shit, i forgot about that XD saw the map at http://www.click-stick.com/game/mushihime/image.htm ...i must say, VERY artsy stages. ^_^ so yeah, looks like Cave's following in Irem's footsteps...

Tomtom · Post by **Tomtom** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 4:57 am

Yep, DDP also has a giant battleship toward the end of stage 3, and both R-Type Delta and Final. Come to think of it, Raiden Fighters 1 and 2 both do, as well.

Zweihander · Post by **Zweihander** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 5:10 am

Tomtom wrote:Yep, DDP also has a giant battleship toward the end of stage 3, and both R-Type Delta and Final. Come to think of it, Raiden Fighters 1 and 2 both do, as well.

...EVERY R-Type game has the obligatory Battleship Stage 3. XD

dai jou bu · Post by **dai jou bu** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 12:18 am

Zweihander wrote:
Tomtom wrote:Yep, DDP also has a giant battleship toward the end of stage 3, and both R-Type Delta and Final. Come to think of it, Raiden Fighters 1 and 2 both do, as well.
...EVERY R-Type game has the obligatory Battleship Stage 3. XD

Except for R-Type 3, ironically enough. Maybe that was the only thing that felt wierd about that game, come to think of it.

alpha5099 · Post by **alpha5099** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 5:41 pm

In a similar vein to the battleships, some steampunk shmups have you destroying a train car by car. The examples that leap to mind are GunBird and GigaWing, but I have a feeling I'm forgetting something.

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 5:42 pm

alpha5099 wrote:In a similar vein to the battleships, some steampunk shmups have you destroying a train car by car.

Not just steampunk... I think train levels are almost as widespread as giant battleship levels.

Metal Gear Okt · Post by **Metal Gear Okt** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 6:49 pm

Stage 3 of Mushi is fucking sweet.

It's like fighting an Ohmu from Nausicaa.

it290 · Post by **it290** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 8:40 pm

Didn't Pulstar have the Stage 3 battleship as well?

gameoverDude · Post by **gameoverDude** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 10:43 pm

Yep. Stage 3 in Pulstar has one. IIRC Stage 4 has a giant land-walking monster that is big enough to qualify for one as well.

Vexorg · Post by **Vexorg** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 11:47 pm

alpha5099 wrote:In a similar vein to the battleships, some steampunk shmups have you destroying a train car by car. The examples that leap to mind are GunBird and GigaWing, but I have a feeling I'm forgetting something.

Raiden Fighters 2 has a giant train as its first big boss (third area). Battle Bakraid has a train level as well.

Darkcomet72 · Post by **Darkcomet72** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 4:01 am

X-multiply also had a stage 3 battleship....

AT STAGE 2!!!

There's also Blazing star's stage 3 battleship....

IN STAGE 6!!!

Darius gaiden's Titanic Lance can be considered a stage 3 battleship....

IN ROUND 5(M)!!!

Ikaruga also has a stage 3 battleship....

DURING STAGE 4!!!

Mars Matrix has a air fortress similar to a stage 3 battleship....

IN STAGE 4!!!!

19XX also has a stage 3 battleship at sea....

AT STAGE *Gets shot*

JBC · Post by **JBC** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 2:13 am

Pulstar is kinda R-Type 4, right? Wasn't Aicom made up of ex-Irem staffers or am i just creating my own perfect little world in my head?

Moogs · Post by **Moogs** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 10:57 am

Super R-Type's battleship is in level 4...

But that's only cos they tacked that cheesy level on to the front of the game.

AAA · Post by **AAA** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 11:45 am

this is definitely appearing to be a theme in cave titles - a very welcome one too. stage 3 is becoming the key stage to succeed at in cave games, provided you are playing for score. stage 3 is my favourite one in mushi by far.

raystorm has a massive space fleet in stage 3 that feels kind of like a battleship stage in some ways - you are required to really use the depth of the levels to pick off those distant 'destroyer class ships'
and lets face it the boss is a big mother too...

any other shmups with battleship level?
level 5 of RSG - not level 3 i know but was the first one i could recall

russ · Post by **russ** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 5:30 pm

Ketsui's has a stage 3 battleship too! And it's actually a real battleship, as in, being in water!

Randorama · Post by **Randorama** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 5:57 pm

AAA wrote:this is definitely appearing to be a theme in cave titles - a very welcome one too. stage 3 is becoming the key stage to succeed at in cave games, provided you are playing for score. stage 3 is my favourite one in mushi by far.

raystorm has a massive space fleet in stage 3 that feels kind of like a battleship stage in some ways - you are required to really use the depth of the levels to pick off those distant 'destroyer class ships'
and lets face it the boss is a big mother too...

Stage 4 in Raystorm, else you're right

, because the stage itself, if played well, gives you about 10M (out of the maximum score of 29M).

agony · Post by **agony** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 7:24 pm

AAA wrote:this is definitely appearing to be a theme in cave titles - a very welcome one too. stage 3 is becoming the key stage to succeed at in cave games, provided you are playing for score. stage 3 is my favourite one in mushi by far.

right,

its the same with the bouns life, you can collect one ONLY in Stage 3 in both, ESPgaluda and mushihime

ROBOTRON · Post by **ROBOTRON** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:01 am

circuitface wrote:I love saying 'Destroy them all!' when i get a chance.

I believe that R-type is the daddy of this trend or tradition. I like it, though.

Ditto.

I love the "destroy battle ship" stage in Alpha Mission 2...nothing is more satisfying then destroying the core of that giant ship and watching it crash on the planet suface with a terriffic explosion!