Davey wrote:Kenta Cho's later work seems to handle randomness much better. I really can't think of any times I suffered an unfair death in Gunroar (but in all fairness, its patterns aren't as varied as the ones in Parsec47).
Normally an impenetrable wall of bullets is unfair, but building the multiplier up to 682 and hanging out at the top of the screen makes it warranted.
Parsec47 screws you over far more often, and its difficulty isn't consistent. I used to love it, but once I got the high score on Extreme, I took a break from it. Now I'm trying to get back into it and find it more frustrating than I remember. Maybe I just filtered all that out of my memory...
EDIT:
On second thought, depending on the speed of those bullets, you might be able to move to the bottom of the screen and squeeze through as the bullets separate. But not seeing them in motion, it's hard to say.
The bullets were moving at such a ridiculous speed that I barely had a chance to twitch. Even if there were only 1 bullet, if it were headed straight for me I'd probably be dead anyways. The game was just determined to kill me at that point, I guess, and went completely overboard.
Can't find the replay though... I must've lost that one. :( But I've gotten 700 multipliers a number of times before, and a couple 800's, and I've only seen something like that solid wave of bullets *once*. Let alone a solid wave moving faster than any bullets I've seen before, in at least a 135 degree ark with just about no delay between rounds.
What really gets me is how the second wave of bullets just suddenly stops part way through. I can't help but think the game ran out of ram for shots or something. o_O
My strength is in being able to see a lot going on at once and plan ahead quickly, but my reaction speed is actually a bit slow. I get killed way too easily in Parsec47. :/
Kejardon wrote:But I've gotten 700 multipliers a number of times before, and a couple 800's, and I've only seen something like that solid wave of bullets *once*.
That kinda proves my original point. Even under extreme conditions, it's very rare that the game throws something truly impossible at you (Parsec47 does it somewhat frequently, although the generous extends kinda balance it out). For a hectic, randomly generated game coded by an amateur, that's pretty impressive.
Kejardon wrote:What really gets me is how the second wave of bullets just suddenly stops part way through. I can't help but think the game ran out of ram for shots or something. o_O
I'm pretty sure that's just the way it's programmed, just like the intentional slowdown. Parsec47 makes bullets disappear too if they're slow moving and have been on the screen for a few seconds (although that wasn't always the case, if you look at its changelog).
Revive time. Have there been any new hidden gems unearthed within the last year?
A: No.
Uh oh, are you telling me hidden gem week is going to suck again? Seriously, any new or unselected old suggestions? Hopefully this will be the week that doujin shooters will appear. Better than some mediocre justly forgotten arcade game.
Rob wrote:Uh oh, are you telling me hidden gem week is going to suck again? Seriously, any new or unselected old suggestions? Hopefully this will be the week that doujin shooters will appear. Better than some mediocre justly forgotten arcade game.
We'd have more than two viable choices if warez was allowed
so long and tanks for all the spacefish unban shw <Megalixir> now that i know garegga is faggot central i can disregard it entirely
<Megalixir> i'm stuck in a hobby with gays
You liek have to turn a shitload of bullets at once into rings with enemy explosions to upgrade to diamond ring. Then you can kill stuff with your slowshot to get like... diamonds gem things.
owait that sux
<Sidwell> TSS is manlier than a jet figher made of biceps.
I'm going to try to figure it out and enjoy it. Just in case. At least it is a side scrolling shooter, so won't have to deal with how many square inches of black space?
Well there's a drastic disparity in scoring between people who know what they're doing and regular players. I haven't figured out how to get these MASSIVE SCORES of a few million on stage 1 and stuff. Heck I don't even get the first extend until the beginning of stage 3.
lol if it gets chosen the players who've figured out the gimmicks in scoring are gonna win
<Sidwell> TSS is manlier than a jet figher made of biceps.
Not sure how many people know of Silpheed for the Sega CD. Not sure it would be allowed because it was only on the sega CD.
Basically it has a "graze like" system where the closer you are to enemies, the more points you get. Pretty innovative for its time, decently difficult, and pretty fun.
Blast Wind is Saturn only, and it's emulation need a very beefed-up system.
Silpheed could qualify, if not by being a huge download, and probably not easy to find. (Not sure though). I do have it, so it wouldn't be a problem to me at least
Omega Fighter, Nebulas Ray, Xexex, Cybattler, Boogie Wings, Space Invaders 95, Gekiridan, Eco Fighters, Ryu Jin, Thunder Dragon 2, Grid Seeker and Beamrider if we accept no-arcade titles.
Pick 5 from those.
Mag Max is a good option, but I see people crying because of the oldschool gameplay.
Shatterhand wrote:Blast Wind is Saturn only, and it's emulation need a very beefed-up system.
Silpheed could qualify, if not by being a huge download, and probably not easy to find. (Not sure though). I do have it, so it wouldn't be a problem to me at least
Silpheed is like the easiest sega cd game to find legally (goes for like $2 on ebay), so I'm sure it can be "found" on billy internet pretty easily. Problem is, its still a huge file, so anyone with 56k is screwed, though gens runs on basically any piece of shit computer fine.
Chouji Meikyuu Legion (Nichibutsu, 1987). Your bombs rewind time. That is pretty badass. The game looks good, plays well, seems to be almost completely unknown. I started a thread a while back, but nobody came to the party. I guess 'Chouji Meikyuu Legion' isn't a very catchy name. Not very well emulated, but quite playable.
Space Seeker (Taito, 1981). A weirdass hybrid with sidescroller, cockpit view and (arguably) RTS (!) segments. You move your cursor over a planet from your base to invading enemies. When it comes into contact with one of them you either switch to a cockpit view shooter section or a Scramble-style hori section. Including this is probably stretching the definition of 'gem', but it's enough of an odd duck you can't help but appreciate it.
4-D Warriors (Sega, 1985). Developed by Coreland because Sega needs outside help to produce interesting games. Weirdy boss run game where you travel through dimensions and do all kinds of crazy crap. I really like the art style, it is completely great. I like the way it plays, but some might not!
Jump Bug (Coreland, 1981) Developed by Alpha Denshi. Sort of hard to categoraise - is it a shooter, is it a platfomer? Jump Bug is a mystery. I like this game a whole lot. It's bananas, and it's (I think) addictive/fun. Your bullets bust through enemies and it's fun to line up shots to get a bunch in a row, made more difficult by the fact that you are always jumping up and down and you only have one shot on-screen at a time. Possibly the first use of sprite beading to create tentacles. Where would videogames be without that?
Stinger (Seibu Denshi, 1983) Made by Seibu Kaihatsu before they sold out and got famous. Better than Raiden. Maybe. Cool 'perspective' shift when you get close to the ground to bomb stuff, rad use of an option, certain enemies act as turrets that stick to your ship when you touch them, boss spaceship creates a gravity well - pretty inventive.
Rougien (Sanritsu, 1982) Another weird hybrid that combines a Galaxian-style shooting gallery, a vertical section over a mothership and a 3d tunnel section inside the mothership. When you graze the sides of the tunnels, you create sparks! That is just badass. I thought it was better than Xevious, but what do I know.
shiftace wrote:
rRootage -- No scoring system to speak of.
This is 4 years old but it bears addressing! Of course rRootage has a scoring system, at least one worthy of competition. Defeat the boss as quickly as possible. The score is directly linked to the time it takes to defeat the boss. Your ship's beam does more damage the closer you are. It's a time attack, to the millisecond. But every death and bomb (where applicable) will cut that score in half.
Most modes have a way to defeat the boss even faster by using special weapons. Bull-rushing the boss with the giga wing shield just as it's launching a complicated pattern will deal a lot of damage.
