TrevHead (TVR) wrote:You'll never get better at dodging bullets playing euroshmups with inertia mate
I know what you are trying to say. Oddly, I manage to reach these progresses in arcades at 1cc:
i) Stage 3-5 of Strikers 1945 II
ii) Stage 4 of Senko no Ronde
iii) Stage 4 of Sengoku Ace
iv) Stage 3-4 of 19XX
This must be have something to do with the bullet hell games that I play.
TrevHead (TVR) wrote:True, but its all a matter of game design and ballancing
For example the shield mechainic in a badly designed euroshmup usually makes the gameplay even more monotonously repetitive and easy like in these vids
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LXtIxkv ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw30jado ... re=related
Or even worse using the shield mechanic in shmups where theres just a mass of mostly undodgable bullets, which the dev uses the shield mechanic as a get out of jail card for the games bad stage design:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9PGitDtiTk
(theres many worse offenders out there i just cant be bothered looking)
As Ive said before, gamers who only play euroshmups will never get any good at bullet dodging and when they come across arcade shmups they find themselve totally outmatched and unable to playthem.
What noobs and beginners want to play are the easier Japanese arcade styled shooters, those that have shields or the autobomb feature but still pose a challenge and are fun to play.
Heres a vid of the FREEWARE Demolition Gunner played on god mode to make it as a good comparison to Razor 2, see the skill thats there even though it uses shields:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1FWr6Bf ... re=related
From the video link, Razor 2, by euroshmup standards, is no Soldner-X2, but at least have slight fun value (compared to worse ones I've played). It is still overall bad as a shmup as a whole though. Star Blaze 2, however, is indeed bad with very low number of enemies thrown to the screen per time. In my opinion, a good shmup should have at least 5 popcorn enemies or 2 larger enemies at the screen at all times except during transition.
I do understand your meaning and everyone has different standards on gaming design and mechanics. If a game expects me to use a shield, then I'll use it as I see fit and I won't call is terrible. But if the seems to expecting me not to use it but I ended up using it a lot with no good reason then the game is indeed bad. Also, euroshmups are not exactly easy, but they are generally easier.
I do not play only euroshmups, though. I've played Demolition Gunner, games by X.X, games by Kenta Cho aka A.B.A Games, Patriot Dark and Vacant Ark. Demolition Gunner, in my opinion is managable if one does not jump directly into the highest difficulty.
damakable wrote:I love to support indie game developers, really I do, but almost every time I try or buy a new shmup on the PSN or Steam they do this inertia, health bars, experience points upgrades shields shit. I even enjoy arena shooters like Geo Wars and Super Stardust quite a bit. I just don't understand the mindset of a game designer who would want to give the player such imprecise controls in any action game, not just (but especially not) in a shmup. Hell, the relatively small amount your character slides before coming to a stop in VVVVVV made me rage-quit more than once, and I'd still recommend it.
I did actually pick up a few shooting games on Steam during the holiday sale but haven't got around to playing them yet. I'll try to remember to report back later.
Health bars, exp and upgrades are not exclusive to euroshmups as well. Of course some jap shmups which have them handled these gameplay mechanics better. I consider these things an alternate gameplay design rather than a derailing one, but I do understand that people used to jap shmups would dislike these things. Western flash shmups, while not better than arcade shmups, generally handle these features well, though.
Despatche wrote:It's realistic, this is the year 2000, games have to be mature.
That might be a reason, but health bars are not realistic since that aircrafts will blow up in one shot.
There's no standards in shmups. Only what most people prefers.
Euroshmups are inferior, but not all of them sucks.
Jap shmups are superior, but not all of them great.
Well, as long as it doesn't suck. Please tell me it isn't a gigantic turd like Razor2!
