Cave Arrange Modes: Which are ill, which are buzzkill?

[stryc9]

After being heavily schooled by the extreme difficulty in DFK BL, I have returned to the original. Not for 1.5 or 1.51, but for Arrange A. It's an excellent little title and in the end kinda feels like what the core game could (should)? have been.
Couple that with the brilliant Pink Sweets Arrange and you could be forgiven for thinking that some of these Arrange versions are superior to the vanilla ones...
Not that I'm claiming anything like that, but I would be interested as to what you guys think.
My top 3 picks in no particular order:

Ketsui X mode
Ketsuipachi
DDP DFK Arrange A

And oh yeah, not all Arrange Modes are created equal it seems. particularly in the case of some of the earlier ones... ESPy quickly springs to mind.

[Sumez]

I think MMP Matsuri Mode tops the original MMP - of course it's not much different, just adds more awesome.

[stryc9]

I think MMP Matsuri Mode tops the original MMP - of course it's not much different, just adds more awesome.

Ya damn right there, forgot to mention it!

[DMC]

Matsuri isn't really arrange, it is just a boss bonus, arrange is arrange.

I've been bored by any arrange ive played so far(futari, espg2, mmp, ps). It's like playing in sinking sand, it get's slower and slower and slower. Bullet cancelling is not my taste anyway. Then the broken scoring in futari arrange made me even more reluctant to this series of games. I might have been unlucky with my selection though.

[Drachenherz]

Never played it myself, but supposedly the PS2-Version of Espgaluda has an arrange mode that is great.

It's like a mixture between Esprade and Espgaluda - and you have no continues. Hard as nails.

But somebody who has actually played this mode could tell you more.

[DMC]

Yea, Espgaluda arrange seems quite populare, I should give it a shot!
Oh and Mushi Arrange seemed to have a really good ambient soundtrack.
How is Mushi arrange - gameplay?

[BPzeBanshee]

I've played it - it'd be damn awesome IF ONLY the control scheme wasn't so fucked up. Why they didn't keep the controls the same as the normal version is a mystery to me.

Scoring-wise its exactly what you said, but the characters are also (poorly drawn compared to Tateha/Ageha graphics) based on JD(B?) the Fifth and Irori.

[Aliquantic]

Espgaluda Arrange is very solid indeed and stands out among most Arrange/port exclusives by being significantly harder and not completely revamping the game mechanics (the only major gameplay difference is that bombing gives you a lot of gems). It's definitely one of my favorites along with DSII X-Mode and Espgaluda II BL, but those feel almost more like complete overhauls of the game than just Arrange modes.

Most Arrange modes seem to downplay survival a lot and focus mainly on scoring and perfect execution, so they can often be an... acquired taste. Guwange 360 and DOJ X-Mode rank pretty high up here by making it almost a challenge to die, but they take a fair amount of execution to get excellent scores... and then you get the very confusing Omake mode from Espgaluda II that you can literally beat without moving! DFK Arrange A or PS Arrange aren't as extreme and can still kill you just fine, but I'd say they still follow that same pattern... and then there's the milking marathons that are Espgaluda II Arrange or DSII Arrange (and MMP Arrange from what I've been able to discern). Mushi Arrange is another good one with its DFK 1.5 style chaining and autobomb... it's one of the least ambitious Arrange modes ever, but at least that makes it not awful.

Futari Arrange and DFK 1.51 are the only ones that really belong on my awful list for having fairly broken scoring systems and being plain boring, but I can't say I care for the more score-oriented Arrange modes at all either (though DSII Arrange is amusing as an exercise in confusion if nothing else!).

[stryc9]

The control scheme is what helped it not click with me. actually I just remember thinking vanilla ESPgaluda was superior but its been been a very long time since I've played it, should bust it out but its gonna look balls on my 50 inch Plasma.
Anyway, I should have been more specific with the thread title to include bonus modes like Matsuri MMP. That stupid bouncing minigame on DS IIX does not count

[Erppo]

I don't think I'd rate any arrange higher than the original game. Sure there are some awesome arrange modes around but to me, all of them have ended up feeling somehow more shallow than their original counterparts and I've never felt much motivation to go for high scores in them (with the exception of DFK BL Arrange). I haven't played Espgaluda's though and I've been hearing a lot of good stuff about it.

After being heavily schooled by the extreme difficulty in DFK BL, I have returned to the original. Not for 1.5 or 1.51, but for Arrange A. It's an excellent little title and in the end kinda feels like what the core game could (should)? have been.

I don't get this. The mechanics in Arrange A are completely different from the original game so I don't see how that last statement makes any sense. A is about shooting bullets constantly with normal hyper, while 1.5 is about chaining enemies with minimal hyper usage, so the feel is entirely different. I'd say Arrange A is a lot closer to BL than the original game.

[stryc9]

Sorry I'm weeded.

[dan76]

I also think that most of the arrange modes don't come close to the original arcade games. DFK Arrange A it's the only time I've prefered the arrange mode over the "proper" game.

Ketsuipachi
Espgaluda Arrange (worth getting a Swap Magic disc for)
DFK Arrange A
Ketsui X-mode (I suppose)

I could live without the others. Cave should put more effort into making arcade games than arrange modes.

[emphatic]

1.Do-Donpachi Daifukkatsu Black Label Arrange
2.ESPGALUDA II OMAKE!
3.Do-Donpachi Dai-Ou-Jou Extra

I could live without the others. Cave should put more effort into making arcade games than arrange modes.

+1

[Deca]

I really like Ketsui X Mode, possibly more than the original game. I feel that Galuda2 BL is one of the better arranges as well, though I could do without the bullet nudging.

[Special World]

Pink Sweets Arrange is my favorite
DFK BL Arrange
DFK Arrange A (Prefer it to vanilla DFK)
Espgaluda Arrange (too hard for me, though)
Ketsui X is okay

[gs68]

Aru-san expressed quite a bit of interest in PS Arrange when he tried it at the last Bay Area shmupmeet. I may look into it this summer.

[dunpeal2064]

1.Do-Donpachi Daifukkatsu Black Label Arrange
2.ESPGALUDA II OMAKE!
3.Do-Donpachi Dai-Ou-Jou Extra

I could live without the others. Cave should put more effort into making arcade games than arrange modes.

+1

Woah... there's an Omake mode. Time to go unlock this now. This game has been by far the most difficult to understand, scoring wise. The modes all seem so different from each other.

[BulletMagnet]

This game has been by far the most difficult to understand, scoring wise. The modes all seem so different from each other.

Pardon my self-promotion...

[apple arcade]

Arrange A in DFK is definitely the best.

DOJBLEX's X-Mode makes DOJ play a lot like DFK strong mode.

[sjoecool1991]

In my opinion, the greatest Cave arrange mode would be the arrange mode on Ibara.

[Sumez]

I don't get Omake mode of Esp2, it's confusing for me to wrap my head around. Is it really that good?

[chempop]

I typically like Arrange modes, not always to replace the main game by any means, but as a diversion for when I'm getting burnt out throughout the course of achieving a all-clear.

My favorites are

Deathsmiles v1.1
Galuda Arrange
Pink Sweets Arrange
DFK Arrange A
Ketsui Extra

I'm sure when I play more Ketsupachi it'll be added to the list.

[apple arcade]

Okay:

Best:

OMAKE -ESPII
Arrange A-DFK
MBL 1.1-DS

Not the best but still fun:
Espgaluda
Mushihimesama
Ibara

Worst:
Arrange-DSII
Arrange B-DFK
DOJ Death Label

[emphatic]

I don't get Omake mode of Esp2, it's confusing for me to wrap my head around. Is it really that good?

It's kinda hard to grasp how to really score, there's some type of über-kakusei mode that I still haven't managed to figure out, and this is the arrange mode I've put the most time into.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_mfnjFLnJQ

[Sumez]

Isn't it the same "über-kakusei" (Zesshikkai) that's in the regular version?

[gs68]

Mushi1 Arrange is just Maniac with auto-bomb, more firepower, and the TLB.

[emphatic]

Isn't it the same "über-kakusei" (Zesshikkai) that's in the regular version?

No, it's activated somehow when you reach full crystal and gold stock. The Zesshikkai chime can be heard also. But (as seen in that clip) it has to do with maxing out the barrier clock somehow as well. I still haven't figured out how.

[stryc9]

Ha! would you believe I didn't even know about ESPy II Omake mode...
Am really getting into Arrange A Daifukkatsu, just fought up to about half way through the fourth Boss, the difficulty IMO is pitched perfectly. Its always edge of your seat as the Hyper icons arrive on the screen just in time and the manipulation of the shot modes to boost the chain counter/ cancel bullets (at the expense of the chain counter) is an excellent set-up. Plus an easily maintained chain!
I blame Crimson Clover (love that shit) and DFK Black Label for stealing my attention away from a deeper look at the contents of Ver 1.5, and at the moment I'm actually thinking it could possibly top both for me. We will see.

[mesh control]

Worst:
DOJ Death Label

Seriously? It's a boss rush mode, not an arranged version of the game.

[Erppo]

DFK 1.5 is a bit harder to get into than the other modes of the game. Basically you need to play it for score for the full enjoyment and you also need to like the traditional DDP/DOJ style chaining. I find it the best designed scoring system Cave has ever come up with however, but it's obviously not for everyone.

I need to play more Arrange A though. I really like it, but somehow I always end up playing 1.5 instead.

More on topic: I forgot Ketsui X-mode. That's the other arrange I've ended up putting a bit more effort into. Though the biggest reason for this is probably that it let's me actually face Doom in a real run.