STGT '11 Week 1 - Gokujou Parodius thoughts and discussion!

[Aquas]

For everyone to talk about milking pandas this, bell grabbin' dat and your rank wanking all over the place for Gokujyou Parodius.

After Xexex was an STGT '10 choice I am somewhat surprised to see another Konami hori, but am personally glad because I always wanted to play a Parodius game seriously like Gradius and now I have the chance!! Also, Xexex is bad ass!

I'm having fun trying the different characters out and comprehending all the sprites and colors on the screen at once. I'll probably go with Twinbee...

I want to submit all my scores with stick this year for some reason, however, I got a 100mil in RFJ using the saturn pad so pad works for me too. Sometimes it's less stressful to use the pad, actually, haha.

Get hype for STGT 2011!

[burgerkingdiamond]

I'm excited to have a reason to play my PCB! It came with the cab that I bought, but since I TATE my monitor 99% of the time I've spent maybe only an hour playing it in the past.

Are there any tips out there? which character's are best for survival vs. score for example?

Is there rank?

[Herr Schatten]

The highscore thread is somewhat vague about the reasons Fantastic Journey is ruled out. Can someone confirm there are differences that go beyond the title? I'd rather play it on my (european) Saturn pack than on MAME, so I'd like to know in detail why FJ scores aren't allowed.

[Aquas]

Is there rank?

Yeah I believe there is rank which is probably similar to other Gradius-type games where it is affected by survival time and how much you're powered up.

Dying once or multiple times noticeably reduces rank if it's high it seems.
I've been trying to keep it down by going minimal spread power, missiles, and maybe a shield here and there. Yet stage 3 remains pretty hectic. I'm trying to treat it like the rank from Gradius 1 which gets crazy if you power up more than 2 options.

[Weak Boson]

I'm enjoying this. Randomly chose Mambo for my first credit and have stuck with it since. Trying to grab all the bells can be frustrating, though. I think I'm getting the hang of it but I wonder if I might have more fun if I just focused on survival for a bit. How many stages are there?

[saucykobold]

Get hype for STGT 2011!

O Rapturous Delight, Goku Paro in the house ^_^

There really shouldn't be a non-Koitsu score on the board by the end of the week. After a few upgrades, the K-Way becomes incredibly good at killing stuff and keeping bells under control. You don't need his missiles and I suspect that holding off on them might make the rank a bit more manageable.

[Icarus]

O Rapturous Delight, Goku Paro in the house ^_^

Indeed.
After an age of boring going-through-the-motions shooting games, here's a shooter that actually demands skill to survive and score well in. Bring it on.

[RNGmaster]

Fucking hate milking, though. I'll stick to normal chaining, thanks.

[Deca]

Initially I was really disappointed and not looking forward to actually playing at all.

Now I'm...actually kind of starting to enjoy it...I could see myself putting actual effort into a 1cc on this. So big ups on game selection already, got me playing something I wouldn't normally touch with a stick and considering rethinking my opinion of Gradius games in general

[nimitz]

Initially I was really disappointed and not looking forward to actually playing at all.

Now I'm...actually kind of starting to enjoy it...I could see myself putting actual effort into a 1cc on this. So big ups on game selection already, got me playing something I wouldn't normally touch with a stick and considering rethinking my opinion of Gradius games in general

The Gradius (and Parodius) games have a lot in common with Raizing games. They are rank driven games, and in the case of parodius you also get to chain "medals", the checkpoints and apparent memorization may seem annoying but if you actually give it a chance you realize that the memorization is quite light in this game and the checkpoints can be disabled by playing auto mode.

[Deca]

The Gradius (and Parodius) games have a lot in common with Raizing games. They are rank driven games, and in the case of parodius you also get to chain "medals", the checkpoints and apparent memorization may seem annoying but if you actually give it a chance you realize that the memorization is quite light in this game and the checkpoints can be disabled by playing auto mode.

Yep, those are exactly the things I'd been noticing about it that started to change my mind

[Emuser]

Seeing how I've never played or paid an ounce of attention to Parodius games in the past, this is all new to me. It actually came out to be much more fun than I figured it would be, I'm trying to stick with the Vic Viper but I see so much Koitsu action that I might soon use Koitsu as well. Even though I typically like chaining over forms of medal collection(in this case bell), it would've been silly to expect no medal system based games in the STGT.

I say this is actually a pretty decent 1st game pick despite what a few people are saying. Moving from a game like Dodonpachi to Parodius is all kinds of wacky and confusing as hell though.

[Sapz]

I didn't think I'd really enjoy this game, but it's so manic and just damn silly that I can't help but like it so far. Ride of the Valkyries during the moai stage cracked me up the first time.

[Moniker]

The Gradius (and Parodius) games have a lot in common with Raizing games. They are rank driven games, and in the case of parodius you also get to chain "medals", the checkpoints and apparent memorization may seem annoying but if you actually give it a chance you realize that the memorization is quite light in this game and the checkpoints can be disabled by playing auto mode.

The only thing I don't like about auto mode is that it never gives you enough speed (at least not for my taste). I like to be able to hunt down bells that have gone past me, and one more level of speed is all that's needed. Pity. Otherwise, I'm enjoying the game quite a lot. Like others have said, I've given it a try or two in the past, but never sat myself down to really learn it. Hope I don't hit that level 3 plateau I seem to hit with all the other gradius-likes.

[captpain]

At first I couldn't stand it, and now I don't strongly dislike it. I bet I'll come to like it part way through the week, and then hate it by the end, as per the unwritten rules of STGT.

[ratikal]

Game is pretty tight and I was always interested in playing it. I started off shmups with the Gradius' series anyways so it's interesting to go back to my roots.

But shit man, the rage is returning too. I see myself resetting a lot on the first boss and dying to what looks like a gap but NOPE HITBOX TOO BIG.

Les Toreadors is gonna be stuck in my head...

[Bananamatic]

I cannot think or discuss because I am still foaming at the mouth because of this game

On the plus side, I'll treat the following weeks' games a lot better if only because they have extends that do more than prolong your suffering after the first death

[sikraiken]

Bananahammock

This game is pretty easy so far. It's nice that we're only playing one loop.

[Deca]

Honestly I find recovering in this game to be much easier than in other gradius games. There are definitely enough places where you're straight up boned if you die, though.

How many stages are there, 7? I've got the first 4 and the moai stage pretty much sorted. Need a little exposure to the 4th boss, should probably start making save states for the later levels.

[Bananamatic]

Honestly I find recovering in this game to be much easier than in other gradius games. There are definitely enough places where you're straight up boned if you die, though.

How many stages are there, 7? I've got the first 4 and the moai stage pretty much sorted. Need a little exposure to the 4th boss, should probably start making save states for the later levels.

Stage 3, boss respawn?

[Deca]

Stage 3, boss respawn?

Stage 3 is probably the easiest boss to deal with at base power.

[captpain]

Honestly I find recovering in this game to be much easier than in other gradius games. There are definitely enough places where you're straight up boned if you die, though.

How many stages are there, 7? I've got the first 4 and the moai stage pretty much sorted. Need a little exposure to the 4th boss, should probably start making save states for the later levels.

Stage 3, boss respawn?

Check your PM history, ffs, I already told you how to beat him

[Bananamatic]

Also, why is the shield a condom

[Moniker]

Also, why is the shield a condom

lol I was wondering that myself. At least it can be reused...

[Bananamatic]

Also notice how "Koitsu" resembles "Coitus"

cannot unsee

[Deca]

Check your PM history, ffs, I already told you how to beat him

Does this imply that there's some sort of trick to it? >>

[Hagane]

Game is great, tried Sexy and didn't like it so I was expecting to dislike this one too but I'm having a great time so far.

I'm seeing the world record is over six million, how the hell does he get so many points? Any good superplays to watch?

[Drum]

Best Parodius game, probably second best -ius game after Gradius Gaiden, one of the best shooters ever. Am honestly baffled that somebody could have any kind of uncertainty or trepidation about it, or active dislike towards it. I guess some people are just no good.

I am regretting not signing up for the tourney now, though I am not real great at the game or anything.

[saucykobold]

I'm seeing the world record is over six million, how the hell does he get so many points? Any good superplays to watch?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SHdLqmyGbA

To score that high, you'd have to do a lot of purple bell farming and Special Stage milking--get to the end of the level, kill the TLB and suicide at the same time, repeat until you have no lives left, win the game.

[chempop]

Is Gokujou usually preferred over Sexy, Chatting, Da!... Am I missing any?