Hardest shmup?

Ste · Post by **Ste** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 8:03 pm

So what's the hardest shmup you've played? Just been playing Sonic Boom via MAME, and I've got to say that on the default difficulty setting (normal) it's probably the most difficult shmup I've ever played. What makes it even more ridiculous is that there are 6 (yes SIX!!) levels of difficulty above normal, which is quite frankly insane. You'd have to been a bit of a bastard if you were an arcade owner who stuck the machine on "hardest".....

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 8:32 pm

Hm, I recall a topic like this from not too long back...in any event, methinks there ought to be a distinction between "hard but fair" shmups and "just plain cheap and near-impossible" shmups. Offhand, methinks DoDonPachi DOJ ought to be mentioned, along, of course, with Mushihime-sama's Ultra mode...Radiant Silvergun would go on my list as well. Also, for me, at least, Mars Matrix is a tough cookie to master...I'll let others list the rest, I guess.

Randorama · Post by **Randorama** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 9:00 pm

Ketsui?No personal experience, but the videos i've seen look completely insane.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 9:21 pm

Dragon Blaze has yet to be mentioned-- that's the hardest Psikyo game I've played by far.
Ibara sounds tough, though I haven't played it myself.
As for Mars Matrix, it puzzles me how people get beyond level 3.

Ste · Post by **Ste** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 9:50 pm

BulletMagnet wrote:Hm, I recall a topic like this from not too long back..

Yeah, that was more just "most annoying" really, as opposed to difficult if I'm thinking of the right thread.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 10:10 pm

here's one: http://forum.shmups.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=690

ForteMP3 · Post by **ForteMP3** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 11:05 pm

Battle Garegga after you've foolishly increased the rank beyond all belief because you didn't know about it in the first place.

...Yeah, I grabbed powerups, held fire down, my god, I had no idea I was screwing myself.

Vexorg · Post by **Vexorg** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 11:26 pm

Not that it's the hardest game ever, but when I got my new Raiden DX PCB, I found that for some reason the DIP settings on the board were set to two coins per credit, two ships per credit AND very hard difficulty. I don't know where it came from, but someone remind me never to go to that arcade...

ROBOTRON · Post by **ROBOTRON** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 11:31 pm

DEEP BLUE

Battle Garegga
Ikaruga

Darkcomet72 · Post by **Darkcomet72** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 2:04 am

Image Fight

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 3:17 am

ROBOTRON wrote:DEEP BLUE

Interesting. I played this game for 30 minutes and decided that this was the worst shmup I had ever played. But now that I think back, at least it had the virtue of being challenging.

As I recall, you have just one kind of shot which is really weak and there are tons of fish that like to ram up against you and cause mortal damage. Good times!

JBC · Post by **JBC** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 3:29 am

Nothing. Nothing beats Pulstar. That game will chew you up and shit you out - just to eat you again. Pulstar will kill you and your family for no reason. Pulstar nearly beat me to death with my own shoes...

Zweihander · Post by **Zweihander** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 4:17 am

Shienryu Explosion -- it took for EVER to 1CC that bastard!!!

...j/k, i one-life'd that game. :/

Onken · Post by **Onken** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 11:34 am

i`m still stuck on level 2 of battle chopper --

ROBOTRON · Post by **ROBOTRON** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 1:25 pm

professor ganson wrote:
ROBOTRON wrote:DEEP BLUE
Interesting. I played this game for 30 minutes and decided that this was the worst shmup I had ever played. But now that I think back, at least it had the virtue of being challenging. As I recall, you have just one kind of shot which is really weak and there are tons of fish that like to ram up against you and cause mortal damage. Good times!

Indeed.

Thats what makes it so hard.

chtimi-CLA · Post by **chtimi-CLA** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 2:00 pm

Darkcomet72 wrote:Image Fight

seriously, it's much harder than r-type2. i remember reading on the old forum that there even were penalty zones if you didn't do well enough..

RoninBuddha · Post by **RoninBuddha** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 4:42 pm

Gradius 2
DDP
Ikaruga

and personally, the Rtypes

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 6:13 pm

chtimi wrote:
Darkcomet72 wrote:Image Fight
seriously, it's much harder than r-type2. i remember reading on the old forum that there even were penalty zones if you didn't do well enough..

indeed there are, i just can't get far enough to fail the Average test to see it.

laurie47 · Post by **laurie47** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 9:26 pm

Battle garrega, I cant see the poxy bullets!

Bydobasher · Post by **Bydobasher** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 10:03 pm

i`m still stuck on level 2 of battle chopper --

For such a cute game, it sure is a beast. I've gotten to the last boss, but never been able to beat it. Your lifebar is expended to quickly! The PCE version is so much easier to get along with....

[In reference to Image Fight] seriously, it's much harder than r-type2

I find R-Type 2 more difficult, especially the midlevel checkpoints in the later levels. In any case, Image Fight is tough, no question. The Penalty Zone is stil possibly the hardest stage I've played in any shmup, ever.

it290 · Post by **it290** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 12:13 am

Tatsujin/Truxton 2 has to be one of the harder ones I've played. The sheer length of the levels, combined with the murderous bosses and the ships coming at you from behind make it one tough game.

Grindstormer (Genesis version) makes me tear my hair out as well. Actually, come to think of it, most of Toaplan's games were pretty tough.

Sonic R · Post by **Sonic R** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 10:09 pm

ROBOTRON wrote:
professor ganson wrote:
ROBOTRON wrote:DEEP BLUE
Interesting. I played this game for 30 minutes and decided that this was the worst shmup I had ever played. But now that I think back, at least it had the virtue of being challenging. As I recall, you have just one kind of shot which is really weak and there are tons of fish that like to ram up against you and cause mortal damage. Good times!
Indeed.

Thats what makes it so hard.

What made Deep Blue sooo hard was that even if you did power up and speed up well one hit would bring you back to default status. And I swear some of these fish are so damn smart they come back after you and even know where your next move is before you do.

Anyways, I have managed to make it to the 4th level. Just once I get hit and loose my power well its pretty much over.

MichiyoNoShiroIV · Post by **MichiyoNoShiroIV** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 12:35 am

Border down PISSES ME THE FUCK OFF.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 1:08 am

Sonic R wrote:
ROBOTRON wrote:
professor ganson wrote: Interesting. I played this game for 30 minutes and decided that this was the worst shmup I had ever played. But now that I think back, at least it had the virtue of being challenging. As I recall, you have just one kind of shot which is really weak and there are tons of fish that like to ram up against you and cause mortal damage. Good times!
Indeed.

Thats what makes it so hard.
What made Deep Blue sooo hard was that even if you did power up and speed up well one hit would bring you back to default status. And I swear some of these fish are so damn smart they come back after you and even know where your next move is before you do.

Anyways, I have managed to make it to the 4th level. Just once I get hit and loose my power well its pretty much over.

All this talk about Deep Blue-- I may just have to play it again.

gs68 · Post by **gs68** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 3:05 am

As far as survival is concerned...

Gradius III (ARC)
Darius Gaiden (ARC)...homing lasers of doom suck.
Armed Police Batrider (ARC)
Battle Garegga (ARC)
Flying Shark (ARC)

As far as scoring is concerned...

DoDonPachi (ARC)
DoDonPachi dai-ou-jou (PS2)
Ikaruga (GC)
Mars Matrix (ARC)

Bloodreign · Post by **Bloodreign** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 8:24 am

circuitface wrote:Nothing. Nothing beats Pulstar. That game will chew you up and shit you out - just to eat you again. Pulstar will kill you and your family for no reason. Pulstar nearly beat me to death with my own shoes...

Yeah it's awesome as it is, but it seems like everywhere you look bullets are flying, just looking to nail you down. I've never gotten far into it, but every now and then I like to load it up, and give it a run. I love the R-Type feel to it, but like R-Type it seems more a memory based game, and a constantly watch your flank lest you screw up and die kind of game. Although it's difficult, it never gets annoying, especially with a killer soundtrack.

It has chewed me up, spit me out many a times, but I always go back to play it.

RoninBuddha · Post by **RoninBuddha** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 5:37 am

MichiyoNoShiroIV wrote:Border down PISSES ME THE FUCK OFF.

me too, i woudl really like to smash my TV everytime i get "bordered down" and see & hear that FUZZY TV EFFECT.. annoys the hell out of me!

Border Down is hard for me, cuz of its "complex" system

still, i love the game for it tries to seem ambigious, even though its almost a barebones shmup

infested_ysy · Post by **infested_ysy** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 8:22 am

Would Vasara 2 count? I can never complete the stage 4 (or was it 5, the first stage where you must complete the game under one credit, or start over the stage again) due to the ridiculous amount of bullets everywhere and enemies who just refuses to die >_>

Marc · Post by **Marc** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 9:52 am

MichiyoNoShiroIV Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 12:35 am Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Border down PISSES ME THE FUCK OFF.

What he said. Just something about that game that I find fucked up beyond belief, I adore it but Christ, I'm utter shit at it. Hard, but mostly fair anyways.

Marc · Post by **Marc** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 9:53 am

MichiyoNoShiroIV Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 12:35 am Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Border down PISSES ME THE FUCK OFF.

What he said. Just something about that game that I find fucked up beyond belief, I adore it but Christ, I'm utter shit at it. Hard, but mostly fair anyways.