Futari stage 3 harder than stage 5

[Obscura]

If savestates and level select aren't available in a game, should I just abandon it? I hate to just shitcan Futari after spending so many hours on it...

Use something else in your arsenal of resources, then: extra credits. Credit-feeding as a practice method is another good, albeit slower, way to learn stages and bosses.

Quick note: this doesn't actually work in Futari, because of that fucking max power item that spawns when you continue. You end up learning wrong things because you kill things much faster than you should be able to.

Also, I think I'm done with Futari, I'm starting to hate every moment I spend with that game. Its score system is fucking retarded, and I'm completely incapable of playing it at all, apparently; even after watching that run, I went 0-for-7 on the stage 2 boss's second form, when I gave myself 5 fucking continues I still managed to get game over in stage 4 (burned 4 of those continues, and two lives, to the stage 3 boss), and of my runs tonight, I only managed to even make it to stage three on one credit once, and got game over on stage 1 four fucking times. I'm actually getting worse with every fucking credit of the thing I play.

[Frenetic]

FTFY

[BareKnuckleRoo]

If you're worried about learning the patterns via credit feeding but find the Max Power item too difficult to avoid getting, try playing a weaker shot type while learning? I know I learned most of the game on Palm Normal before I switched to Palm Abnormal, basically forcing myself to have to learn to deal certain attacks than relying on powering through. Improved my confidence in dodging other areas of the game.

It sounds like you could simply be getting too frustrated with the game. Practise should still be fun, even if it feels like you're making no progress (you are, even if it's slow every bit helps). I think you're just feeling burned out from the game. Give it a few days or a week then come back to it? It'd be a shame if you gave it up completely since there's worse arcade games out there to 1cc, but if you really don't like Futari it's not like anyone's gonna force you to play it.

[finisherr]

2) Focus practice
If you know your problem areas, spend a bit of time in stage select mode or save states devising a way past them. You don't have to spend hours doing it, but even a few attempts here and there at experimenting your way to a solution gets the compass pointing in the right direction. If you do eventually find a way past, don't immediately jump into a full run with it, practice it a little bit to nail it down, then work it into a full game gradually.

If savestates and level select aren't available in a game, should I just abandon it? I hate to just shitcan Futari after spending so many hours on it...

Na. Definitely play it. You don't need savestates to have fun/progress in a game. Just don't play it for hours and hours straight and you won't get too bored with the previous levels. In fact, you'll likely learn how to maximize your score on those levels due to repeat play.

[JOW]

So far I've seen a lot of good tips in this thread that are in danger of getting lost in the noise (like so many do unfortunately).

Hence, I've started a Strategy thread (http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=40561) devoted entirely to Futari 1.5 Stage 3 (given that the topic comes up repeatedly)

I've kicked off with a video walkthrough of the second half of the Stage 3 which I hope will be of some use.

And of course, more contributions are welcome