GD: Shippu Mahou Daisakusen

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Neon
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GD: Shippu Mahou Daisakusen

Post by Neon »

Simply, how does it work?
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Icarus
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Post by Icarus »

Been a while since I last played it, but from memory:
  1. Race to the end of the stage, traditional racing rules apply (1st gets x points, 2nd gets x points etc)
  2. Hold down Shot to accelerate your ship. This also means you cannot fire while accellerating (obv.)
  3. Each successive stage lowers your overall top speed by a small degree, making later stages more difficult to stay ahead
  4. You can bump into and interfere with the other competitors by nudging them into enemy fire. You can also stop the other competitors temporarily by bombing.
  5. Whenever you encounter a mid- or stage boss, you MUST fight it and destroy it. Competitors can go flying past >_<
  6. You can select from two different following stages at the end of each stage. Each branch gives you different stages of varying difficulty
Shippu Mahou is a very difficult game to play when just racing, as you are constantly struggling to stay ahead of the pack AND destroy obstacles along the way. If you want to play Shippu Mahou as just a traditional shmup, there is code for the Saturn version that allows this.

More fun racing, though ^_-
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Arcatech
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Post by Arcatech »

By staying at the top part of the screen while accelerating, you go a bit faster.
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Post by BulletMagnet »

One other small thing: unlike in most other shmups, you are able to bump into not only other racers, but most enemies and obstacles, without dying: in fact, doing so will damage them a bit, meaning that you'll be able to bash some smaller enemies out of your way without slowing down to shoot them. Just don't try it with bullets, heh heh.

There is an option in the Saturn version's Option screen called "player hit," if you mess with that it might do something different to that end, but I haven't tried it.
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Damocles
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Post by Damocles »

Each characters "good" ending is only shown after finishing in first.

The second loop has you playing each stage you did not play before in succession.
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Post by AWJ »

So, what are the ship tiers in this game? Raizing games tend to have sharp lines between strong and weak ships...

I mainly use Chitta and Honest John; being able to hit things behind them with their homing sub-weapon is very useful. I've also done well with Miyamoto, which is strange because normally I can't use fast straight-shot ships well.
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Damocles
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Post by Damocles »

Miyamoto will make your life much easier. His homing shot is very powerful when leveled up. Once you get used to his speed, he's the way to go.
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Post by AWJ »

Damocles wrote:Miyamoto will make your life much easier. His homing shot is very powerful when leveled up. Once you get used to his speed, he's the way to go.
I think I've sussed out the two criteria that make up an easy-to-use ship in this game: (a) a good homing (red) subweapon, and (b) a good bomb. Chitta, Honest John and Miyamoto all have a nice homing subweapon that pierces enemies and can cover their backs. Miyamoto's bomb is terrific--it covers nearly all of the screen (if you drop back after using it), and it originates from his body so it's effective defensively. Miyamoto's crazy speed is just a bonus (though not one to sneeze at--he has a very easy time picking up coins and thus can max out his main shot faster than slower characters)

The ship I have the most trouble winning races and scoring points with is the kids. Not coincidentally, they have the worst bomb--it usually fails to affect other racers unless they happen to be in exactly the right place--and a poor homing weapon that doesn't really home much at all. Bul-gin also seems pretty dire.

Some observations:

- Being above an invisible line near the midline of the screen increases your speed. Your ship emits a jet plume if you're high enough. Hugging the bottom edge of the screen greatly decreases your speed. Dying also kills your speed.

- Colliding with other racers, background objects, and most enemies doesn't kill you, but it does slow you down.

- Your bomb will burn rival racers and slow them down only if they are caught in its area of effect. Kickle & Laycle's bomb really has trouble hitting racers--the missiles greatly prefer to lock onto regular enemies. If there is one popcorn enemy on the screen and a bunch of racers, all the missiles will lock onto that single enemy. Argh.

- It's annoying how the other racers can blow past you with impunity while you're fighting a boss. But there are some obstacles they can get stuck on. For example, the haunted vampire castle stage (I forget its proper name) has a gate near the start that closes after you pass through it. Racers who get stuck behind it when it closes are pretty much eliminated from the competition. You can help this happen by using a bomb right at the start of the race. Unsporting, but effective :D

- Actually, using a bomb at the start of every race to break out of the pack isn't a bad idea. This isn't some Cave shmup where half your score comes from a bomb-hoarding bonus :D Just as bombs in Raizing's "B trilogy" have the dual role of scenery destruction for score as well as survival, bombs in this game have a major use in thwarting your rival racers.
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Damocles
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Post by Damocles »

Another thing that should be noted is that in some levels it is possible to use the scenery to cut off the competition if you get there first. Specifically in Outcast Castle and Cold Corridor. If you can get into first by the time you enter the main corridor of Outcast Castle, you can trigger a wall/door to keep your opponents from advancing, allowing you to progress at your leisure. In Cold Corridor you can do virtually the same thing with the multitude of traps as well as the twisty corridor which, for some reason, the AI has trouble navigating.

C'mon people, make me want to break 1 Million for the high score table here.
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Post by BulletMagnet »

I might be wrong on this, but I seem to remember seeing an opponent who was onscreen with me when I defeated a boss get caught up in the boss's explosion much as he would have gotten caught up if I'd dropped a bomb...anyone else ever seen anything like that? I'll hafta test it out more...
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Post by Randorama »

BulletMagnet wrote:I might be wrong on this, but I seem to remember seeing an opponent who was onscreen with me when I defeated a boss get caught up in the boss's explosion much as he would have gotten caught up if I'd dropped a bomb...anyone else ever seen anything like that? I'll hafta test it out more...
It's normal, opponents can be hit by bullets as well. Funny thing is, apparently they lose lives as well...it seems like they disappear (at least for one race/stage) if they get hit more than once. I can't confirm on this, though.
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Ord
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Post by Ord »

Is the shooting only mode available on the Saturn only or can it be accessed in the pcb too? I had a look in Sheeps site, but there was no mention of it.
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Icarus
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Post by Icarus »

I think Shooting Mode is only available on the Saturn version, I haven't tried out the PCB to check. (Dipswitches, maybe?)

As for obstructing enemies, there is one decent stage route which will will make your life easier, and one stage route which is hard as nails. Picking the correct stages to ensure your 1st place placing is vital to reaching the second loop. Playing dirty is also recommended, if you can shove an opponent into the path of an enemy or bullet, then do so ^_- You can get quite a number of bombs as well, it is advisable not only to use them to eliminate mid and stage bosses quickly, but to obstruct your other competitors.

I think you guys have an idea of the best stage routes so far, maybe you can collectively come up with the "Easy Firsts" route...

And as for breaking 1mil in this game, most Japanese scoreboards actually go by distance rather than score for Shippu Mahou, seeing as the primary aim is to finish first ^_-

(Who'd have thought it. A racing shmup. We need more of these.)
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Post by Randorama »

Uhm, my favourite route is:

1-fixed 2-Air corridor (Not Velma ocean,if the name is wrong) 3 - Crossfire 4 - Ice corridor 5 - Geostorm 6 - Kingdom grandprix

Then, i take the Kobold's tower on the loop (i.e. all the stages are fixed, but since there are three final stages, you can still choose: i usually avoid Yashiki of ninja, beatiful but deady stage). I think this is the best route in terms of balance and difficulty, as it is made of all the toughest stages, so the easier ones are for the loop.Also, since it's impossible to extend in the loop (yes, no extra lives), it should be possible to nail about 900k in this way (and get three extends), but i'm not sure about this :?
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Post by Herr Schatten »

Randorama wrote:1-fixed 2-Air corridor (Not Velma ocean,if the name is wrong) 3 - Crossfire 4 - Ice corridor 5 - Geostorm 6 - Kingdom grandprix

[...]

I think this is the best route in terms of balance and difficulty, as it is made of all the toughest stages, so the easier ones are for the loop.
So, for someone like me, who only desires to clear the first round of the game, you'd suggest to always choose the other stage, thus making the game as easy as possible?
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Post by BulletMagnet »

Randorama wrote:1-fixed 2-Air corridor (Not Velma ocean,if the name is wrong) 3 - Crossfire 4 - Ice corridor 5 - Geostorm 6 - Kingdom grandprix

I think this is the best route in terms of balance and difficulty, as it is made of all the toughest stages, so the easier ones are for the loop.
Hmm, interesting choices...lately I've mainly been playing on "shooting" mode, and it seems to me that within most course selections there's one longer (and higher-scoring) stage, and one shorter (and usually easier) stage in each pair...Air Circus, Outcast Castle, Deeply Dungeon (gotta love Engrish) and Strato Storm are the ones I usually consider belonging to the first group, while Velmatic Ocean, Cross Fire, Cold Corridor, and Forest of Dead seem to better fit the latter group (I don't have enough experience yet with the final trio to say much about them). So on shooting mode it seems that you at least to some extent choose between more points/more risk, and less points/less risk, depending on how confident you are with the stage. Of course, when you add racing mode's rules in there it becomes a whole new ball of wax...
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Post by AWJ »

BulletMagnet wrote:Hmm, interesting choices...lately I've mainly been playing on "shooting" mode, and it seems to me that within most course selections there's one longer (and higher-scoring) stage, and one shorter (and usually easier) stage in each pair...Air Circus, Outcast Castle, Deeply Dungeon (gotta love Engrish) and Strato Storm are the ones I usually consider belonging to the first group, while Velmatic Ocean, Cross Fire, Cold Corridor, and Forest of Dead seem to better fit the latter group
There's no way Cross Fire is easier than Outcast Castle.
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Post by BulletMagnet »

Heh, again, I'm talking mainly "shooting mode"...in that mode, the stage scrolls very slowly and isn't very long, not to mention that since there aren't many open spaces or small, quick enemies to deal with, you can just equip an "F" weapon and tear through all the gunpods and such without much trouble. As I said above, racing mode probably puts a whole new spin on the above.
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Post by Damocles »

The easiest route for me is the Ocean, Outcast Castle, Ice Corridor, and the Kobald Castle.
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Post by Randorama »

Herr Schatten wrote:
Randorama wrote:1-fixed 2-Air corridor (Not Velma ocean,if the name is wrong) 3 - Crossfire 4 - Ice corridor 5 - Geostorm 6 - Kingdom grandprix

[...]

I think this is the best route in terms of balance and difficulty, as it is made of all the toughest stages, so the easier ones are for the loop.
So, for someone like me, who only desires to clear the first round of the game, you'd suggest to always choose the other stage, thus making the game as easy as possible?
Yeah, i'm not sure on Ice corridor though...i remember finding Ice corridor and the other option (name...?) roughly equivalent in difficulty. Well, dealing with the floods may be more difficult though, but "Ice corridor" has a few traps. Also, i would say that Kobolds tower has by far the easiest final boss: just stay on one side after QUICKLY destroying the side cannons and destroy the rest by simply shooting (i.e. if you stay on one extreme of the screen, you easily avoid the giant laser).

On the shooting mode...i don't know, in general i don't think it's any different, if you don't need to keep in check the position (and thus deal with the narrow corridors and whatnot).Of course, if you want to do just one loop (there's an option in the menu for this), i would take the easier ones.
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Re: GD: Shippu Mahou Daisakusen

Post by esreveR »

O hai thar.

I was wondering what "Player Hit" did in the Saturn options, and if there's some kind of option for arranged music. Does anyone know?
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croikle
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Re: GD: Shippu Mahou Daisakusen

Post by croikle »

"Player Hit" might have something to do with collisions with the other racers, so you could turn it off and not get pushed around by them?
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Re: GD: Shippu Mahou Daisakusen

Post by Enhasa »

Don't remember about Player Hit, why not try it yourself and report back? ;)

I'm pretty sure there's no arranged music. There's Mahou Daisakusen and Battle Garegga music though IIRC.
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Re: GD: Shippu Mahou Daisakusen

Post by esreveR »

Enhasa wrote:Don't remember about Player Hit, why not try it yourself and report back? ;)
The hell do you think I spent all yesterday doing? I've come across no effects as of yet.
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Re: GD: Shippu Mahou Daisakusen

Post by croikle »

Maybe it's only collisions between human players in a 2P game.
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Re: GD: Shippu Mahou Daisakusen

Post by EmperorIng »

A massive (Christmas-time) bump-

I have been wondering - does scoring in this game depend on getting a good placement in the race itself?

Or is scoring independent of the shooting?

Because you can do one, or do the other, but you certainly can't do both! Well, I certainly can't do both.
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Re: GD: Shippu Mahou Daisakusen

Post by Zerst »

Well, I finish the first loop with around 600k, maybe 30-40k of that was from placement? I don't think it matters too much (unless you're going for a record), as long as you hit the loop requirement.
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Re: GD: Shippu Mahou Daisakusen

Post by EmperorIng »

Do you mind me asking what the loop requirements are?

I assume its strictly placement, as when I credit-feed the game, and make sure I get first in every race (-.-), I get to go to the second loop - though usually at that time I'm so washed-out by credit-feeding I give up!

As for other techniques, using a bomb at the beginning of a match - now there's a good idea.
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Re: GD: Shippu Mahou Daisakusen

Post by Ruldra »

I believe the loop requirement is simply to finish 1st at the end of the tournament.

By the way, don't bother racing on the 2nd loop, surviving alone is hard enough. You can still finish 1st on the first stage but after that it's not worth racing anymore.
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Re: GD: Shippu Mahou Daisakusen

Post by EmperorIng »

Good to know. I just ordered this myself, as a Christmas present (to myself), so I'm looking to get my Raizing on.

As far as other scoring techniques go, there aren't any bells or whistles, are there? From playing both this and Sorcer Striker, it seems very much a "shoot and survive to get the top score" type of deal.
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