Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

[EmperorIng]

Now that I'm back at my apartment, I can get back to working on some 1CCs.

Played a bit of Souky, Darius Gaiden, and RayForce last night, doing passable in all of them.

In Soukyogurentai, on a good run, I can get to stage 5 on one credit. My score right now is in the 8 million range there.

In Darius Gaiden, I'm still pretty shit, and only sometimes manage to snag the silver shield by stage 3. But today I was able to make it to the fifth stage on one credit, so that's not too bad.

In RayForce, I'm very out of practice, so I only got to stage 4. My best runs had me consistently getting to stage 6.

I should probably just focus on one of them and push for the clear. That might be Souky.

EDIT:
woo!
8.7mil in Souky, getting to the stage 5 boss. New personal best!

That final stretch of the stage before the boss is just brutal though. It ate through all of my lives.

[EmperorIng]

Hate to double post, but I managed to make it to the final stage of Soukyogurentai (lol, more accurately, the first thirty seconds of the final stage!) on one credit:

10,282,820 - a new personal best, even with some severe fuck-ups (basically thanks to stage 3's boss). Rank increases like a motherfucker at stage 6.

Getting an ALL on the game with a current score output like that would be pretty peachy indeed. Still a ways away from the 21mil #1 spot on the leaderboard.

Instead of dealing with the stage 6 boss and getting my ass handed to me, I sort of bitched out and bombed it to death. I got a little too excited because I actually had survived up to that point with relatively few scratches.

[NWrain]

I'm trying to play Sega Saturn Dodonpachi, but I'm pretty terrible when it comes to shmups. I don't have my yoko setup yet. Can't seem to get anywhere without dying. I also been having a lot of fun with Super Raiden on the PC Engine.

[azinth]

Gunbird 2.

[Drachenherz]

Mars fucking Matrix.

This game is harddd... Yes, with a triple D!!!

Could it be that the jap version is harder by default than the us version?

Can't.
Fucking.
Get.
To.
Stage 2 boss.
On 1 credit!!!

[Marc]

Finally made ST3 on Futari God, it's way above my level but handy as a warm up for original. In theory.

[ciox]

Mars fucking Matrix.

This game is harddd... Yes, with a triple D!!!

Could it be that the jap version is harder by default than the us version?

Can't.
Fucking.
Get.
To.
Stage 2 boss.
On 1 credit!!!

It is hard, bullets way too fast for a vertizontal and for how close enemies can get.
Also spots where you get pelted and the only way to survive is to use the shield for 0.0001 seconds at a time so it can recharge right away.

Still playing Bakraid and hoping to clear Advance.

[Jeneki]

Arcade or DC version of Mars Matrix? I'm able to get much further in the DC version. I think that's mostly because the separate button to auto use the lightning shot has spoiled me.

For me, been playing a lot of Viper Phase 1 (not the special version). It's surprising how difficult it is to get a 100% kill rate when you don't have epic firepower killing every popcorn enemy the second it enters the screen. And the difference between a 99% kill rate and a 100% kill rate is nearly double your score, OUCH. Really need a good flight path and shot timing to get everything.

[EmperorIng]

The defining trait of Takumi games (at least as I have observed) hasn't been fast bullets, but lots and lots of slow bullets. There are some faster attacks here and there, but by and large, it's about managing a cloud of bullets and correct shield usage.

I don't know if you've played Giga Wing 1 or 2, but Takumi games have a certain way you need to play them (for scoring and survival) as opposed to other bullet hell shmups. It just takes a while to learn the system.

EDIT:

10.8 million in Soukyogurentai. Getting farther into the last level, and while the Oil Field level is tough, it's getting a bit more bearable. Stage 3 boss still a bomb-spamming good[?] time. I'm getting close to 1CCing this game, I can feel it, ha!

[Rob]

Also spots where you get pelted and the only way to survive is to use the shield for 0.0001 seconds at a time so it can recharge right away.

Not sure what you're referring to, but the shield isn't necessary for survival, it only makes it easier.

Playing Zero Gunner 2.

[ciox]

Also spots where you get pelted and the only way to survive is to use the shield for 0.0001 seconds at a time so it can recharge right away.

Not sure what you're referring to, but the shield isn't necessary for survival, it only makes it easier.

Playing Zero Gunner 2.

Yeah, not that I've seen a no-shield run of the game, but it's probably possible. Still for a starting player it's immensely helpful to have a shield charged, it's like having a bomb in stock.

[DocHauser]

Zero Gunner and Pilot Kids on an M2 Emulator.

I never realised that Pilot Kids was a shmup. I'd heard the name before but I guess I mixed it up with Pilotwings. Anyway, it doesn't seem like the hardest Psikyo game ever, though the scoring system seems kinda cool at least.

[Zaarock]

Under Defeat HD, arcade mode.

Got the game last wednesday, best score is like 1,7mil. Going for 1-all.. Huge Dead End is no joke, the thing seriously wants you dead :p

[EmperorIng]

Is that the Snow Fortress turret boss? Or the final boss?

Both are real motherfuckers.

I've yet to crack 1million in Under Defeat, but I haven't played it since last fall.

[Zaarock]

Meant the last boss.. I've only managed to no-miss it in training once so far Snow fortress boss has never given me trouble(idk why, but it is fairly simple because it shoots the same patterns you've been dodging the whole game)

[Klatrymadon]

Revisiting Sagaia at the moment (I've recently added Super Darius II and MD Darius II to my collection, so I'm probably just tediously making a mental note of all of the differences between versions at this point). I'd forgotten about all of its weird truncations. Half of the stages are over before the music gets going, hehe. It seems to make up for this by throwing more enemies at you, with more erratic behaviour. It's quite fun, so I'll probably spend a bit more time with it and aim for a 1CC. Anyone else familiar with/fond of this variant?

[kamiboy]

Super Star Soldier.

Amazing chiptunes and very challenging gameplay. Level 6 is the flat slippery wall I am trying to climb over right now. Hate to think what level 7 & 8 are like. Know for a fact that the game ends in a classic boss rush, which is a challenge sure to shave a few years off of my life span.

That is why I love it though.

[ratikal]

Playing a mix of Eschatos Hardest, Star Force, and Muchi Muchi Pork.

M-KAI mentioned that he had some inspiration from Star Force and I can see why. Some of the enemies are essentially copies from SF to Eschatos. It's quite interesting.

[Squire Grooktook]

I'm working on a 1cc of V.Hard on Gradius 2 ARC. On the side I'm messing around with RayStorm and G-Darius.

[Softdrink 117]

I've been jumping around a bit. The only thing I've been playing consistently is Ikaruga; finally decided to sit down and take that game seriously. I've also been playing a fair bit of DFKBL and Pink Sweets. The latter is amazingly fun, but so brutally difficult that I'm not sure I'll ever try for a 1CC.

Also been dabbling in RSG. I can see why it has such a solid reputation, although the sheer length of a playthrough is quite intimidating.

Last night I played around in MAME for a bit, including an hour of Mars Matrix. Definitely going to invest more time in that game eventually.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Get to St5 in Progear, feeling good about the possibility of making it to the loop since I've gotten better at no-bombing the stage up to the final boss and should have plenty of resources, proceed to die four times in a row at the start of the level. Before even making to the second giant tank. ._.

[Sapz]

Back on the Strikers 1999 train.

[blackoak]

Tantalizingly close to a Bakraid Advanced 1cc. It really isn't that hard, I just keep fucking up. Also, been working on a 2P Bakraid Normal 1cc with my friend. Almost had it tonight... I never really liked vertizontal games, but I kind of see their appeal for 2P now. You've got a pretty restricted movement range otherwise, and macro dodging stuff is very hard.

[exidy]

Been playing the heck out of Dogyuun lately and Forgotten Worlds.
Not sure why, but ive been on a Toaplan kick lately.

jon

[EmperorIng]

Nice-looking egret! I've been playing a little bit of Hellfire on MAME myself. I like it, despite its slightly stilted nature. I have to play it with autofire though - the later Toaplan games are better and a large part of that is built-in autofire!

I've been messing around a bit with ESPrade on MAME.
Not sure how I feel about the scoring system, because it seems kind of pointless, like "we need chaining and a useless secondary attack just because we're Cave" - but I like just about everything else about the game. Could have sworn JD 5 was a girl until I heard the voice clips - good ol' Jun.

[moh]

progear....

yum

[Aquas]

Ketsui and Eschatos are my main ones right now. Pretty much ready for 1cc attempts in Ketsui (1-loop) and trying to hit 40M in Eschatos Original Hard (argh!).

[CoolgyFurlough]

I just found a copy of Gradius V at Gamestop, and I have to say that I am absolutely loving this game! I've never been a fan of the Gradius series for multiple reasons, but I really think they got the difficulty right in this game. I am sad that pretty much the only resources on this forum are how to align your options though, as I really want to know all of the strategy and scoring for the game but don't exactly know where to look except for here.

I think I'm going to be playing this one for quite a while.

[EmperorIng]

Gradius games never really have a "scoring system," per se. Your score is basically a gauge of how long you survive.

This is from personal Gradius III and IV experience, so if I'm wrong, someone please correct me!

[Squire Grooktook]

Yeah, scoring in Gradius is like Robotron: Shoot the shit out of everything and try not to die for as long as you can. Though you'll wanna optimize your strategy for getting the most out of each level of course.

I don't remember there ever being any more esoteric scoring mechanics like combos or whatnot (unless there's something like that in Otomedius, haven't tried those games yet).