Buddha Style Shmup?

[vederci]

Hello everyone,

I've been leeching this forum for quite a while now, and I've searched the forum for an answer for this question, so forgive me if this question has already been answered:

I'm looking for shmups to play without (or with as little as possible) shooting. I saw a video series of R-Type 3 being played this way (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE6734CA41D6B75B8) and I think it's awesome.

Do you guys know some games that are fun to play this way? Preferably on SNES or MAME.

Thanks in advance.

[Ghegs]

Though it's not for SNES/MAME, the obvious choice here is Ikaruga, which even acknowledges not-shooting as a completely legit and viable play style.

I'd say many shmups can be played that way, but whether it's actually fun depends on the player.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Touhou gamesare also commonly done pacifist because of how you can timeout spells (bombs are usually allowed to deal with stage popcorn and assist in survival).

[shmuppyLove]

Karous has a shield and bosses that timeout.

You can actually clear the game without firing a single shot (and also without hardly moving lol).

http://youtu.be/lsNHhQuUazc

[KAI]

That's a lie and you know it.

Milestone's Leitmotiv, play for score of GTFO.

[Jeneki]

It's worth noting that if you want to do a true pacifist run in Karous, you'd have to move around to avoid deflecting bullets. Once the shield gets to level 20 it may start attacking on its own, and a pacifist would want to avoid that.

Back when Nyu Media was releasing Exceed, they had a scoring competition for the second game. I figured out how to get the lowest score possible in that challenge (I didn't win ). It's a little harder than it seems, since you can't time out bosses; you have to defeat them in very specific ways to avoid getting bonus points.

[vederci]

Thanks for your replies.

Are Ikaruga (and Karous?) the only games that actually reward you for not shooting? Or are there other examples?

[TransatlanticFoe]

Iridion II on the GBA grades you on hit ratio. So you can get a good grade by basically just shooting the boss(es) in each stage - because they're mostly a guaranteed hit whilst popcorn during the stages will leave some shots wasted.

Not really "rewarding" but you can try playing pacifist with any game that has boss timers, although good luck making it that far if you don't have a sword/shield attack to defend yourself. Giga Wing might be doable (never tried getting reflect force to miss deliberately) but it's far more fun to shoot the shit out of everything.

[ciox]

There's probably a lot of games that reward you for delaying your shots and shooting at the right time, as it should be, but next to none that reward you for not shooting at all.
I think the only way for a game to be fun without shooting is if it has a strong grazing component, so that your ship's movement is involved in the game's mechanics the way shooting is.

Yep, this is the part where I recommend Psyvariar. (you will need a ps2 or pcsx2 emu to play)

[Ed Oscuro]

Does anybody remember that simple game which serves up patterns from classic danmaku STGs? The survival time-based scoring game. I don't even think I have a copy of it anymore.

Also, Buddha-style makes me think of Odd Mobs. It's Ghandi, sure, but...

Looking up "pacifist" in a forum search brings up a number of interesting topics:

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=39880 Creature Jungle 16
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=24276 Children's shmups?
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=13037 Slap Fight (look to the end of the first page)
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9518 Anyone ever play shmups without shooting?
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5067 "Non-Shooting" shmups

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Giga Wing might be doable (never tried getting reflect force to miss deliberately) but it's far more fun to shoot the shit out of everything.

Giga Wing isn't ideal to technically pacifist as reflecting stuff attacks enemies, but it IS fun to try and beat it with the minimum number of points possible. Giga Wing 2's multiplier starts at zero so you can attempt no points runs.

[Nana]

Er, there was that one indie game called "ceramic shooter" where you're constantly firing, and the goal is to not hit anything. It's really simple and not very good, but it's worth a look. Cute story anyhow.

[Obiwanshinobi]

To play Psyvariar "the way it's meant to be played", you need an arcade stick. Chances are that roll can be performed with just a keyboard, but I wouldn't know.

[casualcoder]

I could be wrong but I think all of the Raiden series games are fairly easy to get through without much shooting. I know ive gotten past some of the boss battles on timeout alone. And a lot of the time there are not many bullets or enemies on the screen, which makes dodging easier. On PSN there is Soldner X2 which has challenge modes specifically for not shooting at all, and the boss battles timeout also but it is a slow, plodding game to play. On x360 you may have luck with Trouble Witches by just using the bullet stall technique and not shooting (rapidly pressing the stall button evaporates bullets but you have to manage your meter), or you can try Triggerheart Excelica which has a grapple button. You can get through the whole game with the grapple alone (certainly not pacifist, but nonetheless doesn't involve destroying with bullets).

[MommysBestGames]

Arena shooters, but Geometry Wars 1 had a pacifism Achievement, and GW2 had an entire mode called Pacifism. Xbox 360 though. I don't think the Wii GW Galaxies had a Pacifism mode.

[ciox]

To play Psyvariar "the way it's meant to be played", you need an arcade stick. Chances are that roll can be performed with just a keyboard, but I wouldn't know.

Only the PS2 version is really playable via emulator and that version has an instant roll button you can bind.
Not that it's all that hard to roll the old-fashioned way, once started the roll lasts for a second or so, I roll just with the directions on keyboard because I either hate myself or love this game too much.

[Squire Grooktook]

I actually used to experiment with playing Gradius 3 SNES pacifist. Just to see how hectic things could get if you let all the enemies and bosses live till time out. There are some places you have to shoot (the tunneling section on stage 3), and some places where it's not realistically possible to complete without shooting (Prominence), but it can be fun on some of the stages.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Only the PS2 version is really playable via emulator and that version has an instant roll button you can bind.
Not that it's all that hard to roll the old-fashioned way, once started the roll lasts for a second or so, I roll just with the directions on keyboard because I either hate myself or love this game too much.

From what I gather, rolling with the button technically "breaks" the game (it's possible to trigger without moving an inch). Thus I consider playing with it a PS2-exclusive mode.

[vederci]

I didn't know about the 'pacifist'-topics, which make this thread pretty much obsolete. Sorry for making this thread, I used the search button but didn't think about entering 'pacifist'.

Thanks you for all your replies. If you happen to read this and think: 'this guy MUST play [insert game name here]!', just send me a PM.

@ moderators: you can lock this thread if you want to.

[casualcoder]

Huh? That was weird.

[Vexorg]

Although it's an arena "shooter", Rayhound (made by Hikware of Warning Forever fame) is based on reflecting enemy attacks back at them by using a reflect barrier.

http://www.hikware.com/Prod/index.html#rh

[Mischief Maker]

Wouldn't a true Buddha Style Shmup be one where there are no bullets to dodge?

Gutei displayed his hitbox whenever he was asked a question about Shmups. A boy attendant began to imitate him in this way. When a visitor asked the boy what his master had preached about, the boy displayed his hitbox.

Gutei heard about the boy’s mischief, seized him, and cut off his scoring chain. As the boy screamed and ran out of the room, Gutei called to him. When the boy turned his head to Gutei, Gutei displayed his own hitbox. In that instant the boy was enlightened.

[CStarFlare]

Harmful Park can be played this way. I can't think of any part of the game that wouldn't be doable without shooting, but there's a shield if you're scared (though that does damage enemies).

[cuttingagent]

Twilight Refrain as well, has boss timeouts. I'm guessing the other two TWINS games do too.

[Ed Oscuro]

Wouldn't a true Buddha Style Shmup be one where there are no bullets to dodge?

Gutei displayed his hitbox whenever he was asked a question about Shmups. A boy attendant began to imitate him in this way. When a visitor asked the boy what his master had preached about, the boy displayed his hitbox.

Gutei heard about the boy’s mischief, seized him, and cut off his scoring chain. As the boy screamed and ran out of the room, Gutei called to him. When the boy turned his head to Gutei, Gutei displayed his own hitbox. In that instant the boy was enlightened.

In this moment I have attained enlightenment. Thank you for the evil use!