What is the hardest SHMUP you`ve ever played?

[moh]

I'd say based on difficult patterns, mushi futari or DOJ. but based on shit like "i can't tell the difference between bullets and shrapnel" Ibara! D:

[Erppo]

Super-stupid-ridiculously difficult gameplay

[Skykid]

Super-stupid-ridiculously difficult gameplay

Man, I was always looking for a good way to deal with that boss! Getting in front of him can be kind of tricky.

[Gus]

Super-stupid-ridiculously difficult gameplay

That actually looks pretty sweet to the bullet cancel fetishist side of me.

[drunkninja24]

I'd say based on difficult patterns, mushi futari or DOJ. but based on shit like "i can't tell the difference between bullets and shrapnel" Ibara! D:

Someone hasn't played Garegga

[Erppo]

Super-stupid-ridiculously difficult gameplay

That actually looks pretty sweet to the bullet cancel fetishist side of me.

To be fair, none of the other ships are that silly. I just find it funny when BL is called especially hard when the optimal scoring routes mostly play like that.

Not that I have anything against the game, I find it quite fun myself too.

[ChainsawGuitarSP]

Anything by Toaplan. I'm closer to clearing RayForce than Batsugun and Twin Cobra II if that's any indication.

[RNGmaster]

Ibara and Psikyo second loops. I don't know how anyone scores in the second loop of Dragon Blaze. Ibara is just brutal and unforgiving even for survival - it's like Battle Garegga but with every boss at least as bad as Black Heart.

[moh]

I'd say based on difficult patterns, mushi futari or DOJ. but based on shit like "i can't tell the difference between bullets and shrapnel" Ibara! D:

Someone hasn't played Garegga

i actually haven't played garegga yet, which must seem like blasphemy to all you shooter veterans $:
I'll pick it up eventually! i just dont have that kind of money just yet D:

[Estebang]

i actually haven't played garegga yet, which must seem like blasphemy to all you shooter veterans $:
I'll pick it up eventually! i just dont have that kind of money just yet D:

You don't need money.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4qyRaHYeus

[MJR]

futari ultra obviously takes the cake; but most frustrating shmup I ever played was soldner-x on nightmare difficulty. That was just not right.

[Aliquantic]

Pink Sweets 1.00 (360 port so no infinite lives) Harder or Extended, or the MMP 1.00 2-ALL... that one doesn't even have a 2-ALL score on Arcadia for one of the characters! And of course Futari 1.01 Ultra, I'm not sure if anyone ever did that either (or 1.00).

[Hagane]

Gunbird 2 2-ALL and Great Mahou Daisakusen are both up there. That list on the first page puts Sengoku Blade 1CC on the same level as a Gunbird 2 1CC, heh. More like a Sengoku Blade 2 ALL is like a Gunbird 2 1CC.

Surprised to see anyone mention P-47 Aces, it's one of the easiest shooters I've played. It only gets tricky around the final stage, but Black Widow + killing shit fast + tap dodging is extremely effective. Sort of like a much easier Psikyo game.

[Never_Scurred]

Hard but tolerable: Battle Garegga

This-scoring-system-is-retarded Hard: Espgaluda 2

Fuck-it-I-quit Hard: DOJ

Hard but fun: Ibara, Ketsui

[Gus]

And of course Futari 1.01 Ultra, I'm not sure if anyone ever did that either (or 1.00).

To be fair that's mostly because 99% of the PCB owners never even got a chance to play it and the 1.01 version is locked away on a rare DLC card.

[Siren2011]

This-scoring-system-is-retarded Hard: Espgaluda 2

Ah, man! How could you say that? I love the hell out of Espgaluda 2's scoring system.

Medal chaining gets ridiculously, butt fuckingly hard in the later stages of both Garegga and Ibara. I can't even begin to keep up. Galuda 2's "bullets follow you here, bullets follow you there" scoring is much more forgiving in comparison. And once you figure out how to approach each area and dance around the patterns in kakusei zesshikkai, the game loses it's illusion of being impossible to score in, and can be incredibly fun. I hope to get to the point where I can play the whole game without triggering my auto guard barrier. Currently my 1# CAVE game ever, it is. And I love looking at the high score board for it here and seeing the gap in scoring potential between the best and the novice players. It's enormous.

[Marc]

DOJ for me. Just can't get my head around the patterns. Mind, I'm finding Ressurection a total
fucker now I'm trying (and failing) to play for score.

[hail good sir]

tech

(last one was locked)

[Chaos Phoenixma]

Fuck-it-I-quit Hard: DOJ

Hard but fun: Ibara, Ketsui

I would have switched those. Not that I've ever actually played Ibara.

[KitesAreFun]

My vote goes to Raiden IV two loop 1cc.

[To Far Away Times]

Hardest I can beat: DOJ BL

Just outside my skill level: Ketsui

I'm sure I've played harder games but gotten nowhere in them.

[Skykid]

Pink Sweets most definitely.

[DrTrouserPlank]

Futari any mode.

If we are talking about difficult to the point where the game is completely broken then it's DFK.

[Skykid]

Futari any mode.

If we are talking about difficult to the point where the game is completely broken then it's DFK.

I just cleared DFK for the third time in the arcade today. Getting boring now (bomb style though, but I'm sure that doesn't affect your position.)

[DrTrouserPlank]

In all honesty I don't think there's really any difference in these games difficulty-wise. Not on any meaningful level. It might take you 100 hours to clear one and 150 hours to clear another. It's still a bucket load of time either way and the difficulty is evidently off the scale in both cases.

[AntiFritz]

Probably pink sweets. Doesn't stop it being insanely fun though, even if I can barely get to stage 3 on mame.

Futari any mode.
Ok, I'll bite.

If we are talking about difficult to the point where the game is completely broken then it's DFK.

You are NEVER going to clear either of those games with that attitude. So it's really your loss.

Futari BL original took me less then a week to clear after I got the port, with most of that time practising stage 3.

It's just a matter of being in the right mindset and learning to practice efficiently.

[Muchi Muchi Spork]

In all honesty I don't think there's really any difference in these games difficulty-wise. Not on any meaningful level. It might take you 100 hours to clear one and 150 hours to clear another. It's still a bucket load of time either way and the difficulty is evidently off the scale in both cases.

There's a huge difference in the difficulties actually. DFK 1.5 1-ALL (first loop basic clear) is easy as hell (for bomb and strong). I think it took me a couple of days? Deathsmiles Megablack easy route is the easiest shmup clear I've ever seen my whole life. Day 1 clear. The new mode on Akai Katana 360 was a day 1 clear for a lot of people. On the other end you have SDOJ (original arcade mode, not the 360 sissy stuff) and even worse Pink Sweets (without using the infinite lives trick).

[DrTrouserPlank]

In all honesty I don't think there's really any difference in these games difficulty-wise. Not on any meaningful level. It might take you 100 hours to clear one and 150 hours to clear another. It's still a bucket load of time either way and the difficulty is evidently off the scale in both cases.

There's a huge difference in the difficulties actually. DFK 1.5 1-ALL (first loop basic clear) is easy as hell (for bomb and strong). I think it took me a couple of days? Deathsmiles Megablack easy route is the easiest shmup clear I've ever seen my whole life. Day 1 clear. The new mode on Akai Katana 360 was a day 1 clear for a lot of people. On the other end you have SDOJ (original arcade mode, not the 360 sissy stuff) and even worse Pink Sweets (without using the infinite lives trick).

Can't say I agree about DFK.

Don't think I've played much of shin mode in AK, but people also claim that AK arcade is "easy" and I found that to be pretty untrue for a number of reasons, but particularly the last two bosses if I was going to be concise with my reasons. Don't think I played much DS BL but I never cleared the arcade mode either.

The reason I say they are all pretty much the same is that you play them, get to stage 3 and get wiped out. Then you practice them and improve and get to stage 4 or 5 (irrespective of the game in question) and then get wiped out, and that's about as far as any of it goes. Regardless of the alleged difficulty of the game in question I always found I could get about as far into one game as the other and never particularly perceived anything as being more difficult than anything else. The patterns and speed end up being about the same over the course of the game.

There are some exceptions. DS is easier to get to the final level than in other games, but that's probably because it's not a 5 level game, coupled with the selectable difficulty.

Maybe there is some difference between them, but I don't see it in any tangible sense; certainly not from a perspective of clearing the game. Maybe scoring it is different.

[Muchi Muchi Spork]

Akai Katana (arcade) is easy to clear relative to Cave's average but it got a reputation for being easier than it actually is. They aren't all the same like you say though. Getting wiped out on stage 3 the first few times you play a game is a lot different than it being a month long brick wall. The clear difficulty in the games is all across the board. Have you not cleared any of them yet?

[Skykid]

Akai Katana's ease was definitely overplayed, although I never really played anything except Shin (arcade's a bit dull to go back to.)

DFK bomb style took about 5 committed credits, but then it's not really a conventional clear, more like rationing bombs/hypers to fudge through to the credits.

Futari BL original is the only Cave game I cleared on my first credit, but I'd been playing 1.5 on pcb months before the port.

I know you like the genre Trouserplank, but after all these years I'm getting the funny feeling it might not be for you.