RQ: Ketsui 1st loop survival play bomb allocation

[ACSeraph]

I'm new to this game but really enjoying it enough that I want to try and get the 1st loop clear. Not really concerning myself too much with score at this point, what are some tips for general survival?

Specifically I would really appreciate if someone could suggest where to use bombs (I tend not to panic bomb, I would rather plan them out.) Also how many bombs are available within the first loop?

Basically I don't want to practice while allocating too many bombs early on only to find myself stuck near the end without enough to survive.

[nasty_wolverine]

You shouldnt have to bomb till the first half of the 3rd stage, till then its pretty easy to NMNB.
Stage 3 midboss gives you a 1up if you dont bomb, so you should try to get it.
right before stage 3 boss, where the B2 bomber shows up, you probably need a bomb (i generally have 50% survival in this section)
stage 3 boss can be NMNB, but use bombs as necessary, 2 should do it.
stage 4 is where it gets tough, though a bomb isnt necessary till after the midboss. bomb away after that and boss.
Havent figured out stage 5 yet...

[wiNteR]

I cleared the first loop little less than three years ago when the game first became available via emulation.

First of all you should use the ship that feels more comfortable. It depends whether you are used to playing with fast movement or slow movement ships in other games. The general consensus for this game seems to be that the fast ship is somewhat easier for survival (in this game).

Other than that getting the two 1ups is quite important. You want to practice those sections enough that you would be confident with getting them in full runs too.

I cleared the game on last life, with perhaps 0 or 1 bombs remaining. From what I remember about bomb distribution, you shouldn't be using any bomb until after the first half of stage-3 (after the 1up). For that you might also wanna practice the second boss enough to be able no-bomb it (it has one or two tricky patterns). Or you could just use 1 bomb there.

For stage-3 boss someone mentioned once that there is an easier way to defeat it than usual (if you focus on some parts first). I don't know about it though.

For stage-4 and stage-5 I used a lot of bombs. To give you an idea usually in an ideal scenario (with my bomb plan), I would enter stage-5 with first life (with no bombs remaining) or with second life (having used 1 or 2 bombs). I reached the last boss on clear run with 1 life remaining (and 1 bomb in stock) in the clear run.

Though I would recommend learning stage-4 and stage-5 (in particular) better than bare minimum. That's because you don't want to lose one life accidentally and see your whole clear plan being disturbed. It is better to have learned the game well enough that even after losing 1 or 2 lives accidentally you have a shot at clearing the game. For that, if you watch any good videos that handle the first loop perfectly (with your ship type), that would be quite useful I think.

[BER]

Old, but since this caught my eye on the front page, here was mine when I did the 1-ALL: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... -pcO#gid=0

I don't remember what some of the descriptions mean, though.

[ACSeraph]

That looks really useful. But why do you have 6 lives from the start? Do you make spreadsheets like that for everything you play? I ought to try doing that myself...

[BER]

But why do you have 6 lives from the start?

I assume I get all four extends:

1. score extend at 20 million
2. score extend at 45 million
3. 1up from the stage 3 battleship
4. 1up from the two copter clones before the mid-boss in stage 5

Otherwise, the spreadsheet will get cluttered.

Do you make spreadsheets like that for everything you play? I ought to try doing that myself...

Yes. It helps me note where I die most often and when I have more hard spots than bombs and lives. I have something crazier for Shikigami no Shiro II for scoring.

I'm working on ESP Ra.De. right now. Looks like I ran out of bombing power and lives, so I have to do something about it:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... _web#gid=0

[ACSeraph]

That's really cool. It would be interesting to see spreadsheets from a lot of different players (not only in Ketsui) to see what the typical bombing/death points are. I think I'll try making one for the next game I play through.

[horaceappleton]

I'm crawling toward a Ketsui 1-ALL, and I actually found that my runs improved *significantly* when I only had a few pre-planned bombs. Planning out a run too precisely actually made me *less* consistent--there are always mistakes in any run, and anticipating where they'd be just made me unprepared for when I actually got in trouble. Learning to anticipate when I'm *about* to be in trouble--not panic-bombing, more like using bombs defensively--has been much more rewarding.

That said, here's my current bomb plan FWIW http://pastebin.com/FH62NMCf

uh also just registered hi all

[Bananamatic]

That's really cool. It would be interesting to see spreadsheets from a lot of different players (not only in Ketsui) to see what the typical bombing/death points are. I think I'll try making one for the next game I play through.

here's my spreadsheet

Code: Select all

never bomb
never die

[Zengeku3]

At the end of stage 5. The helicopter assault can occasionally be hard.