Sonic Wings (Aero Fighters) 2 & 3

[EmperorIng]

Giving this thread some love in the new year. There is some renewed interest in Sonic Wings 3 online, lots of videos of clears recently.

Trying the Russian girls out for a spin. Maybe not the wisest choice but their ship isn't as horrible as I initially thought. If you point blank with their angled streams, bosses can melt in seconds.

Sonic Wings 3
EmperorIng - 1 924 700 - Chaika and Pooschka - 2-4 - MAME (SW3)

Both Download Links that include the fixed Sound Driver appear to be down. Can someone re-upload it again?

I am digging this post out of the depths of the past to bring it up again, considering it's an annoying thing that happens when playing all the first three Sonic Wings games.

[Steven]

You're making me want to play all of these Sonic Wings games. I haven't played 2 and 3 for years now and I foolishly passed a chance to buy a friend's Sonic Wings PCB for a great price late last year, which has since been sold and I regret passing on.

I'm probably going to start checking these out soon now that you've started playing them, partially just as a respite from that crazy Same! Same! Same! 1P version that I'm working on, but also because I have lately felt that I have unfinished business with the Sonic Wings games that I do indeed wish to take care of.

[Ako]

sonicwi2 fixed sound driver https://www.mediafire.com/file/zfkjuin4 ... m1.m1/file

Note that you will need to probably use command line to start mame or it will whine about muh checksums, or have some other way to bypass the whining about checksums

[Meriscan]

sonicwi2 fixed sound driver https://www.mediafire.com/file/zfkjuin4 ... m1.m1/file

Note that you will need to probably use command line to start mame or it will whine about muh checksums, or have some other way to bypass the whining about checksums

Great stuff! Do you think this could be implemented into mame in some future update?

[M.Knight]

Sonic Wings 3
M.Knight - 1 551 800 - Chaika & Pooshka - 2-1 - MAME (SW3) JP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-kLZ-OGyec

[Ako]

sonicwi2 fixed sound driver https://www.mediafire.com/file/zfkjuin4 ... m1.m1/file

Note that you will need to probably use command line to start mame or it will whine about muh checksums, or have some other way to bypass the whining about checksums

Great stuff! Do you think this could be implemented into mame in some future update?

https://mametesters.org/view.php?id=4723 Here's a 10-year-old detailed report I submitted of the problem and it was closed as "Resolved" a long time ago, so I wouldn't ever expect this issue to be fixed because hey, so long as we mark it as "Resolved" the problem is surely gone

[Limbrooke]

Scores updated. Sadly the Sonic Wings wiki seems to have died. I'm going to see about contacting the former maintainer and take over, if there is still a back-up.

All the same, SW3/AF3 hits 25 entries, finally. Good work MKnight and EmperorIng.

[Prickly Angler]

Sonic Wings 3
Prickly Angler - 1 700 200 - Blazers - 2-1 - PS4 (SW3) : https://youtu.be/bsgHORVqu6Q

Incredibly fun game, very pleasant discovery. Cleared all stages of the first loop with all 12 characters, but somehow didn't manage to beat the score I had on my first 1CC lol. Will work on the second loop (not too sure which character I want to take), and a written commentary for all characters at some point.

[EmperorIng]

I am returning to this game, I would like to see how far I can get!

This time I am switching to MaoMao, mainly because i like the possibility of getting a huge score with her, and because I cannot find any good (nonTAS) resources for her in video form, so that makes for a fun challenge to figure things out (much like how I had to piece together a 2all with Mao in the first Sonic Wings game, which to my knowledge is the only such 2all video there is with her).

My pie-in-the-sky goal is 4 million, but I do not know if I will make it there. First I have to learn the second loop, and not die in the first!

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2281669707

Sonic Wings 3
EmperorIng - 2 249 400 - MaoMao - 2-2B - MAME (SW3)

Everything fell apart during the UFO fight in the first loop, I have a really hard time reading and dodging the opening attack. I wish there was a more obvious safespot. I have been practicing the 2-1 tank boss with no bombs (not shown here lol) and it is really hard. MaoMao does not do nearly enough damage to quick kill ANYTHING. So she has to let these awful, cheap bosses live for extra long and give them more chances to randomly clip you. The tank has to go through its entire cycle of attacks before MaoMao can take it out... AND she has to conserve ammo, have a spare power up, and only shoot at the right time in order to precisely damage the tank before it instakills you during its 'final.' What a pain. And it is followed up by the next bullshit stage too!

A special point of annoyance I need to gripe about is how MaoMao's lasers can inadvertently kill the wrong side of the warp plane after bosses, which will send you to the wrong level that you did not want to go to. Prickly above has had to contend with this problem several times. It is maddening to play half the loop and accidentally be sent to the panama stage (lower-scoring and harder), just because the London C boss fucks you over! It's so frustrating!!!

EDIT: For this last problem I think I found a solution - positioning one's self to the left of the center of the boss in London more or less angles the lasers (no matter what) to only attack the left wing of the ship that emerges after you destroy the rocket. This can give you the consistency to get into the correct stage just about every time.

[EmperorIng]

Nice progress! I finally made it past 2-2 and got a huge score, making it all the way to the 2-5 mech in France. 3.5 million woo! Not done yet. I would like to get 4 million if I can help it, but it will be pretty damn tough to do. Not dying in loop 1 to rng bullshit is a start! I managed 1.9 million after the first bonus stage.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2288931295

I lost my nerves at 2-5, but I was all shook up because for me the London boss is basically impossible so the fact that I "cruised" past the rocket left me in disbelief. I have a strategy to no-bomb the 2-5 mech boss, but I had so much nerves during the fight that I forgot what my route was. Several characters can pull this off - all you have to do is get the boss's health right before he switches phases to the laser spin, and then wait until he gets down into the bottom-right corner. Then he will be vulnerable for so long with his attack that you can kill him before he activates Spin2Win. Thanks to Ako for pointing out this technique to me!

Sonic Wings 3
EmperorIng - 3 560 100 - MaoMao - 2-5C - MAME (SW3)

[EmperorIng]

New pb! A big one too. Unfortunately I died in the most pathetic way possible in France. I am getting closer to the 2all, and my score is climbing higher!

The run is here:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2297247153

Definitely proud of the FLAWLESS 2-2 with the bullshit planes at 12:30.

Sonic Wings 3
EmperorIng - 3 874 200 - MaoMao - 2-5C - MAME (SW3)



My loop two strategies are starting to sort of come together. The big chokepoint is the London boss in loop 2. The rocket requires exact routing and timing of the fire button so that maomao's lasers destroy one of the side rockets in time to not get walled. I panicked and bombed here, which was actually a mistake. It would have been better had I just died, so I could get the full power and use a bomb. Instead, by bombing I died twice when I didn't need to and doomed my run. Maybe next time.

For those that care, I have also managed to figure out how to kill the infamous UFO without using a bomb, which I had initially thought was down to pure luck. Interestingly the UFO is not random but picks from a set series of attacks. Its first two attacks are always the same, as are its last two. In between it will randomly "pick" a combo to do, and very often you just have to dodge that one combo before it leaves itself wide open in its final attacks. MaoMao's lasers are quite strong, but you really have to know how to use them.

No-bomb strategies for the 1-8 Mars boss with MaoMao

[EmperorIng]

Big update! 2ALL finally achieved!!!



Sonic Wings 3
EmperorIng - 4 786 900 - MaoMao - 2ALL - MAME (SW3) - mameui248

Watch the video here!

Finally! It's been long since I updated, but I finally pulled it off! This video shows huge improvements in strategies, including no-bombing in 2-2 and getting some much better luck and outcomes on the 1-1 bonus medals. Ako has been helping a lot to get the mechanics of how the sprite overflow works in stage 1 to improve the yield. I have a video demonstration of 387,000. My highest is 390k in stage 1 now.

This run had a really dumb death in 2-8 but otherwise it was super clean. I am pretty proud of the new strats discovered for safely dealing with the London boss on 2-4, previously the single biggest hurdle for a 2all.

[EmperorIng]

Well this is an even bigger update! And uh, quite unexpected.

You see, I 2all'd the game, again, like a day later. However, the score is much, much higher.

Sonic Wings 3
EmperorIng - 5 611 700 - MaoMao - 2ALL - MAME (SW3) - mameui248



Watch the run here

That means that as of this post, this is officially the world record for Sonic Wings 3 with MaoMao, and the highest legitimate score achieved thus far in the game!

This is the dumbest and luckiest run I have ever had of this game. Perfect bonus stages and the stupidest dodges ever. Gotta have some big shoutouts to Ako, folks like toimine and the nefarious synthricardo, they all provided tips and strategies to make the run come together like this.

[Mero]

Congrats on the score, great job! Will check your video in a bit .

[Limbrooke]

I have to say

CONGRATULATIONS

Seriously, this WR has stood for 26+ years. While not the most difficult game its got some quirks and this is well deserved title.

[EmperorIng]

I have to say

CONGRATULATIONS

Seriously, this WR has stood for 26+ years. While not the most difficult game its got some quirks and this is well deserved title.

Thank you man, I appreciate it! It has a lot of oddities to the scoring system (in that most of your score comes from like 4 30-second bonus stages ) but it has a lot of personality and thanks to the lower difficulty it doesn't grind you down like some other non-danmaku.

I'm currently exploring with scoring with Chaika and Pooshka right now. While I don't think I will reach quite the same heights it is interesting to see how other characters fare without exploiting the ocean bonus stage. The world record for them (3.496 million) seems insanely well-optimized for a record set in 1996! I have reached it only by doing the most insane and ridiculous savestate abuse to get good luck on every bonus stage and more.

The amount of variation of score you get for little things in the game is pretty huge. Here I manage ~400,000 in the first stage, which is a huge chunk of your overall score. All due to minute timing of destroying the two wings of the Japanese Diet building.

[Limbrooke]

There are some quirks to be sure. I think given this isn't a super challenging game not a lot has been investigated since most of the records were set 25+ years back.

I noticed that when I worked on Blazers and I'll admit, this makes me notice the itch to start pushing that score further. Blazers might not be the most optimized but I think I did some rough calculations a few years back and with the optimal scoring I might not have been able to take over top spot here so I let it be. That's definitely the case now but still might be worth a go. You're certainly on the cusp of taking and or investigating other records so I say keep going.

[third_strike]

Well this is an even bigger update! And uh, quite unexpected.

You see, I 2all'd the game, again, like a day later. However, the score is much, much higher.

Sonic Wings 3
EmperorIng - 5 611 700 - MaoMao - 2ALL - MAME (SW3) - mameui248



Watch the run here

That means that as of this post, this is officially the world record for Sonic Wings 3 with MaoMao, and the highest legitimate score achieved thus far in the game!

This is the dumbest and luckiest run I have ever had of this game. Perfect bonus stages and the stupidest dodges ever. Gotta have some big shoutouts to Ako, folks like toimine and the nefarious synthricardo, they all provided tips and strategies to make the run come together like this.

Sorry, how could I miss this?
Huge congrats man, very inspiring!

[Ouduk0]

Hi
Sonic Wings 3 is the only MAME game I have that randomly resets high scores. I have even tried using the save state feature, where you return to the game to the exact same point where you left it. I can play many different games of SW3 over several days and it is all fine, then one day you go to enter a high score and it is back to defaults. It makes no sense. I seem to remember years ago that this did not happen, with a different MAME release maybe, but not 100% sure. Has anyone managed to find a way, or MAMAE version that works?
Thanks

[EmperorIng]

Sorry, how could I miss this?
Huge congrats man, very inspiring!

Just wanted to say thank you! I didn't mean to miss your kind message.

Hi
Sonic Wings 3 is the only MAME game I have that randomly resets high scores. I have even tried using the save state feature, where you return to the game to the exact same point where you left it. I can play many different games of SW3 over several days and it is all fine, then one day you go to enter a high score and it is back to defaults. It makes no sense. I seem to remember years ago that this did not happen, with a different MAME release maybe, but not 100% sure. Has anyone managed to find a way, or MAMAE version that works?
Thanks

Hi, as I explained in my MaoMao youtube video, it has something to do with NVRAM. I am not sure how it works though. For a long time it would save just -one- of my scores but sometimes it saves none of them. I think it has something to do with when you reset the game, or when you turn off mame. While it can be fun to see your scores, for optimal score play you will be wanting to make sure you have an empty NVRAM (ie no scores entered) on the table anyhow. The difference is, is that if you have ONE score saved, you can get a free bomb on your first death if you tap shoot precisely four times and crash into the plane at the start of the game. If you have a clean/deleted NVRAM, you have to do something a little more complicated:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNjI8aTIvj0

From my demonstration video with Chaika and Pooshka:

To get a guaranteed bomb on your first death (works in 1-1 only):
-make sure your nvram is clear/deleted
-set up an autofire button with ~3.75hz (2 on, 14 off - my mame has this as 3.69)
-select Chaika without using the autofire button
-as soon as the demo plays, hold down the 3.75hz button
-continue holding it
-there is some slight variance, but either you can move directly up to the top of the screen while holding auto, or you will have to wait appx. 1.5 bursts of fire before moving up
-let the large plane crash into you

The following planes need to use this trick to get an extra bomb in order to start farming bomb bonuses for score - Alex, Chaika, Ellen and Cynthia, Kohful and River, Blazers, and Whity. The reason why is that these ships do not have an invuln period for their bomb, so they cannot effectively milk the 1-3/2-3 pacific ocean bonus stage like MaoMao, Hien, Keaton, and Malcom.

The former group has to take a path of Left-Right-Right in loop 1, and Right-Left-Right in loop 2 and dangerously milk the power-up plane for all its worth by getting super close to it and circle around it. I have a video demonstrating this where I get 400,000+ points:
https://youtu.be/Dw7CDPMBlIc

I think my maximum I've gotten with savestates is 410k. Maybe you could get a maximum of 420ish if you did it perfectly, maybe a little higher. Other ships like the Blazers actually might have a far better time milking the plane because of the homing shot and speed.

[EmperorIng]

And if you forgive the double-post (since I did not want this to clutter up the strategy discussion with SW3), I finally got the 1all of SW2! I have been wanting to do this for a while, and it was one of my 2025 goals. I must have choked on the final boss close to a dozen times before clinching the 1all. I finally switched from MaoMao to a ship that is, perhaps better? I decided to use Angela (won't be calling her "Steve," sorry not sorry!). It's a nice change of pace to use a character who actually has a strong shot! Unfortunately she has her fair share of weaknesses - a pitiful bomb (not good for recovery) and her missiles rapidly drop in effectiveness the further away from the enemy you are.

Funnily enough, I practiced the shit out of Lars (the eye) boss, since I usually choke there. But playing today I got Tenuki the ghost TWICE and the first time he point-blanked me because I couldn't remember how to beat him, lol. I am really pleased, that despite flailing through 2-1, I snuck into 2-2 which was the dreaded Paris stage. And I was quickly overwhelmed, since i have not practiced a lick of loop 2. I would love to get a 2all in this game but that seems far, far off.

EmperorIng - 1338900 - Anjera - 2-2 - SW2 (JPN) MAMEUI248

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2377276828

[EmperorIng]

Some improvements - I managed to beat Gemant's old Angela score in my Sonic Wings 2 2all quest!

Funnily enough, I have a previous score that was -just- below his, also somehow getting the fucking 1/256 Mambo chance in loop 1. I do not know if I will ever see that damn fish again. However, despite that good luck, I choked hard and died in 2-1.

Since then I have been grinding loop 2 stages like a mad man, hoping I can one day get far enough along for a 2all. I can usually no-miss up to the final stage of loop 1, where bad monkey RNG and bad Lars (eye boss) RNG gets me. Obviously, a flawless loop 1 is a standard requisite for a survivable loop 2. Brazil in loop 2 is no joke, nor are any of the stages post-random order.

Sonic Wings 2 (Japan)

EmperorIng - 1716200 - Anjera - 2-4 - SW2 (JPN) MAMEUI248



Video if you want to hear me yell and make weird noises while playing.

Also have to give a big thanks to baf for making this quicky meme that sits in my stream, letting people know how my runs are going.


This game gives great joy to people watching me, not least because of the infinite comedy moments of the jank ass programming. Some short clips:
"Please get the quick kill"
"There are worse places to die" (how to throw your run in 5 seconds or less)
SW2 turns into a creepypasta
"Please, just die this time"

[EmperorIng]

Some more inching progress. It takes weeks to get past certain stages

Three times now I have gotten past the random stage order in loop 2 of Sonic Wings 2, so I hope that is a harbinger of things to come. All my runs abruptly stop in Australia however. This run I no-missed all the way to 2-5! I made a stupid, stupid mistake right at the end of the Brazil boss which more or less sealed my fate. Had that not happened I think I would have had a good shot at completing 2-6 instead of making it just before the boss. It is insane how small changes in your power-up or bomb stock can spell doom for you in the loop.

Sonic Wings 2 (Japan)

EmperorIng - 1918700 - Anjera - 2-6 - SW2 (JPN) MAMEUI248

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFAf13d_ggw



To be honest I have no idea how I will beat 2-10. I have not practiced it nearly as much because it just seems impossible, especially if you get the Lars eyeball as the final boss. My strategy so far is "pray for Mambo."

[EmperorIng]

My monthly update, I didn't want to post before beating 2-6, but hey might as well share something! And, I finally broke the 2 million barrier!

Sonic Wings 2 (Japan)

EmperorIng - 2000400 - Anjera - 2-6 - SW2 (JPN) MAMEUI248
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2468367800



I still can't seem to get out of 2-6, which is really frustrating. At least in this run I got the 2million by the very skin of my teeth.

Still a pretty good 1all at least - no miss, minimal bomb use except at the usual spots (monkey...). I panic-bombed during lars because I did not want to choke at the end of the loop.

A 1.5 million loop 1 is about as good you can hope without a mambo appearance.

Last weekend I did a 1all of this game live at Shmup Slam, which took place outside of Denver CO this year. it was a sweet arcade called Akihibara alongside lots of other great live runs that was streamed on MarkMSX's youtube.
https://horaro.org/slam7/saturday
https://horaro.org/slam7/sunday

It was a fun time even though my run was in the middle of the fucking night and a poorly-timed computer meltdown (right after the 1all, lol).

[EmperorIng]

Hopefully this post will be outdated by the end of the month. But this month's update: I finally made it past 2-6! As you can see below, I unfortunately choked right before the boss of 2-8 Mexico (a really dangerous part of the stage). Had I survived I am sure I would have made it to 2-9. I have been unable to get back there, but hopefully that will change!

This run was the first time I felt that the goal of the 2all might be within reach. But realistically, it is still a long way's off. The final gauntlet of 2-6 through 2-10 is just so brutal, some of the hardest stuff I have ever encountered in a game. To say nothing of the 2-10 final boss fight with Lars. That goddamn eyeball is just the worst boss I have ever seen, totally twitchy, random bullshit. At this point, I pray for mambo.

I recorded this run, but I will hold off on uploading probably for now since I am so close to the end(?). This score does beat DRD's highest-scoring replay for Angela, which bodes well for my eventual 2all score!

EmperorIng - 2383600 - Anjera - 2-8 - SW2 (JPN) MAMEUI248