Xbox 360: Mushihimesama Futari 1.5 (November 2009)

[BulletMagnet]

Take it to PM, or I take it to the admins.

[Evilmaxwar]

Yeah lets keep it peaceful.

Anyway i tried the arrange mode again and its very easy, i 1cced it easily without abusing the shield thing. Seems the whole point of it is about getting massive scores, which appear quite tricky, i dont fully grasp the mechanics. I ended it with 500 mil-ish barely more than half the lowest high score. Next time ill try in maniac mode. I sure dig the blazing fast action.

[Skykid]

I've replied to what was asked and I'm out of the conversation (I wasn't even really in it in the first place).

[Remxi]

Does anyone know where I could find a translation or summary of the ending sequences?

Thanks.

[Hair]

So, that would be a "no".

Actual insight tends to trump smart-assery. Do you have any insight to share? How do you feel about the slowdown in Futari? Just right? Too much? What makes you feel that way? Adult discussions tend to go better when snarky insults are at least accompanied with some sort of relevant point.

Smart assery is a fair trade for dumb assery. I don't feel any two ways about Futari's slowdown or any other Cave game with slowdown. Slowdown is part of the game, it's part of Cave's bullet hell paradigm and always has been. They've been quoted in interviews saying that while some slowdown in the PCB is hardware generated, other slowdown is implemented intentionally. They then intend to honour the original arcade experience (in most cases) by attempting to accurately translate that slowdown to the home port. Sometimes they get it bang on (DDP DOJ/Espgaluda) sometimes they cock it up and everyone complains because it essentially ruins the game (Ibara/Deathsmiles NA)

Futari is considered a very accurate all round port. The slowdown isn't 100%, but most of it's replicated properly. I own both the port and PCB and can vouch for the fact that there's very little between the two.

Hope that helps.

Does Futari play like other Cave PCBs? I have never played a Cave PCB, but I have played most Cave games in another fashion and never have I played one that slows down as often and seemingly randomly as Futari.

In level 2 I often get massive slowdown when 1 popcorn comes on screen (before it even fires). The slowdown stays until several more appear, and then suddenly stops, and comes back a second later. It isn't artful, tasteful, or similar to any slowdown heavy shmup I have played. It gets worse in the latter levels.

Good slowdown can create tension, release, and epic qualities. I like when a boss spits a bullet-heavy pattern at me, with each new layer adding more bullets on screen as the first wave nears me. The larger amount of bullets causes slow down right before I have to start dodging, and then goes back to full speed right before the pattern ends, often with a couple layers of bullets left to dodge at full speed. I don't get that from Futari at all. It's just slow and plodding any time anything is happening past level 1 or 2.

And yet, arrange mode has no slow down at all. None. I know that is a different mode, but why did they take the slowdown out?

I'm not concerned with the accuracy of the port versus the PCB (I'm sure I wouldn't put the PCB at the top of my fav Cave games list either), I'm wondering if every other Cave port or ROM I have played was less accurate and featured cinematic slowdown instead of the plodding slowdown of the PCB. Does the ESPgaluda PCB slow down with 1 popcorn enemy on screen and nothing else like Futari does?

These are meant as real questions to someone with Cave PCBs, not meant to be rhetorical or sarcastic.

I'm glad to see you giving valid points rather than saying someone else has shit for words just because they don't agree with you. I'd like to learn not flame.

[Skykid]

I'm not concerned with the accuracy of the port versus the PCB (I'm sure I wouldn't put the PCB at the top of my fav Cave games list either), I'm wondering if every other Cave port or ROM I have played was less accurate and featured cinematic slowdown instead of the plodding slowdown of the PCB. Does the ESPgaluda PCB slow down with 1 popcorn enemy on screen and nothing else like Futari does?

Futari is very accurate, although it's been noted that on occasion it 'speeds up' slightly when coming out of a slow patch, which can be irksome.
Stage 2 on the PCB is full of slowdown, primarily when there are Jellyfish around that allow you to bullet cancel. If you don't shoot them immediately and allow the screen to fill with enemy fire, you'll pull in more points when you do bullet cancel. This works better in Maniac where if you can kill the jellyfish after allowing a ton of bullets to build up, you'll cash in a lot more gems. The slowdown allows you to milk these sections.

The same goes for the ice poles, where you can pick off jellyfish in patches, allow them to respawn and then destroy the ice pole. If it was full speed this would be near impossible.

Afaik there is no arcade PCB by Cave that has ever 'suffered' from slowdown, which is the reason players want to see it replicated in the home ports. If it allows you to survive/score, it can be detrimental to playing a good game. Ibara on the PS2 is case in point - even some of the best Raizing players I know have said the port is nearly impossible to finish because there's zero slowdown, rendering it almost worthless.

For a full rundown on port accuracy in Cave games, EOJ has compiled a handy guide on Cave-STG judging all by their slowdown accuracy. Futari scores as 90-95% accurate in his estimation (and he's usually very knowledgable about such things):
http://www.cave-stg.com/?p=800

Further reading, and excerpt from a very recent interview with Cave:

The inclusion of ‘slow-down’ in your games, where the game’s speed drops in an apparent reaction to hardware capability, is now something almost unique to shmups. Is that something you simulate, and if so, why do you include it?

Cave’s games certainly have their difficult side, wherein there are situations where there are a lot of bullets on-screen. In these situations, we will see slow-down occur where the game speed drops and it is easier to find a route through the bullet patterns.
However it’s not just these situations, nor conveying the sense of dilemma when you have been pushed into the corner while the game speed has dropped, and although this is a simulated feeling, the player experiences a certain sense of ‘awakening’ and this situation can transform into something satisfying. Difficult portions are not difficult for difficulty’s sake. The meaning of slow-down in bullet heaven shooters is accentuating the difficulty of the game, and containing this potential for difficult situations to become enjoyable.
Most of Cave titles experience slowdown from the hardware aspect, but there are some of our games which emulate this via software. With the iPhone version of the game, we have not ‘replicated’ the slow-down of the arcade version. If slow-down is occurring, it is literally slowing down on the hardware.
The reason that we did not replicate slow-down with Espgaluda II is (schedule reasons were big, but…) the controls (interface) were originally designed for another type of hardware, so instead of a ‘complete port’ we aimed for something that would draw out a fun control method to complement the iPhone interface.

[moozooh]

More a tangent than an exception, but in DFK BL the hardware slowdown was so strong (and unavoidable) it made the ship's sprite vanish when a critical amount of objects on the screen was reached. The port fixes this particular behavior.

[Hair]

Thanks skykid, especially for the Cave quote.

So that is why ESPgaluda 2 has brought me to tears on several occasions (Xbox port).

I still think that the slow down in Futari seems awkward. I haven't played a Cave PCB but I have played other cabs and ports with slowdown and the way it occurs in Futari just feels odd compared to the cinematic slowdown I am used to. But maybe it is typical of Cave PCBs. Even from that quote, I would still expect the slowdown in their games to be used at bullet-heavy moments and not when one or two popcorn enemies come on screen and haven't even fired yet (this isn't common, but it does happen).

If the use of slowdown is part of the art, then I guess not everyone is going to "get" the way it is implimented in every case. I can accept that some people may love the way the slowdown in Futari occurs and find it perfect. I'm just not in that group.

I'm still wondering if Futari slows down in a similar way to other Cave PCBs. I know shmups often have slowdown on purpose, this isn't new to me. I'm just wondering if Futari's slowdown feels different than other Cave PCBs, or if it is typical. And by that I mean slowdown when there is almost nothing on screen, and slowdown that starts and stops a few times during popcorn clusterfuck instead of just starting when the screen is full, and stopping when it empties.

I know these question sound like I am just ripping on Futari, but I am asking them honestly. I enjoy the game in spite of the slowdown, I just don't see the benefit of it in some places and think the way it stutters between fast and slow is offputting.

[Evilmaxwar]

I guess not everyone is going to "get" the way it is implimented in every case. I can accept that some people may love the way the slowdown in Futari occurs and find it perfect. I'm just not in that group.

Me neither, although im still having fun with the game and do not regret my purchase. However i will probably move on to something else faster then i might have.

[Skykid]

Thanks skykid, especially for the Cave quote.

You're welcome, apologies for being short with you. I hope you can appreciate certain topics have been done to death and I don't feel particularly inclined to enter into discussion that feels like repetition - but I'm glad it was useful and you have a better understanding of why some things just are. Regarding your further Futari questions, it is a game with a notably high volume of slowdown compared to others - perhaps the most in any Cave title now I think about it.

If it means anything, I completely agree with you on the gloriousness that is Espgaluda II. For me it's one of Cave's finest moments, and despite having affection for Futari, I often feel it's put on an undeserving pedestal compared to something like Galuda II, which is the superior game in my eyes.

[Hair]

skykid- I won't hold you being short with me against you if you don't hold me being short with you against me. It's a shmup forum (we are all elitist assholes right?), a little color is nice. I just think it needs to be color on top of real shmup discussion. I know I come off as an arguementitive asshole in my posts, but so does about 90% of the people here. I can't even give my honest opinion without someone picking every little nit in some sad attempt to start a fight. And I do this sometimes too. The only problem I had with your post was that after telling me or whoever it was aimed at that we were spewing shit, you didn't explain why you disagreed with what we were saying.

Sorry to beat a dead horse, but I missed this post before.

Original mode is too easy. The hard parts *are* hard, but 90% of it is so easy that it is boring.

Have you cleared it yet? Have you hit 70k on the overall counter to have enemy bullets travel at nearly twice the normal speed? Do you kill enemies at close range to get twice more gems? If the answers to those are "no", and I expect them to be, I don't even understand how to take your "boring; too easy" rant remotely seriously. If the game is reportedly too easy and still manages to kick your ass, it's hard to make a case in your favor.

You forgot the next sentence where I say that I play maniac mode and find it challenging.

Do I kill enemies at close range to get more gems? Do you think I am an idiot? This isn't my first rodeo. And by 'rodeo' I mean a shmup where I spend most of the stage near the top of the screen. They're are pretty common.

I haven't cleared Original mode, and don't really want to. I got through most of it untouched the first time I played it. I did use more than one continue to get through level 5+boss. I am not saying I am shmup master, but on the whole, for a FIRST playthrough, the original mode was boring and easy. So I play maniac instead. That's why it's there.

I haven't figured all of the mechanics of the game out yet. I just got it a couple weeks ago. But I would rather learn the game in maniac mode having fun, than yawning in original mode. Again, I am not claiming to be badass. Maniac mode is a challenge for me, and I like it that way.

I may have sounded like I was trying to make myself look good by saying Original was too easy, but it was only out of disappointment. Most Cave games offer me a challenge in their standard diffilculty. If they have higher ones I can eventually try, that's even better. But when the base challenge is too easy, I have to move up to the next one sooner, which potentially means less time invested in the game on the casual level (remember, I'm not going for any 1ccs any time soon). Deathsmiles was like this as well, with lvl 1 and lvl 2 being too easy (IMO). So i play lvl 3, with 999 being too hard for me. I would have preferred to be able to play 1 for a while, then 2, then 3 when I get better etc... Instead I am locked into lvl 3 because lvl 1 and 2 are boring. I know Cave doesn't make games just for me and they cannot tailor them to my specific ability. I was just giving my personal opinion.

If Futari original was a little harder I could play it to warm up, and play Maniac when already warm. But as is, even cold, I would rather just skip to maniac, which is a little rougher to warm up with that I wish (but just right when warm).

I haven't played any other Cave game that plays as poorly as Futari.

Considering this opinion is pretty much polar opposite to the overwhelming majority's, I'm really curious as to what other games you've played and how far have you made it in them.

So the general consensus is that Futari has the least slowdown in any Cave game? Say what?

Ok, that's not fair because more slowdown doesn't equal worse gameplay, and I wasn't trying to imply that. I just feel the way that Futari slows down throws me off rather than adding to the experience.

I have 1ccd DP, DDP, and Guwange, and can no miss ESPgaluda up to the final boss, whom I cannot defeat and don't really care enough to try when I can play any of my other shmups. I have too many games to really care about 1ccing any of them right now. I don't care if this makes me credible or not to you. All I know is that Futari original mode doesn't pose enough of a challenge to me to make it fun. *I* didn't have fun playing it. You can't disagree with that.

Oh, and I've played every Cave game other than Ibara, DFK, Pork, and Pink Sweets, but have the last two coming in the mail. I might be missing a couple others, but the list of Cave games I have played is longer. For whatever that's worth...

[Skykid]

skykid- I won't hold you being short with me against you if you don't hold me being short with you against me.

Lol, most confusing line ever.
No sweat, everyone here's a total asshole, and some are more argumentative than most. Welcome to the club.

[moozooh]

Do I kill enemies at close range to get more gems? Do you think I am an idiot?

How should I know?

Last I checked, point-blanking enemies made games more challenging and exciting. Scoring high on Original actually puts the player in more danger than doing the same on Maniac, as there is neither rank nor point-blanking in Maniac.

If you're not playing it the intended way and it's boring, maybe you should do the opposite and have your ass handed to you? Dunno, just a suggestion.

I am not saying I am shmup master, but on the whole, for a FIRST playthrough, the original mode was boring and easy.
[…]
I haven't figured all of the mechanics of the game out yet. I just got it a couple weeks ago. But I would rather learn the game in maniac mode having fun, than yawning in original mode.
[…]
If Futari original was a little harder I could play it to warm up, and play Maniac when already warm.
[…]
I may have sounded like I was trying to make myself look good by saying Original was too easy, but it was only out of disappointment. Most Cave games offer me a challenge in their standard diffilculty.

In Russian, we have a saying: "can't see the forest behind all the trees". Futari Original has rank. If you want the game to become harder, you can do that by playing more aggressively. It offers you the challenge you seek, but you aren't taking it up. Thus the game goes easy on you, and you perceive that as its normal difficulty, thereby downplaying what the game has to offer. That's why I can't take your claims — even your opinions — seriously.

So the general consensus is that Futari has the least slowdown in any Cave game? Say what?

No, the general consensus is that Futari plays excellently, not poorly like you suggest. For most Cave players it's among the top-3 Cave games.

I can't disagree with you not having fun with it — if anything, it's your loss, not mine. But if you're making a case on erroneous premise (see above), I think you should expect to encounter some criticism.

[hipgnosis]

What the hell is this shit? You haven't cleared the game and yet you can say it is too easy? How can one even know the overall difficulty without clearing it? I seriously suggest you go for the Original 1CC and come back after you have done that. I mean it is not that hard, but certainly not the easiest one either.

[Sumez]

I love how Cave consequently refer to their own games as "bullet heaven" as opposed to the common term "bullet hell" used by most people.

[Sumez]

For the record I've never been very skilled with shmups, so I have yet to play a Cave game that's "so easy it's boring". In fact, not even close to that. Sure I can clear the first few stages, but after that they always go all in on trying to kill me. Even DeathSmiles has its EX stage and "death lv2" suicide bullets to up the ante against me near the end. And if you're a super player, there's always Black Label rank 999...

I think Cave games being "easy" simply allows more people to play along - Cave know what they are doing and are always able to build in a serious challenge for the more experienced players, even in their most accessible games. The first EspGaluda is commonly considered one of the easiest Cave games, and at the same time it's among most people's favourites - with good reason, it's a bloody excellent game.


I don't think it's a shame to play Futari in original mode for survival alone, keeping the rank low and avoiding point blanks, but if you find that easy, there's always a way to increase the challenge places upon you by going for a higher score, and that is really the strength in most Cave games - the learning curve is almost infinitely increasing as you keep coming back to improve your score. The only difference is the point at which is starts and how fast it grows.

[Hair]

Stuff

I have to admit I do not have the ins and outs of the game figured out yet in terms of rank and scoring. But like I said, I would rather figure them out while having fun. Original is too devoid of shit to dodge. I didn't know about the rank system, but that doesn't change the fact that I have to yawn my way through some of the game to make it fun. Rank system aside, original does have some fun moments, but they are only moments. Why not just play maniac and have fun from the get go?

Thank you for informing me about some of the game's systems, but no thank you on the attitude.

What the hell is this shit? You haven't cleared the game and yet you can say it is too easy? How can one even know the overall difficulty without clearing it? I seriously suggest you go for the Original 1CC and come back after you have done that. I mean it is not that hard, but certainly not the easiest one either.

Already been through this discussion in another thread. You are wrong. I don't need to 1cc a game to be able to tell how easy it is. No one does. Why would I waste time 1ccing an easy mode when I could have fun with a harder mode? I don't really care about proving myself to you, or validating my opinion to you. I was just sharing my opinion and you can view it however you wish. I would be even more pathetic than I already am if I felt I had to 1cc a game before saying it was easy, just justify it to someone on the Internet.

Sumez- I don't consider myself great at shmups either. I have played Cave games for a long time, so I feel I tend to pick them up pretty fast when I try a new one. There are games from other developers that many people may consider easier than any Cave game that pose a bigger challenge to me. It is so relative. I didn't mean to seem like I was putting people down who find original mode challenging. They could probably embarrass me at other shmups or subgenres of shmup.

I like ESPgaluda a lot, and it is easier than Futari Original, IMO, but I also like how Galuda plays better so I am more willing to play it just to breeze through most of it.... then the final boss... I think they both have fantastic enemy design, bosses, overall atmosphere etc...

I think the Futari original last boss is a lot easier and more resonable than the Galuda last boss, which would make a 1cc more attainable.

Part of my problem is that Futari original often slows down as if you are trying to dodge a sea of bullets, when there is very little to dodge. There are too many parts like this that make me feel like I don't even have to try. Galuda at least has enough speed that I need to stay focused. In Maniac mode, however, things are much different. The slowdown is welcome, just so I can survive, but I still find it jerky and stuttery (is that a word)?

I think Futari original has some hard parts that are harder than all but the last boss in Galuda, such as one or two parts of stage 3, the stage 3 boss, and stage 5 in its entirety. But on the whole, Galuda keeps me focused (in a gamer's high) while Futari has me shift from needing focus, to not. They both have very hard last bosses.

When I play a shmup I want to get into that gamer's high and stay there. Any portion of the game that doesn't require focus could potentially stop this "high". And Futari has too many of those moments for me. I said from the get-go that the hard parts ARE hard. Maybe I should have said the difficulty in Original is too inconsistant instead of "easy", just to prevent some people from getting their ego hurt.

Oh, and Sumez, by this point I am not even ranting at you. Don't feel like everything I said after I wrote your name is aimed at you.

[dan76]

@Hair
In the time it's taken you to type your last few posts you could've 1cc'd Futari Original... And then maybe people would be more willing to listen to your opinions (which I personally don't agree with, but would've at least given you a better understanding of the game). Maybe time better spent huh? Oh, and stay away from Black Label - it's slowdown-tastic!

I've recently started playing this again and in score attack I'm occasionally getting the odd freeze/jump. Only lasts for a split second. Is this something that's common (I remember some stuttering posts when BL was released), because it doesn't happen when I play offline. Weird...

[Skykid]

@Hair
In the time it's taken you to type your last few posts you could've 1cc'd Futari Original... And then maybe people would be more willing to listen to your opinions (which I personally don't agree with, but would've at least given you a better understanding of the game). Maybe time better spent huh? Oh, and stay away from Black Label - it's slowdown-tastic!

And way easier.

Seriously, Futari 1.5 original is not an 'easy' 1cc. It's harder than the original Mushihimesama, and definitely sits in comfortable middle ground. Hair, come back with a screenshot and an all clear score and we'll find out what you really thought of it.

[Hair]

@Hair
In the time it's taken you to type your last few posts you could've 1cc'd Futari Original... And then maybe people would be more willing to listen to your opinions (which I personally don't agree with, but would've at least given you a better understanding of the game). Maybe time better spent huh? Oh, and stay away from Black Label - it's slowdown-tastic!

I knew someone would make this poor arguement. I play shmups when in the mood to play shmups. I post on forums when in the mood to post on forums. When I am in the mood to play shmups, the bit of practice and repetition I would need to 1cc Futari original is not at the top of my to-do list. Posting my long diatribes on this forum is an entirely different... hobby. Why would I want to 1cc an unfun mode just to cut into my forum posting time? That makes no sense.

I've already stated in this thread that I prefer to play a wider variety of shmups right now (I've been buying them faster than I can play them lately). I know what it takes to 1cc a shmup, even an easy one, as I have done it before. In the past I tended to play a single game every day until I was really good at it. I had more free time and less money... and fewer mame roms. Now I tend to "improv" shmups, meaning I don't try to memorize them, get bored when I have played them enough to memorize them, and then purposely stop playing them until they are no longer fresh in my memory. I like the gamer's high and intense focus of playing a shmup, and the "journey" of seeking a 1cc isn't my idea of fun right now. Maybe in the future I will want to 1cc a certain shmup again, but it probably won't be Futari.

Given my lack of specialzation in a single shmup in the past year or so, I generally play the easier modes in a game and only move up to the harder modes when I am ready, or if the lowest level is just for novices, which Cave rarely includes. Since Futari only has 3, I would have liked to be able to start with Original and then move on to Maniac in a few months of playing the game casually (a Psikyo port with 7 difficulty levels is a different deal, I won't start with "1" or "child mode" of course). I was disappointed with the challenge of Original mode, even playing it without having anything memorized, and posted my feelings. I didn't know it would hurt your feelings. For bruising your ego, I apologize.

Ultra appears to be way out of my league, so with Futari I am stuck with Maniac, and I just hoped to have mode diffilculty choices to grow with over time. I just wish Original was a little more bullet heavy on the whole, instead of only have a few hard parts. Sorry if that offends you.

To you, and to skykid, I ask, what makes you think I need to prove myself to you? I just gave my opinion on Futari, and you can take it or leave it. If you think I am just calling it easy to make me look good on the Internet, that's fine. If you think I couldn't 1cc it, good for you. I don't really care. Do I look like I care because I am typing way more words than I should in any sane post? pffff I'm just dicking around on the Internet because that's what I'm in the mood to do. It's very different from the intense concentration of playing a shmup, isn't it?

I do have a sort of mental list of shmups I would like to get deeper into, and possibly 1cc one day, but Futari isn't high on that list. Why would I want to move it many places up that list just to justify my comments to you? You don't have to like my opinion, but asking me to 1cc Futari original as a sort of "put up or shut up" is silly.

And skykid, diffilculty is extremely subjective. To you Futari original might be a middle ground diffilculty Cave shmup, to me it is an easy one. To you an easy one might be harder to me. Doesn't make either of us wrong, and it doesn't mean I am implying I am better than you at shmups because you could possibly be better than me at every Cave shmup yet a game could be more easy for me in comparison to the challenge of other games. As I remember from another thread, I *mostly* agreed with your ranking of Cave games by diffilculty. But it isn't unreasonable for people to have slight (or major) differences in how they percieve diffilculty in a Cave game, or any game. Do you think otherwise?

[exquisite_torture]

http://lolbtx.ytmnd.com/

[Skykid]

And skykid, diffilculty is extremely subjective. To you Futari original might be a middle ground diffilculty Cave shmup, to me it is an easy one. To you an easy one might be harder to me. Doesn't make either of us wrong

It does.

Difficulty really isn't that subjective. There's no way someone who's an expert at Cave games can saunter in and play Espgaluda II and call it easy because of their expertise in the genre. Impossible.
Futari original is a mid-tier game in terms of difficulty, and that's based against their entire catalogue. The reason I suggested you clear it first is because it might give you a better sense of the overall challenge, rather than judging it on its early stages.

Personally, I really doubt you can regularly no-miss, no bomb stage 3 on Futari 1.5 original. It's not an easy stage.

[Deca]

Yeah Stage 3 is kind of an ordeal honestly. One of the things that makes Futari feel different from a lot of Cave games for me is the odd difficulty curve, Stage 4 feels like a break after 3 (excluding boss...it's been a while but I sort of remember the mid boss being a little tricky too). Stage 5 puts you right back in it though and keeps you on your toes through the end.

I guess I feel that Futari BL Original is fairly easy, but that might just be because I've 1CCd it and never feel like I'm good enough I was drilling 1.5 for a week or two before going for it in BL, and then it didn't take too long...Maybe I should go back and work on the 1.5 1CC? I've been playing BL Maniac lately.

[brokenhalo]

@Hair Just a suggestion, try downloading the #1 replay available for 1.5 original off the leaderboards and check it out. It'll give you a better understanding of what the game is all about, without the time sink of learning the game yourself. you might be pleasantly surprised at how nuts it gets once you learn how to score well in it.

[Evilmaxwar]

I watched this replay, it gets totally crazy at some point in lev 5 the bullets fly like rockets


Stage 3 is really a bitch for me, i can get through it but will have 1 or 0 lives left. Ive been playing this game for a week about 1 hour/day and i still do not beat level 3 every times

Gotta work on my stupid deaths, seems i can navigate through barrages not so badly but always stupidly die with the rogue bullets or over/too little dodging. I think i need to practice dying without a full stack of bomb for a change, i never use them, pressing the button too late most of the time.

Im getting used to the slowdowns though i still sometime make mistakes when the speed jerks back to original.

All in all im starting to like this game more. Took me a bit over 3 weeks to 1cc Raiden IV 360/arcade. I really want to 1cc futari too.

[burgerkingdiamond]

So I'm working on a 1CC of 1.5 Original. I actually made it to Larsa on 1 credit a couple of weeks ago, which was pretty exciting. My score was about 196 million. What kind of pace should I be on for a "decent" score. I don't have a particular number in mind. For right now I'd like to hit 200 million.

Right now I pretty much always hit the 35 mil extend midway through the 2nd phase of the 2nd boss and with the level bonuses going into the 3rd level at about 44-46 mil (I'm kind of guessing right now, but that seems about right). I don't know if theres a lot of room left to improve on score in those first two levels or not.

It would be helpful to have a breakdown of scores at the end of each level for a so called "decent" run so that I can have something to aim for.

Thanks.

[moozooh]

Are you playing Reco or Palm? If Reco, you should be getting the 1st extend slightly before the st2 boss, enter st3 with 55+ million, and receive the 2nd extend somewhere around the st4 midboss. Most of your score comes from stage 5, so it really all depends on how large your overall counter is by the time you reach it, and your performance in the stage itself.

[CptRansom]

1.5 Original shouldn't require more than a few days' practice (or weeks, depending on how much you can play) IF you've got decent experience with STGs and you're capable of practicing with FOCUS. If you go in flailing your stick everywhere (HURRRRR DICK JOKE), you're going to get bent over in stage 3 (which is what happened to me everytime I played it for the first year I had it). Practice the section after the stage 3 midboss (I honestly stop caring about score for that section and focus on speedkilling the hell out of everything without worrying about what shot type I should be using) until you can consistently NM it. The stage 3 boss has a few tricky patterns, especially the last one, so practice that too. Stage 4 is pretty straightforward, but the boss has one pattern that trips me up. Stage 5 is honestly not that difficult for the most part, just make sure you speedkill the big targets and work on your bullet herding for the popcorn waves.

As for Larsa... fuck it. Bombspam.

For almost a year, I would just play single credits from the beginning and never really focus and I was lucky to beat stage 3 with one life left and no bombs. As soon as I stopped playing like a jackass and actually practiced the parts that were giving me trouble, I had the clear in about two weeks.

You can do it, man.

And damn, moozooh, 55 by end of stage 2? I'm happy if I get 45 after EOS bonuses. I wonder what I'm doing wrong. ; ;

[xris]

So I'm working on a 1CC of 1.5 Original. I actually made it to Larsa on 1 credit a couple of weeks ago, which was pretty exciting. My score was about 196 million. What kind of pace should I be on for a "decent" score. I don't have a particular number in mind. For right now I'd like to hit 200 million.

Right now I pretty much always hit the 35 mil extend midway through the 2nd phase of the 2nd boss and with the level bonuses going into the 3rd level at about 44-46 mil (I'm kind of guessing right now, but that seems about right). I don't know if there's a lot of room left to improve on score in those first two levels or not.

I'm pretty much where you are right now with this. But, within the last couple of weeks I figured out what I was doing wrong in the second level. You probably aren't getting the most points you can from the squid and icicle canceling sections. Watch someones replay a couple times. It's kinda hard on the 1st one, but the rest should be giving you allot of points. You'll be really happy how this starts working out. The score will be over 50 mil.
Your over all score is better than mine right now. I've been able to get better strategies for the levels lately, but have yet to be able to get them together into a single run so far. My current is 167 mil..
I don't know, Original is a bitch to pull completely together for a decent score/clear, you are always on this razors edge. It's taking me awhile to really get to stage 5 semi regularly. But, then I start doing new things and take a step back. I've been mostly doing stage practice lately, so it's getting better.

[burgerkingdiamond]

1.5 Original shouldn't require more than a few days' practice (or weeks, depending on how much you can play) IF you've got decent experience with STGs and you're capable of practicing with FOCUS. If you go in flailing your stick everywhere (HURRRRR DICK JOKE), you're going to get bent over in stage 3 (which is what happened to me everytime I played it for the first year I had it). Practice the section after the stage 3 midboss (I honestly stop caring about score for that section and focus on speedkilling the hell out of everything without worrying about what shot type I should be using) until you can consistently NM it. The stage 3 boss has a few tricky patterns, especially the last one, so practice that too. Stage 4 is pretty straightforward, but the boss has one pattern that trips me up. Stage 5 is honestly not that difficult for the most part, just make sure you speedkill the big targets and work on your bullet herding for the popcorn waves.

As for Larsa... fuck it. Bombspam.

For almost a year, I would just play single credits from the beginning and never really focus and I was lucky to beat stage 3 with one life left and no bombs. As soon as I stopped playing like a jackass and actually practiced the parts that were giving me trouble, I had the clear in about two weeks.

You can do it, man.

And damn, moozooh, 55 by end of stage 2? I'm happy if I get 45 after EOS bonuses. I wonder what I'm doing wrong. ; ;

I'm using Reco/Normal.

I plateau'd at level 3 too for awhile, but I got over that hurdle and can regularly make it to level 4 with only 1 miss, sometimes 2. Level 4 doesn't give me a lot of trouble. But level 5 just get's crazy intense. I love LV5 music btw!

I think I need to work on point blanking on LV1 and LV2 because I have my switching shots back and forth and picking up gems when they're green down to a science I think.

And I did try to just Bomb that bitch Larsa to death but even with 2 lives left I didn't have enough bombs in stock to do considerably damage. I was nervous as hell though and shaking with adrenaline. I feel like I'm on the brink of getting this down if I can find the time to practice without being distracted my recent other purchases (Fast Striker, Crimzon Clover, MMP/PS), Futari is the only game that I'm seriously focused on at the moment.