I DID IT! Share your latest 1CCs/other triumphs here...

[BIL]

Not at all, I heartily endorse smiley appropriation. ^_~ When the forum defaults can't contain the expression, other measures must be taken!

And yes, that particular one is nerdcore euphoria epitomised, especially paired with a good Castlevania quote.

Even the more spartan of those game clear pics make suprisingly compelling viewing, assembled thus - perhaps it's a shooter/arcade/general hardcore gamer thing, knowing how mentally draining and rewarding some endgame screens are to reach. Sometimes plain white text on a black screen is a reprieve of sorts, haha.

[Bonus!]

Perikles,
that's really impressive! If you don't mind asking: how many months/years of effort do those screenshots represent? Also, what are your favourite shmups on those systems --- it's always interesting to hear that question answered from someone who has cleared those games.

[Perikles]

Perikles,
that's really impressive! If you don't mind asking: how many months/years of effort do those screenshots represent? Also, what are your favourite shmups on those systems --- it's always interesting to hear that question answered from someone who has cleared those games.

Thanks!
It took pretty much exactly two years of sporadic play here and there. Sometimes I played a lot in a span of two weeks, sometimes I didn't play (shooters) at all for a few weeks/months.

As for my favorites (those are not necessarily what I consider to be the best titles on each system, just my own little darlings):

HuCard:
Dragon Saber
Final Blaster
Gradius
Hana Tahka Daka!?
Hyper Dyne Side Arms
Kiki Kaikai
Mr. Heli no Daibouken
Psycho Chaser
Salamander
Soldier Blade
Tatsujin
Violent Soldier

I really like a lot of the arcade ports on the PCE, Salamander and Side Arms for example outclass the originals in my book. Psycho Chaser is somewhat clunky, but I love me some post-apocalytpic pedestrian shooter action. Violent Soldier's last two stages are great fun once you know how to cope with them, Final Blaster and Hana Tahka Daka!? are hidden gems in my opinion.

Mega Drive:
Aero Blasters
Battle Mania Daiginjou
Crying
Darius II
Elemental Master
Granada
Kyuukyoku Tiger
Sol-Deace
Thunder Force IV
Twinkle Tale
Undeadline
Vapor Trail
V-V

Undeadline rocks! Probably my favorite 16-bit shooter. V-V should've been ported to a 32-bit console to be honest (there is quite a bit of flickering in this port) yet I thorougly enjoyed conquering this tough beast. MD Kyuukyoku Tiger is severely underrated - it takes quite a bit of time to get used to the big hitbox of your chopper and the overly aggressive enemies, but once you do it's a blast to play. Sol-Deace and Vapor Trail might not be the most creative or interesting games, they strike me as extraordinarily solid nonetheless, I also relish the soundtrack of both games. Battle Mania Daiginjou is the prime example of a ludicrously easy shooter that still creates the illusion of challenge, game's so busy and varied that it doesn't matter if you beat it on your first blind try.

Super Famicom:
BioMetal (SFC version for the solemn soundtrack)
Choujikuu Yousai Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie
Darius Force
Gradius III
Kidou Soukou Dion (not the US version Imperium which underwent quite a few completely needless changes)
Kiki Kaikai: Nazo no Kuro Manto
Parodius Da!
Pop'n TwinBee
R-Type III: The Third Lightning
Uchuu no Kishi: Tekkaman Blade

The system is considerably underrated if you ask me. Yeah, there really aren't too many great vertical shooters or arcade ports, but it has a nice selection of great horis. Tekkaman Blade is just terrible, and I adore it for that! Great OST, awful controls, astoundingly bad fighting game boss fights, what's not to like? I prefer Kidou Soukou Dion over the actual Compile games because it offers some resistance unlike those. Pop'n TwinBee is the only TwinBee game I can play for score without wanting to kill myself or someone else afterwards. Parodius Da! is an amazing port (much better than the PCE counterpart) and includes a bonus stage that feels like it always belonged to the game. Gradius III is notorious for all the slowdowns, of course, I don't mind it that much, though. Love, love, love the music and the atmosphere. I also revere the guys at Natsume who consistently made the best games on the console: the second Kiki Kaikai and GS Mikami are good, Wild Guns and the first Kiki Kaikai are phenomenal, The Ninja Warriors Again is basically the best game ever.

[BIL]

I also reverence the guys at Natsume who consistently made the best games on the console: the second Kiki Kaikai and GS Mikami are good, Wild Guns and the first Kiki Kaikai are phenomenal, The Ninja Warriors Again is basically the best game ever.

Word that was one hell of a run they had, and after a damn strong showing on Famicom too. Wild Guns cracked my reluctance to get into SFC collecting, TNWA obliterated it and Kiki Kaikai made me wonder WTF I ever hesitated for.

Have you tried out Super Aleste (SFC)'s two highest difficulties btw? I forget their proper names at the moment, but their respective slow and fast suicide bullets unexpectedly turned an okay game into one of my favourite 16-bit verts. Levels are still overlong, but you need to think a lot harder about what weapon to carry and when/when not to fire it.

edit: think it's about time I picked up Aero Blasters ^_~

[Perikles]

Have you tried out Super Aleste (SFC)'s two highest difficulties btw? I forget their proper names at the moment, but their respective slow and fast suicide bullets unexpectedly turned an okay game into one of my favourite 16-bit verts. Levels are still overlong, but you need to think a lot harder about what weapon to carry and when/when not to fire it.

Unfortunately not, but I'll definitely give it a try the next time I bust out my console! There are a few other games like Gunhed and Super Star Soldier that also might rise in my esteem by virtue of their higher difficulty modes, most of my current ranking is based on the default settings (unless the game starts on Easy in which case I switch(ed) it to the next highest setting).

[Weak Boson]

Congrats weak boson, nice one! How long did it take you overall?

I don't know in terms of hours but the main thing is that it didn't feel like long. But that said I must have been playing this game on and off for years, probably since whenever it was first emulated, 2010? It's not been a game I've sat down and spent loads of time practicing, I've just been coming back to it every now and then and making progress. Very natural and stress free way to get a clear (but does take years)


Perikles: good to see such images of glory, you are a conqueror!

[Jonst]

Oh right, yeah I don't measure time spent on a game by hours anyway, I usually do mine by weeks, months etc. I'm kind of the same, I come back to it every year but I do struggle with it. Rather than saying I don't enjoy the game outright as I have said in the past, I think I have more of a love/hate relationship with the game... I still hope to clear it at some point though.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I feel less guilty about this DOJ WL clear now that I actually did it with Exy. You still get a lot of bullet cancels thanks to all the hypers, even if your bomb stock is low. Think I'm gonna move on to BL.

[Perikles]

Perikles: good to see such images of glory, you are a conqueror!

Thank you for your kind words!

Today I got something I was not expecting at all: after I spend an entire afternoon cursing at Rayxanber II I just had an amazing run and managed to beat this sadistic monstrosity with only one lost life. Seeing that I started out dying at least once on almost every enemy (wave) it came as a surprise.



Quality game with a phantastic saturnine-melancholic atmosphere by the time you reach stage 4, but it's also uniquely infuriating. The slowdown in stage 4 and the somewhat erratic turrets in the final stage can really screw you over, and dying at the final boss makes proceeding extremely difficult. Luckily there are a few handy speedkill strategies that are also a lot of fun to pull off.

Rayxanber III on the other hand is almost too easy, I was baffled when I played it the other day, it's almost as if they went to the opposite end of things. Anyway, I'd definitely not want to part with either of those games anymore, both are creative little gems. Checkpoint recovery outside of the boss fights in Rayxanber II is also a non-issue, so even checkpoint haters might get some fun out of it.

[ProjectAKo]

Just had the silliest run and no-missed both loops of sonic wings 2 http://www.twitch.tv/project_ako/c/6568812 If mambo would just spawn I could've crushed the WR for the F-15...

[pegboy]

Cleared Phalanx on Funny Difficulty. This game was bullet hell before bullet hell was a thing.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqvyzdDHpCs

It's a pretty damn long game (around an hour to 1CC) and I added 40 minutes on point farming on top of that.

[pegboy]

Just had the silliest run and no-missed both loops of sonic wings 2 http://www.twitch.tv/project_ako/c/6568812 If mambo would just spawn I could've crushed the WR for the F-15...

I'm really looking forward to getting more into Aerofighters/Sonic Wings series. The only one I've played is the SNES game but the Neo Geo games look awesome. Amazing job with the no-miss 2-ALL, that's crazy.

[ProjectAKo]

Just had the silliest run and no-missed both loops of sonic wings 2 http://www.twitch.tv/project_ako/c/6568812 If mambo would just spawn I could've crushed the WR for the F-15...

I'm really looking forward to getting more into Aerofighters/Sonic Wings series. The only one I've played is the SNES game but the Neo Geo games look awesome. Amazing job with the no-miss 2-ALL, that's crazy.

Haha. By the way, do you know what that secret code at the end of Funny Phalanx is? I remember I got it one day maybe 20 years ago by using game genie. It's been bugging me ever since. But yeah, I remember even on level 1 there are invisible bullets due to sprite limits on funny difficulty so that must've been tough.

[pegboy]

Just had the silliest run and no-missed both loops of sonic wings 2 http://www.twitch.tv/project_ako/c/6568812 If mambo would just spawn I could've crushed the WR for the F-15...

I'm really looking forward to getting more into Aerofighters/Sonic Wings series. The only one I've played is the SNES game but the Neo Geo games look awesome. Amazing job with the no-miss 2-ALL, that's crazy.

Haha. By the way, do you know what that secret code at the end of Funny Phalanx is? I remember I got it one day maybe 20 years ago by using game genie. It's been bugging me ever since. But yeah, I remember even on level 1 there are invisible bullets due to sprite limits on funny difficulty so that must've been tough.

I'm not sure what the code is for, I've been trying to figure that out myself. I've seen vague rumors that you were suppose to mail a letter to the company (Kemco) with the code in it or something but I don't know. I know the SNES game came with a registration card that you could mail back to Kemco, maybe you were suppose to put the code on it?

Maybe it was a hold over from the Super Famicom version and got translated in the US version but isn't used? Crazy that it still seems to be a complete mystery after 20+ years.

[Jonst]

I just cleared raiden fighters jet! thought I'd take a break from everything else I've been messing around with, so played a couple of credits, cleared on my third try. Nothing amazing but I haven't cleared anything for a while, so it felt good! Although the score was nothing to write home about... I notice on the high scores thread that some scores have phases? I take it the game loops? I didn't make a loop unless there's an option to quit or continue (like daifukkatsu?). Either way I'm happy with this.

[amdiggywhut]

I just cleared raiden fighters jet!

Nice work, Jonst! Did you clear on Arcade difficulty? I have cleared RFJ and RF2 on the default Normal setting on 360, but I'm pretty sure I remember being told it didn't count unless it was on Arcade difficulty. Even on Normal, I haven't been able to clear the first RF...

The games are a lot of fun though, infinitely replayable...

[Chaos Phoenixma]

Normal difficulty does count in terms of the scoring achievements. And while the scoreboards here only accept Arcade for RF1/RF2, Normal is accepted for the RFJ one too. Restart Syndrome has leaderboards for both difficulties for all 3 games. Normal is a nice start and a nice way to do a more relaxed score attack, but an Arcade clear is going to be a lot more satisfying unless you cheap out with Sim 35 and to a lesser extent Sim 50.


RFJ has 4 ways to All the game assuming Normal or Expert course. Expert is pretty much the normal course but with suicide bullets(it's pretty much loop 2 of the US/Asia Arcade version, but is a separate harder mode in JP RFJ which Aces is based on)


All is if you finish through Sim 35. To get here, you have to get to Sim 20 then drop a lot of the medals. You can also get there from Sim 40(by credit feeding enough times before, so it doesn't matter). This is the easiest way to clear RFJ.


All2 is if you finish through Sim 50. It is the second easiest way to clear RFJ. You need to not enter X-medal mode in order to get here, or if you do enter X-medals, then you must time out at least one boss.


All3 is if you qualify for Real Battle and clear both Real Battle phases. There's 2 ways to get an All3. Should you die once in phase 1, the game will end at the tank boss in Phase 2, you'll get All3 and a 1 million clear bonus. Should you no miss phase 1, then game will continue after tank boss, and you'll have to fight the True Last Boss. That also shows up as All3(so you can't tell by just saying All3), but it gives a 10 million clear bonus. My All3 score for Normal Difficulty Normal course is with TLB BTW.


So unless you've cleared Phase 2 with TLB, you don't have the best clear yet for RFJ.


Or you can choose the Aces exclusive Full Run course, beat all 12 stages in 1 go(instead of 5 for All, 6 for All2, or 7 for All3), and fight the TLB regardless of if you have X-medals or not or die in phase 1(which won't get you the TLB achievement since you need to be in Normal course or maybe Expert for that).

[Jonst]

Thanks amdiggywhut! Oh right, damn, looks like I'll have to try again! It was on normal difficulty... I didn't even think to go through the difficulty settings above normal, just assumed it would be hard/hardest/expert or whatever. I'll have another look.

Thanks for the info chaos phoenixma... I'll keep playing!

So, whilst not the best clear then, does it still stand, although a basic one?

[Stevens]

Nice clear Jonst!

[Jonst]

Cheers stevens! Turns out, I'll have to clear it on 'arcade' difficulty, normal difficulty is only just legit it seems... So I'll do it on arcade...

[Jonst]

Cleared raiden fighters 2 on normal, I'll post up the clear pics when I get the arcade difficulty clears
In the meantime, this is ok progress as I've only really been playing these games properly for about 3 days despite having these games for years!

[pegboy]

Here's my no-death run of Firepower 2000/Super SWIV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-VjP72lxf8

Fun little game, with a really solid first 4 levels. The last 2 levels don't quite hold up unfortunately, and the final "boss" is a massive letdown. Also, it's prob a lot more fun with 2 players.

[Blinge]

Cleared raiden fighters 2 on normal

Christ if its anything like Raiden Fighters 1, seriously good job =]

[Jonst]

^ cheers blinge! But as I've discovered since I cleared rf jet just a couple of days ago, the clears really need to be on arcade difficulty which is a tad more difficult so I'm working on that difficulty now. For now those clears stand as its a default setting but won't sumbit pics or scores until arcade clear is done... Really fun simple games, I'm enjoying the break from cave!

When/if I get those clears, on to raiden iv...

[xxx1993]

I actually managed to 1CC Darius Burst: Second Prologue several times on iPad before, I took the hardest path, Zone K.

[Jonst]

Ok, cleared raiden fighters jet on arcade difficulty!... But with a crap score and mission complete on simulation 35, no loop... Feels a bit flat...

[Jonst]

raiden fighters 2 arcade difficulty, still a crap score and no TLB... oh well.

[ProjectAKo]

Here's my no-death run of Firepower 2000/Super SWIV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-VjP72lxf8

Fun little game, with a really solid first 4 levels. The last 2 levels don't quite hold up unfortunately, and the final "boss" is a massive letdown. Also, it's prob a lot more fun with 2 players.

I used to think this was the hardest shmup on the SNES. I could never pass level 3 back in the day.

[nesrulz]

My wife was killed Hibachi.

[Giest118]

sweet hibachi kill bro