Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

[mesh control]

IMO, no.
It takes a bit of patience to get used to the delay between piercing shots, but the pay off is being much more efficient with your mosquito management.


There are also some technical advantages; from Rando's ST:

The arcade version has all four functions (shield, shot, piercing laser, bomb) onto one button. The DC allows you to use the auto-piercing gun and the auto-shot, i.e. once you use one of the two you need to use another button to use the multiple function.
This causes lag: if you spend 5 seconds with the finger on the auto-piercing button and then switch to the multiple function button (e.g. to use the mosquito system), you will get about 0.3 seconds of delay in activation, while if you use just one button, you get around 0.1 seconds of delay when switching functions.

Psyvariar and MM split the cake for weapon utilization in shmups.

[EmperorIng]

the used game shop has a lot of shmups for sale at not-so-friendly prices.

Except for Mars Matrix, which was at $40, which seems reasonable to me.

Looking through their stuff the last I was there, they have Under Defeat, Border Down, Psyvariar: Complete, and Giga Wing -at least the last time I checked. Giga Wing might not be there.

I kind of wish I had the money, because all of those games would be great to own (even though I would have no way of playing Psyvariar).

--
--

Practicing Under Defeat, getting to stage 5 (using 5 credits). Not too shabby.
Learning the game has no extends bummed me out. That seems like the most counter-intuitive thing to do in an arcade game.

After all this talk of the rank in Darius Gaiden, I'm considering another run, this time without auto-fire because you guys can never make up your mind with that game.

[shmuppyLove]

Learning the game has no extends bummed me out. That seems like the most counter-intuitive thing to do in an arcade game.

I don't think Under Defeat had an arcade release.

However, Blazing Star did, and it doesn't have any extends. I'm sure there are others, and yes it's something you really take for granted in other games.

[BIL]

UD did get an arcade release, on Naomi GD-ROM.

Raystorm is another AC shooter with no extends. The entire Metal Slug MVS line is like that too, going outside strict STG territory. Brutal stuff!

[AweOfShe]

I don't have my 360 hooked up, since I'm getting ready to move. For the long drive coming up though, I grabbed Gradius Collection off PSN. Will be playing that for awhile. Going to start it up right now.

Not sure what other shmups are on PSN, but I'll browse the store a little more later, and see if there's any more that catch my interest.

[Aquas]

Eschatos

and on the side, credits here and there: Akai Katana, Ordyne, Dragon Spirit, Raiden. Close to putting together a 1cc for Ordyne.

I am getting pumped for Ginga Force.

[Ed Oscuro]

Raystorm is another AC shooter with no extends. The entire Metal Slug MVS line is like that too, going outside strict STG territory. Brutal stuff!

Raiden Fighters games don't have extends

[To Far Away Times]

R-Type might as well not have extends or more than one ship to start with. If you die once it's a brutal, slow ship speed, crappy shot, no force pod, checkpoint-based beat down until you lose the rest of your ships.

[null1024]

R-Type might as well not have extends or more than one ship to start with. If you die once it's a brutal, slow ship speed, crappy shot, no force pod, checkpoint-based beat down until you lose the rest of your ships.

Early on in the first R-Type isn't so bad, you get a force pod very quickly [unless you miss it], and often you'll be able to pick up at least one other powerup after. Although, ship speed powerups are one of those old shooter things I'm so glad died out. Default speed was too slow, and you could accidentally make your ship far too fast by picking up too many speedups, see Gradius for further details. R-Type isn't so bad with that either, the default speed isn't completely terrible, and after 1 speedup, the speed is pretty comfortable.

Losing the bits at the top and bottom hurts though, especially if you've grown to depend on them during your run, and not having a secondary shot makes things asstons more painful too, those are valid points.

Also, I never knew RayStorm and Blazing Star had no extends, that's a bit brutal [especially Blazing Star, damn].

[To Far Away Times]

R-Type might as well not have extends or more than one ship to start with. If you die once it's a brutal, slow ship speed, crappy shot, no force pod, checkpoint-based beat down until you lose the rest of your ships.

Early on in the first R-Type isn't so bad, you get a force pod very quickly [unless you miss it], and often you'll be able to pick up at least one other powerup after. Although, ship speed powerups are one of those old shooter things I'm so glad died out. Default speed was too slow, and you could accidentally make your ship far too fast by picking up too many speedups, see Gradius for further details. R-Type isn't so bad with that either, the default speed isn't completely terrible, and after 1 speedup, the speed is pretty comfortable.

Losing the bits at the top and bottom hurts though, especially if you've grown to depend on them during your run, and not having a secondary shot makes things asstons more painful too, those are valid points.

R-Type is better about deaths than most games from the era. It really was ahead of it's time, especially compared to something like Gradius, which I think only came out a year or two before it.

Trying to recover after dying on stage 4 or later is so hard though. It got to the point where if I died I usually just reset the game and didn't even play with the rest of the lives.

That's part of what makes it an "R-Type" game though. You gotta memorize it and do it perfect or you will die.

[Marc]

Arse. Hit level four of Shienryu on some 2.7mil with three lives in stock, and proceeded to get brutalised in all of five minutes.

[Ed Oscuro]

R-Type is better about deaths than most games from the era. It really was ahead of it's time, especially compared to something like Gradius, which I think only came out a year or two before it.

Two years playing Gradius and dealing with Gradius checkpoints must have seemed like an eternity. I'm sure many people moved over to Salamander and Life Force, though...

[Obiwanshinobi]

Arse. Hit level four of Shienryu on some 2.7mil with three lives in stock, and proceeded to get brutalised in all of five minutes.

Odd one this. Played the PS2 port on Hard and early stages seemed easy for a coin-op shmup (easier than GunHed on Hard from the get-go), then, past the octopus boss, it got quite brutal.

[Marc]

It just feels... off to me somehow, the hitbox seems weird and the sprites seem to large for the play area. I'm wary of dodging through even some of the simpler patterns as I never feel 100% confident I won't clip a bullet. But yeah, it gets heavy at ST4. Fucking snipers everywhere.

[Kollision]

Arse. Hit level four of Shienryu on some 2.7mil with three lives in stock, and proceeded to get brutalised in all of five minutes.

There's a cruel truth about Shienryu: unless you absolutely control rank it's virtually impossible to get past stage 5. Dying won't help at all.
Never collect any item that gives you extra score once you reach maximum power, never take the ultimate pink power-up and avoid stocking bombs.

[Marc]

Shit. I'm a shmup magpie, I find it almost impossible to ignore the shinies. Still I'll give it a go later. So just power up and ignore everything except weapons switches?

[blackoak]

Still making very little progress in Raiden DX... I can't play more than a credit or two at a time, too frustrating and slow to restart. I really stand in awe of people who are good at this game. On the side, I've been revisiting Dimahoo, looking for something to sink my teeth into. Not quite ready to revisit Batrider yet...

I feel like a Birthday no-set/low rank 1cc should be possible. I know I'm not the first person to go down this path, but I haven't seen it reported yet. I've charted out the bombs and with 1 extend, it should be possible... I think its a matter of learning the stages very well so I can use her powerful charge shot at just the right time. Also, letting some enemies go by (the drills that put out a suicide spread) seems to help. Not completing any sets of course. The game is actually very fun for me, for survival. Even with Birthday its tough because her shot is generally weak, and its a bomb-consuming nightmare when you're powered down in the later levels. I love the item system in theory, but feel the implementation was just a little off (too difficult to identify completed sets without lots of outside memo, items obscure bullets...).

update: just had an interesting run with Birthday, racking up the bombs on stage 5. Think I had 6 when the Infernon jets showed up? Normally I can take them both out, and Infernon, with just two bombs... but I floundered and needed a bomb on every phase (x2 jets, x2 ice/fire sides, x2 head), so I used them all. Coming on st6 with 2 lives though, I thought I might have it... but I got completely shut down. I really need to practice that stage. This is compelling enough that I might fire mame back up just for that purpose. st5 demands all my focus, its crazy. very fun dodging though. feels like a less relaxed version of stage 6 in batrider, with all the bomb collecting...

[Kollision]

{on Shienryu}
So just power up and ignore everything except weapons switches?

That's pretty much it, yeah.

[AweOfShe]

Since my trip got postponed for another week, I hooked up the 360 again and did some credits on Deathsmiles. Been mostly playing on Level 2, and still can't 1CC it. I do absolutely fine until the second phase of Tyrannosatan. At that point, I get raped.

Also Mushihimesama HD. I can only get up to stage 3 boss on Ultra, at the moment.

[blackoak]

Mame practice with Birthday in Dimahoo, for like 8 hours. Ironed out most of the rough spots... now its just a matter of getting a clean run in. Mame has a very appreciable lag for this game, so I'll be doing runs on the pcb. Birthday is actually an interesting character to try and clear with. I'll have more to say about that in a ST thread perhaps, once I actually accomplish this. One lesson I learned is that even a single set completed makes bullets go too fast for her to dodge. Staying constantly powered up and trying to take things out with her charge shot before they get a volley off makes this feel a bit like a late Psikyo game to me...

[Marc]

playing some DoDonPachi Maximum on my new phone. Loving it, unlike the iPhone ports, this is properly designed in shit-sized bites with score attacks, unlocks for no-miss/bomb etc, and it suits the format really well. Lovely dayglo visuals and some nice music remixes as well, very impressed. Now if MS were to get if their added and make all this integration complete, thus letting me play this on Xbox, id be a happy man indeed.

[null1024]

Dangun Feveron [MAME].

It's kicking my ass. Bomb seems the most useful in stage as your secondary, but Lockon is crazy useful for getting past bosses, and I'm so used to it that I can't even clear the first stage without it.
Have my netbook TATE'd and I'm playing on a Saturn pad.

[Hagane]

Beat the second loop of Sengoku Blade from a savestate at 2-1... now I have to piece everything together.

[EmperorIng]

Things I learned playing Darius Gaiden this weekend:

I am no good at controlling the rank in this game.

I got too used to autofire. With it I can get to the last stage of several routes on one credit. Without, The furthest I've gotten is stage 5, if I avoid Neon Light Illusion and Titanic Lance. Bosses have way too much health; what else is new in the Darius series?

And now I'm wondering why I even give a fuck what you guys think of me using autofire in DG or not and why I even cared about it before I joined this site!

Played a bit of RayForce in hope that people wouldn't go down on Dangun Feveron in the STG of October (see how that turned out), and I can got to the spider mech boss on one credit. If I hadn't fucked up and died a few simple deaths earlier, I would have been able to pull through and beat him and get to stage 5.

Also recently bought Ether Vapor Remaster. Judging by the story mode, as soon as I beat it, I doubt I'll ever play anything but Remaster mode. Because that story is pretty ass. Your character wins award for whiniest bitch in a shmup ever.
Game is fun though. some explosions cover bullets, which I don't like, but it's got a nice feel to the whole affair, and it keeps things simple.

[Kollision]

Things I learned playing Darius Gaiden this weekend:

I am no good at controlling the rank in this game.

My 2 cents: just let a few power-ups go by.
Don't take the last red before Golden Ogre. And let a missile item pass by the 3rd or 4th stage (can't remember exactly, try experimenting). You'll be pleasantly surprised.

[CoolgyFurlough]

I started playing Dangun Feveron yesterday because I saw that it got STG of the month and I am absolutely loving it! The game is so fast-paced and frenetic! I love how the item collection system works as well. The only thing I really don't like is the abundance of aimed shots, but when you have a ship that can go as quickly as the game lets you, it makes sense.

Currently I'm using ship type C (because I'm a noob), with homing type weapon (because it makes bosses a lot easier), and speed 3 (so I can collect the little guys).

I might keep playing this game for a long while as I find it very entertaining, if not a little stressful on my movement thumb. (I use a gamepad)

[Marc]

Bought too many shmups around three/four months ago, so was just starting to get into Futari BL, hit the ST3 wall and moved on to other stuff.
Fired it up tonight for the first time in a while, and made it to somewhere in between the ST5 mid and last boss with around 297mil. Pretty happy as I've not touched it in some while and stage 3 was raping me when I did. This time had a clear run through to the boss and died once there, twice (fucking stupidly) on the ST4 boss, and once going for the 1up on ST5. Basically, with a little forward thinking, I should be clearing this soon I'd hope, then trying to tighten up as a few of the patterns on the 3rd and 4th bosses make my eyes spin. Ran a few practice sessions on the last boss and did alright. Did some on ST3 & 4 with counters at my usual levels and it seems I've gotten ST4 down 99% of the time, but ST3 maybe only 50% - not to start that whole stupid debate again, but I know which I find easier. So yeah, quite pleased tonight. Now it's off to wind down with something dumb.

[BIL]

Kolibri (32X) I love the first two Eccos and want something new for my Virtua Racing Deluxe adaptor, so I gave this Fantasy Zone-esque from the same team a go. Not a good first impression. The controls feel totally screwed, and not in the "expertly applied smidgen of inertia" Fantasy Zone way. It's like a second player is appending all straight movements with unwanted circular flourishes (hi bullets!), and outright fighting against diagonals.

I get that it's meant to convey control of a living creature, something Ecco I & II do sublimely in their more deliberate aquatic context. In open air flight it's just irritating. Makes me realise how much of Ecco's appeal is in the organic yet super-solid feel. Ecco doesn't turn on rails or dimes but he always goes exactly where you point him and nowhere else, with the same movements every time, so you can easily compensate while dodging and aiming. This just feels erratic.

I hope there's just some technique I've yet to hit upon, it seems interesting otherwise.

[chempop]

Desperately trying to clear Guwange. That last pattern is so.....
Great game though, especially now that I know how to deal with stage 5 and 6.

[EmperorIng]

My copy of Gigawing 2 came in today for the DC.

Holy moly, this game has lots of bullets. It's probably my first proper bullet hell I've actually owned (the only others I've really enjoyed are DoDonPachi and Dai Ou Jou - unless Cho Ren Sha 68K counts as bullet hell!) - and man oh man is it good.

I don't like the infinite credits, because that meant in my moment of weakness I credit-fed to the end boss. Don't really know how you're supposed to dodge some of these patterns. The scoring is loads of fun though. Nothing like seeing your score go into the trillions with little effort. The story is pretty lol and garbled English, but I like the character designs. Looks familiar...

I think I know the answer [that you guys will give], but should I plop down the money for the other Takumi DC shmups? Or is Gigawing 2 sufficient and I don't need Gigawing?

--

Also playing some Chaos Field that recently came in for the GC. Pretty fun too, but it feels a bit "doujin"esque, if you get my drift. Like I said though, it's fun; it has a really fun polarity system (that I abuse when I'm not manly enough to survive the bullet spread), a really good soundtrack (like all Milestone games), and I like the boss-rush aesthetic - usually I wouldn't but the game has enough variety in it to make up for the lack of "levels." For $8, I couldn't go wrong.

Of course, even with 9 credits the game baby-feeds you, I can't get past phase 3. Or even Phase 1 before I lose my first. The game is surprisingly unforgiving. Or maybe I just suck. >.>

--


Was there any western release of Psyvariar? Or can that only be played on a modded PS2?