Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

[null1024]

Danmaku Death [Android].
Fuck Android input latency. Could just be the terrible stock version on my Galaxy S3, but it's a fair bit of time for my finger position to get updated.

[oboewan42]

Nitro Ball!

WELCOME... TO STRANGE FOOTBALL FIELD!

Great music, lulzy scoring (basically, it's a free-roamer like Mercs, but the stages are covered in bumpers and drop targets like a pinball machine; you can blow them up by shooting t them, but you get more points by shooting enemies at the correct angle so that they ricochet into them). Goofy announcer, great Smash TV motif. Plus, it's a Data East game, so you know it has that sort of "if only they had tried just a little bit harder" charm to it.

It's on my shortlist if I ever decide to do a trap15-style not-quite-100%-super-srs STGT. (other games on that list include Zed Blade, Vasara 2, Night Raid, DoDonPachi II: Bee Storm, and Space Bomber)

[Edge]

Kamui (PC)

I don't have so much time to play it, but when I do I really have a blast with this one. It is heavily inspired by the Rayforce games, but since Taito didn't continue this series I am really glad these guys did.

Gradius Gaiden (PSX) and I really need to practice, lol

Oh, that is a great game. A true classic.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Score Rush MP. It's a lot of fun at higher difficulties, especially with someone else who plays shmups seriously. Enemy health goes up quite a bit with higher difficulties, so the extra firepower helps a ton, and scoring optimally needs as many people as possible as you get rewarded for speedkilling and pointblanking. More players = faster kills & significantly better score potential, although having a guest who clearly doesn't play shmups join and suddenly spam all your team's bombs (right as they respawn for no reason) can be a bit... amusing. Doesn't happen often, thankfully.

[null1024]

Kamui (PC)

I have to remember that I own this game. It's really brilliant, but I haven't played it much since I bought it...

[daigle]

Shiki 2 for DC, really obsessed with this game right now. Never been a huge fan before but im really into it now.

[Zaarock]

Grid Space Shooter [XBLIG]

One of my favorite arena shmups just after playing it on a couple days. Some geometry wars style enemies in addition to pretty creative mid-sized ones and Warning Forever bosses. Multiple player ships that have lots of differences but are still fairly balanced. Same with special weapon drops, there's a lot but all of them are useful. I like the gem/item collection mode but it seems to end at a set point so can't really be score attacked. Scoring is straight forward (get hit and you lose your multiplier) but since score items turn into shield items if you're not maxed out there's some risk/reward going on.

Suffers from bad name and bad cover syndrome, checked it out because it had a ton of 5 star ratings on jp marketplace (never read about it on this forum for some reason)

[KAI]

Finally played AK/AK Shin. They look interesting.

[null1024]

DoDonPachi Resurrection [Android].

Oh hey! AT&T finally came around with an update for my phone, and the game no longer just blackscreens on me. Sweeet.

And damnit, I need to remember I have Kamui. It's on my little Windows laptop, which I barely use...
Haven't bothered to see if it works in Wine yet, so I can play it on my main laptop. I probably should.

[oboewan42]

Semi-serious question: does Pang! count as a shmup?

[EmperorIng]

After playing a bit of Super Aleste and Robo Aleste while I'm away on vacation, I feel like both games would be 3x better if the levels were 3x shorter.

Robo Aleste's "stand perfectly still and shoot a non-aggressive train for 7 minutes before something interesting happens" is an incredible display of bloat which makes all those old jokes about Compile level design (being a snooze-fest) ring very true. It's a shame because the first two levels of Robo Aleste are pretty cool.

[BIL]

Have you tried out the two highest difficulties in Super Aleste ("-3" is the hardest)? They're actually pretty intense from the get-go. All those suicide bullets make smart play much more of a necessity than in the lower modes.

[ACSeraph]

Picked up Ketsui Death Label while I was in Tokyo and it has reignited my interest in the 360 version (Which I bought a few months ago but have been too busy to play).

Currently I can just barely scrape by the stage 3 midboss but not much farther than that. The patterns in Death Label are a bit easier than the main version so it doesnt help much for practice.

Any tips for the 1st loop clear are welcome.

[Softdrink 117]

Any tips for the 1st loop clear are welcome.

I'm sure one of the Ketsui vets will be able to give better advice, but a few things that helped me:

--Learn how to consistently get both 1ups.

--Staying really aggressive in the first half of stage 4 will really help survival once you learn the feel of enemy placements.

--For survival, lots of precision tap dodges can make some of the tough stretches of stage 5 a bit easier.

--Don't worry about planning out bomb distribution or anything like that. The game gives you plenty of resources, which you should feel free to exploit if you're just going for a 1-ALL.

[spadgy]

I'm finally finding time to play the copy of Caladrius I picked up recently. I adore Raiden IV, so was very keen to play this. At first I was feeling it was average, but it's growing on me. It has that same feel that Raiden IV does – a Moss trait maybe; You really have to push, perfect and take risks for pretty tiny score improvements, and that gives playing for score the feel of riding each level on a wave. Fall of the front or back (and out of rhythm with your scoring), and it's a real fight to get your scoring back under control. It's a little tense, and I love it.

I do wish it was a vert rather than a vertizontal though.

And I wish, like the mighty Raiden IV, it was suited for Double Play.

[blackoak]

Really enjoying Futari Maniac. The maniac version of Larsa is actually a really fun fight... its only that first attack of her final health bar that seems to require bombing. Overall I really like the boss patterns in this compared with Original.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

Abit more of Guwange XBLA (arc), managed to get to the 5th stage boss for 1st time.

I'm liking this game more and more, especially due to it's aggressive playstyle and chaining system.

Finally got around to playing Trouble Witches Neo as it's been sitting on my 360 HD for over a year. I'm not sure what to make of it, game play is cool but it's all abit too busy and colourful for me.

[MommysBestGames]

I've made some time for a one credit play of DDP Saidaioujou here and there. I've been playing the Xbox 360 version since it seems easier. I can make it to stage 4, but the stage 3 giant boat/ship thing is really mean/does me in pretty bad. I've only peaked at the other modes like Arcade and 1.5 but since they were harder, haven't played them much.

After playing a bit of Super Aleste and Robo Aleste while I'm away on vacation, I feel like both games would be 3x better if the levels were 3x shorter.

The "Short Game" option on Space Megaforce is pretty fun still, but I'm a sucker for the game--I love the long play version. But I agree, the train boss in Robo goes on way too long.

[EmperorIng]

Don't get me wrong, I think Super Aleste/Space Megaforce is a fairly good game, and I do play on the Tricky/Wild whatever setting to add a little kick. The marathon-length bogs it down a bit, but perhaps the same could be said of all Compile games.

[Zorator]

Easing my way back into the genre after a sabbatical with Batsugun Special, now that I finally have my Saturn + TATE setup in full swing(well not quite full swing as I need an S-video cable and a decent joystick). I came extremely close to clearing the first round on one credit with the pad more than a year ago but it feels like my skill has diminished greatly since then.

[Kiken]

Working on trying to SCC Exzeal with Unit 4 (thankfully they included the auto-roll button). Managed to get up to stage 6 last night in a single credit.. but could that level be any more annoying?

[Acid_Rain]

Still playing Futari BL Original, but I think it's time to move on. Any suggestions on a slightly higher difficulty level?

[Danny]

I recently brought 4 region free cave games (well five one is a double pack!) and I am currently playing Espgaluda II Black Label right now while I have some time off work. I managed to 1cc "Xbox 360 Novice" mode on my first try. (not that hard) Now I am playing the standard Xbox 360 mode and it's kicking my ass some what and I can barely make it to stage 3 without dying. I assumed that this mode was the next step compared to the arcade, arrange and black label modes and I am not entirely sure what the differences are other than Arcade mode does not have the character I like using the most.

[Vyxx]

Done with Ibara kuro.

Going against the trend I'm definitely more fond of the original Ibara.

Must be our the Yagawa.

[rCadeGaming]

Got back into my PCE collection, which I built up and then was too busy to play. Beat Spriggan on normal pretty easily on my first ever playthrough, so while I really liked it it wasn't as challenging as some of my other PCE shmups. I'll try the next difficulty next time.

I also finally got around to putting a Genesis controller PCB in one of my sticks. Bari-Arm had been sitting on the shelf for a while, and I finally started playing it tonight. Got stuck on the level 5 boss, normal difficulty. LOVING the game though. I can't understand why it's not on the list of top console-exclusive shmups here.

[Kiken]

I recently brought 4 region free cave games (well five one is a double pack!) and I am currently playing Espgaluda II Black Label right now while I have some time off work. I managed to 1cc "Xbox 360 Novice" mode on my first try. (not that hard) Now I am playing the standard Xbox 360 mode and it's kicking my ass some what and I can barely make it to stage 3 without dying. I assumed that this mode was the next step compared to the arcade, arrange and black label modes and I am not entirely sure what the differences are other than Arcade mode does not have the character I like using the most.

ESP 2 Black Label is its own monster. I would not consider it a stepping stone to Arcade/360 Mode. ESP 2 is a difficult game. The best thing is to really just work at Arcade mode slowly.

So I take it you main Seseri then (as she's exclusive to the Black Label modes)?

I also finally got around to putting a Genesis controller PCB in one of my sticks. Bari-Arm had been sitting on the shelf for a while, and I finally started playing it tonight. Got stuck on the level 5 boss, normal difficulty. LOVING the game though. I can't understand why it's not on the list of top console-exclusive shmups here.

It has a tendancy to be overshadowed by Keio Yuugekitai and Lords of Thunder. Silpheed has greater name recognition due to the cinemas and Dennin Aleste has the Aleste name attached to it (along with Compile's signature game length).

[PedroMD]

I decided to take a break from DoDonPachi after some months of practicing to not much improvement (st5 how do I even), and tried DonPachi just to see how the series evolved. It's really weird playing this after the later games in the series because it makes it feel like the hitbox is the entire screen and the same dodges don't work. Really liking it, though, and finding it substantially easier than the sequel (until st4, that is, where the difficulty starts going bonkers). Maybe I'll finish this one before going back to DDP for more suffering.

[Danny]

I recently brought 4 region free cave games (well five one is a double pack!) and I am currently playing Espgaluda II Black Label right now while I have some time off work. I managed to 1cc "Xbox 360 Novice" mode on my first try. (not that hard) Now I am playing the standard Xbox 360 mode and it's kicking my ass some what and I can barely make it to stage 3 without dying. I assumed that this mode was the next step compared to the arcade, arrange and black label modes and I am not entirely sure what the differences are other than Arcade mode does not have the character I like using the most.

ESP 2 Black Label is its own monster. I would not consider it a stepping stone to Arcade/360 Mode. ESP 2 is a difficult game. The best thing is to really just work at Arcade mode slowly.

So I take it you main Seseri then (as she's exclusive to the Black Label modes)?

I appears I am a moron, Xbox 360 mode is the same as Arcade mode but with cleaner graphics. I play as the "green" character with the homing shots who is in all versions, I've not touched Black Label yet as it's supposed to be brutal. I am going to give Xbox 360 mode another try later and see if I can make it past the second stage boss consistently.

[rCadeGaming]

Bari-Arm... I can't understand why it's not on the list of top console-exclusive shmups here.

It has a tendancy to be overshadowed by Keio Yuugekitai and Lords of Thunder. Silpheed has greater name recognition due to the cinemas and Dennin Aleste has the Aleste name attached to it (along with Compile's signature game length).

I guess so. Anyhow, all those games are on my shopping list, haha (except for Lords of Thunder, already have that for the PCE).

[MadSteelDarkness]

Border Down.

Kind of depressing to realize that I'm just as bad at this game as i was, what, almost a decade ago?