Shmup Related Questions That Don't Deserve a Thread

[Lemnear]

hey has anyone tried Exo-Calibre?

[BEAMLORD]

In Battle Garegga, is it possible to pull off the scoring trick against Mad Ball with Golden Bat's Weapon/bomb? Try as I might, I just can't penetrate his ring.

[jpd66]

In Battle Garegga, is it possible to pull off the scoring trick against Mad Ball with Golden Bat's Weapon/bomb? Try as I might, I just can't penetrate his ring.

Yep, it’s not as easy as using, say, Gain’s or Bornham’s bomb, but it can be done without too much trouble. Basically, you want to wait for Mad Ball to open his outer turret ring during the first phase of the fight. As it’s opening, suicide into the outer ring, damaging the outer ring and gaining a few seconds of invincibility. If you time it right, you can maneuver into the space on top of him, while invincible, and detonate his bomb to destroy the outer ring. There are a few more particular details, but that’s the basic gist of it.

I spent a lot of time over the last couple of years learning about the ins and outs of Garegga. It’s more complex than what I usually gravitate toward, but I made an exception with this game because its complexity seemed pretty damn interesting. And I’m glad that I put in the time to study the game in-depth, because the amount of enjoyment that I’ve gotten in return has been immense. Totally worth the effort.

The strategy guide found in the strategy sub-forum by Icarus is a very helpful, exhaustive source of info about all things Garegga. Also the Garegga page on Shmups Wiki is great, as it mostly pulls from the strategy guide by Icarus, from what I understand. And if you’re in the mood for video, Icarus also did an excellent, super-long video with Eaglet and Plasmo some years ago, breaking down Garegga exhaustively. Here is a link to the section of that video where they talk about the Mad Ball scoring trick with the Wild Snail ships:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz1kXyXOz ... AAlc8ueATH
It’s nice to be able to see some gameplay footage to illustrate the concept.

Possibly more than you wanted to hear, but there you go!

[BEAMLORD]

Possibly more than you wanted to hear, but there you go!

Not at all, thanks for your reply. How could I not have guessed that death was the answer?

I have read Icarus' guide - what a great resource, and a feat of dedicated STG inquiry. I was unaware of the video, though. That section makes it all quite clear. I've been used to going into Stage 3 with 2 lives in stock, and suiciding before either the score extend or the stage extend, but guess I'll need to prepare for going in with no lives if I want that points boost.

I'm fairly new to Garrega. It never ceases to amaze me what good old-fashioned book learning can do for you when getting to grips with a new shmup, especially one as initially imposing and inscrutable as Garegga. Even this can be parsed into practical, manageable chunks.

[jpd66]

I’m fairly new to Garrega. It never ceases to amaze me what good old-fashioned book learning can do for you when getting to grips with a new shmup, especially one as initially imposing and inscrutable as Garegga. Even this can be parsed into practical, manageable chunks.

Yeah, a little bit of focused learning can go a long way, I agree. Admittedly, Garegga requires more study than most shmups. For me, it’s been worth it, completely. I can’t think of another shmup that’s gotten its hooks into me like this game. Since I started playing it around two years ago, it’s been my most played shmup by far, and it’s not even close. There have been weeks-long stretches where I haven’t wanted to play anything else. It’s just so damn interesting to play once you’ve come to grips with how it works. Not to mention how cool its aesthetics are, both visually and aurally. And although it takes more work to get into than most shmups, I honestly think that its reputation for being overly difficult to understand is a little overblown. Anyway, good luck with your runs!

[blazinglazers69]

I'm experimenting a little with R-Type II. I prefer the R-Types Playstation port since it allows you turn down the sound effects, which I find very abrasive, and has built-in autofire. Does the US version of R-Types correspond to the World Version of R-Type II or the Japanese version? Also, does the Japanese version of R-Types correspond to the Japanese arcade version of R-Type II? Just curious how these ports compare to the arcade versions. I've heard the Japanese arcade version is harder than the World version.

[AGermanArtist]

What is considered the best X68000 emulator now?

XM86 TypeG
There's a HDD image for it with pretty much everthing on it, categorised by genre/sub genre.

[AGermanArtist]

I'm being that guy. I'm trying to find a fairly recent (last 5 yrs) horizontal STG game. It's like a modern neo geo game featuring a fairly large guy/mech with a minigun iirc, graphics are quite impressive for an indie. Don't know if it's available on Steam. Visually similar to Ando Dunos 2. It looks sort of like a Team Ladybug game.

[BulletMagnet]

Maybe this? Or possibly this one?

[AGermanArtist]

Got Valfaris, thanks for having a look. It's neither. I should say it's a lot like a modern Forgotten Worlds. But single player and I don't think the gun rotates. IIRC he's flying with an LMG/Minigun.

[KMH]

Got Valfaris, thanks for having a look. It's neither. I should say it's a lot like a modern Forgotten Worlds. But single player and I don't think the gun rotates. IIRC he's flying with an LMG/Minigun.

Battle Traverse

Doesn't look too similar to AD2 though

[AGermanArtist]

Boom. That's it. Thank you.

edit : wow 2015. Didn't realise it's 10 yrs old.

Doesn't look too similar to AD2 though

Yeah, you're right. I got AD2 confused with Rolling Gunner.

[LordHypnos]

Is the Stage 4 boss of Giga Wing actually a troll who always throws the hardest to dodge pattern at you after you just used the shield, or am I just unlucky?

EDIT: further investigation reveals that it is not such a troll, but I would like to know if the patterns are RNG or not.