Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

[tinotormed]

Salamander 2 and Raiden Fighters. Still trying to manage a decent 1 loop clear on Salamander 2 before going for the 2nd loop. For RF1, the 1st few stages are killing me fast, even shooting at me in close range as I am trying to 1CC this again and again.

[nosorrow]

Still trying to get the hang of Mars Matrix (DC). I have no idea what game mode I should use though (Arcade Mode or Elite Mode and what sub-option to choose for the latter? anyway... very hard but addicting game either way).

[LordHypnos]

Still trying to get the hang of Mars Matrix (DC). I have no idea what game mode I should use though (Arcade Mode or Elite Mode and what sub-option to choose for the latter? anyway... very hard but addicting game either way).

I'd recommend starting with the arcade mode. Elite Mode B is the same enemy placement and patterns as Arcade (Though it seems like the sprites might all be marginally smaller, or something), but you can tweak the options (once you unlock them) to make it easier or different, so that might be nice if you're finding the game frustrating, I guess. Elite Mode A is higher difficulty and completely different enemy placement / patterns (same bosses though). I think it's cool that they included it, because it gives the game more replay value, but even just trying to clear stage 4 is enough for me, now, so I haven't spent any real time with it.

[Stevens]

SDOJ and recently discovered Valkyrius.

[dunpeal2064]

Started playing Futari God yesterday. Didn't have much time, but was able to get everything in the first two stages down, up to the 2nd boss. Best stage 1 score so far is 321m.

Stage 2 seems weird. I often get to the 2nd large wave of cancelling lobster things with 30k, where Gus has around 28k. Even at 28k he doesn't cash in on the first lot. So, I'm not sure if I should just save the cash-in either way? Seems like a loss in potential points to do such a large cancel for no benefit. (For anyone curious, I am learning off of Gus' 4.25b(?) replay on the leaderboards.)

[DazTM]

I've recently gone back to Batsugun on Saturn. I'm absolutely terrible at it, but it's soooo playable. Hyper Duel has been getting a lot of play as well.

[Icarus]

I'm bored enough to try and see if I can overflow Dodonpachi Saidaioujou AC stage 5. This phase probably won't last very long though, since Crimzon Clover World Ignition is imminent. :3
That, and I haven't played the game since November, so I'll be extremely rusty.

[Plasmo]

Eschatos, Eschatos, Eschatos.

Feeling the rage, yo.

[Chaos Phoenixma]

Does the firing rate on Pink Sweet affect the Rose Hips or just the normal shot?

Was playing the game earlier and got to Stage 6 first midboss on Version 1.01 Harder mode. But I was using Easiest difficulties(in case it actually helps in some way), max starting lives, and extends every million since I'm only trying for the achievement.

It actually seems somewhat doable on these settings. But I kind of want the 1,000 gamerscore for the collection. Which means I need to 1cc Harder or Extended(and Harder looks like the way to go here), do Stage 6 of Arrange without letting anything escape(need to look up the infinite Hadogun trick and the strat), and also 1cc harahara or manpuku(which I plan to try to do Harahara 1.01 with default settings since I like the game a lot more, but I'm way rusty, so need to get back to it).

[LordHypnos]

Still truckin' away at Mars Matrix. haven't been walled again yet. Have pretty solid strategies all the way up to the fourth stage boss. Is this boss even possible to kill without losing two lives? How do I even memorize tapping patterns when the patterns are too fast for me to comprehend? This guy's a bastard. I guess that's one for the shmup grievances thread, though.

[EmperorIng]

In between lousy runs of a certain lousy Sengeki Striker, I've been getting into a real Thunder Force kick.

Thunder Force II - surprisingly lots of fun (the overhead stages look meh if you're not playing them). Sidescrolling stages are really tough and fun. I wish I had some maps of the overhead stages to speed them up. I always end up aimlessly flying around for at least a minute towards the end of each.

Thunder Force III - My copy arrived today, and on my first playthrough, I made it to the last level. I've played it before on emulation, but it just seems so much better running on my TV. This one's a keeper.

Thunder Force V - Finally 1CCd this game. On normal though. To my pleasant surprise, Hard Mode actually shakes things up and forces you to move once in a while, instead of Normal Mode's "autopilot until the final level" playstyle.

[LordHypnos]

Mars Matrix is finally giving me significant amount of rage for the first time since I picked it up again after a little break. I think I'm just too tired to play games though, right now. I keep dying in the first and second stages which is just sucky.
I did finally make it past the fourth stage boss with only one death, but Unfortunately I was down to my last extra life in that run >_< so it ended up the same as last time I made it to stage 5. Also, gonna need to actually learn the 5th level which is crazy b/c it's been so long since I've been playing a level that I didn't have every pattern and enemy position memorized (within reason, as the game tends to have some degree of dynamism in enemy spawning)

[Jonst]

Wood-shedding ketsui x mode.Making fair progress,making it quite regularly into stage 5 but still inconsistent.Still,I'm fairly happy with my progress in the time I've put in so far.

[Chaos Phoenixma]

1cc'd Raiden Fighters on 360 Normal mode. Tried some arcade mode and was getting my ass kicked, but I'll go for that some other time. I really need to figure all the secrets for these games since I haven't gotten a lot of them yet.


Going to need to look up the secrets for 2 and Jet now since I'd like to get 1ccs on them as well, then when I do I'll go back and do the Arcade modes. Actually, I have All2(though never have gotten All1 since I don't know how to access Sim 35 on 1 credit outside of Full Run where it's forced) on RFJ's Normal mode in the past, but I don't remember the score or anything, but I'd like the All3, but Real Battle 1 is so annoying not to mention derps everywhere else.

So I played some runs earlier and got around 60 millions up to Phase 2 on Normal. Then I did some Full Run credits on Normal and got to Sim 35 with a little over 50 million. It'd be neat to have a Full Run 1cc since you have to play every sim stage and get the TLB no matter what, even if you die in phase 1, but that would take so much practice.

[mosey]

The Raiden Fighters series has enough secrets to last a while, unlike Raiden IV which I bought tonight for a second time for a second profile, damnit. Still really like the system tweaks from Raiden III. Also $1 ship dlc.

[EmperorIng]

What Raiden IV lacks in secrets more than makes up for in playability and sheer fun and content.

[Kollision]

Those secrets are what kills the appeal of Raiden Fighters for me.
I'll take any Raiden over those easily.

[LordHypnos]

Was practicing Mars Matrix in MAME, and I think I figured out some kinda boss strategy for stage 4 boss
If I screw up my timing even a little I end up in a bad part of the bullet spam attack, but even then I can still usually get through with only 1 death. Wow. Now I just need to make it to the boss in one piece in the DC version >_<
Stage 5 feels way harder than it should though. everyone finds this stage easy, yet I pretty regularly end up dying in it. I probably just need a route. Also have no boss strategy, but I know there are a few documented tricks to make the 5th stage boss not too bad.
Also can't stop playing.
The Mars Matrix has me

[BIL]

Playing it for the first time in 25 years or so, I realised FC Star Soldier's terrain hiding™ is effectively random and went

but then after twenty minutes getting used to actively probing and darting out from under scenery I was all and nabbed myself a copy. What a fucked up and refreshing mechanic!

[chempop]

FeverSOS, I can occasionally gameover right before the final boss. I'm really not liking those biggish "bird-looking" ships towards the end of that stage, and those giant missiles that I can't seem to destroy. Pretty adamant about using B-Lock, despite advice to switch to missiles.

[Ruldra]

So I'm playing the original Raiden. God this game is so rage-inducing.

Fuck you:
- Delayed bombs
- Snipers
- No recovery upon death if a P item doesn't appear

I can consistently make it to space, but I have yet to avoid a death on stage 3 and 5 bosses.

[Stevens]

Valkyrius on hard and Score Rush.

I can only play Score Rush for like 20-30 minutes at a time though , haven't had a game induced headache since the SMS 3-D glasses.

LH - Nice work on MM. You'll get it!

[Weak Boson]

Re: Score Rush head aches, you can turn some of the graphical effects off. I mean, everything is still gonna be sparking and shaking but it doesn't have to be glowing at least.

[Stevens]

Thanks for the info. I will be taking advantage of that.

[Chaos Phoenixma]

I've never played the Raiden Fighters series in MAME, so I'm wondering if the Full Run mode where you play every stage in Jet was a dip setting on that or if it was added in the 360 port. Also did the original versions have the score attack caravan style modes for all 3 games, or was that added to 360 as well? Still, it'd be nice to have a scoreboard for these on Restart Syndrome(for both Normal difficulty and Arcade difficulty) though I'd never play the Caravan mode anyway, but I love playing the extra stages you normally wouldn't in the normal run.

Did some practice runs on Phase 50 and Real Battle Phase 2. Those bosses are crazy. Also, set bombs to 0 in Training to simulate entering the level with 0 bombs, respawn with 0 bombs after a death, WTF that is so stupid. At least you can set a high life counter in training so you can practice a lot more of the level.

Also got to Phase 45 earlier in Full Run mode on a run where I died with 6 bombs in stock on Phase 10 and a death with 6 bombs in stock on Phase 40. I love the Full Run mode on the 360 release because you have to actually beat every level instead of skipping like you would in the normal playthrough, though the loss of Technical Bonuses sucks(though I guess it would make the 100 million achievement pretty trivial if you still got them since you'd get 9 of these instead of just 5)

[M.Knight]

Playing it for the first time in 25 years or so, I realised FC Star Soldier's terrain hiding™ is effectively random and went

but then after twenty minutes getting used to actively probing and darting out from under scenery I was all and nabbed myself a copy. What a fucked up and refreshing mechanic!

The "terrain hiding" is not a bad mechanic idea, but it is very unsettling indeed. The most troublesome part is that you can't fire while hidden and if you leave your cover while an ennemy is near, chances are that you will crash into it.
Another twisted mechanic is having to restart the stage if you don't quickly defeat the boss, and it times out pretty fast.
I had fun trying this game but it was difficult to ignore those "features". The PS2/GC/PSP remake irons those out (while adding a few issues of its own ).

[BIL]

It's so bizarre. Not the hiding concept itself, so much as the level design invisibly activating it (no obvious "overpasses" or bridges etc, just completely arbitrary). First time in a while I've been confused and offended by a shooter mechanic. Full points for audacity!

I genuinely like how it makes the scenery a constant factor, forcing you to navigate more consciously than the typical terrain-free vert. It also creates an interesting tactical choice... for aggressive players it's a nuisance to be counteracted by staying in open space and actively detecting, then triggering and disabling it. Defensive players will want to activate it as often as possible. Weird as hell, but I really like the effect when combined with the intense action.

[M.Knight]

Yeah, the game does not explicitely tell you that you are hidden and the surfaces where you can hide are not clearly indicated. The first time it happened to me, I thought it was some sort of glitch.
Aside from the Shikigami no Shiro series and Radiant Silvergun/Ikaruga, I can't think of other vertical shooters with obstacles, it is indeed quite rare.

Maybe I should give it another chance to see if I can enjoy the possibilities this unique mechanic offers. But to be honest, I think I'll end up having enough of not being able to shoot ennemies and getting killed at the exact moment I leave the safe zones. If I remember well, some ennemies and/or their shots home in on you, so they can get you as soon as the scrolling removes your hideout from the screen.

[LordHypnos]

@M.Knight: Elemental Master has obstacles. V . V as well (those giant island things, or whatever they are that move around and you want to avoid hitting in stage 2). I think a lot of other older verts probably do too. Also Fast Striker, not that that's a terribly well known game.

I was playing Parsec 47 earlier today. I think I might avoid the practice mode in the future, just 'cos I feel like I could go WAY too long without dying in it. I ended up needing to stop for something around parsec 50, but I was at like 2 lives still, or something. Pretty fun game. Gotta love ridiculously fast bullets (later in the practice mode, and everywhere on higher difficulties).

[BIL]

There's Image Fight and its ilk (War of Aero, RSG) that feature as much lethal puzzlebox terrain as the typical 80s/90s hori, of course (and predating them, Salamander's often tight vert stages, plus Dragon Spirit and GEMINI WANG). Compile verts clearly liked walls too in the early 90s, something that carried over into the first two Mahou Daisakusens. Then the related subset of ground-based verts like Gun.Smoke, Guardian Force, Undeadline and Guwange where the environment isn't deadly to touch but a constant tactical concern regardless. An oddity is Blast Wind, which superficially resembles Image Fight/Thunder Force II overhead stage "wallmaku," but is basically a vertical R-Type Delta (terrain is plentiful yet harmless to touch, and in fact you need to nose-bump switches to open gates). Or even weirder, 1941 which outright encourages wall-rubbing by enabling the special scattershot attack during contact.

FC SS interests me since it's technically as obstruction-free as 1942, but the "hidey holes" make its scenery critically relevant nonetheless. I've not seen this effect before... the execution is imperfect for sure (I think it should've at least been sight-readable) but I still like the result. If a ton of enemies or items need shooting/grabbing I'll make sure to head for open space, or if that's not possible, suss out the nearby terrain so if I go under I can get back out. So strange. It adds another layer to the simple, fast shooting, an easily aggravating layer for sure but sometimes I like to wrestle with a flawed game's idiosyncrasies.

Also, it's a ch£ap cart to pick up complete! I was gonna just get SFC Carvan Shooting Collection but AFAIK you need a Famicom mic to access the hidden XTREEM difficulty mode, so I don't know if it's even available in that comp.