Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

[The Armchair General]

For reasons that are completely unbeknownst to myself, I'm currently quarreling once more against the most heinous shmup in existence.

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( •_•)>⌐■-■
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You don't need to do this to yourself Perikles.

Also on a side note weren't you working on Parodius Da!?

What game is that?

It's a game called Zing Zing Zip. It's the greatest shmup of all time. You should definitely play it to experience what true greatness feels like.

[Perikles]

Someone has to do it, it's too late now to turn back. Besides: if it works I can always say that I cleared (arcade) shmups reaching from Acrobat Mission to Zing Zing Zip, that has a nice ring to it!

Also on a side note weren't you working on Parodius Da!?

I'm still lackadaisically working on it. I'm more than a bit disgruntled, for four reasons:

1. I thought I was smart when I figured one day that there's no reason not to play it in auto mode - only to get shafted in stage 4 with a second speed-up which will result in the game vomiting suicide bullets in stage 5. Why would anyone design a game in such a manner?

2. I hate having to play with a single speed-up, however. I just hate it. You're constantly wading through treacle, dying to slow-moving bullets you see coming from a mile ago. I play every Gradius and Parodius game with at least two speed-ups, depending on the game/loop maybe even three. For me, that's the ideal precondition for both exciting gameplay and tactical option spacing. Playing it with one is a chore, I'm constantly holding down the directional pad with all my might in the hope that I'll move just an iota faster. Yet I'll never do. And you know what the worst part is? If you finally select your second speed-up during the underwater cavern you're even slower than you were outside of the water with just one. It's depressing.

3. I want to clear it with a respectable score. That means no deaths before the final boss (you get an obscene amount of points for checkpoint milking that part) and preferrably no dropped bells (at least before stage 8, I'll cut myself some slack there since it's the worst stage in the entire game).

4. Damn those hitboxes! And the roulette capsules! And that disgusting pufferfish in stage 8!


I applaud Konami for making the game more accessible via the ports. Arcade Gradius III and SFC Gradius III can harmonically coexist since they are both so excellent at their respective niche, but I consider the conversions to be better than the original in the case of Parodius Da! (that is, the SFC and the 32-bit ports, there's no real reason to play the rest). Now, arcade Parodius Da! is still great fun at times, it's a Konami game after all. I find it strangely difficult to properly motivate myself, though. No matter how well you practice it you still die the molasses death a million times. Not all that rewarding.

[Stevens]

It's a game called Zing Zing Zip. It's the greatest shmup of all time. You should definitely play it to experience what true greatness feels like.

Haha. I think in this case I am going to take the same approach as I do with having children - live vicariously through another.



Still playing Donpachi?

[The Armchair General]

Still playing Donpachi?

Yes, but I haven't done 2-ALL attempts in about three weeks. I have however been doing 1CC practice runs were I start the game at 2-3 and starting today I'm trying to do daily second loop 1CCs. Through these practice runs I've gotten a lot better at the second loop.

Before my hiatus I played did Donpachi 2-ALL attempts for two weeks. I took a brake because:

1. I got burnt out from playing the game so much.

2. The game really frustrated me. This can be seperated into many mini points:

- Donpachi is similar to Raiden in the fact that death can come out of nowhere. You can feel 100% safe but then some tank shoots at you from across the screen with super fast bullets and BAM your dead. Either that or an enemy point blanks you before you can point blank it. Deaths like that suck

- Donpachi is by far the longest game I've played with a 2-ALL taking about 50 minutes and I'm not used to playing STGs that long. It makes resets in the second loop saddening because I know I'll have to play through the first loop again. Stages 4 and 5 are good stages but stages 1 to 3 I don't find much fun anymore.

- Donpachi is an easy game. A Donpachi 2-All is one of the easier 2-ALLs out there and is nothing when compared to almost any other Cave game. This fact makes failing all the more painful.

3. Finals week is next week and I'm pretty crammed with school work

Don't get me wrong I absolutely love Donpachi and it's one of my favorite STGs out there. It just gets a little exhausting failing at the same game over and over again. Hopefully after finals week is over I can get that 2-ALL. Then I can go into the f*cked up world of type B scoring

[Stevens]

1. I got burnt out from playing the game so much.

2. The game really frustrated me. This can be seperated into many mini points:

- stages 1 to 3 I don't find much fun anymore.

3. Finals week is next week and I'm pretty crammed with school work
It just gets a little exhausting failing at the same game over and over again.

It seems like you need a break from it. Play some other games for a week or two without worrying about accomplishing anything. Maybe a shooter you've been wanting to try but haven't yet?

When you feel ready go back to Donpachi, it will still be there and the break will probably help you more in the long run than keeping at something you're not having fun with.

Good luck.

[Blinge]

- Donpachi is an easy game. A Donpachi 2-All is one of the easier 2-ALLs out there and is nothing when compared to almost any other Cave game. This fact makes failing all the more painful.

Ah man, i get a similar mentality when i'm working on some gaming feat. Just try and remember that it's external to the task at hand and that pride is keeping you from reaching your goal. But yeah, It's hard to just play the game in a vacuum like that.
Hah, i had the same thing when trying to learn a skullgirls combo, the forum listed it as " baby's first BnB combo." And i couldn't fucking do it. Very humiliating.

As for me, I'm really floundering at Ketsui atm, can't seem to get back into it. Feels like simply reaching omote is a million miles away and I was deluded for ever thinking I was good at the game.

[Jonst]

^ feeling this. I appear to have lost any acquired skills for anything these days.

[Stevens]

Haven't played a ton this week, but still working on Progear.

Scoring on stages 1 - 3 has gotten better, but plateaued for now. I've gone and made new save states on stages 2 and 3 so I can practice them at the correct rank.

My average score on stage 1 is usually between 800,000 and 1 million. Earning the 1st extend closer to the start of stage 3 instead of at the mid boss, and clearing 4 million on stage 3 more frequently.

Should get a fair amount of play this weekend. Currently a little poorer than usual and nothin' better than free.

One of the things I really love about this genre is going back to a game you tried in the past and didn't like, then trying it again months or years later and finding out your opinion has changed.

I gave Guwange another shot yesterday. I think it my find a limited spot in my rotation, if only to keep me from burning out on Progear.

Something else I have noticed on Fightcade - analog control isn't complete shit, in fact it is very manageable. On game oldies (RIP) it was shit, and I had to play with a stick, but here it works pretty well. EDIT - Figured out how to D pad.

[The Armchair General]

It seems like you need a break from it. Play some other games for a week or two without worrying about accomplishing anything. Maybe a shooter you've been wanting to try but haven't yet?

I already have. I stopped playing entirely for a while and I don't count practice runs as seriously playing the game. All those frustrations I listed for why I took a break don't apply to practice runs or at the very least are severely less frustrating. Also WingForce, Cotton, and Gunbird are all cool games even if I'm bad at the last two .

[endoKarb]

It just gets a little exhausting failing at the same game over and over again.

You might've picked the wrong genre.

[gimebe]

I've been grinding Ketsui 1st loop for Ura requirements and finally qualified once after a whole lot of 1-5 grinding, and trying to score Eschatos Original Hardest. The latter makes me feel bad because there's no score-focused replays of the mode anywhere so I've got no reference for what successful scoring routes might look like or if I've missed something essential, also I die everywhere all the time and sinking hours into the game feels futile.

Still playing Donpachi?

Yes, but I haven't done 2-ALL attempts in about three weeks. I have however been doing 1CC practice runs were I start the game at 2-3 and starting today I'm trying to do daily second loop 1CCs. Through these practice runs I've gotten a lot better at the second loop.

Before my hiatus I played did Donpachi 2-ALL attempts for two weeks. I took a brake because:

1. I got burnt out from playing the game so much.

2. The game really frustrated me. This can be seperated into many mini points:

- Donpachi is similar to Raiden in the fact that death can come out of nowhere. You can feel 100% safe but then some tank shoots at you from across the screen with super fast bullets and BAM your dead. Either that or an enemy point blanks you before you can point blank it. Deaths like that suck

- Donpachi is by far the longest game I've played with a 2-ALL taking about 50 minutes and I'm not used to playing STGs that long. It makes resets in the second loop saddening because I know I'll have to play through the first loop again. Stages 4 and 5 are good stages but stages 1 to 3 I don't find much fun anymore.

- Donpachi is an easy game. A Donpachi 2-All is one of the easier 2-ALLs out there and is nothing when compared to almost any other Cave game. This fact makes failing all the more painful.

3. Finals week is next week and I'm pretty crammed with school work

Don't get me wrong I absolutely love Donpachi and it's one of my favorite STGs out there. It just gets a little exhausting failing at the same game over and over again. Hopefully after finals week is over I can get that 2-ALL. Then I can go into the f*cked up world of type B scoring

Don't give up, 50 minutes of anything is a royal pain, even moreso with Donpachi's excitement. Practice is good for improvement and no less serious to invest time in than credits, even better if repeating the early stages is not useful.

Ah man, i get a similar mentality when i'm working on some gaming feat. Just try and remember that it's external to the task at hand and that pride is keeping you from reaching your goal. But yeah, It's hard to just play the game in a vacuum like that.
Hah, i had the same thing when trying to learn a skullgirls combo, the forum listed it as " baby's first BnB combo." And i couldn't fucking do it. Very humiliating.

As for me, I'm really floundering at Ketsui atm, can't seem to get back into it. Feels like simply reaching omote is a million miles away and I was deluded for ever thinking I was good at the game.

Anything in particular you're stuck with in Ketsui? Routing and practicing the second loop in savestates may help with first loop wallbreaking by forcing you to learn new things about the stages and boss patterns.

[Gamer683441]

All this talk about DodonPachi makes me wanna ask you guys. I am not getting the Pcb anytime soon and I like to play on actual hardware. So , I'm curious on the Saturn version. I heard about pixelated explosions some people have talked about, but besides that, is this port pretty close to the arcade? And is the Saturn port worth getting in terms of it being a quality port?

[lmagus]

Ketsui.. My most recent attempt at this game

So far, 4th stage boss, 47M

[Vludi]

All this talk about DodonPachi makes me wanna ask you guys. I am not getting the Pcb anytime soon and I like to play on actual hardware. So , I'm curious on the Saturn version. I heard about pixelated explosions some people have talked about, but besides that, is this port pretty close to the arcade? And is the Saturn port worth getting in terms of it being a quality port?

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=37679

[jcfoster]

I've been playing RefRain a fair bit since I picked it up last week, and I'm reaching stage 5 somewhat reliably now on Normal. I think it's a shame there's no practice mode, but I guess the side effect of that is that I have stages 1 and 2 largely nailed down (while stages 3-5 are still rubbish).

I'm thinking I can clear once I start getting to stage 5 with more than 2-3 lives left (on the survival, the rotating lasers and the last attack still cost me 1-2 lives each).

[Blinge]

Anything in particular you're stuck with in Ketsui? Routing and practicing the second loop in savestates may help with first loop wallbreaking by forcing you to learn new things about the stages and boss patterns.

Now I think about it honestly, it's my overall consistency before stage 5. I should take a more serious approach if I want more serious results. But I haven't really been in the mood for extended sessions lately, so eh..

I do need to learn solid strats for stage 5 though because it's just destroying me. descent and everything afterwards. Oh maybe the section just before the descent aswell, with the popcorn and their blue spread shots.

[Harpuia]

I made it to the final stage in Raiden for the first time today. I might've been able to get the clear if I hadn't accidentally switched to the laser in stage 7 and died because of it.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Over Horizon emulated on Wii - for I wanted to see how my recovering left thumb handles d-pad in a horizontal shmup now. Mean hitbox, bu I'm all for that "humble hardware shmup" style, when low sprite count is compensated for by the way of A.I. more aggressive or playful than is typical of today's shmups. How old is the newest shmup where you thought A.I. had any "character"? Over Horizon even has a weapon that needs to be aimed! ("B" - relatively slow projectiles vs pretty fast enemies.)
Classy designs as well (all of the presentation was particularly welcome this time).



Then Abadox - super cool intro, shame about the first boss being of that "one attack pattern 'till it drops" variety. I think even Solar Striker's no-timeout bosses had at least two attacks each.
Speaking of Solar Striker, soon I should go shmuppin' on GBA SP with that thumb of mine. These R-Type DX and Phalanx carts have laid fallow for months now...

[Squire Grooktook]

How old is the newest shmup where you thought A.I. had any "character"?

Eschatos channeled that quite well I think.

[Stevens]

Still hanging with Progear.

Mostly single stage practice, routing, trying to find more points here and there.

I've earned the 1st extend a couple of times at the end of stage 2, a week ago it was the stage 3 midboss, and finishing stage 3 now with around 5 million.

After many failed practice runs (from the start of stage 4, 5 million) I reached Kraken. Few more full stage runs later and I was finally able to clear it from the beginning and I finished the stage with 8.3 million.

Happy I've worked out enough points to earn 2 extends, but I am fairly certain I can get one more on the last stage. That would help a lot.

[Sir Ilpalazzo]

Made it up to stage 4 in Dangun Feveron! Amazing game; probably one of my favorite shmups period now.

[Squire Grooktook]

Hellsinker: Repercussions of Floccinaucinihilipilification
By Squire Grooktook

"I must fight the prayers" said Deadliar.
"No, Deadliar, you are the prayers" said Rex Cavalier
And then Deadliar got insanity.

Made it up to stage 4 in Dangun Feveron! Amazing game; probably one of my favorite shmups period now.

The stage 3 boss is one of my favorite things ever crafted by human hands.

The game is indeed in my top 5 forever.

Only problem is that if I play it too long I get dehydrated. Failing to take a break after that usually causes me to burst into flames.

[Perikles]

trap15's superb video/stream of Same! Same! Same! convinced me to delve into it myself, and it is indeed grand. No pretenses, no embelishments, no false courtesies, just insanely fast bullets and memorization hell towards the second half. It is possible (and semi-feasible) to beat all the stages without bombing as I found out; with the prominent exception of stage 7, I have no idea how to handle those huge planes that come from behind without the short breaks granted by the bombs. You also need perfect positioning for some of the smaller planes that appear from behind for they'll shoot you right in the face if you don't "seal" them right away. Looks like your best bet is to simply memorize everything. This shall be fun!

[Harpuia]

The stage 2 boss in Raiden still manages to give me trouble. I know you can take him out by bombing as soon as his armor is gone and then point blanking him, but I haven't really been able to pull it off. Earlier I was almost able to, but his second pattern kicked in and took me out right before he died. Otherwise, I usually end up spending three or four bombs during that fight.

[Perikles]

You don't need to bomb at all against the boss. You'll know that he is about to use his first pattern when he shifts those lower metal plates away, back off at that point. You can avoid his second pattern entirely by sitting to his side or by staying down and moving diagonally when the time comes. I made a quick video showing both techniques to demonstrate.

[Vludi]

This is what i do on boss 2
https://youtu.be/xKLTsIjWb28?t=446

I'm also practicing the game, let's hope we get the clear soon

[Harpuia]

Thanks, those are both really helpful. I was able to get through the stage 2 boss earlier using the staying to the side method, so I guess I'll be sticking with that.

[The Armchair General]

Thanks, those are both really helpful. I was able to get through the stage 2 boss earlier using the staying to the side method, so I guess I'll be sticking with that.

Yea my method back in that no miss vid is honestly pretty bad. With that said I was able to do it consistently back when I working on Raiden.

[doom_]

I'm still playing Mushihimesama. After beating the rookie stuff a while ago I committed myself to clear one of the normal modes. I played Maniac Mode for a while because in general I feel more comfortable flying through slow hypnotic danmaku patterns compared to deadly fast-paced old school patterns. Most of the time I used stage select to practice specific parts of the game.

At some point, I started to struggle with Maniac. Idk why, but I decided to switch to Original. It is not considered easier than Maniac by most, but right now it seems way easier to survive Original, so I'll stick with it.

In addition to that, I switched from using W-gun to S-gun. I think seeing WC play DDP SDJ motivated me to make the transition. "Speed is power", he said. After playing Zenodyne R all afternoon today, W-gun felt SO slow and I just had to try S instead. And something great happened: Within half an hour or so, S felt like second nature. Of course, I crashed here and there because I'm not used to the speed... But boy, the game feels really good right now. I can macro dodge a lot of stuff I have been micro dodging before. (jumping through some of the patterns with S-ship's speed makes me feel like an arcade stick magician every now and then lol) And even rather tight positioning works out well most of the time. I think my practice starts to pay out and Original mode with S-ship makes this really obvious. Right now there is no part of Original Mode that overwhelms me anymore. I'm pretty satisfied and 1CC Original Mode is just a matter of time at this point.

[Emuser]

I was just playing Zenodyne R. I NMNB'd the TLB going into it with 1 life 0 bombs. Took about 20 minutes to calm down from that experience.