Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

[KaizaCorp]

...
In order to fully enjoy Jamestown you have to play it with other people.

Indeed, vaunting to save your friends or reviving them is quite satisfying. I enjoyed it thoroughly, although it was the first shmup I got into and I was playing 4 player.

[Stevens]

Also local co-op only kind of sucks too. Beyond me how they left out online support.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Judgement Silversword: Special Mode.

Holy cow the bosses are tough in this. I've gotten to the new true final boss, E3, and it just wipes me out without any effort. Best I've done is getting to it with four lives in stock and then reaching its second form.

[Stevens]

Darius Gaiden

Messing around and practicing different stages, the formerly rapey G is not as daunting as it once was. Considering a top run to Z, but haven't made up my mind yet.

Crisis Wing demo.

If the 2:30 caravan demo is any indication than pieslice has a great shooter on his hands. You can find it here -->http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=59038

Under Defeat - Have not had a crack at it since last week but will throw a credit or two in tomorrow.

[harrytasker]

im literally pixels from getting my 3rd 1CC (DDP DFK)

those damn laser wheels in stage 5 just mess me up so hard, i need to practice that section specifically

[Stevens]

Been working on the ABDGKPZ' route in Gaiden. Need to clean up zone K of all things. Fatty Glutton isn't the problem, the zone itself is.

It starts off OK, but once I'm in the tunnel I find it hard to see everything. Think its the silver enemies on a mostly silver bg. I've accepted that I am going to lose one life on K, but the last three runs Ive lost two and if I'm going to clear the route then I have to fix that.

After K I have a pretty good handle on the rest. P isn't nearly as hard and I spent enough time with Crusty Hammer that I can no miss it spending one or two bombs.

Z' I've messed around with a bit via states. Tough stage, but I have gotten to Great Thing on one life. Not sure how much HP it has, but I've gotten it to where he shoots those tiny hopping lasers out of his ass. More time will obviously be needed here too.

Best I've done on a legit credit is P, but I know if I can stop dying twice in K that will be come Z'.

[tizerist]

Border Down.
I love this game but it still kicks my arse. I can now consistently reach level 4, which is one of the prettiest levels i've seen in a shooter.
I don't like the border system though, I must say. Being dumped in an unfamiliar area after losing a ship breaks the consistency of the run.
I wish they had just chosen a Darius style path option. The action is fast and thick though. Also, my favourite Sega game.

[CHI]

DariusBurst Second Prologue

[Squire Grooktook]

Got a quickie 1-all of Strikers 1945 Part 3 today. Took about three short play sessions this week.



I love Dragon Blaze's elegant melee mechanic, but I think this is my favorite Psikyo STG in terms of pattern/level/boss design.

My favorite aspect of Psikyo games is their macro dodging. Exciting, high speed dodges over long distances. Micro dodges while macro dodging, etc. I think Strikers Part 3 has the best of these patterns. They're simple, elegant, and the high flying ideal strategies are better telegraphed than previous titles.

The level design also has a much better flow than other Psikyo games, imo. There's an excellent balance of rushing zako, big targets to special shot, medals to chain, etc. I also enjoy how unobtrusive the scoring system is. Most of your routing goes towards avoiding bullets, and medal chains can probably be approached in a variety of ways after one masters the stages.

I could see this being the Psikyo title I might continue returning to for a 2-all.

[Gamer707b]

Hey Stevens, you playing auto fire on or off? Just
curious. Havent played this game in a minute. You just gave me the itch .

[Kiken]

I picked up Last Resort on AES cart not too long ago. It seems that rank on the cart doesn't function in quite the same manner as on the Neo-CD version. The mini destructible homing missiles fired by certain enemies are slightly more aggressive and I wasn't able to trigger the moving pattern of the stage 3 boss's second phase. Also, the cart suffers from a bit more flicker in key locations (when fighting the first large mech that scales out of the background during the intro part of stage 1 there have been numerous times on the cart where the entire player craft will disappear if there's enough weapon discharge going on).

[Stevens]

On, 11 or 13 Hz.

Haven't played in a few days, been out of town, and I might have to take a break from it if my laptop dies before Cyber Monday

[Jonst]

Back on ibara arrange. So damn addictive.

[Stevens]

Back on ibara arrange. So damn addictive.

Like a siren's song you just can't stay away can you?

All the Jamestown talk has got me back to playing it. The challenge courses are a lot of fun.

Really need to play this at our next meet up.

[Jonst]

^ no man, I can't stay away... it's so fun to play and I thik i'm making progress. I almost broke in to stage 6 the other day, I died just as the stage 5 boss started to explode :/ (wasn't paying attention) thought it was in the bag! My scoring is terrible due constantly dropping chains though!

Always fancied Jamestown... haven't dipped for a ps4 though...

[OMFG]

Ordyne: Both PCE and PCB.

Dimahoo: On PCB.

Salamander Collection: On the PSP.

The Salamander/Gradius/Twin Bee/Parodius collection on the PSP are 4 great reasons to own that portable system.

[Stevens]

I am fucking trash at Raiden IV.

[wgogh]

After Lords of Thunder, I'm playing some ps2 shmups until I decide wich one to invest time.
It's a nice collection that gathered together many ports for the system. I'm using my PSX Hori

[Major Stryker]

I'm playing Shoomachi. Its a mobile shmup game. Normally I play arcade shmups in Mame, but its a fun little game.

[Stevens]

Clearing BWR+ has made me go back to Espgaluda 2 BL.

My best run is 820 million to the last boss. Kakusei only, although I've been experimenting with zesshikai's over mode to spawn gems after stage two's mid boss.

I've been working on scoring on stages one and two since I felt 300 million by the end of stage two was realistic. Was hitting 300 million at the start of stage three, but I hit it at two's boss. Best score ever after two stages.

Naturally I died immediately on stage three and restarted the stage and even though it wasn't a legit run cause of that I finished with 933 million. Which is great cause it means my scoring is getting better elsewhere too.

I'm not sure I'll ever get a real handle on zesshikai in BL, that said I do understand it in vanilla Esp 2. The little I've played it anyway.

EDIT - Scoring between 135 - 155 million on stage one consistently. I now have a route for the beginning and end of stage two. Scoring in the 290's/300's by the end of the stage.

I underestimated how much time I spent with BL when I first played it, and by extension how much I've forgotten. It is coming back quick though.

[Jonst]

Fucking finally, some real progress! Not only did I make it into stage 6 of ibara arrange, I died just before the final boss appeared... low af scoring (and I screwed up the stage 4 extend) but I do feel a clear is in sight, feeling pretty stoked

[OmKol]

After my first Ikaruga 1CC Normal (11.8 mil score) working hard to double my score.

[CHI]

Good to see peeps are playing shmups on their spare time...

Just noticed something funny... People who posts here doesn't really post in the Score Threads, or vice versa

Anyways, I'm playing DeathSmiles: Smartphone Mode, until I get myself a joystick

[wgogh]

Just noticed something funny... People who posts here doesn't really post in the Score Threads, or vice versa :idea

Maybe when I get a relevant score

[BIL]

Having a lazy Sunday with Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth (N64). Picked up a NOS copy this past summer on a whim, but only just sat down with it. What an unexpectedly likable little casual STG! It's broadly Raystorm Lite, with minor aspirations towards DDP's chaining and Takumi's shield (by way of Compile body ramming). If you dislike the Taito game's angled overhead polys, this won't change your mind on the format. However pardoning that, it's quite smartly done with a distinct grasp of genre fundamentals. Stages are busy and bosses are fierce, both clearly designed for aggressively sweeping, ramming use of the shield. The aforementioned chaining is substantial enough for a sense of reward, but sensibly is firmly peripheral to the breezy, cathartic blasting (amusingly, you can toggle the combo display on and off as you see fit). Feedback is excellent with a ripping main shot, crushing bombs, and a surprisingly beefy audio front.

Not bad at all. It's no equaliser for the N64's nonexistent STG library, but it's most definitely a worthy effort from Hudson. Style points for a cool recurring nemesis in Soldier Blade's returning DUOSS, and some amusingly blunt boss talk. "This is a restricted area, please leave" intoned the robot genially, as it unleashed a wall of napalm death.

[EmperorIng]

Just noticed something funny... People who posts here doesn't really post in the Score Threads, or vice versa :idea

Maybe when I get a relevant score

Hear hear.

I've been playing Shienryu for the last few days. Really want to clear this one. Also casually dipping into into DonPachi.

Shienryu's rank is so killer. I can get to stage 4 or 5 with little problem, but by then the game becomes extremely cluttered. I am not sure if I should not collect bombs, not collect red/blue chips, not power up the ship... I don't seem to do much worse or better whether or not I farm the stage 1 boss for an extra 4/5 bombs, or not.

Shienryu also reminds me why I usually hate checkpoints... If you aren't going to have checkpoints at the boss, why bother including them at all? They don't exactly improve Shienryu, of all things.

[Perikles]

Shienryu's rank is so killer. I can get to stage 4 or 5 with little problem, but by then the game becomes extremely cluttered. I am not sure if I should not collect bombs, not collect red/blue chips, not power up the ship... I don't seem to do much worse or better whether or not I farm the stage 1 boss for an extra 4/5 bombs, or not.

I've heard about/seen various conservative methods, but I personally don't think it's worth it to exert unduly rank control, even for 2-ALL purposes. Never collect the purple power-up and don't upgrade your weaponry/speed once you're maxed out, perhaps spread out weapon power-ups over the first few stages, pick up everything else (scoring items/bombs/extra lives). Use the lightning weapon for a handsome boost in score (and thus more extends) for the entire game with the (possible) exception of the final boss. Even if you accidentally gain a handful of surplus power-ups you're still fine. If you get a bit lucky you're going to be flush with lives after a while, especially if you play well during the opening sections.

[wgogh]

Shienryu's rank is so killer. I can get to stage 4 or 5 with little problem, but by then the game becomes extremely cluttered. I am not sure if I should not collect bombs, not collect red/blue chips, not power up the ship... I don't seem to do much worse or better whether or not I farm the stage 1 boss for an extra 4/5 bombs, or not.

If doesnt seem to do much worse or better, isnt possible that it is not the ranks doing and thats just how the later stages are?
Checkpoints work well for some games (Im thinking Same Same Same).

I am thinking about finally clearing Gunbird, as I promised when I joined the forum. Hope that I still remember the many secrets. Probably after I finish Eternal Ring.

[Jonst]

posting for my grit and determination! laughable low score i know, but had i not made a stupid mistake at the beginning of the fight, i probably would have scored enough for an extend and cleared this today! having said that, I've made it to the final boss a few times today. I can feel that it shouldn't be long now.

[wasilewski]

Hi guys.

I am currently playing Deathsmiles and Gunbird 2.