Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

[mrmccormo]

I'm faithfully chipping away at DDP DOJ (PS2 v.) for the next month in preparation for Extra Life. My company is hosting an event and I've always wanted to get better at DOJ, so my goal is to 1cc (even if it's a dirty 1cc). I'm okay at DDP (Saturn) but this is just brutal. I am making progress, albeit slowly.

I'm learning from a superplay to practice some good routes on Stage 1 and Stage 2 with the intention of getting the Extends early and then carrying that momentum into later levels. We'll see if I can pull it off.

[Klatrymadon]

Just started on Shikhondo, which came out on Steam a few hours ago. It seems good so far, and I like its simple 'soul collect' system (graze bullets to charge a burst attack which draws in enemy souls for points), although the boss battles are a possibly bit Touhou-ish for my liking - they're long, multi-stage affairs with patterns that somehow feel busy, messy and sedate and airy at the same time. I've only played about fifteen minutes, though. Interested to see what others here think of it.

[EmperorIng]

On a lark of a run (just browsing mame and thinking "why not?"), I played Mahou Daisakusen/Sorcer Striker, and got farther than I have ever gotten - all the way up to the ninja boss fight! I got past my usual hurdle, which is the stage 3 prison stage, by finally remembering how to avoid the traps and cheap shots, and proceeded to no-life my way up until stage 5 or 6 (the one with the boss cobbled from all the previous bosses). The Coliseum gauntlet got the better of me, being unfamiliar with how some of the bosses worked, so I lost most of my lives there.

What an amazing game, visually. It's everything you wish those earlier shootemups looked like, with lots of action, setpieces, inventive bosses, and unique designs, married to a classic, straightforward game design.

Now that I have done so well, I am sure it will be a year before I am good enough to get back to that spot again.

[Stevens]

I've been fixated on Mars Matrix Arcade lately. I've still yet to pass the stage 4 flying stapler boss

What level are you at the end of the first stage? As long as you're hitting four you can basically play for survival the rest of the way. In fact I don't think I've ever reached level eight, I'm also far from the best MM player here:D

That boss was a sore spot for me for a while, and to some extent still is, still have issues with his second pattern. Haven't played in a few months, but dying once there is a win for me.

Stage five isn't bad survival wise, but I can never resist trying to grab as much XP as I can there. You'll need routes for the boss though. Six is a lot of herding and cutbacks, but there are two or three parts I had to deviate to deal with some of the more nefarious shit it throws at you.

Good luck:D

[munchiaz]

Playing Raiden V on ps4. Mainly been working on stages 1-3.

[Stevens]

Still playing Strania on hard when I have the chance. Coming close to a kuso clear with the default credits (three). If it follows normal it will be a 3 CC, 2 CC then the 1 CC.

The jump in difficulty is pretty mild tbh, only a handful of things jump out as being obviously more difficult.

Although Hyp and Square Air are stirring that MM itch, think I'm going to go back to that soon.

[Square_Air]

Although Hyp and Square Air are stirring that MM itch, think I'm going to go back to that soon.

You know you need more Takumi in your life
May your cup runneth over with gold cubes (in a timely manner, of course)

[Stevens]

Getting close to clearing Strania on hard, had the final boss down to maybe 1/8th of his bar. I know the tlb is after, but I can totally clear this.

[NeoStrayCat]

Getting close to clearing Strania on hard, had the final boss down to maybe 1/8th of his bar. I know the tlb is after, but I can totally clear this.

Don't worry, you'll get to it eventually, I know I did, I mean, I can get the clears fine on that usually. Either way, you didn't say which side you were on, but I suppose "Blue" side, lol.

[Stevens]

Don't worry, you'll get to it eventually, I know I did, I mean, I can get the clears fine on that usually. Either way, you didn't say which side you were on, but I suppose "Blue" side, lol.

Yeah blue. I picked it up on the 360 cause my laptop is dying, but I plan on buying it on steam when I upgrade next month. Want to play side vower too.

[Mantrox]

Died in the last boss of Spriggan last night.
I need them powerups!

[Cata]

Been playing Mushihimesama for the past four or five months on and off and I'm finally almost done nailing a 1cc on Maniac. I've already snagged an Original 1cc but my god, some of the midboss patterns in this mode are tricky as fuck. Took me forever just to be able to clear the last half of stage three without bombing, and while I can pretty much always make it to the midboss of stage five and a little bit beyond, the patterns that come up seem impossible for me to consistently clear without bombing (midboss four, boss four and midboss fives first pattern)

I had heard people say that Original might be a more difficult clear, and while I do think that theres something to be said about more dense but slow patterns being easier to dodge, I do think that the last three stages of Maniac make it much more difficult to get through unscathed

[davyK]

Back at Gigawing after a hiatus of several months. Was playing the DC port then. I've been playing it again but I've also started playing it on MAME so I can use save states to have more focussed practice on the later levels. I was getting to level 5 on the DC port fairly consistently but save states are a far more efficient way to grind a level.

Playing both versions with a stick but the DC port feels a bit more difficult. Feels a bit faster and I suspect the bosses have a few more hit points. Otherwise the two games feel pretty similar wrt enemy patterns.

Playing it in stereo on the PC also makes the most of the soundtrack - I'm preferring what I hear on MAME but then I'm playing the Dreamcast version on a CRT which is hardly going to give me the optimal sound experience.

[Stevens]

First run since Friday in Strania, made the stage six boss again.

[Marc]

Tried to get into Caladrius, but its not for me. Overly complex, and the visuals are a fucking abomination, there's so much shit on screen during boss fights I can't actually see which bits I'm supposed to dodge. Not as in tons of bullets, it too many different shapes, some bullets glowing, some having massive tails that may or may not harm you... there's no coherence. Not for me I'm afraid.

And I'm done with Sonic Wings 2, stage 7 onwards is abusing me so hard that it's time to move on while I've still found the experience fun. Probably pick up Raiden 5 next.

[Rue]

Here we can see a ship in its natural habitat. It was hoping to get a 1CC for dinner, but it had unfortunately come face to face with the most vicious of apex predators: a red pine cone. Without an extra life to spare, it was killed shortly after the encounter, denied another 1CC for the thousandth time.

[Stevens]

Here we can see a ship in its natural habitat. It was hoping to get a 1CC for dinner, but it had unfortunately come face to face with the most vicious of apex predators: a red pine cone. Without an extra life to spare, it was killed shortly after the encounter, denied another 1CC for the thousandth time.

Nice commentary, and something I am sure most of us can relate to. You'll get it.

[munchiaz]

Got the 1CC in Batsugun special this past weekend. Been playing Mushihimesama futari black label this week.

[Stevens]

Went and played a few credits of Mars Matrix yesterday.

Took me a bit to remember how to chain stage one and I only got as far as four, but it will come back if I stick with it. Work has been rougher than normal lately so my shmup time has been less than usual because I've been a bit more tired than normal, sessions have been a bit below average as a result. After UD it is probably the shooter I have played the most.

Having an itch to play Dynamite Headdy again too.

[Barba]

I've been dipping a toe into DB:CS. Not a Darius fan per se, mind you, it's beyond me how they can sell the same game for like 30 actual years now (including the boss designs etc). I do like that they are making no fuss about being HD resolution. A lot of products these days, while being HD, still pretend they're 15khz. Also, after a while I got quite fond of the laser beam mechanics etc.

The one thing I cannot get behind is the music. What the actual fuck. I get that this is absolutely a matter of preference, but.. man.

[EmperorIng]

Hey, they've been getting better! Darius games these days have stage design!

[BurlyHeart]

I've been dipping a toe into DB:CS. Not a Darius fan per se, mind you, it's beyond me how they can sell the same game for like 30 actual years now (including the boss designs etc). I do like that they are making no fuss about being HD resolution. A lot of products these days, while being HD, still pretend they're 15khz. Also, after a while I got quite fond of the laser beam mechanics etc.

The one thing I cannot get behind is the music. What the actual fuck. I get that this is absolutely a matter of preference, but.. man.

Made the same comment a few months back. I imagine it was to produce a sense of epic-ness in the arcade, but I didn't like it at all.

[soprano1]

Played a bit out of Strikers 1945. Second one is more interesting, but it's still a good Psikyo game.

[Stevens]

Barba, love your av.

[GeorgeMcFly]

Blazing Star, Bee Storm, and Demon Front (not a shmup) atm.

[Barba]

I imagine it was to produce a sense of epic-ness in the arcade, but I didn't like it at all.

Maybe the overall noise that is buzzing in a typical arcade makes it more bearable.

Barba, love your av.

Can you believe that up until quite recently (2014 or so) I had no idea that this movie existed? A shameful thing to admit, but it's true.

[Martinov]

Just purchased Tatsujin MD. Back in the day my sis bought me a copy of Truxton, which I never quite properly enjoyed, partly because I didn't like games with checkpoints as a kid and overall I found the game to be a shade too tough. A decade ago I decided to sell it, but in the last few years I found my tastes changing. I went back to playing Tatsujin arcade and MD on emulators and found myself really enjoying it. Now I have Tatsujin and played it on a pal MD (so it's technically playing as the easier Truxton in 50hz) and can' t believe how damn easy it is! Often I'm in awe of what some of you folks do on the hi-score board and feel that my skills haven't improved at all down the years, but this experience proves that I've actually gotten helluva lot better, lol. What I once considered too hard I would now feel is an easily achievable 1cc. Gonna have to get me some practice in!

[Stevens]

Played Progear with the Mrs. yesterday on a friends cab, makes me want to play more Progear.

Perhaps it is time to attempt to try and lay this old foe to rest.

[tommyb]

Currently on a NMK kick. Just got back from a friend's who had a Rapid Hero board and it just went downhill from there. Currently emulating Thunder Dragon 2, Rapid Hero and Macross.

[Shepardus]

My main computer where I've been playing other games has been out of order lately (replaced a failing hard drive and need to install an OS) so I've been playing some shmups in MAME on my laptop.

Roughly in order of focus:

Detana!! TwinBee: More fun than I thought it would be - getting shield (red bell) instead of shippo barrier (purple bell) alleviates much of the frustration caused by the large hitboxes, since your arms can't be destroyed while you have a shield active. The shield hitbox is still large but the shield is pretty durable.

Twinkle Star Sprites: Chaining enemy explosions and countering attacks is satisfying, getting suddenly killed by an attack flying out of nowhere at mach speed while slowed down by an enemy collision is frustrating. The lengths of my matches against the computer, even on the same stage, varies dramatically and makes me feel like I'm not winning so much as the computer's deciding to lose. Also, the last stage theme is way better than anything else in the soundtrack. Reminds me of something I might hear in one of the PC-98 Touhou games, especially at the beginning. I generally like games to be more predictable but we'll see.

Space Bomber: I've been playing with the regular ship rather than the Tetris block because I find it more fun, but that does make the bosses harder. Still need to practice those.

Gradius III (arcade): I've gotten to the crystal stage several times but not past it. It's not just the cube rush that gives me a hard time, the rest of the stage often kills me before I even get to the cube rush.

Parodius Da!: Still playing an occasional credit of this with hopes of surpassing 1 million points (my PB from a while ago is 999,800). Not putting a lot of time into it right now because I've got goals in the other games above that I'd like to reach (e.g. a 1-ALL of Gradius III) before seriously considering tacking the second loop of this game.

Battlantis: Gave this a couple credits and bounced right off. I generally don't enjoy being limited to one axis of movement (two axes just gives so much more freedom to perform fun acrobatics) but this goes way further than that to become easily one of the most sadistic games I've had the misfortune of playing. Right from the start it demands exacting perfection to deal with its enemies coming from every which way while equipped with an unforgiving hitbox, slow movement speed, and a pea-shooter. Miss a single enemy and you're dead. It does feel like a significant accomplishment to make it past even the third stage (out of 32 total between its two loops!) but it doesn't make up for the sheer agony getting there. I may come back to this if I feel like I'm not being punished enough in my life.

Sol Divide: I like how short this game is (a 2-ALL is comparable in length to or slightly longer than a typical Psikyo 1-ALL!) but that's about it. I'm generally not a fan of melee combos in shmups that lock your movement during the attack animation, and it feels especially awkward paired with Psikyo's signature fast bullet patterns. The game also feels a lot more random (item drops, attack order, etc.) than other Psikyo games, when in my opinion it's the predictability that makes Psikyo games work. Also I have no idea where the player hitbox is.