Bearhammer XB6-XB
Emuser - 632,000 - 1-7 - Yes - Mame
I first played this on a cruise many years ago before I really got into shmups, played the hell out of it. Only recently did this game get some sound even if its still preliminary, but I've waited years for this to happen so I hopped online and got everything I needed to play it in a heartbeat once I became aware of it.
First impressions after playing it for the first time in years:
This is clearly a korean S99. 2-3 of the ships are clones from the source game. There isn't really any technical scoring to be had, just collect any medals that fall to the bottom of the screen and do your best to stay alive so that you get extra points for powerup pickups at max power.
After a test run with each ship, opinions on each:
Stingrey: Unfortunately, this is another game where the stats on the select screen lie. I tested this since Stingrey seemed a little slow for being the 2nd fastest of the default 4 ships and it turns out that Hellhound is indeed faster than Stingrey and this thing is barely faster than Bearhammer. A bit disappointing once I realized this, but like the Hornet in S99 this thing has homing missiles so its not difficult to get the hang of. The special bomb has some noticeable spread unfortunately so getting good damage with it on big enemies might be difficult.
Thunderfox: My personal favorite, but how good it actually is is debatable. On one hand, it has the highest speed of all the ships which would be important for anyone trying to optimize their score in this game. It has a good special bomb too and a barrier like Stingrey and Hellhound that it can abuse a bit more than them thanks to higher speed. Unfortunately the shot is weak and fires more slowly than the other ships. I still love this thing to death though and plan on sticking with it till the end.
Bearhammer: This thing really lives up to its name...giant as a bear, hits hard like a hammer(not sure if bigger hitbox or not though). It is strong as hell with a barrier that acts more like a traditional bomb and a special bomb that straight up rapes whatever it hits assuming its at level 3. Thats where the pros end though, as it is the slowest ship and has no spread to speak of, everything it does shoots in a linear direction in front of Bearhammer. Not a ship to main or use seriously because of lack of spread, but being able to decimate some enemies is fun enough to use it every once in a while I would imagine.
Hellhound: Like the Stealth ship from S99, without a doubt the best ship in the game. Best damage, decent speed(the stats lie, its actually faster than Stingrey), and some spread to boot as well. It has a typical barrier thats the same as Stingrey and Thunderfox barriers, but the special bomb isn't particularly powerful. What it sacrifices in big damage to a single target it makes up for by covering the entire screen with pelting bullets in case you don't want to use/can't use a final impact. Best ship overall, no serious flaws.
Red Wyvern: This thing is like the X-36 from S99 but not nearly as game-breakingly dominant as the X-36. Red Wyvern is basically an alternate version of Stingrey with a stronger focused special bomb and a barrier that covers a wide range in front of Red Wyvern and moves up the screen a bit before disappearing. It has some nice speed to boot being a tad bit slower than Thunderfox, but it is the weakest ship against big enemies and bosses so using it is basically for those who want to endure extra punishment since this thing can't deal the damage against bosses fast enough without spamming bombs and barriers.
In terms of personally ranking the ships (update 2):
Hellhound > Thunderfox > Stingrey > Red Wyvern = Bearhammer
