Worst ways to die

[8 1/2]

I decided to start a new page and not resurrect the old Black Mariah one I found in the search. I've had this list building in my head and had to get it out.

The "suicidal tiny helicopter" death.
As seen in: Every Raiden game.
You're rolling along, single-handedly murderizing the entire enemy force when some jerk in a tiny 'copter comes and smashes into you.

The "I thought I had a bomb" death.
As seen in: Every shmup.
You're up against a tough boss that's about to unleash his big attack, but you're not afraid. You charge up the middle, ready to blow his ass away, but the only explosion you hear is your own ship going down in flames.

The "But I DID hit bomb!" death.
As seen in: Every shmup.
You're weaving through a tough pattern, dodging like a maniac when you suddenly realize you're getting cornered. You smack the bomb button, but you're already dead.

The "Cheap lasers!" death.
As seen in: Lot of old-school shmups, stage 5 of MMP.
You weave through clouds of bullet spam, only to get nailed by an off-screen death-ray. MMP's stage 5 mid-boss can be especially cheap with these on high rank.

[Jockel]

I decided to start a new page and not resurrect the old Black Mariah one I found in the search. I've had this list building in my head and had to get it out.

The "suicidal tiny helicopter" death.
As seen in: Every Raiden game.
You're rolling along, single-handedly murderizing the entire enemy force when some jerk in a tiny 'copter comes and smashes into you.

I hate this in Ketsui when you fuck up the lockshot-timing and these little assholes come crashing into your face.

[Elixir]

[emphatic]

When dying cause you to loose a pickup extend, like if you get crushed by the 1up ship on stage 5 in Ketsui then see it fly off with your 1up.

[captpain]

Raizing:

Diving to pick up a max-value medal, you crash into something and die. The medal drops, ending your chain; the explosion from your death causes an extend to appear, which you miss because your ship has yet to fully respawn.

[Jeneki]

Nah, they already used a continue.

At a group event, I've had people bump the power cable / table / whatever and lock up or shut off the game. That's probably the most annoying way to "die". Unless it's a NES shump and their bump causes the pixes to get all scrambled but it keeps playing, then it's AWESOME.

[BulletMagnet]

The "bastard bullet" is my personal bane - an enemy closes in on you, as you fill it with lead, and manages to squeeze out ONE last bullet RIGHT on top of you JUST as it dies. Games with proximity-based scoring are...trying experiences for me.

Oh, and of course the "that bullet/popcorn enemy must have been the EXACT same color as the background" death.

Then there's the "someone unexpectedly walks in the room at a tense moment and unwittingly distracts you" death.

[Ruldra]

The "But I DID hit bomb!" death.
As seen in: Every shmup.
You're weaving through a tough pattern, dodging like a maniac when you suddenly realize you're getting cornered. You smack the bomb button, but you're already dead.

Alternatively, the bomb is released but it takes a second to explode...just enough to kill you.

During STGT pretty much every score submission pic of Viper Phase 1 had a bomb explosion in it.

[ratikal]

IMAGE

Nah, they already used a continue.

At a group event, I've had people bump the power cable / table / whatever and lock up or shut off the game. That's probably the most annoying way to "die". Unless it's a NES shump and their bump causes the pixes to get all scrambled but it keeps playing, then it's AWESOME.

"He" used a continue yes, but to be that close to finally killing that TLB is pretty depressing. I guess you could also count it as dying at the last seconds of the game.

My main gripe is that ONE bullet. You know the one. The one that all of a sudden appears and kills you even though you've practiced that same route thousands of times and never seen it once...

[Kollision]

Sengoku Ace
You die chasing power-ups, because they keep bouncing in the upper part of the screen and you can't help being underpowered.

Xexex
The death animation is delayed. You get hit, your ship freezes and then its bits explode everywhere. This is extremely annoying especially in the 3rd stage, when a bullet travels behind walls and waterfalls and sometimes you go WTF because you didn't see it coming.

[Jeneki]

I guess you could also count it as dying at the last seconds of the game.

That reminds me ... the infamous Konami speed / crushing wall sections after the final boss.

[Ixranin]

My main gripe is that ONE bullet. You know the one. The one that all of a sudden appears and kills you even though you've practiced that same route thousands of times and never seen it once...

This or the little helicopter are usually what get me. Especially if the bugger hits right after surviving a tough pattern/stage segment.

Little memorization traps right before a stage boss are horrible too, since I always seem to forget that they're there. (I'm looking at you, Pulstar stage 6.)

[Observer]

Speaking of point blanking, getting too close for comfort and "that ONE bullet"...

I think it was mentioned but let's just shout it: the "dammit, those stupid sniper tanks!" death. You know which ones. Those enemies that fire from below right as they are leaving the screen, the almighty party poppers.

[Blackbird]

Getting hit by Final Judgment in Judgment Silversword. You get trapped by a homing bullet. Then, while you are helplessly immobilized, you are smashed by a giant sword and your death is so gruesome that they can't even show it to you, the screen just goes white.

Final Judgment

Skip to 3:00 or so.

[Siren2011]

Dying from a silent bullet that you don't take notice of at all, then you say "WTF? Where did that death come from?", because the only think you see is your ship exploding. It guts me every time.

[Bananamatic]

The "HOLY SHIT THIS ISN'T POSSIBLE" death
As seen in: Dimahoo
You just can't do it because the game hates everyone. No exceptions.

[LtC]

Can't get worse than this

[Ruldra]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLA-VofiSl4#t=4m42s

[Blackbird]

Yeah, that is the most amazing gachizake video I've ever seen. I was genuinely inspired by the player's tenacity, no joke.

Edit: Both of those are awesome, lol.

[Ebbo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLA-VofiSl4&t=6m25s

Edit: Beaten.

[tinotormed]

You're not alone, people. I got issues in dodging bullets.

Dodonpachi: I was just about to make it past stage 3 on those bullet spams, but I accidentally hit one.

Raiden series: I was dodging some bullets and stuff here with bombs in stock, for one level (after the midboss), I thought I was going to that direction but it sniped me in that point on stage 4.

Collision fears: This is the most problem I ever encountered in shmups. I have played too many shmups lately, but I keep ramming on every ship everytime I play, which distracts me from destroying stuff or dodging bullets, whether underpowered or not.

Any advice you could bring for these?

[Marurun]

Suiciding in any S.Yagawa made game forgetting to realize you didn't have an extra extend to spare.

[spadgy]

Loosing your last life at 19,999,XXX when the extend is at 20,000,000 like I just did playing DDP at the arcade.

My most frustrating shmup death ever, though, was loosing my last like after killing the final boss of Fighting Hawk. I'd never 1CC'd it before, and it definitely didn't count, as I wasn't awarded the game's disproportionately huge 1CC bonus.

[Ruldra]

I wish I could upload to youtube my Dragon Breed run. No-miss to the last boss only to die in his final phase and never recover afterwards.

Also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oouHr3bDEIQ

[tinotormed]

About Dodonpachi, no offense even if I liked the Cave games, but I'm having problem about dodging. Because I was thinking if that was a medal, but it turned out it hit me already.

[ChainsawGuitarSP]

The "Oh god where do I shoot? WHERE DO I SHOOT?!" death
As seen in: any R-Type game
Your ship has the ability to attack/defend in multiple directions, but in only one at a time, leaving you vulnerable if you didn't anticipate the enemy from the right side in time.

The "slow, but inevitable" death
As seen in: many SNES shmups
You cross into enemy fire not knowing it's too fast for your ship to pass because the slowdown tricked you into believing you could.

The "power-up dance of death" death
As seen in: Fire Shark, various other Raiden-esque shmups
You crash into something else trying to avoid an unwanted, incredibly spastic power-up.

The "can't catch up" death
As seen in: Gradius
You died in a certain part of the game, leaving you unable to recover because it demands your ship be at a certain speed in order to continue.

[ShmupSamurai]

The "Oh god where do I shoot? WHERE DO I SHOOT?!" death
As seen in: any R-Type game
Your ship has the ability to fire in multiple directions, but in only one at a time, leaving you vulnerable if you didn't anticipate the enemy from the right side in time.

This, the bastard bullet, and the little kamikaze helicopter deaths happen quite freqently in Thunder Force 1, usually the bastard bullet and the kamikaze asshole consisting of 80% of my destruction.

Every so often, when I kill a gun emplacement, it decides to spit one last bullet out, which to my idiot karma, the game spawns it on top of me, costing another Fire-Leo. Most of the time though, I'm forced to ditch my bombing run and fly for the damn hills lest ORN's "Super Spicy Cursed Space Nacho from Hell" gets a bead on me, which then tails my ass like a pissed off Unri-Mine or rams into the Fire-Leo out nowhere like Sinistar on lunch break. Sooooo fucking soul crushing.....

[Ex-Cyber]

In games that scroll on the "other" axis with player movement: getting shot at by an enemy that was offscreen a tenth of a second ago. Fucking Moai.

[ShmupSamurai]

In games that scroll on the "other" axis with player movement: getting shot at by an enemy that was offscreen a tenth of a second ago. Fucking Moai.
In games that scroll on the "other" axis with player movement: getting shot at by an enemy that was offscreen a tenth of a second ago. Fucking Moai.

And that, people, is why I'll never go on vacation to the Easter Islands...afraid of the same thing happening in "Real-Life" where I don't have extends...

Happens to me all the time in Gradius for the NES...

[8 1/2]

Here's another one after playing a bunch MMP this morning...

"The boss' first form is dead, but his turrets keep shooting during the transition and trap you"
As seen in: Most Yagawa games.
The central core is going up in flames, but those pesky arms keep firing out their blue bolts, leaving you swishing back and forth praying for the next phase to start, when, BLAM!