Shmups

[hazeredmist]

1 hour ago, Sel Feena said:

How are Clear River? I’ve used LRG before and they’ve always been good, but if those guys are EU based I’d hope delivery for me would be quicker

I got the Deathsmiles one from Clear River but ordered from Amazon, so just like any other Amazon buy tbh. Hopefully Akai Katana will be the same. 

[phillv85]

Personally I’d just go for the Japanese physical version. It’s in English and you won’t have to wait ages for it.

[ImmaculateClump]

Nice to see you, Haze! I think you'll love akai katana since you really get on with hori's like neko navy, rolling gunner and deathsmiles 2. Hopefully the uk physical versions aren't too far off. I'll keep an eye out.

Like phillv85 says, importing from japan is an option

37 quid delivered to the uk for the switch or ps4 version. That's not too bad.

 

https://www.amazon.co.jp/赤い刀-特装版-Switch-【Amazon-co-jp限定】A4クリアファイル-【特典】特装版専用BOX、サウンドトラックCD、インストカード風アクリルパネル/dp/B0B9QXRMP7?th=1

[ImmaculateClump]

Got a better score in akai katana zetsu mode today. Third on the leaderboard now.

 

I'm really enjoying this mode, you don't have to worry so much about thinking ahead as you do in shin mode.
It's nice and direct, especially with the the first ship since you don't have to even worry about positioning your laser.
I'm still scoring better with the second ship though.

 

I haven't tried the third one, but it looks like you have to get very close when using focus shot, which might be tricky.

I always just played shin on the 360 port, but I think zetsu might be the best place to start for new players, or even the arcade mode since you get loads of slowdown in that mode.

[geldra]

Random observations:

 

After the Cave/DDP DFK/Resurrection chat in here I gave Novice mode a go out of curiosity.  It doesn’t fuck around does it?!  I half expected to finish it after playing the Deathtiny (or whatever Novice is) mode in Ketsui but nope. 
 

Also, as a Xmas prez to myself I ordered the Kyukyoku Tiger Toaplan Arcade garage release. That too doesn’t fuck around but in an altogether different way. I don’t think I’ve got halfway through L1 yet. 
 

In summary I think I’m just shit. 

[Quest]

Z-Warp easy mode 1cc done. Had a go at medium and reckon I can crack that soon enough, even though I'm basically terrible at these things. Doubt I'll get anywhere with hardcore mode any time soon, though.

 

Determined to play more shmups this year. 

[geldra]

I see Metal Black is getting an “S tribute” release weeks after the Arcade Archives release. 
 

Not entirely sure it’s worth picking up over the ArcArch version other than it being based on the Saturn game. (And a rewind feature)

[Klatrymadon]

It's unnecessary unless you're absolutely bonkers about the game or have no way to play the ACA release. I'll be picking it up wherever it's released, forever, but there's nothing important in the Saturn version that isn't in the arcade version, and the general awkwardness of the emulator/wrapper used here threatens to drag the experience down a fair bit. (Elevator Action Returns is surprisingly decent on both PS4 and PC, though.)

 

Cotton Rock 'n' Roll is out on Steam, and it's very good. Big shout out to everyone else who has been stupid enough to double- or triple-dip on every Cotton and Umihara thing over the last couple of years.

[ImmaculateClump]

Haha. Yeah, I wasn't falling for it this time after cotton reboot.

 

"Unfortunatelly, we don't release Cotton Reboot for the PC this time:/"

 

"Does that mean that it won't be released on pc at all?
Should I just buy the ps4 version or will it be coming to pc in the future?"

 

"Exactly, there won't be a release for PC:/"

 

 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1656820/COTTON_REBOOT/

 

Yes, the timing of this s-tribute for black metal is bonkers. Hamster's Arcade archives is good shit, who would rather spend money on some laggy saturn emulation? Bizarre.

 

23 hours ago, Quest said:

Z-Warp easy mode 1cc done. Had a go at medium and reckon I can crack that soon enough

 

Nice one! It's really fun that game. Bombing for score is so much fun, and I love how it's only like 16 minutes long, everything packed in nice and tight and it doesn't outstay it's welcome at all. Definitely panda's best game so far.

 

It's all about making sure you get into those bosses with a full multiplier. Almost everything in that game will keep your multiplier up. Even getting hit! I didn't realise this for ages. So if you panic and you're running out of juice, you can run into an enemy, get hit and that'll keep your multiplier up, then you can grab the skulls that flew out of you and they'll keep it up too.

 

Pick ups also keep up the multiplier too. There's a health one positioned at the end of the last stage, there's a bit of a wait before the boss so it's best to nearly let your multiplier gauge run out before grabbing it and then you'll get to the boss with a full 16x multiplier.

[ImmaculateClump]

5 hours ago, Klatrymadon said:

Cotton Rock 'n' Roll is out on Steam, and it's very good.

 

Can confirm. If you leave the game vsynced, it synchs to your monitors refresh rate rather than capping the game to 60fps. Feels great at 280fps!

This character is amazing for scoring! Went from 35th or something to 3rd after trying her!

 

 

She's annoying as all hell though because she keeps screaming "karate!" or something in a high pitched voice. Might see if I can turn that off.

 

That stage in the temple can fuck off. I'm gonna pick that one second for a few runs until I've learnt all the traps

[Sel Feena]

Yeah I’m so glad to see Cotton getting a second wind like this, one of the first shmup series I really got into. I hope there are more games to come!

[ImmaculateClump]

Got the 1cc of normal there with cotton. As good as that other character is, her main shot is gash so it's not too good during bosses, especially if you get powered down.

 

Game is brilliant. Scoring is lots of fun.

You unlock a new character for beating normal.

 

 

You don't get any bonus for having lives left at the end. I had three lives left and got nothing for them, so it might be worth at the end to suicide and use your magic and bombs on the boss and cash everything out if you're feeling brave.

 

[strider]

Just had Akai Katana, Bullet Soul Double Pack and Hoagyhoary double pack turn up. 
I love how the switch is now starting to rinse the 360 shmup treasure trove

[spatular]

yeah it's great that some stuff that was only on the 360 or earlier is coming out on new consoles.

 

good work on the 1cc's guys!

 

also i have questions - is cotton rock and roll is the same as cotton fantasy, i think it is right?

 

4 hours ago, strider said:

Hoagyhoary double pack

also also can't work this one out, any clues?

[ImmaculateClump]

I think he might mean Horgihugh

 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1046980/HORGIHUGH/

 

edit: Yeah, they renamed cotton rock n roll to fantasy, but changed their mind it seems. The names are interchangeable.

[strider]

58 minutes ago, ImmaculateClump said:

I think he might mean Horgihugh

 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1046980/HORGIHUGH/

 

edit: Yeah, they renamed cotton rock n roll to fantasy, but changed their mind it seems. The names are interchangeable.

Yes, that’s what I meant. This is a double pack with a Kung fu master style game as well. Going to get rid of it though as I didn’t realise anEnglish version existed.

[ImmaculateClump]

Used to love playing kung fu master back in the day

 

The character you unlock for 1cc'ing normal of cotton rock n roll, tacoot is amazing! That's my favourite so far. There's loads of characters to try.

 

[spatular]

^ Thanks for the info guys

[ImmaculateClump]

Part 2 of boghogs shmup dev guide

 

 

[Quest]

23 hours ago, ImmaculateClump said:

It's all about making sure you get into those bosses with a full multiplier. Almost everything in that game will keep your multiplier up. Even getting hit! I didn't realise this for ages. So if you panic and you're running out of juice, you can run into an enemy, get hit and that'll keep your multiplier up, then you can grab the skulls that flew out of you and they'll keep it up too.

 

Pick ups also keep up the multiplier too. There's a health one positioned at the end of the last stage, there's a bit of a wait before the boss so it's best to nearly let your multiplier gauge run out before grabbing it and then you'll get to the boss with a full 16x multiplier.

 

Ah, this explains a lot as I kept wondering what was going on with the multiplier. Would've never thought that getting hit would keep it going.

 

Went back to Danmaku Unlimited 3 yesterday. Still no idea what I'm doing but it's quite the sensory experience so it's always a good time. 

[Camel]

On 04/01/2023 at 18:04, geldra said:

Random observations:

 

After the Cave/DDP DFK/Resurrection chat in here I gave Novice mode a go out of curiosity.  It doesn’t fuck around does it?!  I half expected to finish it after playing the Deathtiny (or whatever Novice is) mode in Ketsui but nope. 
 

Also, as a Xmas prez to myself I ordered the Kyukyoku Tiger Toaplan Arcade garage release. That too doesn’t fuck around but in an altogether different way. I don’t think I’ve got halfway through L1 yet. 
 

In summary I think I’m just shit. 

I love Kyukyoku Tiger so much but I’ve finally concluded that I am super rubbish at shmups. There’s a bit of a spike right near the start that fucks me up about 90% of the time. If I get past that bit I usually have a (relatively) decent run. 

[ImmaculateClump]

The USA version "Twin Cobra" is a lot easier, you should stick with that one first.

 

I played it a few times when the m2 port was announced but wasn't really enjoying myself. I find it repetitive and not terribly exciting. I'll get the upcoming bitwave release and give it another chance.

 

 

Have you tried Twin Cobra 2? That ones a breeze, you'll clear that one in no time! There's a score to beat if you fancy.

 

[sid]

Can’t get enough of gunvein 

 

I’m absolutely bath average at shooters and this game (on easy) makes me feel like a fucking god I love it. It’s got that dark souls adrenaline rush of beating a boss…..addictive as hell.

 

a really special game, easily top 5 of 2022.

 

I’d love some recommendations for something similar please ??

[ImmaculateClump]

I think any of the decent indie games with fair difficulty and a mix between cave and touhou patterns should tickle your pickle.

 

Maybe start with giving the Blue Wish Desire demo a go on heaven difficulty - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1794300/BLUE_WISH_DESIRE/

 

and playing Like Dreamer on casual - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1867740/Like_Dreamer/

[spatular]

6 hours ago, sid said:

I’d love some recommendations for something similar please ??

 

not sure what formats or what other bullet hell games you've played? but as i'd say gunvein is a pretty standard (sort of cave style like ImmaculateClump says, and very good) bullet hell game so if you're after some good bullet hell games on steam there's these too (sure i've forgotten some more too):

 

crimzon clover

mecha ritz

dodonpachi resurrection

mushihimesama

castle of shikigami 2

and if you want to try something horizontal:

deathsmiles

neko navy

 

if you've got a ps4 and access to japanese psn then there's also ketsui  and esp ra.de.

 

possibly worth trying some cave games in mame (pc arcade emulation) too, like the original dodonpachi, although in mame they wouldn't have an easy mode but the original dodonpachi is one of the easier cave games and the gunvein easy mode isn't that easy anyway iirc, although yeah dodonpachi would be a bit harder. 

 

[ImmaculateClump]

8 hours ago, spatular said:

dodonpachi ... easy

 

Might you be thinking of donpachi?

Dodonpachi gives you plenty of resources but I wouldn't call it easy, even if you can bomb spam through the final stage and boss. It took me around 25 hours to get a clear.

 

Only 4 hours for donpachi. I didn't realise there was a difference between versions so I was playing the US one which is apparently easier, but someone told me on discord and I got the Japanese clear straight after. Turns out the US version was the perfect training tool!

 

https://shmups.wiki/library/DonPachi#Versions

 

Check out the hong kong version

 

Quote

Much more difficult version due to higher rank and a larger hitbox.
No intermission nor ending sequence.

 

I'm guessing that's the equivalent of a newcastle pie shop making a special batch to send down to sunderland with all teeth and bits of sand in.

 

Ooh yeah, Neko Navy. That's a good shout. That's great.

[spatular]

4 hours ago, ImmaculateClump said:

 

Might you be thinking of donpachi?

Dodonpachi gives you plenty of resources but I wouldn't call it easy, even if you can bomb spam through the final stage and boss. It took me around 25 hours to get a clear.

 

Only 4 hours for donpachi.

 

not thinking of donpachi (not played it much, need to rectify that), but yeah may well be underestimating the difficulty of dodonpachi. i still don't think it's a bad place to start, it's where i started and i really enjoyed it despite being rubbish at it  

 

(and i didn't say it was easy )

[ImmaculateClump]

After discovering bullet hell in mame through guwange and progear, futari original was the game I started playing properly on the 360, so that was my way in.
Yeah, same, never did me any harm.

 

14 hours ago, spatular said:

the original dodonpachi is one of the easier cave games

 

Ah right, yeah, you're probably right about that.

Of the ones I've done I'd probably put them in this order.

 

Donpachi
Akai Katana
Deathsmiles IIX
Deathsmiles
Deathsmiles MBL
Dodonpachi DFK
Mushihimesama Futari Black Label
Mushihimesama Futari Black Label Maniac
Mushihimesama Futari
Dodonpachi

Mushihimesama
Espgaluda

Espgaluda was a fucker for me. Took me 30 hours all in. The game is so easy and breezy until the last stage with the hard bosses. The difficulty spike is insane.

[ImmaculateClump]

Gah! Last boss got me.

 

 

This character "Fine" is great for scoring.

 

You can't use your laser sword thing on the final boss which is what got me. I kept diving in and only realised halfway through the fight that it wasn't doing any damage!
I should have switched weapon really and tried the bombs or rockets, they might have hurt him, I didn't think to try. Just held my breath and tried to take him down with my pea shooter Didn't work out. That's my best score so far though.

[ImmaculateClump]

Macross Shooting Insight announced. Just a couple of stills have been shown so far. From the makers of that dragon whatsit thing.

 

"Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid Burst Forth!! Choro-gon☆Breath DIRECTOR'S CUT" it says here. I tried the five finger discount version of that and thought it was awful, so hopefully this is better!