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Post by dunpeal2064 on Nov 14, 2019 21:13:10 GMT -5
Xeogred Definitely curious to see what you think of those games, Muchi Muchi Pork is easiily my favorite from that batch. I'm not super into Ibara either, but I liked its black label, which is why I suggested the ps2's arrange mode. Pink Sweets also has a cool arrange mode, but I think you won't be a fan of the original Pink Sweets if you dont like Ibara. Mushi 1 and Futari are definitely on the easier side, but thats mostly due to them having difficulty modes, which is not a thing in most Cave games. Due to that, Mushi 1 and Futari can also rank among the hardest Cave games, if you play them on Ultra. Whereas something like Daioujou or Ketsui just have the one, pretty darn tough mode. I think you could clear Dodonpachi with a bit of practice, I'd place it around Mushi 1 Normal difficulty. Its a bit harder pattern-wise, but it gives you way way more bombs. I cleared stages 5 and 6 blind by just bombing literally everything the first time I 1cc'd it. Sarge Espgaluda II is a really cool game, but its a bit overwhelming. The core game has like, several layers of mechanics, and then there are like 7 different modes in that package. It very much feels like a Cave game made for people already entrenched in Cave games. I do agree overall, though, that their games (And score-based bullet hells and manic shooters in general) shine most when the player really understands them and their various mechanics, which usually means playing on one credit and for score, and probably reading guides or talking to others that have played them, which is probably why people tend to either love their games or think they are dumb. Its a barrier I wouldn't blame anyone for not wanting to climb, but when those games shine, they really shine. Cave and Touhou games still get me pumped in a way no other games can. Back for a few minutes, already posting walls of text.
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Post by Xeogred on Nov 14, 2019 21:52:16 GMT -5
Okay cool, I was actually wondering if all their games had difficulties or not. Wasn't seeing any dip switch options in MAME so I figured no, so you've confirmed that. But yeah, crank up Mushi and it can get pretty crazy. I'm not sure if you saw a few pages back, this was my reaction to DoDonPachi Daioujou
Definitely not ready to focus on that one much yet, haha.
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Post by Ex on Nov 14, 2019 22:27:25 GMT -5
I figured if a shmup thread couldn't summon dunpeal2064, nothing would. Nice to see you back around again my dude. And... I'm about to fire up MAME and hit another shmup up. I can definitely ∞CC something tonight!
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Post by Sarge on Nov 14, 2019 22:54:08 GMT -5
And... I'm about to fire up MAME and hit another shmup up. I can definitely ∞CC something tonight! I can get on board with that. Heck, I might even pull one of those myself!
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Post by Ex on Nov 14, 2019 23:17:25 GMT -5
Well, that take didn't long... Dragon Blaze is a vertical arcade shmup developed and published in 2000 by Psikyo. Later it was ported to the PS2 as part of Taito's Psikyo Shooting Collection Vol. 3: Sol Divide & Dragon Blaze collection in 2005. Dragon Blaze on its own was then released for PS2 in Europe by 505 Games on 2006. In 2018 Dragon Blaze was again ported, this time to the Nintendo Switch by ZeroDiv. Dragon Blaze plays like most scrolling shooters by Psikyo, although this game amps up the bullet hell aspect. Instead of space ships, the player chooses from one of four dragon riders. Each character has a standard shot, charged shot, and magic bomb... fairly standard stuff. However Dragon Blaze has a unique mechanic. Each character's dragon can be dismounted and used as a stationary weapon itself. The freed dragon initially acts as a piercing weapon, but then remains in place shooting independently. The player can use this dragon like a mounted turret (good for parking on top of bosses), while the player dodges bullets in tandem. (The dragon can also be used to collect items.) The player can call the dragon back to ride on again just as easily. +Unique dragon turret mechanic.
+Awesome animations for bosses.
+Cool "magic bomb" effects.
+Challenging bullet hell patterns to dodge.
+Who doesn't like to ride dragons?
-Very short playtime (if you 1CC'd it).
-Boring OST.
-Lackluster basic enemies.
-Stages all feel the same.
-Bullets on top of bullets on top of bullets. I once heard that you know when you're playing a serious bullet hell shmup, because the bullets are pink. Well, Dragon Blaze's bullets are pink. And deadly. Good luck 1CC'ing this thing. Unfortunately Dragon Blaze feels kind of gimmicky, in that its only unique aspect is the dismounted dragon turret stuff. Everything else is standard fair, ranging from average (shooting action) to meh (stage designs) to bad (super short playtime). But still, the graphics are nice, there are unique cutscenes per character, and well you certainly do get to blaze things with dragons. Ex's time to ENDLESSLY SPAM VIRTUAL QUARTERS: 15 minutes Ex's rating: 6/10 I'm planning to beat 5 shmups for this theme. Time to find number 3 outta 5!
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Post by Sarge on Nov 14, 2019 23:32:44 GMT -5
Well, I did the same and finished my own, and it's the aforementioned Progear. Made for Capcom's CPS2 hardware, it seems like it was more than capable for Cave's brand of shooter. I really dug the steampunk vibe with this one, and actually, it felt fair for the first two levels. I mean, I actually got through them on one quarter! Uh... things went downhill from there. I probably burned 7-10 more from that point. I clearly missed out on some of the scoring mechanics; HG101 has a better primer on the game, and seems to really like the game as well, so I'm not crazy here, despite my shmup noobness. Anyway, I found myself really enjoying this one. I think it's worthy of an 8/10. I don't usually cotton as much to horizontal shooters, but this was a good 'un. 23m to make the game submit to the might of my pressing "5" for more quarters. Oh, I also tried out some Tiger-Heli the other night, which sends you back to the very beginning when you lose all your lives. Boo. It apparently only takes around 15 minutes to loop it, though. I started to play a little Dimahoo as well, but wasn't feeling it. Might give it another shot later on, though.
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Post by dunpeal2064 on Nov 15, 2019 14:00:47 GMT -5
Ex Dragon Blaze is pretty cool, probably my favorite Psikyo shmup of their traditional style (Zero Gunner 2 is, I think, their most fun game). Its bullets get a little fast for my old eyes, as Psikyo usually does, but I love getting in dudes faces and just throwing the dragon at em. That said, none of Psikyo's stuff rates all that highly for me. I know the "you'd have to memorize a bullet hell to play it" is a common thing, but I think its really true in their games, whereas in stuff like Cave/Touhou, the slower patterns let you actually play on reaction a fair amount. Sarge Glad you liked Progear! It does make a pretty good first impression even if the systems take some time to understand. I had to read a guide on the game before I really got it, but it gets way more fun (And way less difficult) once you get how to collect the rings and level them up so you can cash them in for really big bullet cancels. The game is pretty balanced around this too, usually giving you some chill time to stock up, and then throwing walls of crap at you that looks impossible, but is just a perfect setup for a huge cancel. Little gimmicky, but it feels damn good. Also, Progear loops too, but you have to beat the game without bombing once to see the 2nd loop. Definitely a game that has a lot to give for anyone that likes it enough to keep at it. Dimahoo is... quite the game. I played it a whole lot when I had the arcade board. Its about as obtuse as shooters get. There are a ton of unique pickups that you want to try to get, and they all have invisible requirements to them, like being at certain charge levels or colors. I like the game, but I don't love it, and I can't say its worth the effort it takes to actually get to the point where its fun. The other games in the Mahou series are more approachable though, so if you like the characters and aesthetics, maybe check out the original game, which is just a straight shooter, or its sequel, which is sort of a racing shmup. Xeogred Man, yeah, Daioujou is real shit. That and Ketsui always felt like sibling games in Cave's linup of just pure hell. I prefer Ketsui since I can at least kind of score, whereas DOJ is very all-or-nothing, but both games are just brutally hard. And, of course, they both have a hard-to-access 2nd loop (Ketsui actually has 2 different 2nd loops) with a True Last Boss at the end that is just laughably difficult. I like that Mushi makes progression a little nicer, since even if you decide to bump it up to Maniac or Ultra, you've at least become familiar with the game in Original, whereas in DOJ/Ketsui its just hard no matter what. Daioujou actually has its own sequel, Saidaioujou, and while the scoring system is more lax, I think clearing the game is even harder. Kinda what makes the games cool though, I've owned most of their library for years, and I can't say I'm "done" with a single one.
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Post by Ex on Nov 15, 2019 14:49:55 GMT -5
Its bullets get a little fast for my old eyes Last night I would get into a rhythm sometimes, were I would dodge waves of bullets just weaving through the flow... then a bullet hidden underneath another bullet would pop out of nowhere and hit me. Dragon Blaze literally interweaves bullet hell clouds in layers of disparate syncopation. Not easy stuff. I have picked out the three final shmups I plan to beat for this theme. All started as arcade games, but I'll be playing ports. Two will be PC ports, the final a 360 port. These are shmups many of you have already beaten I'd wager. Here's a hint as to the first one I'll play soon:
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Post by dunpeal2064 on Nov 15, 2019 16:08:25 GMT -5
Ooh, very nice choice. I like how that one approaches difficulty options as well. I wonder who your favorite ship-girl will be :V
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Post by Sarge on Nov 18, 2019 22:48:56 GMT -5
Strikers 1945 is a weird game, y'all. Despite the WWII look of things, it goes off into crazy land pretty fast, with massive gun emplacements and whatnot turning into mechs, before you eventually blast off to the moon and take on some sort of shape-changing crystal entity? Umm, okay.
Pretty fun, although it doesn't diverge much from the standard Psikyo shooters I've played. I think I played the Plus version of this years ago at our (now closed) bowling alley. I'll probably give it a 7/10, just because I tend to like most of Psikyo's output.
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