Shmups/STGs/Shoot 'em ups

I know it’s considered an easy game and it must be so if I managed to 1CC it, but I’m still pretty pleased to have beaten Musha Aleste tonight. Went into the last stage on my last life with no special weapon (but a decent stock of options) not expecting to get through, but managed to keep it together, get back to weapon level 3 by the boss (which I lost by dying partway through - fortunately I’d gotten another life from points), and take it to the end.

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I’ve been picking at Ketsui on the PS2 for several years after picking at it for several years on the 360 and had come to the conclusion that while loving it, this will need be a 1cc for me. I decided to rumble with Deathtiny mode this weekend and had a blast!

Instead of a bomb stock, you have a Deathtroy gauge that is depleted by a chunk every time you get hit. When it triggers (you can trigger manually as well) it clears the screen of bullets. Collecting chips from dead enemies replenishes it. I got a lot, lot further on one credit than I ever did on arcade mode. I think I played better and was doing better dodging because I wasn’t anxious about when I should use a bomb. My reflexes aren’t hot enough for using bobs to save myself at the last second.

I don’t think Deathtiny mode will be a 1cc because of That Last Boss but I’m having a great time. I also explored some other modes and really enjoyed the Bonds of Growth mode. These are bite sized sections of different stages that you’re aiming for high scores in. Complete one and then a different one is randomly (?) selected.

These M2 ports really are generous perfection.

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Are the City Connection games on Steam ever patched (Like the Cotton S-tribute games)? I know Tracy wrote that they’re laggy and bad emulations, but I wonder if they’re ever improved upon, or if there’s an easy way to find out besides bugging you.

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Iirc there was a minor patch but the cotton s tribute games specifically are still rough. The other cotton games and the other s tribute games aren’t as bad just the first batch with Cotton 2 and Guardian Force, in part because they were already quite laggy to begin with.

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How much do we like Airgrave?? The price has gone way up as with all shooters and I have a reasonably-priced one in my sights but I’ve never played it. Anyone got feelings??

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I like it quite a bit, and I used to own a very obvious bootleg that the person who sold it to me tried to pass off as an original!

It’s a serviceable STG! I always enjoyed the look of it with the mix of sprites and polys that’s very identifiable as a PS1 STG, and it’s a fun game, even though I don’t think I’d ever rank it in my top 50. I say pull the trigger on it, if you can get it (relatively) affordably!

(I never realized it at the time, but Santos are the Battle Golfer Yui folks! That’s wild!)

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cool, I’ll do it! yeah, it feels like all their games were low print runs - they also did Stahlfeder which is even more expensive these days.

[edit: actually it’s cheaper lol]

Oh dang, I forgot about Stahlfeder! It’s also quite good and like Airgrave, it’ll never be a top tier kinda game, but it’s a lot of fun.

There are so many STGs for the PS1 in particular that seem mostly forgotten but that are somehow massively expensive in the collector market!

I hit credits in my first Shump/STG/Shoot 'em up! I really want to learn the genre and started and had trouble with a few but I’m proud to say that deep in a weird power outage I finished GG Aleste!

Some observations from a Shmup Newbie: something I realized I struggled with in other games was feeling overwhelmed with options for your ship when you start. I easily fall pray to the worry I’m picking the wrong ship or guns or whatever. Also, with GG Aleste a game over just sends you back to the begining of a level rather than the start screen, which is nice for a newcomer but I wouldn’t shy from a title without that sort of convenience!

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Incredible to see that the Raiden Fighters games are getting a modern console release! These are some of my favourites for whatever reason!

(The naming convention of this series reminds me so much of ADK’s World Heroes, so I always half expected we would get a Raiden Fighters Perfect game eventually.)

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What is your opinion on shmups on mobile phones? I tried out Dodonpachi Blissful Death on my iphone yesterday and I was surprised about how much I enjoyed to control the ship with my finger. So intuitive and felt great to dodge bullets haha :ok_hand: :ok_hand: :ok_hand:

I’ve played some Mushihimesama previously on my switch, so I am not the most experienced shmup player. I would like to play it/Dodonpachi Blissful Death Re:Incarnation on a big screen with controller, but I can’t afford the switch or ps4 release atm. :melting_face:

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I quite like the Cave (edit: phone ports) games as a nice thing to look at and kill some time with but I don’t take them seriously.

Edit: If I want to play a Cave game seriously, it needs to be on a console. I love the style of Cave games, so having them on a phone means I can dip into that aesthetic and escape the mundanity of the world around me for a few minutes.

Bullet Hell Monday has been recommended on here and that’s a great time. It is a series of bite size shooting challenges made for phones.

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Out of curiosity, how come you don’t take Cave games seriously? I’ve come to understand Cave as one of the most prominent shmup devs. Or atleast they were if I understand things correctly haha.

Oh, just looked up some gameplay of Bullet Hell Monday. Looked very smooth! Might just check it out yeah, thanks for the tip! :sparkles:

Ah, whoops! I meant the Cave phone ports. I love Cave games. My first one was Mushihime Futari and it changed my life. Going to edit my post…

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I, on the other hand, am completely comfortable with admitting that Cave STGs aren’t anywhere near the top of my list of favourites, but it’s because my taste tends much more toward less frantic games from the just-pre-bullet-hell era. Also I strongly prefer horizontal STGs and Cave only made a handful of those. For the record though I appreciate the care that was taken in making their games, and I appreciate how Cave in a lot of ways ‘saved’ STGs as a genre. They’ll just never be my favourite games.

Has anybody else tried the Switch demo for Angel at Dusk? The aesthetic is completely bonkers and I found it to be fun and interesting, but I’m not sure I love it.

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I played the PC version and really enjoyed it. It presents itself as a no frills shooter that wants to teach you how to play but the aesthetic goes against that intention. I think it is definitely worth playing, but I approached it as a cool thing I was curious about, rather than something I’m going to sit and try to learn.

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I played it on PC but it’s definitely one of the better shmups in recent memory. And finally one of these with a good tutorial lol

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Ah, kool! That outlook is kind of what I am thinking most people who are into shmups hold. That playing on phone is not the “real deal” if its on a console hehe! Well I guess I too fall into that demographic since I still want to play Blissful Death on console despite enjoying it on phone haha. Why do you think ppl feel lesser about mobile ports than a console ones?

Very nice to hear your opinion! I am curious as to what your top shmups might be, be it horizontal or vertical : )

Angel at Dusk looks meaty! Nice that there is a demo too. I might try it out just because of that! Thanks for sharing! :pray: :sparkles: