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March 29, 2024, 01:09:22 AM

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Let's talk about Shoot 'em ups...what's the best Shmup ever?

Started by captaincockring, August 23, 2016, 01:11:02 AM

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Hecate

Quote from: captaincockring on August 23, 2016, 04:13:38 AMHad anyone here 1cc'd a shmup?

I have 1cc'ed pllllllenty of shmups, and it hasn't interfered with my jet setting lifestyle neither, if that's what you're thinking.
I won't list them all because your scroll wheel wouldn't be able to handle it and to be honest, I stopped counting.

I fucking earned it as well, I mean I'm not brilliant but I'm getting better all the time and I'm sexy as well. I was as shite as anyone could be, especially playing on a stick, so I should be admired and held up as an example of what you can achieve if you don't have any friends.

I've always loved the genre, playing scramble on the vectrex is one of my earliest memories of gaming, but it was discovering the bullet hell subgenre, playing stuff in mame and then shelling out for an asian 360 around 2011 and buying a proper stick and everything when I went proper potty.



My favourites are the ones that encourage you to play aggressively, proximity scoring I like, the risk:reward of getting in nice and close to the enemies such as eXceed 3rd - Jade Penetrate Black Package



and Blue Wish Resurrection Plus



or stuff with really fun, quick turnaround scoring loops like Blue Revolver



The Hurricane of The Varstray



and Neko Navy.



Games I'm less keen on are puzzle shmups such as Ikaruga and Dimension Drive, or boring euroshmups or stuff that's a bit too heavily reliant on memorisation, or anything with analogue controls or daft inertia. I like stuff that gives you time to react, games that, once you've built up your skills in other titles, you have a good chance on 1cc'ing them first time using your reaction time and split second decision making.

I'm currently playing Mecha Ritz: Steel Rondo for the shmups subreddit score competition



and Stella Vanity just for fun.



Looking forward to Rolling Gunner, Rival Megagun and ZeroRanger.

I like to play mainly on PC, not too keen on the transient nature of consoles, and also I can whack up the refresh rate and force off vsync to keep input lag to a minimum and use whatever controller I like, but I'll play on console if it's the only option.

My favourite thing about shmups is that they're so simple (some intricate scoring mechanics aside) and the skills you build up are transferable to other games in the genre. I love how they totally consume your brain, you have to live in the moment, they're gaming in it's purest form, a true test of skill and perseverance, whether you're going for a 1 credit clear or trying to beat your score or somebody elses, or just mucking about, it's the most fun you can have on a computer.

and look at that, they're so pretty! None of your boring, serious grey and brown modern gaming dross, and the tunes are always bangin'!

Hecate

Wings of Bluestar kickstarter is starting today with a downloadable demo - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/952540552/wings-of-bluestar

Been following the games progress on twitter for a good while so I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMLWOcvCJSY


Hecate

Cave sale currently on steam, if you're interested - https://store.steampowered.com/sale/cave_interactive/

Deathsmiles is the perfect in if you fancy dipping your toe.

Twed

I just meant that I thought he was making a joke about the "Jamestown massacre", and then realised that isn't actually a thing but just sounds like it would be.

It would probably have helped if I explained any of that.

Twed

Did you edit your post to say something wildly different, making me look like I'm confused about three separate things, or am I genuinely confused about three separate things?

Oh god.

Hecate

I don't like it.
Can we make it go back to where it's just me talking to myself?

FredNurke

Quote from: Twed on August 15, 2018, 04:09:41 PM
I just meant that I thought he was making a joke about the "Jamestown massacre", and then realised that isn't actually a thing but just sounds like it would be.

Is too!

Hecate

Astral Gunners is looking like it's going to be good.
http://astralgunners.com/



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsWFQ2ZhZ3Y

Quoteintuitive yet deep mechanics that change for each character. Whether you're an aggressive player, a strategically minded player, or somewhere in-between, there's bound to be a gunner from the roster of five that fits your playstyle.
We've created distinct character choices that make a large difference in how the game is played, from the shooting to scoring everything changes based on your character.

https://twitter.com/AstralGunners/status/1029826822756814848

Got DariusBurst CS in the PSN sale. I've been waiting for it to appear for absolutely ages. So relieved I never paid fifty quid for this, it seems pretty shit. I don't really like horizontal shmups though, besides Tengai. Even Deathsmiles doesn't do much for me but I think that's mostly the goofy aesthetic.

I'll give it a couple of hours but not feeling it at all.


Quite looking forward to that Shikhondo Soul Eater which is coming out on Switch very soon, though. Looks proper.

Hecate

I never got into dariusburst either. It was 24 quid on pc at launch so not as bad as fifty but still ridiculous compared to other games in the genre on steam. Beat a couple of routes in the standard arcade mode and then moved on, spent 10 hours on it. Have gone back a couple of times to see what I was missing as a lot of people rate it, but I always came up empty handed.

Aye, that shikhondo is canny. A bit touhou, but it's fun, huge difficulty spike at the final boss, I haven't managed to beat it.

http://www.siliconera.com/2017/12/15/shikhondo%E9%A3%9F%E9%AD%82%E5%BE%92-soul-eaters-developers-share-story-mythological-bosses/

QuoteFor the stage 5 boss, we designed the barrage pattern with many curves as if a snake is moving around the screen. It seems like many people finds this pattern difficult to clear. To give users some tips on clearing this stage, it is much easier to avoid the barrage if you move fast enough. The pattern is not a targeting type and it simply moves once to the left and once to the right. Because of the strong curve, many people feel it as targeting type pattern, but it really is not.

That might help you more than it did me.

Just picked Shikhondo up on PS4 last night and quite enjoying it, defo more than DBCS, which I haven't really touched or been inclined to. Can't say I adore Shikhondo but it's well made and looks superb.

I'm also tempted by Psyvariar Delta and Azure Reflections. Any thoughts on them?

Psyvariar is pretty well regarded it seems but I never played it, and I think this is more of a spit and polish than a sequel, but I might be wrong. I've seen a few vids and it doesn't especially blow me away. It looks overly busy and a bit angular, like Raiden V, which doesn't really draw me in. I prefer dots and circles to lines of bullets, to be simplistic about it.

Azure Reflections looks pretty interesting, actually, with the parrying and spellcards and stuff but the aesthetic is hard for me to get past. Witches and maids and all that. I guess that's just shmups for you these days. I'm leaning towards that rather than Psyvariar, though, if I get anything else this month.

Hecate

Quote from: The Boston Crab on August 30, 2018, 12:09:27 PM
Can't say I adore Shikhondo

No, it's definitely an also ran, low tier indie shmup but you'll get a good 10 hours out of it.

Quote from: The Boston Crab on August 30, 2018, 12:09:27 PM
the aesthetic is hard for me to get past. Witches and maids and all that. I guess that's just shmups for you these days.

Yyyyes, touhou fans are a special breed of ... autist? - https://steamcommunity.com/app/745880/discussions/search/?gidtopic=1479857071261761324&q=autist

They spend 99% of their time discussing which badly drawn cartoon child they would most like to marry on the internet and the other 1% playing the games on easy mode.

Azure Reflection was released as "Maihana Soumakyou" for pc in 2012 by "souvenir circ.". I've found a link to download it on some blog, I'll give it a go later and report back.
(Update) I remember this! I have played it, but it seemed boring so I didn't play long. I'll give it more of a chance later and see if I can get into it.

I try to stay away from touhou and the fan games, personally. The few I've played just haven't been good games at all. Official Touhou always have short boring stage sections followed by a long boring boss fight, there are lots of bullets  but the patterns are so boring. After my second attempt to get into them, I can remember getting to the last boss of the game that someone had recommended me "frilly panty cherry blossom" or something and I was literally yawning, I just had to turn the fucker off.
You play a shmup to be excited and get your adrenalin pumping!

I've never played Psyvariar, so I can't comment. Guy on somethingawful posted saying that, yeah, it's a spit polish job and that the switch port was good (I'll just paste rather than link because it was telling me I needed to log in before I could read it)

QuotePsyvariar Delta is now available on Switch on the Japanese eshop, likely for PS4 at midday Japan time. It's Psyvariar but with the M2 gadget-style extra readouts around the side of the screen. If you played the PS2 port of Medium Unit and Revision you know what you're getting. There's a DLC for another character from a completely different game (which comes with its own soundtrack) but I haven't tried that yet. The use of HD rumble for the buzz mechanic is nice, to the point where I wish I could turn off all the other vibration in it.

The control response seems good so far, which hasn't been something you could rely on with some Switch shooters (Sisters Royale and Strikers 1945 felt a little bit behind the action to me) so at least so far I haven't spotted anything that might make the Switch version a bad choice.

Thanks, champ. I'll have a think about Psyvariar then. After watching some Azure gameplay, it did seem very simplistic and repetitive and yeah, my wife would fuckin spew if she saw me playing with child maids and all that shite. I'll keep going with Shikhondo but I really need to just get a new computer and get back to emulation and Steam stuff.

Hecate

Sing it, sister. It'd make it a lot easier for me to recommend games anyway!

Ended up getting Azure anyway because it was discounted to about fourteen quid but it's pretty shit, even disregarding the gross overlay. Another great decision.

Hecate

Nobody can blame you for that one, you watched videos, you listened to the informed opinion of a legitimate gaming guru, you talked yourself out of it and then bought it anyway.
It doesn't matter how many live fish you feed up your anus, some banks are just too steep to climb.
It is the gay slang term "fishing" you use when referring to your soul cleansing nights in the woods, isn't it? You're into that, aren't you? It's not the regular kind of fishing, is it?

I'm just glad I don't have more expensive habits. And yes, that's the joy of the trip. All dayers and all nighters. Non-Stop Fishing, they call it.

Bhazor

These all look like shite. All you need is Space Invaders.

Hecate

Go on, Bhazor, give one a try, you might really like it!

Give Blue Wish Resurrection Plus a go, it's free and it's very new player friendly. Auto-bomb is turned on by default, you lose a bomb instead of dying when you get hit and the game is very generous with bombs and lives - http://www004.upp.so-net.ne.jp/x_xgameroom/Works/works.html

ZoyzaSorris

Seeing this thread for some reason reminded me of Chopper X, the rudimentary helicopter shoot em up included with the Atari ST super pack my sister and I received Christmas 88, and played to death. I just checked it out on youtube and hearing the music for the first time in 30 years on top of morphine and nicotine withdrawals literally made me cry, so much excitement and possibility in the world, times are gone, I'm still crying actually. Don't think it was very good, mind.

Phil_A

Quote from: ZoyzaSorris on August 31, 2018, 11:06:49 PM
Seeing this thread for some reason reminded me of Chopper X, the rudimentary helicopter shoot em up included with the Atari ST super pack my sister and I received Christmas 88, and played to death. I just checked it out on youtube and hearing the music for the first time in 30 years on top of morphine and nicotine withdrawals literally made me cry, so much excitement and possibility in the world, times are gone, I'm still crying actually. Don't think it was very good, mind.

Oof, that game was a stinker, but at least it was semi-playable. The other one on the disk, Warlock, wasn't. Why anyone ever thought these two were worth being included as pack-in titles baffles me to this day.

I do understand the nostalgia thing though, as I once had a similar reaction hearing the music from Codemasters' budget Afterburner knock-off MIG 29 Soviet Fighter (a title which seems to've been designed to trick unwary parents into thinking they were getting a bargain deal on the other MIG 29 game). A proper Proustian rush of emotion. It is a great bit of a music, to be fair.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU7kaDs_wBI




ZoyzaSorris

I dont think i had warlock on my one, dont recognise it anyhow


That does look superb. I'll be onto that if or when the Switch port comes.

the

Quote from: ZoyzaSorris on August 31, 2018, 11:06:49 PMSeeing this thread for some reason reminded me of Chopper X, the rudimentary helicopter shoot em up included with the Atari ST super pack my sister and I received Christmas 88, and played to death. I just checked it out on youtube and hearing the music for the first time in 30 years on top of morphine and nicotine withdrawals literally made me cry, so much excitement and possibility in the world, times are gone, I'm still crying actually.

I don't want to ruin this for you, but the main riff in that Chopper X tune reminds me of this

Hecate

http://www.siliconera.com/2018/08/31/m2-discusses-most-highly-requested-ports-why-they-havent-released-on-steam-and-more/

M2 on why no steam

QuoteWhy don't M2 bring their releases to Steam and PC?
M2 planner Kazuki Kubota acknowledges that even on their trailers for the M2 Shot Triggers series of titles on Youtube, lots of people complain that the games aren't being released on Steam. Horii states that the reason is because they have to account for various PC hardware environments. While their releases work decently on Windows 7, as soon as it hits Windows 10 slowdown occurs, and they haven't found an acceptable solution yet. As soon as they find one, they'll put more effort into PC releases.

Another black mark against stupid fucking Windows 10

M2 on why no switch

QuoteM2 are currently testing out their M2 Shot Triggers releases on Nintendo Switch, but haven't been able to solve the processing speed and slowdown issues yet in a manner they are satisfied with. However, Horii clarifies that the slowdown has nothing to do with the Joy-Con controllers, contrary to online reports that there is some input delay for them. One of the current releases M2 is working on for the Switch is Sega Ages Thunder Force IV, and until their releases are able to reach that quality, they do not want to release the games.

madhair60

You're gonna call me a pleb cunt and that's fine but my fave series is Gradius and I recently bought a game called Super Hydorah which is really similar to Gradius and therefore I love it so piss off.

madhair60

I like the ones with a bit of environmental interest to them rather than just bullet curtains or whatever the fuck. Exceptions exist.

I liked what's it called, Ketsui? Skiter Skain? Is that what it's called? It's three games, but I liked the last two. I can't be arsed looking it up.

Hecate

Quote from: madhair60 on September 02, 2018, 01:55:39 PM
You're gonna call me a pleb cunt and that's fine but my fave series is Gradius and I recently bought a game called Super Hydorah which is really similar to Gradius and therefore I love it so piss off.

Don't be daft, a lot of people dislike the bullet hell subgenre and much prefer the old school style games with more memorisation and faster bullets.

Infinos Gaiden is a recent well regarded game of that ilk that you might like - https://store.steampowered.com/app/771070/Infinos_Gaiden/

Quote from: madhair60 on September 02, 2018, 01:56:59 PM
I liked what's it called, Ketsui? Skiter Skain? Is that what it's called? It's three games, but I liked the last two. I can't be arsed looking it up.

You're thinking of Kamui, Reflex and Altynex Second by Siter Skain.
Ketsui is that ultra hard cave game where you drown in military hardware and machismo, the one with the gay lads on the front.



Siter Skain have been working on some none traditional mecha tank thing called "Armed Dragoon" for a while - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2rCdHIY05k

Turns out I'm quite enjoying Azure Reflections now I've figured out the mechanics and learned some of the boss patterns. It's only a solid 6 but more interesting than, say, DariusBurst.

I also managed to finally play Deathsmiles properly via that Shadow streaming service and it's absolutely brilliant. My laptop could never run it before which probably put me off as much as the Halloween stuff but having played it running super smooth, it's the opposite of a dag.