Oh yeah, it was that close in Tengai! I played probably something like 15-20 hours of Tengai during that one week of the challenge. It was also the first time ever I tried to play these games more seriously and for score. Even though I have liked shmups since -87, it was like 30 years of really not playing any (for some reason I didn't run into any those during my active gaming years). Tengai is probably one of the best, if not the best Psikyo shooters to start with as it's not as difficult as most of the others (but still not easy!).
If the participation starts to pick up the pace for these challenges, I suggest we do round 2 for some of the best ones we have had challenges already this far at some point in future (and for some of those games, it could be different rules than first time, for example high score mode instead of caravan in Pulsar, Blazing Star, 1cc instead of 3 in Tengai, Strikers 1 etc.).
@GFoyle you can count me in, we could even restrict the competition to a single plane/character for example... lot of ways to give those sweet oldies a much deserved second playthrough!
The original fire has died and gone, but the riot inside moves on.
261,300 after first session of Strikers II. A lot of room for improvement though and I think we'll probably get scores higher on this than Gunbird 2. Hoping for over 350 this time - maybe even 4 since I'm already getting well over 100k per level without any real knowledge at all.
I find it far more difficult here to remember the levels since, while the enemy attacks and patterns are very varied, my brain just remembers: plane, plane, plane, plane.
IMO it's on similar difficulty level that Gunbird 2 and Dragon Blaze when it comes to survival aspect. Gunbird 2 and Dragon Blaze could be considered more difficulty if you think it from scoring point of view, which is very straightforward in Strikers 2, kill enemies, get maximum from coins (no chaining here) with some milking opportunities (oh and bonuses from extra power ups / bombs).
My initial scores (GFC from today). I'm surprised to get that far as I have not played this one that much, maybe it's a bit easier. I had to focus and avoid using bombs in tricky situations so I would have to actually learn some of the patterns and how to avoid them without a bomb.
Congrats on the win @GFoyle, outstanding score! Had a go at Strikers 1945 II earlier and really struggled, I'll get on it it tomorrow.. My top score on the leaderboard is 260k or something, set that months ago. Cheers for taking care of this @Corneel much appreciated.
Sengoku Cannon has appeared on the Japanese Eshop. Tengai became an all time favourite so its sequel should have me excited but from the gameplay I've just watched on YouTube it doesn't look great. Other than the ugly scrolling 3D background there doesn't seem to be much going on,it looks empty. I think it was a PSP exclusive.
Did a rundown of different planes in the last days, just to get a better feeling on the different speeds, shots, bombs and charged shots.
So far one of my favorite is the aptly named "Flying Pancake": while the homing shots are useful in a couple of situations, the charged shot is really amazing (arguably the best of all planes) and the bomb effect is wide enough to shield you from the barrage in latter boss stages (i mostly use bomb defensively).
Regular shot is on the weak side but hey, you can't have everything...
I also like Hayate somehow, but the charge shot is static and not as useful as the pancake's one.
Generally speaking all the planes are fun to play though.
Still slowly trying to learn the boss patterns, doing it the hard way - no bombs allowed, and I restart if I got killed in the first level. It's rough, but I feel i'm improving somehow.
The original fire has died and gone, but the riot inside moves on.
@OorWullie
Sengoku Cannon really look so generic.
I don't understand the need for ugly 3D background, but that's a common thing in many 2D historical franchises: all of a sudden someone thinks it's time to bring in some 3D because hey, 3D is cool! 3D is the new thing! and pouf, the whole thing looks horrible and the series bombs...
I'll give it a shot sooner or later but my expectations are low atm.
The original fire has died and gone, but the riot inside moves on.
Here should be world records and as you can see, there is not much difference how much you can achieve on each one. But some the ships are clearly harder for beginner, amateur shumppers like us.
Flying Pancake
3,500,700
Fockewulf
3,412,000
Hayate
3,424,100
Lightning
3,401,300
Mosquito
3,331,200
Shinden
3,304,100
I think Hayate might be easiest to do ok initially, or at least after you start to remember where certain enemies come and thus know where you should place the charge shot static ships. When you can do that, it makes things a lot easier because you can effectively destroy multiple stronger enemies at the same time or focus on smaller ones while you static charge shot ship is killing the bigger enemy. I'm probably going to focus on this ship more now.
Pancake is very good too as it shoots also all over the screen and it's fast, but that speed also makes it a bit tricky to do small movements when you need to. Also I think it's attack is not as strong so it takes a slightly more time to take out the bosses than with some other ships (which requires you to learn the patterns better).
Lightning seems to be okay, quite balanced. It has a bit narrow fire, but the bomb is good for beginner as it works as panic button, saves you immediately and not after a delay like with Pancake or Hayate. Fockewulf has boring charge shot, so I don't really enjoy playing with it.
I would stay away from something like Mosquito or Shinden which require that you really know what you are doing to get anywhere. I really like Shinden, but it doesn't make any sense to use it at this point, my skill is nowhere near where it should be for that.
I was able to increase my score to around 450k range (5th stage) yesterday. I guess the skills picked up from Gunbird 2, Dragon Blaze and Tengai are helping to do ok with this as well.
But some the ships are clearly harder for beginner, amateur shumppers like us.
@GFoyle I think you should put yourself a couple of levels above us mortals... only a few days into the challenge and we're already struggling to keep up with your scores
The original fire has died and gone, but the riot inside moves on.
@GFoyle I think you should put yourself a couple of levels above us mortals... only a few days into the challenge and we're already struggling to keep up with your scores
You just need to raise your game Honestly I'm just glad to see some progress as often it feels I'm not getting any better with these games. I actually think getting to 400k in this is easier than getting to 300k in Gunbird 2 so I'm expecting many of you get there during the challenge.
btw. I don't think restart if you die once if first stage is needed. The internal rank system balances things, so it's slightly more easier in second stage if you have died once by then. I just did few runs and got over 400k twice and in both of those runs I had died once in first stage.
btw. I don't think restart if you die once if first stage is needed. The internal rank system balances things, so it's slightly more easier in second stage if you have died once by then. I just did few runs and got over 400k twice and in both of those runs I had died once in first stage.
Wow well, so I'm basically doing everything wrong... if the games is getting harder when I perfect level 1 I'd feel encouraged to drop my bombs just before landing the killing blow on the boss, then let him kill me and proceed to dispatch it.
Do you feel the difficulty decrease could justify such tactics?
The original fire has died and gone, but the riot inside moves on.
No I don't think it makes it that much easier. There was a guide where the writer's goal was to 1cc the first loop(no prior experience I guess), he used a tactic where he tried to stay in full power minus one, which made some patters slightly more manageable. I tried that, didn't like it as you need to be powering down after accidentally picking up power ups. Good players say you shouldn't do that unless it's about some milking opportunity.
But maybe at this level it's not too bad to die once during first level for example or stay in less than full power... you can try. I wouldn't try to kill myself once on purpose though...
As for bombs, I try to avoid to use them to force myself to learn the attacks otherwise, but I definitely used them in tricky parts in those runs where I got 400k and over.
Nice choice! I will join you guys on this one for sure as work is finally letting up, so I should be able to finally dedicate the time these challenges need.
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After taking my Switch on a little business trip with lots of train travel, I'm at 361,600. Hoping to improve on that with the big screen and pro-controller, but not displeased with that score so far. Getting to 400k seems like it'll be a challenge, but maaay be doable...
I had my best run earlier, smashed my own previous best and made it to the 4th stage for the first time,despite only having a handful of runs since the challenge started. I think it's all the hours I put into the much tougher Gunbird 2. It definitely seems easier to me anyway?
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