Topic: Arcade SHMUP High Score Thread

@Lroy @Zkibu Many thanks guys! They may not be perfect, or complete, all the same I'm glad to hear my videos are able to help!

@meppi64 It's great hearing from you, try not to push yourself too hard. And Forza Horizon 1, is it? I could play that forever! Still haven't beaten it, though, certain challenges still need my attention. So many races, beautiful backdrops, and it looks even better on XB1 from what I've heard.

Also, @Zkibu and @GrailUK great scores so far. I should have more time tomorrow morning and Friday to catch up.

@DashKappei @Sakura7 Yeah, I think it's a crushing blow to Farsight and the Pinball Arcade as a good number of the Williams and Bally tables are my favorites. And I haven't fully recovered from my great Wii Shop closeout binge, so hopefully I can pull things together by the end of next month. I'll have to piece together a buying strategy on which platform and whether or not to go for the Pro Packs across WiiU, iOS, and Steam. And since I was lucky enough to buy Season One on Switch, it further complicates things.

@masterLEON I'm going to take it even more slowly than before as I seem to have wanted to do a bit too much too fast in the past. Just a matter of listening to my body and actually acting accordingly for a change.
I've actually been playing Forza Horizon 3 as I got it along with HotWheels with my Xbox one S for an incredible deal. 179€ all in total. Really couldn't pass it up. I'm hoping that the 4th game will be set in Japan later this year. I just love the sights and atmosphere of that country so much.

As for Pinball Arcade, I would be a bit wary of investing in the iOS version to he honest.
They don't seem to be very good when dealing with backwards compatibility when a new firmware is released. I've lost plenty of games in the past as developers don't always update their old games and the new OS doesn't run the old ones.
I've also read that when games get delisted, it might not be possible to redownload them on iOS in case you need to restore your system or buy new hardware. So you might end up losing them sooner rather than later.

I'd personally go for the most advanced version possible due to the lighting changes between the old and new gen versions. So Xbox One, PS4 or Steam.
I read that if you buy on steam, it might be best to buy full seasons at once since those get linked to your steam account and thus you're pretty safe that you will be able to redownload them all for a long time.
While buying single tables seem to get linked to a separate Farsight account only, on which I can't comment what the guarantees are.
I'm not a PC gamer myself, so take this with a grain of salt. It's second hand info.

The pro packs are completely optional I feel. I bought all of them just to be able to view the tables up close, but some of them don't seem to support it. The only one that makes a bit of a difference I think is for Scared Stiff, as you can go into the coin door settings and turn the family settings off, which reinstates Elvira's more naughty dialogue.

@masterLEON
Oh and season 1,2 and 4 are probably the most important once to grab, although 5 has Judge Dredd which is a fan favourite, and 3 has some great tables as well.
But truth be told, if at all possible, I would grab all 7 seasons.
Pinball is a strange beast and certain tables that people absolutely adore, you might find really boring or obnoxious and vice versa. It's very personal.
As you make your way through the catalogue, you'll come across tables without a big name licence or a theme that you think nothing of on first sight, but when you start learning the table, it might really surprise you and turn into one of your favourites.
It's really hard to say without finding out for yourself, I'm afraid.

For instance, I've heard people gush over Last Action Hero and Bram Stokers Dracula and I've played a couple of hours of LAH and it still hasn't clicked with me. I find it mildly enjoyable at best.
And from the 20 minutes I've put into Dracula, right now, I really hate the table.
I'm not giving up on either though as it might still be me and I need to learn the rulesets first to know if it really just isn't for me.

@meppi64

Feel better man!! Sorry to hear you’re having a rough time.

I see the scores are getting competitive. I will post mine when I get home tonight. I love Galaga so this is a truly fun challenge for me.

Out of curiosity, are you guys starting with one or two ships? I’m using two... much easier to land the stage bonuses.

@Agent721 Thank you.
It's been going on for a long time now. Just recently had a bit of a setback after doing really well for a couple of months, with only a couple of bad days here and there.
Tried doing a bit too much too soon again I'm afraid.

@meppi64

Take it easy and hopefully things will get better. On the bright side, hopefully it means more game time as you rest.

Not great but getting better everyday:

@Agent721 I start with 2 and let them get captured asap lol. The third ship is OP!

@Agent721
Two ships everytime. Like @GrailUK I let them be captured and then blast away as long as I can with sweet triple shot

@GrailUK @Zkibu

Alright, I’m trying that tonight! Thanks!

@Agent721 As a general rule of thumb, pick off the weaker enemies first (the red ones mostly lol!) As the numbers of the formation dwindle, the remaining Galaga start doing special attacks that net you a bonus score for destroying.
So for example with stage 1.
Red ships - No special move.
Blue ships - combine with another blue ship to create a big ship. 500 bonus points + a warp item.
Green blobs - split into 4 smaller blobs. Destroy all 4 for an extra 800pts.
Pink blobs - split into 4 (harder pattern). Destroy all 4 for 1200 bonus points.
Brown blobs split into 5. Destroy them all for 1600 bonus points.
The ships that have a tractor beam have no bonus really. Just remember they take 2 hits, so shoot it once as you go in the tractor beam for a slightly easier rescue.
So for maximum score chasing, you want to rescue a captured ship, leave enough blues to gain a warp item and destroy the ships in ascending bonus value so you can end the level with plenty of bonus points.

(I'm sure there will be a better write up somewhere that knows all the names of the sprites lol)

@GrailUK

Thanks, great tips! I had figured out some of that but didn’t know it all. Will push up the score further tonight.

@Agent721 I think I mean ascending order. Gah, just kill red first coz they don't do anything and try to have pink and brown left lol.

Despite longing for NAMCO MUSEUM to feature in these weekly challenges... I've yet to even boot up the game?! This week seems to have flown by and any gaming time I have at the moment just seems to go directly into my career on FIFA 18 Manager Mode. Just have been completely sucked in by that aspect of the game for the last month or more.

Think the last time I was just compelled to keep playing the same game continuously was back when MARIO + RABBIDS released and prior to that it was my discovery of FIRE EMBLEM AWAKENING (last year IIRC).

Anyway, it is super rare (and very enjoyable when it does happen) for me to just stick with one single game for upwards of 50hrs of game-play time, not even hit that streak with MARIO ODYSSEY yet. So, apologies for my inactivity this week. Will be back when Manager Mode loosens its vice-like grip on me, lol!

@Lroy

I don’t blame you! I have it on the Xbone and play it all the time! That career mode is the best part of that game. Engrossing!!

Have you tried the online mode with the Switch and if so, how is it?

@Agent721 Head over to the FIFA 18 thread on here and tell me all about your career exploits. We've been sharing highlights of our own (mis)fortunes trying to steer our clubs to success. Also always keen to hear about new formations, custom tactics and best player buys.

I haven't tried the online modes yet but I know some folks on that thread have put time into 'online seasons'.

@Lroy

I will check it out! I’ve played the online seasons and they are quite fun!

I managed to get a good few games in on my bus journey yesterday, disappointed with my score still though . It's currently 110k something . I'm unable to upload a picture just now as I've not got much time. I fly back to Thailand. I'll give Galaga 88 a good go on my flight and 4 hour stop over in Helsinki and let you know my score once I'm back home and settled sometime on Saturday. I'll be shattered though so I may sleep all day Saturday.