Topic: Arcade SHMUP High Score Thread

For those new to thunder force iv. When you shoot enemy and there is yellow damage "bubbles" as a result, then you are making damage, blue ones means no damage.

I would select the cloud stage to be last or second last of the four, it's not that hard if you have first powered up from the other stages (using the homing weapon to the boss is quite fast way to kill it because it targets the orb quite effectively).

I'm far from being good in the game myself, but I do definitely start enjoying it more and more.

btw. I really recommend Devil Engine which came out today, super first impressions after hour of playing it (but not easy)

I have played two games so far:

Aqua Kitty score isn´t on the leaderboard, I played offline.

@GFoyle Thanks for great tips for the TF IV, I will definitely buy also Devil Engine.

@Tatanak My lead at the top of Aqua Kitty didn't last long. I thought my score of 78k might hold for a few days at least. Well played! I'll add your FC.

@Tatanak Cool, I’ll add your friend code as well 👌

@Kyloctopus 4th on Caravan Mode for Moon Patrol is definitely something to be proud of. I'm sure we will do a challenge for that game soon. It would be great for a high score challenge. Same for Danmaku Unlimited. Great suggestion for Astebreed. I'll put it up for voting for the next challenge round. Are you joining us for any of the current challenges?

@Moroboshi876 Great work with Out Run already!

@Lroy We convinced you to buy Aqua Kitty! Awesome! Do you like it?
I have also got to beat a single level in Thunder Force IV. The bosses have a lot of cheap shots that required memorization. We should be able to beat at least one level.
@OorWullie The Dreadnought mode has around 13 levels and each level counts for 10 minutes. So the total time you have in the leaderboards is 130:00:00 minutes. If you beat a level in under 10 minutes, the total time get reduced. So you have a score of 104 minutes and I have 84 minutes because I beat a couple of more levels.

@GFoyle Devil Engine looks like a fantastic shooter. I'll get that one once I turn my Switch on.

@Tatanak Great Out Run score!

Also the leaderboards are now updated with lots of changes happening at the moment.

My tired eyes deceived me last night, I read Tatanak's score as 86k not 61k.

@Corneel Cheers for the info. So it's probably best to tske a screenshot of the total time at the end of the run rather than the leaderboard. I managed 32 seconds something but I'll give it another go and grab a screenshot.

@tatanak You son of a... How did you manage to score 15 million points? Wow. Impressive.

@Moroboshi876 I was lucky, I never had a crash during the race and I finished with 5 second remaining time, it´s + 5 million points. And I chose route E, I find it the easiest.

My new score in Aqua Kitty:

@Tatanak Wow. In my circles people always said the E course is the most difficult, going from A to E. I understand we're talking about New mode, which is the second that appeared in Japan and the only that Westerners had. Old mode means another order for the stages, as you most certainly already know.

For me it depends on the stage. Some of them I really hate, like the one with the flowers, which is deceitfully hard because it seems that there aren't many hazards, but you can't actually run too fast. And the desert / dusty one warns you with long curves that aren't actually long and don't require you to slow down. I find the 4th stage of any course the hardest, and the 5th actually lets you even crash without too much danger for your goal, because it's shorter.

Had an ok run in Out Run yesterday. It's a bit difficult to avoid all the traffic, but I'll definitely be spending some more time with this game during the challenge. Route E seems to be the one for me.

Wild Guns still stuck in the mine level. These guys that are popping up in the mine carts are the worst. Still al lot of room for improvement for this game and I really want to finish it during the challenge.

And also did a couple of runs for Thunder Force IV this morning. After the initial shock of not being able to complete a single level, something just clicked and I was able to breeze through the first four levels without much trouble or even using a continue. Level five is a bit more difficult, but that is mainly due to the first part where you need to dodge the bullets, but the are also moving vertically because of the extended vertical playfield. That complete messes my dodging up.

@Corneel Out Run needs memorization too, especially about where to stop pressing gas or switch gear, and traffic is about reflexes really. That being said, in the arcade version I've only been able to finish course A. And in 3DS version only, if that really can be considered arcade.

I thought you were a master of shmups, and you probably are. It surprises me seeing you talk about Thunder Force IV as if it was difficult to you. It is to me, but I'm a noob in shmups and trust my reflexes only.

By the way, are the iScored designs yours? Did you have to tweak things CSS level? I'm considering creating one with friends, but the payment part holds me back.

@Moroboshi876 You are right about Out Run with it requiring some memorization with the corners. Maybe that's why sticking to one route seems to be helping me a lot.

Also, I am most definitely not a master of shmups. (That's @GFoyle @Tatanak and others.) I have always had an interest in these type of games and arcade games in general, but only started playing them seriously since last year after @OorWullie put together these arcade challenges we are doing. Heck, I had never even heard of Psikyo until last year.
It did help me a lot with simple stuff like knowing what to look at and what to ignore. But for most of these games it is really how much effort you are willing to put into it. With every run you learn new things, patterns, enemy location, power ups. etc. It's all about perseverance.

The iScored designs are not mine. You can browse for pre-made designs designed by the community (mostly pinball tables). Usually I pick a design that I like, and tweak that for the game we are running. Like with Out Run it was a pinball racing themed table. Just put the Out Run logo and background in and it was done. There is some tweaking with CSS also to make sure the scores fit in the box. But that is all really easy. Within 5 minutes you are set. If needed I can help you out with sharing some designs you can than select on iScored. This is how the setup looks:

And adding scores is the easiest thing ever:

The payment was holding me back also, but for me it's worth it.

@corneel Impressive, really! I've asked my friends, I don't want to pay for it alone LOL

As for the arcade challenges, I wasn't an arcade going kid myself. I regret it. So now I'm trying to catch up as much as I can alongside playing modern games.

I have yet to develop the patience required by these games with no checkpoints or saving system whatsoever, trial and error and repeat from the very beginning every time. Yes, I know the modern releases allow it, but I don't want to use it. I try to replicate the arcade experience I never had as much as I can.

@corneel Had no idea it was costing you coins out of your own pocket not too mention all the time you invest in organising all this for us. Genuinely think you need to let us contribute to the overheads no matter how small.

@Moroboshi876 Come join in the Pinball challenges as well 😜

@Lroy Let me buy the flip grip first 😜

By the way, those of you Europeans who have it how long did it take to arrive?

EDIT: Just bought it.

@Lroy Thanks for the offer, but there is absolutely no need for that at all.

@Corneel Happy to fund an eShop voucher?

@Moroboshi876 Oh nice! I’ve already got two different stands (one horizontal, one vertical) for my Switch but can see the appeal of the FlipGrip. Hope you get a lot of use from it.

@Lroy Well, I've always been reluctant to buy accessories and additional controllers for my consoles, and tate mode was something I wasn't really interested in, especially because most of the time I use the Switch as a portable, but being able to play vertically on the go, all in my hands, for less than 16 euros shipping included and after seeing an unboxing and the quality of it all... I had to own it.