Topic: Arcade SHMUP High Score Thread

@GFoyle I'm sure you're right, but I'm not going to make it on time for this challenge, so today I'll be trying some more Out Run and tonight I'm staying late in order to attack Aqua Kitty, a game I had played before, but not arcade mode, and this changes a lot, because I had never played with the 1 life limit.

In Out Run I'm unable to finish any course, at least for now. I did it on 3DS, but this version has to be even closer to the arcade somehow, because I can't. I keep crashing stupidly and restarting after making a stupid mistake in parts you already mastered is tiresome, but best case scenario I lose because I just play it safe when I'm in stage 3 or 4, and running slower punishes you anyway because you lose seconds, it's just you don't see it as painfully as when you see your car crash.

It's been fun to take part in these challenges one month more, anyway. But it hurts when you abandon other games to focus on these ones and the results are so bad.

Yeah, just remember this is just for fun and idea for 4 different games, 1 month was to make it flexible and free enough that people wouldn't have huge pressure only to play challenge game during the period. Of course if you decide to play all 4 or even 3 and want to do good, then it will take time. I suggest selecting maybe in 1 or 2 per challenge if you feel that you don't have enough time playing other games or feeling pressure, which might kill the fun at some point.

I have been focusing mostly on TF4 during this challenge, other games I have been playing really casually, enough to get some result, but not aiming for top. Even TF4 haven't been that super serious during these weeks.

Outrun... that freaking random traffic gets me every time. Not huge fan as I think that element plays too big of a part in doing well.

@GFoyle I think you're right. Next time I'll stick to 2 games tops. I feel the pressure otherwise.

Out Run is a game I love, despite not being really good at it. Of course I don't have hundreds of hours of experience, but a couple dozens maybe. Anyway yes, a traffic that is not that random, but sometimes it is, hurts a lot. It's good for the variety, but can destroy a good run in a matter of seconds.

I think the random is okay for casual play, but from score chaining point of view it sucks as I feel it dimishes the skill factor too much. Of course you need to play the game well to finish in any case, but getting bad traffic in bad spots multiple time can mean you won't finish at all (let say all lanes are taken in some difficult turn, you don't much options to slow down and wait or overtake offroad if there is no obstacles there (which hurts your score). Was it 1mil extra for every second left in the end? Even one such random bad traffic means huge difference in score the very least even if you manage to the end.

But anyway, good driving/playing anybody who managed to finish it even once! Even without traffic it's not very easy...

btw. it's pretty much 1:1 with the arcade version I think, I just tried the original arcade version last weekend and the difference was only the fact that it has a wheel and pedals

@GFoyle And the lack of Ferrari's logo LOL

But yes, even when I managed to finish the A course on 3DS, and they said it was the arcade version (even Switch version is supposed to be based on 3DS's), whenever I tried the arcade version I found it harder. Saturn version, which was at that time the most faithful console port according to a lot of people, felt harder than 3D Out Run.

I think the 3ds was done by M2 as the Switch version and if anybody can replicate arcade version, it's them. I would think 3ds is pretty much same as the Switch version in terms of difficulty. The traffic has so huge effect on difficulty that it can be really hard to tell whether some version is more difficult than another.

@GFoyle I must be rustier than I thought, then LOL

I've beaten it twice now, but can't seem to finish by more than a second or two so I'll submit this before I forget.

@bushidosnail Nicely done! I’ve put the least amount of time into OUTRUN and TFIV for this challenge and it shows. Can’t finish OUTRUN and haven’t even beaten a boss in TFIV, lol!

Fortunately, I’ve had a blast playing WILD GUNS RELOADED although I’ve not managed to get very far following the designated path. Actually, got further picking random order. AQUA KITTY UDX has been a real discovery for me. Played that one the most over this challenge and intend to keep on with it even after the competition ends.

Aqua Kitty's score was arcade normal, right? In leaderboards it's combined always, I can't change it.

I embed my current hi score anyway

@Lroy Thanks! I skipped Wild Guns because I discovered this a few weeks into it already and didn't think I'd have enough time for all 4, but it looks like a lot of fun. I enjoyed Aqua Kitty a lot as well, but for some reason Outrun just really let me sort of zen out and relax weaving in and out of traffic. After playing so much Forza Horizon and such I scoffed at the idea of a simple arcade racer but I'm super glad I gave it a go.

I'm not going to have time tomorrow, so this is final for Aqua Kitty...

Wild Guns Reloaded - armored train boss

Thunder Force IV - stage 6

@corneel Posted my scores along with photos over on the Arcade Competitions thread on Adult Switch Gamers Discord. Will edit this post, probably tomorrow, adding in the scores and photos here. Okay?

——

OUTRUN.

AQUA KITTY.

WILD GUNS.

THUNDERFORCE IV. No where. Barely played it and didn’t defeat a single boss, lol!

My finals scores:
Thunder Force 4: Stage 9 end boss with 2 credits (1 credit to stage 9, almost to the boss)
Aqua Kitty: 80 777
Wild Guns: Second stage boss (didn't get into this early enough to get anywhere really)
Outrun: 56 270 070 (bad...)

Pics posted on discord. TF4 was by far the favourite game of the bunch. Really got into it during the challenge and it was my main focus all the time. Still I didn't play it as much as I have some games in the past challenges.

@Corneel I think I didn't take a screenshot of it, but the first day I did defeat a boss and even two of the first four in TFIV. I believe that's a point

@Lroy Or you could do it same like @GFoyle and just post your result here and the pictures on Discord. That is maybe a bit less work for you

@Moroboshi876 That certainly is a point! Let me gather all the results and I'll post the final results soon.

Results time! The second round of challenges has ended. Many thanks to everyone for participating again! We had a nice variety of games this round and it was fun to see everyone pick there favorite challenge and focus on that.

Detailed results for this challenge round can be found here and the OUT RUN + AQUA KITTY UDX highschores here. These will stay available.

HIGH SCORE CHALLENGE 3 | OUT RUN | 1st @Agent721 21,554,000 | 2nd @Tatanak 15,973,370 | 3rd @Bushidosnail 12,096,200
@Agent721 quickly took pole position with @Tatanak and @Bushidosnail on his tail. The rest of us have been stuck in traffic I guess. 6th until 10th place all finished close together with scores between 6,000,000 and 5,500,000.

HIGH SCORE CHALLENGE 4 | AQUA KITTY UDX | 1st @RetroGamerAndrew 141,351 | 2nd @Tatanak 112,706 | 3rd @OorWullie 82,057
@RetroGamerAndrew got a strong start at the beginning of the challenge with a fur-midable 8th place on the in-game leaderboard. @Tatanak took on the challenge and got close, but not close enough.

SURVIVAL CHALLENGE 3 | THUNDER FORCE IV | Leader: @GFoyle (stage 9 boss)
There seems to be a bit or a love it or hate it thing going on with this one. The game is very unforgiving early on and that shows in the results. @GFoyle is close to a 1CC run on this one, and I suspect he will get there soon. Runners up are @Tatanak and @Zkibu who both got to stage 6, @Corneel (stage 8) and @Moroboshi876 who beat two levels.

SURVIVAL CHALLENGE 4 | WILD GUNS RELOADED | Leader: @Tatanak (armored train boss)
Very fun game, but also very unforgiving with only @Tatanak getting past the third level. @Agent721 and @Corneel reached the mining level, @GFoyle reached the 'ammunition depot' boss @Lroy reached the 'ammunition depot' level.

Final results for round 2:
1st @Tatanak 26 points | 2nd @GFoyle 21 points | 3rd @Agent721 16 points

Again, thanks to everyone for making this a success! The next set of challenges will be announced shorty!

Season one | round three | starts today! | ends 13th of April 23:59 CET

Each month there are four challenges to compete in. Pick the challenge you like most and go all out with that one, or spread your chances and do multiple challenges during that month. In each challenge you can get ten points. At the end of each month we will have a leaderboard with the combined scores for that month and at the end of the season we'll combine the scores and see who our top players are.

The challenges are divided into two categories. First we have the good old high score challenges. This is where you compete for a top spot on the leaderboards. The top 10 players get awarded with points. Top player 10 points, runner up 9 points etc. Your submitted score will also be placed on our leaderboards for bragging rights. If the challenge ever comes back...you will have to first beat your previous highscore before you can start earning points during that challenge.

Secondly we have the survival challenges. This is a bit more casual and the focus here is on getting as far in the game as you can without worrying about your highscore. Points will be awarded based on certain goals. This will change for each game.

If you want to participate in one or multiple challenges, all you need to do is post your screenshot in this thread and you will get on the scorebook and the leaderboards. You can also have a look at the Adult Switch Gamers Discord where we have our own little arcade corner.

The challenges for this month are:

Highscore challenge 5 | DIG DUG (NSW, XB1, PS4, PC and others)

Rules: NORMAL MODE | DEFAULT SETTINGS

First appeared in arcades in 1982 and quickly became on of the most popular arcade games ever. We will be digging through the dirt, dropping rocks on those cute FYGAR dragons and inflating a bunch of POOKA's. Available on Switch in the Namco Museum and on other systems as a separate release in the Arcade Game Series. Just post a screenshot of your final score on the in-game leaderboard.

Highscores will be put on the DIG DUG leaderboard.

Highscore challenge 6 | STRIKERS 1945 (NSW)

Rules | NORMAL difficulty (level 5) | 3 LIVES | 0 CONTINUES | 600,000 EXTEND SCORE

Get your Flip Grip ready for this vertical shoot 'em up from Psikyo that needs no introduction! This was done previously in a weekly challenge with 2 continues, but we'll be doing 0 continues for this challenge. Just post a screenshot of your highscore.

Highscores will be put on the STRIKERS 1945 leaderboard.

SURVIVAL CHALLENGE 5 | SHOCK TROOPERS (NSW, PS4, XB1, NeoGeo)

Rules | ORIGINAL MODE or Hi SCORE MODE | Continues: OFF | 3 Lives | Level 4 Difficulty

We will take down the Bloody Scorpions and their Commander in this 1997 gem from Saurus. Go LONLY WOLF (god bless Engrish) with one character and three lives or TEAM MODE and pick three characters to swap with during your adventure. Pick your preferred route for your journey; MOUNTAIN, VALLEY or JUNGLE. Halfway through you get the option to swap between routes, although you get an extra bonus level if you do so. Points are awarded according to the stages you beat. Take a screenshot after you died that still shows the level.

Goals:

SURVIVAL CHALLENGE 6 | DEVIL ENGINE (NSW, PC)

Rules | ARCADE mode | VERY HARD or VERY EASY | RANK OK

Only released last month, but already very popular in our poll. We will try to make it to the final stage of the game, on either VERY EASY (available after an attempt at VERY HARD) or VERY HARD with the latter offering more points for completion. The game offers many unlockables for your total combined score including added continues. You are free to use them all, you will need them... Make sure to take a screenshot of the 'Game Over' screen that still show the level in the background.

Also a special mention for the soundtrack that features several tracks written by Hyakutarou Tsukumo, know for his work on Thunder Force V.

Goals:

Also, for those interested, here are the results from the voting for this round: Surveymonkey results.

Have fun!

@Corneel Updated my post with pics.

Thanks for organising all the results and arranging the new challenge games. Bravo!

I’ll be playing DIG DUG, STRIKERS 1945 and SHOCK TROOPERS. Gonna skip DEVIL’S ENGINE as I don’t own it and have spent way too much cash on games lately 😂