Topic: Arcade SHMUP High Score Thread

@Lroy kinda, but it's in Japanese.

I still kinda remember an old arcade game in the veign of Rush 'n Attack, but you could go underground as well and still see the things above ground.
Thought for the longest time that it might be POV, but that's not it.
My memory is really fuzzy about it.

@Lroy P.O.W. would totally rock! I never had the chance (pocket change) to beat it, but it was a pretty solid brawler with telltale SNK sound FX and reverb! I'd also expect Athena, Psycho Soldier, Street Smart, Sky Soldiers, even Vanguard to come over. Especially Vanguard because of the Switch's dual diamond button layout on the Joy-cons.

Now that you mention it, I'd love to see the turret-gun shooters hit Arcade Archives. Beast Busters and Mechanized Attack by SNK. Operation Wolf, Operation Thunderbolt, and Space Gun by Taito. And that arcade game with the robots whose name I can't remember that reminds me of Battleclash for the SNES Super Scope, as well

@meppi64 And Breakers Revenge, too!

My score for Mutation Nation. Any tips are appreciated.

I have learned that it's best to try and punch the enemies instead of grabbing them. I keep getting killed on the last boss though!

@wasilewski Now, I might be totally mistaken but the theory I'm running with is - on screens with more than 1 enemy, try to position yourself in the middle so, punch the guy on the left a few times, then switch to the guy on the right (before they fly off) and keep alternating so that you can prolong your combo in the hope of it awarding more points. Hopefully I can get some more experimenting in today

BTW I finally found out what that game from my past was. It's actually M.I.A. from Konami, so no wonder I always mistook the name for P.O.W.
It's pretty much the direct sequel to Rush 'N Attack as well. Didn't even know that till I found some footage.
Haven't seen it since 1989.

@meppi64 Never seen that game before. I must confess, I loved Green Beret but M.I.A has Rastan 2 levels of disappointment for me!

@GrailUK Yeah, it isn't really the step above Rush 'N Attack that a sequel should be.
Loved it back in the day, but then again, I played just about any game to death that they put in the little pub I grew up in.
It's pretty obvious to see how it's never talked about though. Reminds me a little of Roc 'N Rope in that regard. Played it to death back in the day but no one seems to ever bring it up.

@GrailUK so it's keeping up those combos, I must try that, cheers!

@wasilewski I was trying stuff with the very first group of 3 baddies. Alternating seems to yield about 1k more and because you can eliminate the downtime when you floor them temporarily, I'm banking on it being a quick way through the level. The most I've score from that group is 3.4k but if I can beat that, then I'll try to repeat what I did through the level. It's bound to add up.

I had forgotten about Green Beret, I had it on the Speccy.

Finally beaten the big boss and registered a score of 82,800. Just 600 points and a few punches short of passing @GrailUK score. I can definitely see room for improvement now.

@OorWullie Oh nice. I'm basically at the boss. He's pretty annoying

I've just updated the leaderboard with the current standings. I noticed @Kyloctopus on there in 5th place with a score of 105,700. I remember the name from NL in the past but from a quick search hasn't posted on here since 2015. Are you taking part in this Mutation Nation challenge by any chance?If not then with a score like that you really should

Also @ogo79 I just remembered that you're a fan of Mutation Nation. Fancy taking part and showing us your skills?

This player has an impressive score at around the 5 minute mark. Still no idea how @masterLEON done it though! I always search Youtube videos for high scoring runs to get tips for these challenges. If you search for stuff like "mutation nation high score" or "mutation nation no miss" you should find some good videos.

Guys! I think I've found a way to juggle the mid-stage / end-stage bosses use the down + attack (quick attack) combo. To start, you want to be slightly above them, then spam attack whilst holding down, but after about 5 - 6 attacks stop attacking for a brief second so your character drops down the screen a pixel () and resume spamming. Rinse and repeat and the bosses shouldn't suffer knock back unless it's to start an event. I managed to save up enough time to get to the 2nd mid-stage boss.

@GrailUK You think? I've seen your score you Mutation Nation expert you haha. Outstanding score man,well played.

Cheers for the tips by the way.

@OorWullie Well, I couldn't make it too easy for you to catch me could I! Heheh.

If it helps to get your timing right, you use the hit explosion that seems to travel along your arm as you hit him. When it gets to the end, you perform a hook that kinda ends the combo, so you want to pause before then.

haha i never play games for high scores.

@wasilewski I'm doing a bit of everything, I guess. Some guys get the combos, some guys get the knee to the groin (well, that's what it looks like, lol), try to use the specials as much as possible, and do it all as fast as I can, then tweak as necessary. That's the bare bones of it.

I didn't know that many dogs came out at the hound master mid boss. I see the player had to trap him off the left side of the screen in order to start it, interesting. Great find!

@GrailUK Congrats on the score! I'm still working on that Area 1 boss, trying to finish him off faster. I'll have to try that trick.

@masterLEON There is certainly something in it (but I nowhere near have it on auto pilot lol.) The Level 1 mid stage boss dies in seconds! The end stage guy can be killed in under 30 seconds easy. I'm probably not going to have time to play this week, so good luck everyone and keep NLife at the top of the leader board!

Here is my new high score.

Congrats to @GrailUK !