I Wanna Get It On With Jahbulon : The Shmups/STG Thread - The Bear and Badger

davyK

You can choose the difficulty level in each game mode. Super Easy Mode is a separate mode.

DOJ White label is a tough game and the hardest mode by far - if you reach the 2nd loop it removes all your extra lives. I suspect Black Label was introduced as a way of attracting more players.

The options are all in JP so I'd need to go through them all with my phone running Google Translate unless I can find a translation guide. Some info is popping up at the shmups.com forum.

hylian_elf

My boy has taken an interest in shmups, but only if playing on (super) easy

He has played Ketsui and Esprade. Currently playing Blissful Death on iPhone but I told him ps4 copy should be on its way.

Would love a Deathsmiles or Mushi Futari for him. Somewhat Easier ones.

afgavinstan

This emu handheld Syph got me in the Secret Santa thankfully has a very full MAME folder so, going through some titles by Cave and others I've yet to try. Got og Dodonpachi on just now. Different class to the rest. You know a Cave joint when you play it.

afgavinstan

Also this morning, found this:

Good stuff. Nice soundtrack. This device is 4:3 so there's aspect ratio differences but when it plays that smoothly I'm not really caring.

Blue Swirl

afgavinstan wrote:

This emu handheld Syph got me in the Secret Santa thankfully has a very full MAME folder so, going through some titles by Cave and others I've yet to try. Got og Dodonpachi on just now. Different class to the rest. You know a Cave joint when you play it.

Pics of the machine, please, if they're not already in the secret santa thread?

afgavinstan

Work phone, a Samsung Asomething, for scale. It's a wee belter.

davyK

DoDonPachi is the Daddy. The real game changer. They get progressively more manic

DonPachi came before it and worth a look.

davyK

Nice looking handheld btw

afgavinstan

Yeah it's brilliant. Decided I'm gonna use the Vita for Sony retro gear, and this for the rest including MAME. Never had a MAME list like this before, only ever had emus on old laptops and then went hunting myself. It's great hitting random and seeing if the wee screenshot the console gives you tickles the fancy.

Only ever had/played console versions of the classics so it's cool to get the OG arcade versions here. So much to go through. So many amazing attract screens.

Blue Swirl

Top stuff.

davyK

4:3 helps a lot.

Though a screen rotate function would be best but one can't have everything. (unless the res of the machine facilitates accurate 3:4 for vertical games.)

Blue Swirl

Rang in the new year with a blast of Radiant Silvergun on Switch.

Found that Easy is the sweet spot for someone of my, um, skillz. I finally got past Gallop! Onwards and upwards.

davyK

RSG doesn't suffer fools.

For all the hype it is far from accessible.

Blue Swirl

It's remembering which button does which attack that's going to take a while to get into muscle memory.

Genuinely pondering one of those new Saturn pads, just for this game. One, nostalgia/nerdery, two - all the attacks will be face buttons. Bar the sword, I guess.

davyK

Aye.... Was built for a 3 button pad. The Saturn port let's you use all 6 buttons. The sword is hold down ABC in that port too... Just like the arcade I presume. The arcade game was basically a Saturn with some more resources.

Blue Swirl

The ST-V board?

davyK

Yup

Blue Swirl

Yay, I remembered a thing.

davyK

Any goals for 2024?

2023 wasn't a good year for me. Got Mushi Matsuri (aka v.15) 1CCed with M-shot but nothing else.

I'd like to go back and notch up Mushi Arrange and then tackle Manic again - I hit a wall at level 4 of that last year and then got distracted by other games. Arrange is a good step toward Maniac as its enemy waves are the same.

Would like to return to Futari and get the 1CC now I have a proper setup. Then 1-all DOJ-BL maybe. (btw - DOJ on Switch in handheld with the flip grip is marvellous but I don't think I could play it seriously that way).

Blue Swirl

Be a bit less rubbish at Radiant Silvergun, I guess. It's got its hooks into me this time around.

Speaking of RSG, I was tinkering with the settings last night; as well as granting myself a continue every 1m points, I spotted that you can turn the combo system from normal to Ikaruga. Anyone know what that changes?

I know I could just google it, but y'know... bants.

davyK

It's to do with chaining for score. In RSG you can chain coloured enemies.....3 different colours if I remember? Might be best to stick with figuring out the levels first...

Blue Swirl

Yeah, normal RSG it's the red/yellow/blue enemies you can rack up in chains of three.

Dubs

I guess I'll see how I get on with DOJ BL. Really enjoying it so far, everything just feels right but I'm still trying to figure out the best way to approach it. Not sure if chaining and hyper use is considered worth it for survival as it ups the rank (right?). I've been using the B ship with the Laser Lady but am now thinking EXY is the way to go because, um, Jaimers said so. Still sticking with the B ship for its wider shot though.
I've also been looking at Juju Kenobi's chaining tutorials. I'm going to carry on with those for now as it seems like a good way to learn the game, even if I don't end up chaining.
I think my only disappointment with the port is that there's no Arcade Challenge mode for Black Label. I used that a lot in Ketsui.

davyK

Pretty sure chaining makes the rank climb. I'd guess you would be more into getting a 2-ALL @Dubs?

Hard to resist chaining early levels in DDP once you have them down but I was never great at it.

Dubs

Black Label 2ALL is what I'm aiming for, yes. Don't have as much time to play lately but I think I can crack it with some structured practice.

Blue Swirl

I've managed to get to the point in RSG where it asks you if you want to go to level 2 or level 4. (I did wonder why the starting level is number 3.) I've tried both routes; is there a 'better' way to go? I'm guessing if you want to see level 1 you need to get through 2.

davyK

Not sure about RSG stage order. There is a time travel element to the "story". But I can't remember if it's in the arcade mode or the Saturn mode that the Saturn port had (obviously!) I think the Saturn mode runs through all the levels and arcade mode has a branch in it.

davyK

In other news, a ROM hack of DDP which recreates the super rare DDP-Campaign edition was posted at shmups.com and then pulled pretty quickly. The author won't say why but he isn't embittered - so maybe - just maybe - there's an official DDP port with Campaign mode incoming?

Would be logical after the DOJ port. FIngers crossed.

Campaign edition (aka blue label) is super rare because it only exists on a very small number PCBs (low single figures) and there is no known dump. It's owned by JP players who seem to be extremely averse to emulation and ROM dumping.

One of the PCBs was a prize in the official Saturn port high score competition - ran as part of the release hype. Blue label will really only be of interest to hard core as I'm led to believe it is a more difficult version of the game (which makes sense given it was a prize in a high score competition). But still - will be splendid to have if we get a port - DDP is way, way overdue a modern port.

Dubs

Managed a clear of DOJ BL. I've worked on routes for the first couple of stages and a few tough sections (like the beehive in stage 5) but that powerful wide shot more than makes up for any unfamiliarity. I guess I'm off to find the bees in stage 3 and begin the real grind towards the 2-ALL. See you in a few years!

davyK

Very nice.

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