Aye. I find the sequels to be pretty mindless. For some reason I find the original game quite compulsive. I can't quite say why as I find most shooters that popped up around that era to be pretty boring.
I've kind of given up and look toward what I have on Saturn, DC and 360 when it comes to console shmups.
MAME is my friend for stuff I don't have. I haven't bought into Steam too much as I don't like the digital only side of things. My PC is pretty old now and I'd be dubious about the results.
There's the dream of a cabinet and real PCBs but I'm not really sure how practical that is.
The only thing that indicates a focus on multiplayer are some minor branching paths on the final stage. That and the imbalance in the ship types, I suppose. I only ever played single player and really enjoyed it. Very accessible but if you crank it up to the highest difficulty you have something approaching the difficulty of Cave's games.
Odd little game that I have for the Saturn and was a diamond among the dross that Jaleco usually published. I've only really spent time with the Caravan modes but from what I saw of the main game it was entertaining. The Saturn game has arcade and original modes with a few extras. Tate mode too.
It seems decent, but I really hate the progression system.
You can't play the next level until you've got enough medals from previous levels.
You essentially have to 100% the levels to progress in the game, but to do that, you need to purchase better equipment, which you only get by beating levels.
Yeah, I was playing it earlier this year (see a couple of pages back). The grind is just a little on the slow side, but repeating levels to do all the challenges or on higher difficulties is still quite fun and the later levels are pretty hectic.
I don't mind repeating levels to get better or to focus on side quests etc - actually I like that - but grinding just to get powerups seems a bit excessive.
I know there are a few highly skilled players here - @Dubs and Ikaruga for one - pretty sure there are folk who have 1CC-ed other stuff too.
I'm tired of getting so far and I really want to 1CC something.
i haven't 1-CCed anything post 16bit era. Have done Super Aleste and Super SWIV on SNES - but nothing since. I've done Raiden III and Gunbird 2 but not at the default levels so they don't count.
Current status :
Gigawing - can get to level 5 - sometimes with a couple of lives. This is the game I'm probably closest to doing. I'm playing the DC version which is supposed to be a bit tricker as it has less slowdown. Level 5 requires memorisation so I need to get stuck in with score attack mode which lets me play levels in isolation or get into the MAME version and use save states to practice that level.
DoDonPachi - level 5 on the Saturn version. I dabble with the MAME version too but haven't spent enough of time on this one recently. I suspect this could be a possible if I focus on survival and forget about chaining given how generous this game is with bombs.
Mushi Futari - went back to this yesterday and dear oh dear my skills have degraded. Best performance has been mid boss of level 4 and bit past that. Could only get to level 3 yesterday after several attempts. But really can't get consistency with level 3 to get past it and have sufficient lives to make an assault on level 4. I know I should hang tough and get into the practice mode.
Does Nex Machina count? Got 1CC on standard difficulty on that and got the trophy.
I’m not good enough to 1CC. Can get to final boss on Deathsmiles and that’s about the best I’ve ever done on a shmup. I never give them too long though before playing something else otherwise maybe I could do it.
Have decided to go for a 1CC on Gigawing (again). My last "assault" on this had me consistently getting to level 5 on the Dreamcast version.
That's the last "proper" level in the game as it is followed by a final boss and a TLB if on 1 credit. The level 5 boss and the final boss (which the game calls level 6) look manageable but the TLB looks ridiculous.
Still. I'll have a go.
Video of a level 5 run I recorded. I've improved upon my high score since posting this (8 months ago now) but didn't get any further into level 5 than I do here.
I'm considering a parallel attack on on MAME as I can use save states to grind level 5. The Dreamcast versions' score attack mode lets me attack level 5 in isolation but it starts at a higher rank with me powered down. Maybe I should persevere with that mode as if I beat it that way then playing it in the main game should be a bit easier.
I will be cleansing my palate with Sega Rally on Saturn - into a groove in that game on TT mode. I'm hoping this will prevent me from getting stale and giving up.
Just played a few credits on both the DC port and in MAME. Using an arcade stick with both setups. The original version is definitely a bit easier. The level 3 boss for example has less HP. It's a bit slower too. That might be my PC but I've read that the DC port is quicker / has less slowdown.
Might grind it a bit on MAME. I created a save state today when I no missed onto level 4.
Off work today. Gigawing on MAME. Have figured out a way to put the level 4 boss away relatively easily. Can get through level 5 with 3 lives too - just need to figure how with one.