Shmup of the Month Club 2012

[dunpeal2064]

Yeah, Stage 1 is a bit too easy. Stuff like Deathsmiles or Akai Katana will give you much more to do on stage 1 than an oldschool shooter that doesn't have an in depth scoring system. Any Gradius, R-Type, Darius, Toa-shmup, etc, will have a boring stage 1, as if they didn't, they would only get one quarter per player. They have to give you some confidence before slaughtering you.

Not that that makes it any less boring

I don't see how you guys played Zanac so much though, I thought that entire game was easier than just stage 2 of this game.

[ExedExes]

The good: (nearly) making it through the cheap 2nd stage end in a run earlier.

The bad: losing 2 lives at that boss instead.

But, survival makes the score get better, so onward I continue!

[fvgazi]

Finally I got to sit down and play some shmups!

My first run is 108,710 in Stage 2.

I'll go back a few pages and read some stuff about this game. It's pretty decent, but holy crap stage 1 is boring. I can't see myself playing this too often, but I do love the art style. The post-apocalyptic stuff in Stage 1 is pretty badass.

//edit
I'm now up to 138,080 Stage 2 Boss. I can get to stage 2 with about 75k. How can you possibly score higher on Stage 1? I got 100% on the bonus and had about 10-13 seconds left for time bonus.

[mjmjr25]

If you get every enemy on stage 1 (how can you not?) and then if you farm the boss, meaning he's worth 10K if you kill him, so you can keep him alive and keep eating dna pellets (very boring and very few extra points) i've gotten 51,000. The only other way is to get the bonus round done faster, as in like 21 seconds left over. I've had 18 seconds left once and entered stage 2 at 84K. I imagine someone can get super lucky on that bonus stage and enter stage 2 at 90K, but I don't think it's possible to get higher than that.

With all of that said, it's strictly up to how that bonus stage plays out - pure luck imo, sometimes I have 14-18 secs left, sometimes I don't get them all. Just silly.

[retrosportsgamer]

I finally got Taito Legends 2 - $7 and complete. Going to try to get to this one before month end.

[fvgazi]

If you get every enemy on stage 1 (how can you not?) and then if you farm the boss, meaning he's worth 10K if you kill him, so you can keep him alive and keep eating dna pellets (very boring and very few extra points) i've gotten 51,000. The only other way is to get the bonus round done faster, as in like 21 seconds left over. I've had 18 seconds left once and entered stage 2 at 84K. I imagine someone can get super lucky on that bonus stage and enter stage 2 at 90K, but I don't think it's possible to get higher than that.

With all of that said, it's strictly up to how that bonus stage plays out - pure luck imo, sometimes I have 14-18 secs left, sometimes I don't get them all. Just silly.

I average about 50-55K after I kill the boss. I don't really feel like milking him for the few extra points. I know everyone has said this already, but F those diagonal shooters near Stage 2 end.

[ninjainspandex]

i cant wait for next month, my skeleton saturn on its way in the mail for a month of radiant silvergun

[brunoafh]

I'm pretty pumped for Radiant Silvergun as well. I've actually been playing Metal Black somewhat regularly (once every 3 days at least), but I'm always too lazy to take a pic and post it here. I'll surely post my best run here before the month is over, not that it'll be anything great. Strangely enough, I seem to do better at manic shooter than slower ones.

[foxhound1022]

Yeah, I just seem to be just terrible at this game; not sure what it is, but I can't seem to break the 200K mark.

Yeah, RS is great; can't wait for it. I'm gonna keep trying this one and see if I can't put up a decent score.

[mjmjr25]

Strangely enough, I seem to do better at manic shooter than slower ones.

Not too strange - I think a lot of us are like that really.

Older "slower" shooters rely a lot more on stage / enemy memorization, so the more you play, the more you'll gradually improve. Like learning the end of stage 2 in MB, those ships come out of the same places front and back and release their bullets same place, same direction. So, just a matter of running that stage so many times until you find the safe spots. Memorization. However, if you aren't in the right spot, all the ability to dodge and maneuver and "think fast" are worthless - your ship is too slow and you're dead.

Manic shooters, your memorization comes into play more for the scoring purposes, which enemy releases what, and what do I need to kill it with to release the better reward, etc. But in manic shooters, your ship is faster, your ship maneueverability is more fluid, and there are usually more safe spots if you can find them. And if all that fails. <bomb clear screen