Shmup of the Month Club 2012

[mjmjr25]

The only real scoring in this game is on "MAX HIT", Bomb "CHAIN", and "Boss Kill Time".

Max hit is by far most important - each enemy you kill continues to increase the value of them. You'll notice a point value under your Max Hit number - each enemy is worth that amount, and as you build up your max hit, that number goes up. It is easiest to chain on the first boss, each one of those pink tiles is "an enemy", so farm the hell out of that boss, just scroll back and forth across the screen w/a steady shot, taking out the pink tiles - don't worry about boss targets.

You lose a Max Hit Chain when an enemy comes on screen and he gets by you (either passes you on the bottom, or enters the top, fires a shot and leaves) - either of those will break the chain. Green and Red cans and Blue Blocks (that hold power ups) count toward your hit chain, so be sure to hit them to even if you don't plan to grab them.

Bomb Chain works best when your bomb meter is flashing full, is hit directly on a large enemy, and there are many small enemies on screen. I'm not positive on how it scores w/exact numbers, but I know the more the better, of course.

Boss Kill:
Midbosses areas 1-6 are worth 50K plus 1K for each second of kill time left
Area Bosses areas 1-6 are worth 100K plus 1K for each second of kill time left
Midbosses areas 7-9 are worth 100K plus 1K for each second of kill time left
Area Bosses areas 7-9 are worth 200K plus 1K for each second of kill time left

If you have a good Max Hit chain going, 100+ or so it is worth it to milk the boss to the last few seconds as those kills will be worth more than the time bonus, most likely - just be sure to get the kill bonus before time runs out.

[fvgazi]

Got this working on my PSX. I have to say this game has some INCREDIBLE music. I fricken' love it.

I won't post my official score yet, but first run was about 600,000 or something. Still getting used to the game mechanics. This is a particularly busy weekend, but I'll have time tomorrow and the following week.

Thanks to everyone who has been posting game mechanics and scoring stuff. There are a lot of numbers floating around in this game and it was confusing to try and figure out while playing the first time. That's really my only gripe so far. A lot of visual clutter.

[mjmjr25]

So I decided to really go for score on this now that I had the ALL out of the way.

I was killing it score wise but playing reckless and dying out trying to keep "Max Hit Chains" alive. I was down to one spare life when I cleared the stage 5 boss.

Ended up entering the final Area with 12 lives, had my daughter take a screen shot of me entering the Core Tunnel:


This run I used primarily weapon 7 and found it much easier to Max Hit w/this weapon.

Final boss is legit, but, much easier the second time round - and I like this pic in the credits:


Max Hit was 225, not my best, but I had quite a few in the 150+ range - getting better at keeping those alive. Enemy kill values just keep getting higher and higher.


And final score:
7,306,210 - mjmjr25 - Knife Edge - ALL - PSX-JP


I know I can do better scorewise, but damn, that last run took 67 minutes start to finish.

[noiseredux]

trying to keep all this shit straight in my mind, I'm playing even worse. I'm barely cracking 300k now as opposed to my just-shy-of 800k score previous.

[mjmjr25]

trying to keep all this shit straight in my mind, I'm playing even worse. I'm barely cracking 300k now as opposed to my just-shy-of 800k score previous.

Are you dying on the first stage at all?

You should be clearing that rather easily w/around 300K and 4 or 5 lives?

Try this:
Focus on one or two Red Cans to start (i'd suggest 3 and 7) if your using Knife Edge.

Use your power shot wisely - anytime there are 10 or more enemies on screen - don't think of it as a defensive weapon, but rather an offensive weapon.

Take advantage of your invincibility (when you are flashing, you'll have between 2-5 seconds where you won't die).

Some bosses can be taken out just be focusing on the core, some require you get all of the shooting parts. Rely on your bullets or shield to cancel the "cancellable" bullets - meaning, don't pay much attention to them, "stand your ground" and only dodge the others. Movement in this game should be more offensive (to keep your max hit going) as opposed to defensive.

You'll get the hang of it.

Just keep playing - since runs take so long, i'd say if you don't clear the first stage fully intact, just restart.

[noiseredux]

You should be clearing that rather easily w/around 300K and 4 or 5 lives?

I rather consistently clear it with 240k-ish

Use your power shot wisely - anytime there are 10 or more enemies on screen - don't think of it as a defensive weapon, but rather an offensive weapon.

yeah keep thinking of it as my "oh shit" bomb.

[mjmjr25]

Really focus on that max hit, especially on the first stage. To play for score, it's imperative you get that part down. Maybe play the first stage over and over until you clear w/at least 275K or so? And like I said - ideally have a max hit chain going when you reach that first boss and just farm him the full time.

It seems odd to avoid the red cans at first, but it gets easier and more natural. If you have to grab one because it's in your way, it's better to switch to a lesser weapon than die (usually).

I'd say just keep playing the first level 7-8 times working on all the things you know now.

The thing about this game is that it really doesn't get progressively harder. The only level that felt different difficulty-wise was area 9. In fact, I find areas 6 and 7 easier than area 3 and 5.

[noiseredux]

I still think I"m having trouble grasping the max chain.

Also, which button (on PS1) switches weapons?

[mjmjr25]

I still think I"m having trouble grasping the max chain.

Also, which button (on PS1) switches weapons?

No no...to switch, you grab a different numbered can.

If you are using #3 and you want to switch, you just grab the next numbered can of your choice. You can't randomly switch.

Max Hit or Chain?

Max Hit - think of it like this...anything on screen excluding bullets, needs to be shot. Enemies, cans, and blue blocks. So long as you keep the screen clear, your Max Hit will continue, adding 1 to your count for every thing you shoot. A tough enemy counts as 1 hit. A can (whether you grab it or not) counts as one hit. An easy enemy equals 1 hit. A blue block equals 1 hit as well. So...just keep the screen clear. You will lose your max hit ...a lot, just try to get it going again as soon as you can.

Chain is how many items you can kill-chain together with one power shot - try to time them for when you anticipate a large cluster of enemies - these spots become easy to recognize the more you play.

Does the PSN version have the Play for score option (add-on feature, on PSX it's like the 4th menu option down from "game start") - maybe try that?

[ExedExes]

Well hows about that? I tell you what, the descent wasn't nearly as hard the second time around. The damn black ships with the original Zanac weapons can just go away, as well as the final boss. Was hanging on to a few lives at that point.

Anyways....



7,900,500 -- ExedExes -- Knife Edge -- ALL

For this game, I did a combination of Weapons 4 and 7. Tried getting 4 before/during the boss, and using 7 for the max hits (and racked them up real well on one particular stage near the end) BUT --

For as much as I and others have revealed, I can only offer the greatest survival tip in this game.

HOLD DOWN THAT CHARGE SHOT BUTTON WHEN THE METER IS FULL.

Why? The charge shot goes into your ship, and not only does your main gun receive a massive power up, your subweapon can take out all non-destructible enemy bullets. You don't KNOW how effective that is on bosses and just in general. It works very well with Knife Edge Weapon 7. Note that this only works on the standard round shots (yellow and purple). Any other non-destructible shots or lasers, will not work. Combined with running around picking up the 2 second no hit chips and 5 second no hit number cans, you can be like me and have nearly 20 lives for the first 4-5 stages (I only lost maybe 2 lives). I also got lucky with those Landers, I picked up 5 for 5 more lives (and again, they only appear when certain conditions are met)

This feels amazing. Compile does it again!