Xevious clicked and I now think it's amazing

[Erik_Twice]

I never liked Xevious. Played around with it a bit, moved around, thought it was slow...You know the typical stuff.

But now I got into the mood for a slow game, I booted it and two hours have passed without any sight of boredom in my mind. This game is truly amazing and I still don't know why.

Anyone think the same?

[noiseredux]

Anyone think the same?

not really, no. I always found it kind of boring.

[BoringSupreez]

Anyone think the same?

not really, no. I always found it kind of boring.

Yep, it's a bleh game.

[Erik_Twice]

Ah but thats' the thing, I used to find it boring until today. It's similar to how not everyone likes R-Type.

The key to making the game click is trying to get higher scores, this is an old game! So when enemies come and flee the screen you have to decide how to approach them to get them all (like 1942). Enemies often come from two sides and it's always, always possible to shoot them both but you will need to move strategically to do so. Of course, shooting everything in sight will bring more and more different enemies because the game has rank and an adaptative AI so there's more strategy to the shooting than you can see at first glance.

Dodging is also not about reflex but about strategy. You need to shoot what can kill you first and approach in a way that won't get you cornered when the remaning half of the formation you are killing shoots. The game has no patterns so learning how the enemies think is very important, much more than in any other shmup I know. And once you know this, the pacing of the enemy patterns is very addictive.

Because that's the thing, it's not very much like other shmups, it's not a twitch dodging game, it's 1981 arcade shooter and has the same core as one, the reason why it feels odd is how advanced it was for the era, leaving it at a weird middle point in design ideologies between its clones and classic arcades.

If you try it again, try to shoot down everything in sight. After a couple of credits everything should click.

[dsheinem]

most shmups, if played right, aren't "twitch dodging games" either. You probably should spend more time in the genre.

Don't get me wrong, I like Xevious (mostly for it's dual plane shooting), but it isn't really representative of the finest gameplay in the genre...

[Erik_Twice]

most shmups, if played right, aren't "twitch dodging games" either.

I've never claimed otherwise.

You probably should spend more time in the genre.

I think I play them a fair bit, thank you very much.

[dsheinem]

Because that's the thing, it's not very much like other shmups, it's not a twitch dodging game

That's what I took this to mean, though I see how they could be read as separate thoughts as well.

[noiseredux]

The key to making the game click is trying to get higher scores,

haha that's pretty much the key to every shmup! But in comparison to most others -- even ones of its time like Galaga -- I find Xevious pretty boring.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

I like Xevious too. I really like the 7800 version for whatever reason.

[Erik_Twice]

haha that's pretty much the key to every shmup!

Haha, what I mean is that you can't "clear" it like you would with Gradius, the game doesn't really work then

That's what I took this to mean, though I see how they could be read as separate thoughts as well.

Yeah, it's kind of confusing, sorry. What I was trying to say is that it isn't like, say, Galaga or Robotron but also not a typical shmup from the post-Gradius era, it reeks of both but plays differently.