Shmup of the Month Club 2015 (Completed)

[DocHauser]

OK, here's a Ver. 1.5 run to start with...



DocHauser - 94,934,523 - Stage 5 - Palm/N - Original - MAME

[mjmjr25]

Better maniac run - scoring was solid first 2 stages, but 3rd stage was just pure survival and the run ended quickly on stage 4.

MANIAC
mjmjr25 - 26,844,472 - Stage 4 - Palm/A - PCB

[mjmjr25]

Well, since the Doc knocked me out in the Original mode i'm putting more time into Maniac and Ultra.

MANIAC
30,767,787 - mjmjr25 - Stage 4 - Palm/A - PCB

ULTRA (first time i've ever made the scoreboard on this one; 2nd stage seems easier than the first as there are more enemies with cancelling bullets)
8,422,861 - mjmjr25 - Stage 2 - Palm/A - PCB

[ExedExes]

ExedExes - 49,123,802 - Stage 3 (Boss) - Palm/N - Original - MAME



I'm learningggggggggggggg (that the counter color changes every 500 gems)

[ExedExes]

With the new scores, time for a week 1 update then -

ORIGINAL
DocHauser - 94,934,523 - Stage 5 - Palm/N - MAME
mjmjr25 - 77,094,493 - Stage 5 - Palm/N - PCB
ExedExes - 49,123,802 - Stage 3 (Boss) - Palm/N - MAME

MANIAC
mjmjr25 - 30,767,787 - Stage 4 - Palm/A - PCB

ULTRA
mjmjr25 - 8,422,861 - Stage 2 - Palm/A - PCB

[mjmjr25]

I'd really like to see some more scores - particularly in Maniac and Ultra. My ultra run is only 8 mil and stage 2...but, it's some of the best playing i've ever done, so i'd like to see how it holds up agains y'all.

The keys to the game (the ones that aren't obvious):
don't bomb - every bomb drops your multiplier significantly
don't die - dying drops your multiplier even more, so bomb before dying when possible
figure out which enemies yield which gems - some drop big gems from tap shot, some drop big gems from hold shot. This is particularly critical on enemies that you cancel bullets on, midbosses, and bosses.
pick up items early - attack at the top of the screen and instantly grab gems, you'll notice a green glow around them, they are worth more to your counter the sooner you grab them.
stay put - each stage has progressively more bullet cancelling, stay "in the pocket" as long as you can on these enemies and cancel - don't panic and dodge out of the way, not only will you not get the cancel gems but you'll have a whole lot more stuff to dodge

[dunpeal2064]

I think that bombing actually hits your multiplier harder than dying in Black Label (And the scoring there is much more risky than 1.5). Definitely bomb if you are going to die in 1.5 though.

Figuring out what enemies drop what gems is great advice. And, especially look for Large Ground Gems, as they are worth the most points in the game.

Tip: The Stage 3 boss will drop Large Ground Gems if you kill them with Shot. So, even if your counter is blue, it is still better to kill with Shot. Same applies to the spider-web midboss (Stage 4 iirc), where if you kill with Shot, any webs on the screen will become large gems, regardless of counter color.

And the obligatory "I need to actually play this game"

[ExedExes]

Good tips. I'll try the other modes because this game has been impressive so far.

[DocHauser]

Ver. 1.5 Maniac

DocHauser - 79,932,978 - Stage 3 (Boss) - Reco/N - MAME

Took me a while to get the hang of scoring in Maniac, but starting to improve...

[mjmjr25]

I'd really like to see some more scores - particularly in Maniac; from any other normal people. (ie, not Doc).

What he said.