Shmup of the Month Club 2014 (Completed)

[ExedExes]

Um, I think someone needs to look at that shmups forum topic again... Their first table is:

Normal Arcade/DC/GC/PC

Doesn't PC=Steam? Besides, the 8th post is where the TC says he's including the Steam scores with the DC and GCN since the consensus is that scoring is faithful to the original.

Nobody objected, so... They separate ONLY the XBLA version...

That sounds right to me. As long as PC has no issues and I trust what they say over there. I'll include PC scores with all the other ports and separate XBLA then. That will do it. Thanks for that.

[dsheinem]

Um, I think someone needs to look at that shmups forum topic again... Their first table is:

Normal Arcade/DC/GC/PC

Doesn't PC=Steam? Besides, the 8th post is where the TC says he's including the Steam scores with the DC and GCN since the consensus is that scoring is faithful to the original.

Nobody objected, so... They separate ONLY the XBLA version...

That sounds right to me. As long as PC has no issues and I trust what they say over there. I'll include PC scores with all the other ports and separate XBLA then. That will do it. Thanks for that.

I didn't read the thread, I just looked at the table. I am pretty sure that, when I looked at it, PC wasn't listed on either of the tables in that thread. In fact:

Last edited by Blinge on Tue Jul 01, 2014 9:26 am, edited 14 times in total.

That makes me think it was probably just added to the table itself in the time since I looked at it even if, yes, the thread did say that would be happening a few months ago

That said, their decision does seem to conflict with the discussion in that Steam thread linked earlier in this thread which discusses the game as a port of the XBLA version.

I'd be interested to see the details about how they've figured it is closer to the arcade than the XBLA port.

[ChrisHaha2049]

ChrisH2049 - 8,177,800 - Chapter 3 - Max 88 Chain - Normal - DC
Ugh. A ton of rust to work out...

[samsonlonghair]

Hell Yes, Ikaruga! I'm in.

[mjmjr25]

1,249,280 - mjmjr25 - STEAM

[noiseredux]

^just saw you upload that on Steam. Props, man.

[mjmjr25]

Just did a little better, stage 3 and 1.35 mil, got 0 boss points on Stage 2 though (timed out) - not sure if I was ever hitting him.

Chris - how do you get an 88 chain on stage 1 - do you completely avoid a certain color enemy? Can you share your stage 1 playthrough?

[ChrisHaha2049]

ChrisH2049 - 13,274,650 - Chapter 4 - Max 120 Chain - Normal - DC

Chapter 1 is starting to come back to me...but the rest, still a ways to go...

Chris - how do you get an 88 chain on stage 1 - do you completely avoid a certain color enemy? Can you share your stage 1 playthrough?

I'll try to explain... (Apologies in advance if this is too verbose. Maybe watching a youtube video would be better, but...anyway.) I'm actually shooting everything (or at least I'm trying to do so like I used to be able to do years ago). That previous 88 chain was broken. 134 chains are actually possible in chapter 1. This is possible because there are a lot of chains that will only appear if you shoot certain sections fast enough. For example, the very start of stage 1, there are 22 chains possible here, but if you're slow, you may only have enough to make 20 chains (enemies for the 21st-22nd chains won't even appear). There are situations like this all over the place. Usually it's just 2-3 extra chains, but other times it's a bigger amount (typically after destroying larger enemies very fast). About half way through stage 1 and at the end, you can make rows of extra enemies appear that are good for up to 18 and 24 extra chains respectively.

So I'm going to assume the first couple sections of stage 1 are self-explanatory. As a tip, you may already know that in addition to chaining, absorbing bullets adds to score as well. So it's generally a good idea to shoot the weak smaller (and most "medium") enemies as the same color so that they create suicide bullets which you can absorb (for points and laser meter). And you'll want to do this at close range to absorb quickly so that there aren't too many stray bullets floating all over the place.

So when you come to the part where the scenery "swoops" down through the cloud, you'll come to this section of round enemies (we used to call them shrimps)...


You want to start this section in ^that^ exact position, already firing, so when the enemies 'appear', you'll take out that column almost instantly. Then stop shooting for a second to move over to the far left and take out the 2 black shrimps...before they shift formation (have to be fairly quick)...


Now you can continue shooting while moving right...And as the enemy formation shifts, you'll have 10 whites conveniently placed to take out all in one swoop...


Then stop shooting briefly again, but keep going all the way to the right. The shrimps 'shift' again and you can take out the last 2 whites...

Now finish off the last 6 black... If you've done this correctly, there will be 3 of those 'extra' chains (3 small enemies swooping in from the left, another 3 from the right, another 3 from left again).

Then come the big ships...

It's probably easier to take out the left one first... Shoot it with the opposite color...and make sure you get its 2 little satellites as well to complete the chain. Then change color to go after the right side one. After that, another appears on the left again, get it the same way (opposite color shooting)... Then when the 4th appears on the right again, this time use your laser release (as opposite color again, and hopefully you have a full meter) to kill it instantly. And after this there are the 'rows' of extra enemies I mentioned before. 9 rows are possible, but not with this method I described... Instead, 6 rows (or waves may be a better description) would be good with this method.

So that should be good for about 64 chains or so...
Next to come are 3 black 'medium' ships flying down from the middle, followed by 2 white ones. The best method to kill them is to turn white, place yourself not quite all the way to left, and shoot like mad while you move to the right to take out the blacks, then slightly up to get the 2 white...(be careful as you'll have to dodge some black bullets)...
----->
Then comes 1 big ass white ship...Use a laser release on it, then take out the circle of shrimps that converge afterward. Careful to shoot the circle enemies in a fashion to keep the chain going...and don't be in the exact middle of the screen as some little enemies may also appear down the middle which would screw up your chain.

Now come the large ships with turrets...and the little guys coming down the middle. For beginners, it's probably best to just ignore the little guys down the middle and only go after the turret ships. Go after the black one on the left first. Shoot its turrets first (easier to be opposite color), then the ship itself (good for 3 total chains; nice and even). By now the white one will be moving over and you shoot it in the same fashion. 2 more turret ships will appear after this. Just stay on the left side and shoot them the same way as before. However this 2nd pair of large ships have more turrets, and after completely destroying one, you'll need to shoot 2 like-colored little enemies from the middle to even out the chain status before going after the other large ship. So beware of that.

Doing this last section super fast will make up to 6 extra rows appear just before the boss. But with this way that I described, you'll be lucky to get 1... But this should still put you close to 90 chains if there are no breaks. So hope this makes sense and Good luck!

got 0 boss points on Stage 2 though (timed out) - not sure if I was ever hitting him.

Yeah. There's a little trick to that boss. It's "weak points" are guarded. You have to shoot open each side's shield first to expose the weak point. And you MUST shoot the shield with the same color as the weak point to lower that shield (Left=white; Right=black). Then get in between to do damage, but watch out because the shield slowly closes again and you'll likely have to move back out to lower it again...

[mjmjr25]

Excellent tips, thank you.

I had thought chain was color based, so i've been shooting only white ships. So, does color not matter, so long as you get that entire row or chain of enemies?

Boss 2 tip - gotcha, obviously I noticed the shield lowering, I didn't realize I needed to get up under it, I was lowering the shield then shooting my lazer (which I was able to shoot about 5 times only before time expired).

[DocHauser]

You only need three ships for a chain. So if you shoot three white ships, then you can go for three black ships or three more white ships.