The Shmup Thread

[Maryokutai]

Yeah, the explosions in particular were super impressive. I also liked how they handled the soundtrack in stage 5 which starts out without any sound effects for the first 20 seconds or so, giving it a very unusual serene/tragic tone for a shoot'em up.

 

(21:09 in case the timestamp doesn't work)

 

I think I'm going to pick this up, never played the HD re-release on PS360.

[Maryokutai]

Quick update, Under Defeat got delayed to January.

 

The reason I'm here is this though:

 

 

Completely unfamiliar with the original but considering I was 1 when it came out that's not unexpected. I think this new version looks really nice and the soundtrack remixes seem rather well done, too. Visually it has a bit of that HD-2D sheen to its sprites which I haven't seen in a shmup before.

[spatular]

Dodonpachi sai dai ou jou is apparently coming out on the switch eshop in Japan, I might wait and hope they release it physically/over here. It’ll be a port of the 360 version.

 

edit -

edit 2 - removed above, not sure it’s true  think it will eventually though

[Maf]

 

Currently losing my mind trying to get through the first level

 

EDIT: Oh my god I did it with one hit left. That was so intense. That will do for me for now my nerves are rattled

 

This game is incredibly hard to see and get used too. Also this has stutter on PC so every time you get to an area for the first time the game just hitches like crazy. Err, kind of terrible for a Shmup. I guess it’s on UE5

 

But that was really fun (in the end). 

[Maryokutai]

I suppose you're playing on Normal? I started this on Easy when I saw it had a permanent upgrade mechanic to learn the levels first. Didn't quite grab me though, need to get back and give it a proper look at some point. It looks fine and all but there was something about the gameplay that wasn't as immediately satisfying as shmups should be and the switch between anti-air and anti-ground felt rather cumbersome (and unnecessary).

[Maf]

Yes, I played on medium. I agree with the movement as well. It’s sort of too fast? I definitely couldn’t recommend playing with an analogue stick because even a tap moves the ship too much. I had to use d-pad for finer movement.

 

But then I don’t think this game plays like other shmups? At least in my limited experience. It doesn’t seem about not ever getting hit, it’s almost got a Doom 2016 thing where sometimes you need to take a hit and smash up a bunch of enemies for them to drop armour. There was a bit in that first level where, I was trying my best to avoid the fire, but I kept picking up armour, dunking it in to my missile ammo, firing it to smash lots of enemies so they would drop more energy for my armour and missiles. I don’t really see how else to do it.

 

I dunno. It’s a very difficult game but so far this is what appears to be some of the idea around it. Aggressive, push-forward shooting (sometimes? Not on that last boss)

 

I have to say first I was very confused and didn’t really like it. But the more I stuck with it the more I think I get it and do like it. 
 

These levels are fucking long for a shmup as well. That first level was 15mins. That’s like, 60% of Ikaruga 

[Maryokutai]

Yeah, I remember that were my initial feelings as well, it's a radical reinvention of the shmup so it's always going to cause some friction when you go into it expecting the same stuff from a bazillion other games you played before. That's also the reason why I didn't just dismiss it and move on, but definitely will go back for a proper second look.

[spatular]

yeah when i tried it i couldn't do the first level, want to give it another try and read the manual/tutorial this time!

[Maf]

The tutorial is ok but it annoyed me because it teaches you how to use lock on, however lock on is an upgrade that needs to be purchased. So I spent a few minutes being like why doesn’t it fucking work

[Maf]

This the best £2 you'll spend all day 

 

[mfnick]

Just bought it. 

[spatular]

Yeah that’s a good deal.

 

got devil blade reboot in the steam sale, although it wasn’t super cheap, been playing it a bit, its pretty good considering its of more the type of shmup that I don’t play as in it’s not bullet hell, but it’s well done and pretty fun, the stage 2 boss is cool. Got a 1cc on normal, playing hard mode a bit but not sure I’ll play any more.

[Maryokutai]

Stumbled upon that by accident recently. I hope it comes to consoles at some point, looks really cool. 

[Maryokutai]

Went on twitter today, which was a big mistake, expect for this:

 

 

Get to da Choppa on Febuahy 6th!

[Maryokutai]

So I bought Under Defeat yesterday after realising it's only 18€ (and 340MB, which is important on Switch). I've always liked this one but I kind of forgot how much as I had to pull myself away from it yesterday. It comes with three game modes, the original one from the Arcade/Dreamcast, an arranged one which I think they did for the PS360 HD release, and then the new mode they made for this version in which the game runs at full screen. I alternated between this and the original arcade mode and came to the conclusion that it's quite a bit harder in 16:9. I'm not exactly sure why but my guess is it's because you're closer to the action at all times as enemies pop into your view later than they would in other modes, while bosses have more room to avoid your shots and conversely force you to make bigger maneuvers to align your chopper.

 

I think I still prefer the original, but it's still cool to see something fresh in the package, especially as it makes the game shine in a new light. The last time I played it was a vertical slice of a 480p screen, so having a full 1080p rendition of it is quite impressive, and despite its age (20 years, sigh) it holds up phenomenally well. There's quite a few details I never noticed on Dreamcast, too, like your helicopter angling its shots downwards for grounded enemies, which wasn't really that apparent in SD.

 

Really happy with this release, runs like a dream on Switch as well, so presumably should do fine everywhere. I think I'm going to get it physically as well, I like what the publisher is doing here.

[DANGERMAN]

Yeah, I wish I still had my Dreamcast copy. It's a good game I enjoyed quite a lot without it being perfect, and I'm sort of in the mood for it again 

[Maryokutai]

This might be not as cool but quite a bit cheaper than the DC version at least. Potentially better, too, just by virtue of there being more stuff (DC has a better title screen though).

 

Turns out my post above contains some fake news though, so...

 

 

In fact both 'non-arcade' modes run in 16:9. The only difference I could find so far is that the second one (called Plus) allows you to turn your copter 180°, compared to the default of 90°, meaning that you can shoot horizontally to the left or right. And I also found out by accident that they added dual stick controls when they ported it to PS360, which of course means they're also available here. Feels good to play like that but it's a setting and not a separate game mode, so I wonder how much it messes up balancing. The strongest copter for example is balanced by having a slower turn speed, but now you can just keep your position and redirect your shots with the right stick. I'll have to play around with it a bit.

 

Also it doesn't seem like this is doing particularly well unfortunately. I'm currently placed 4th on the leaderboards after a really-not-good run and when I scrolled down it stopped at 44. It's probably not cross-platform but still, that's very low.

[Maf]

This game looks super cool but I have tbh I think I’m aged out of this shit. I just need slow games and RPG’s is about all I can do these days 

[spatular]

oh yeah DoDonPachi Sai Dai Ou Jou (SDOJ) came out on the switch over here recently, after coming out in other countries previously, its got some English text but some text only in Japanese, which is interesting for a game released over here, it's a port of the 360 version i assume. as nintendo are ending the gold points thing i tried to claim loads of points, most games had expired but got £12 off.

 

https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/DODONPACHI-SAIDAIOUJOU-2757185.html

 

 

[Maryokutai]

I put that on my wishlist a few weeks ago, but ultimately I'm not sure if it's for me considering it's bullet hell. Maybe one to ponder in case Clear River Games decides to release it physically.

 

The X-Out remake also came out yesterday btw. I have no idea if it's good, watched some videos and the only negative thing I noticed is that you can barely hear the excellent soundtrack (thankfully it has an SFX slider in the options). That one already has a physical version, which I think I'll be picking up next month.