Thanks for the info. Checking this out. Yeah, I have been getting slight screen tearing on some of the newer mame releases.
Set up my 24 inch lcd monitor in tate and having a blast. Today I am playing: Raiden Fighters 2.1 for Mame Very difficult game and from what I can tell, doesn't end, just flips back to the first stage with more difficulty. Raiden 3 for PC. Solid. Guwange for Mame. Grabbed the guide from Shmup forums and trying to tweak my gameplay. Esp Ra De. Stone cold classic. Dodonpachi Dai-ou-Jou for mame. Playing the black label , I have heard some calling this boring, but I enjoy it. Finally Ketsui for mame. This game is psychotic. It's dancing on my intestines after melting my skin off with blowtorches.
Whoever called this boring must be an idiot. It's one of CAVE's finest and my personal opinion is that DOJ BL is one of the best shooters of all time (in my top 3). Even if you don't like it due to personal preference, you must admit that this game combines outstanding visuals, sound and gameplay depth like hardly any others.
Completely agree. Thinking about this further, I have been scouring the Shmup forums and there seem to be a few posters who are anti-cave, which is where I most likely got this negative opinion. I find cave releases to be easy to pick up and a blast to play. I get so high dodging bullet patterns and getting through seemingly impossible walls of enemy fire. It's a blast and when I begin to get tired from dodging and weaving through the neon pixel storm, I drop a bomb and find my bearings. These manic style games literally push me around and get me fired up. It's actually extremely calming to play these games. Some do seem to dislike this acrobatic style gameplay and rave about the earlier classics which give room to breathe. After playing a Cave game, I can ace any other shmup that's around. In fact, rather than attrition being the acid that eats away at my gaming will, with the older shooters, it's falling a sleep and crashing into a stray bullet. Perhaps more zen. I remember a study done in the Netherlands focusing on factory workers who make mistakes out of sheer lack of stimulation. Subconsciously, a worker will create an accident to differ the routine. This could be said with the older shooters. Edit: Off to play DOJ BL again. You stating that this in your top 3, well I need to drink it in again. Thank you.
Some people tend to prefer certain companies, but I think many veterans agree that each company has their highlights. Being against a company is stupid, just like "console fanboys". I don't like all of CAVE's games, but a fair amount... same applies to Toaplan, Raizing, Psikyo and so on. CAVE is so hyped that some fans see themselves challenged to oppose the hype, but I think you cannot deny that Cave deserved their reputation. They ARE bullet hell, and rightfully so. I played DOJ and DOJ BL for many dozens of hours until I became fairly good at it. I think only after you understand all the little tactics and gameplay secrets, you can really appreciate the game (same applies to pretty much any good shooter). A lot of people only see the surface and then put it away as "unfair" or "cheap graphics", but like with all things in life, a little time is needed to appreciate the work. Also, unlike other shooters, DOJ BL offers a very smoothly increasing learning curve. You make progress really fast if you are ambitious and keep practicing, but after the first achievements there is not much of a break. You will constantly improve until you reach the first plateau (being able to clear loop 1 and chain through stages 1, 2, 3). Then the player can start tackling the more challenging parts (chaining stage 5, attempt stage 4 - this is arguably the hardest to chain). It offers a great experience overall if you are ambitious and skilled enough to stick with it, that's why I love it so much. The same goes for my other favorites like Ikaruga, Mars Matrix, Battle Garegga... An example of a game that is the opposite (quick startup achievements, then only really small incremental improvements for a long time) would be most Psikyo games. You get to the final stage within a matter days... but until you have the necessary skills to beat the entire game, it can take months.
Interesting. I am illiterate regarding the subtle aspects within shmups, or I should say that I simply play them intuitively and find myself becoming better by virtue of survival within the game. Since I have no care for scoring, the act itself, staying alive, seems to be what enthralls my passion for this genre. Also the sheer visceral nature of dodging death and finding pathways forward. To propel forward overcoming wave after wave of enemies. Regarding chains, I do attempt to destroy all enemies and acquire score items, building up multipliers, but mainly out of a sense of dominating over the level landscape rather than shooting for score. Reading the shmup forums, I was surprised to see how in depth people take shooters. One person was talking about going through Dragon Blaze, frame by frame in a youtube video, spending five plus hours looking to where enemies drop rewards, or something to that effect. On a basic level, I enjoy shmups and find them to crystalize the essence of gaming. When I play xbox 360 games, whatever the genre, I am reminded that behind the graphical facade, the basic controls are the same as the arcade games of twenty years ago. In fact, many contemporary games are less complex regarding gameplay mechanics. The shmup is a genre that seems to have the most complex and evolving mechanics, gameplay wise available. It's stripped down jazz, focusing and exaggerating the core of gaming, the on off switch, binary twitch of victory or defeat. Now, to find the hidden narrative based on activating the scoring theme that is embedded in these games. I jump from shmup to shmup when I play, taking little day trips. I am curious about how far one can go to gain value from playing a shmup with dedication and focus. What is this experience? This is my next task.
