The RGF Shmup League - Season #3 Game #2: Hellfire

[AmidstStorm]

holy censored! fair play vyothric that is freaking epic!

rankings updated

[Vyothric]

I even had a mod in mind, which I guess I don't need now as I highly doubt I'll ever play this game again. I was going to try to use a Mega Drive controller on my DC.

I did the mod anyway though. It's not a proper solution obviously and I can only use two buttons, but it works. I may attach the socket to the case properly just for the sake of it.

[kollisionBR]

epic indeed!
I will try some more rounds with it to at least get into the top 3....

[Misery]

....the game is..... Twinkle.... Star Sprites.

.........WHY?

I really gotta wonder at some of these submissions. Quite alot of these have been games that are decent normally, but BAAAAAAAAD for score play. This is one of them.

Oh, dont get me wrong; this is a fun game...... for versus play, this being what it's ENTIRE DESIGN is based around. It's NOT so good for it's singleplayer, which is absolutely horrid.

And then, I saw the list of other submissions:

DoDonPachi - Arcade/MAME/Saturn/Playstation - 4 Votes

Einhander - Playstation - 3 Votes

Twinkle Star Sprites - MAME-Dreamcast-Neo Geo MVS/AES/CD-PS2 & Saturn - 7 Votes

Android Assault / Bari-Arm - Mega CD/Sega CD - 4 Votes

Thunder Force IV - Mega Drive/Genesis - 2 Votes

Ye gods, it's like this list was designed specifically to make me want to kill something. The only one of these that MAY not annoy me if I were to go at it is Android Thingy, this being entirely because I have no idea what it is.

Granted, I knew #(%&-ing DDP was going to show up eventually, accursed game is bloody inevitable, but still, it's presence always irks me nonetheless. Consider me automatically opted out of the current game entirely when that one (or any in the series that are not DFK) is eventually chosen. I *know* it'll happen eventually. That's one game I have no desire to ever go back to. Too bloody EASY for survival play (I can beat the original DDP by doing a double-play, and never overlapping the ships. Think about that for a second...), and the worst damn scoring system I've ever had the extreme displeasure of seeing.

I actually LIKE Twinkle Star Sprites, but not for scoring, ugh, no. I think it has chaining or some godawful system. Really is for versus play, which is when it gets crazy fun (provided you can find someone that CARES enough to play it with.... sigh). Seriously, it's a blast when played against a friend.

But..... chosen for a scoring competition? Ugh. No thanks. Not even gonna bother with this one.

[AmidstStorm]

This may be a bit of a surprise but I've never been a massive fan of the DDP series myself. Even daifukkatsu I found a drag and looks rather horrid in HD imo, at least on my tv. The main reason is because im not any good at them or put in enough time yet. I also find the original ddp brutally hard. Much harder than ketsui which I can play until the cows come home and not even get angry. That game is just beautiful in every way. Probably never even clear it though. Damn boat level

In the jap black label version of daifukkatsu has some killer music tracks though. One in particular perhaps stage 4? It's amazing.

A double play meaning you control both player one and two at the same time??

Misery the boat man wizard.

[Misery]

This may be a bit of a surprise but I've never been a massive fan of the DDP series myself. Even daifukkatsu I found a drag and looks rather horrid in HD imo, at least on my tv. The main reason is because im not any good at them or put in enough time yet. I also find the original ddp brutally hard. Much harder than ketsui which I can play until the cows come home and not even get angry. That game is just beautiful in every way. Probably never even clear it though. Damn boat level

In the jap black label version of daifukkatsu has some killer music tracks though. One in particular perhaps stage 4? It's amazing.

A double play meaning you control both player one and two at the same time??

Misery the boat man wizard.

Yes, doubleplay as in exactly that, lol. I *think* if you do a search on my Youtube channel there might be a video of it? I..... dont actually remember if I did a vid of that or not. It wouldnt actually be hard to replicate and do again if there isnt..... I might do that. I at least have a crappy Ketsui DP attempt up on there, but dont expect much from THAT. I made that for..... some reason...... after all of 30 minutes of practice at it. I musta had alot of caffiene or something that day.

DDP though, I dunno, I just always thought that first game was pretty easy, aside from the really-freaking-annoying boss that throws those stupid fireballs I always hated.

Wheras Ketsui...... well, I've gone and beaten Ketsui DL on the DS, but I havent beaten the main one yet; I start getting irked at it around that damn boat, and then absolutely everything about stage 4 just annoys me. Wheras the first DDP..... feels like it takes no effort. I dunno. I think that one just clicked with me well for whatever reason (aside from the scoring)..... I can think of a few shmups that were like that, and a few that very definitely were not, hah. I love Ketsui but it drives me crazy at the same time.

[Vyothric]

I was actually thinking the other day "I wonder what Misery would make of Twinkle Star Sprites".

....the game is..... Twinkle.... Star Sprites.

.........WHY?

That was my thought exactly. There've been some pretty naff choices so far. The only one I voted for though was Arrow Flash - should have played it first

[weakboson]

In terms of scoring DDP style chaining isn't my favourite but I did have fun trying to learn the first two stages. That was when I was trying to go for a 1CC but Istopped playing once I got to stage 5. I would love to revisit in the league. In fact I would have voted for it twice if I could. And no way is it harder than Ketsui. Even DOJ I would say is a bit easier, though chaining in that game is too hard for me to be bothered with. What do you folks think of DonPachi? The chaining is more or less the same but it's not possible to keep it up for a whole stage, it's more like chaining waves so it's a bit less all or nothing. I also think playing for score in DFK 1.5 is quite magnificent. When you're on the edge of your seat with a 10k hit count and your score is going through the roof and everything comes together it's just wonderful. Unfortuantely I don't have the skills to get very far with it, I've only managed to chain the first two stages once. Finally doesn't SDOJ look amazing? Wherever it goes I will follow.

In the jap black label version of daifukkatsu has some killer music tracks though. One in particular perhaps stage 4? It's amazing

Do you mean the normal Black Label soundtrack or the Ketsui arranged music? I totally dig stage 4 of the former and stage 5 of the latter.

[AmidstStorm]

I think my struggles with ddp, all versions in general is that I own all of them but never have given it the time to gel. Ketsui on the other hand I have played a fair amount. Something just doesn't click easily for me with ddp. I've been playing DOJ recently on lower difficulties on IOS. Love stage 1.

Yes stage 4 of black label for the music. 1.5 is not as good music wise.

[Misery]

In terms of scoring DDP style chaining isn't my favourite but I did have fun trying to learn the first two stages. That was when I was trying to go for a 1CC but Istopped playing once I got to stage 5. I would love to revisit in the league. In fact I would have voted for it twice if I could. And no way is it harder than Ketsui. Even DOJ I would say is a bit easier, though chaining in that game is too hard for me to be bothered with. What do you folks think of DonPachi? The chaining is more or less the same but it's not possible to keep it up for a whole stage, it's more like chaining waves so it's a bit less all or nothing. I also think playing for score in DFK 1.5 is quite magnificent. When you're on the edge of your seat with a 10k hit count and your score is going through the roof and everything comes together it's just wonderful. Unfortuantely I don't have the skills to get very far with it, I've only managed to chain the first two stages once. Finally doesn't SDOJ look amazing? Wherever it goes I will follow.

Whaaaaaat? DOJ easier than Ketsui? Yeesh, such comments here on these last couple pages.... and here I thought *I* had a warped sense of difficulty

I dont think I'm gonna understand this one no matter how I look at it. Sure, right, Ketsui has it's damn Hell Boat, but DOJ has...... bloody well everything, everything irks me in that game, but also it's just..... nastier. I dont need much in the way of bombs for survival in Ketsui; most of the deaths I have in that game are due to me trying way too hard to score points, and crashing into something. DOJ..... this is not the case. That bloody game has always wrecked me, aside from the bosses who for whatever reason just sort of die at me. Though that probably comes from having played Death Label about 80 kersquillion times.

And to answer your question, my thoughts on DonPachi are about the same as my thoughts on the rest of the series, and can be summed up as something like "bleh". DFK being the exception, of course. I wouldnt make even one scoring attempt at THAT game either, if it is chosen as a game for the league here.

Bah, that entire series..... I'll never understand why it's the biggest/most popular of Cave's stuff. It's not as baffling as the utter STUPID that is Galuda 2, but still baffling nonetheless. Again, DFK = exception.

And still no interest at all in SDOJ. I'm waiting for one of three things from them: 1, a third Mushi game (fourth if you count Bug Panic), 2, a sequel to Ketsui (GAH WHY HAVENT THEY DONE THIS), and 3, a sequel to Akai Katana.

I think my struggles with ddp, all versions in general is that I own all of them but never have given it the time to gel.

See, even then though, that game, I still think it's too easy..... even WITHOUT any practice.

I never actually practiced at it for the double-play runs. Those happened because I was A: really really bored, and B: really really blasted on caffiene (and when I've had as much as I'd had that night, things get a bit loopy). It wasnt like I'd been practicing it for a month.... I just sat down and thought, hmm, havent hardly touched this game, ok, maybe let's do a doubleplay attempt for the heck of it. Or, considering the caffiene level, that thought probably came out more like "OOOOOOOoooooOoOoohhhhh I know JUST what to do, lETs play DODONPACHIIIIIIIIIII but both players AT ONCE and I'll do it WITH THE XBOX CONTROLLER *splode*"

Wheras I go to do a doubleplay in Ketsui or Raiden 4, and...... yeah. THOSE take alot of practice and get frustrating fast. I'm not even gonna bother explaining just how irritating that accursed demon boat is in a DP run.

[Vyothric]

I've no idea what any of you are talking about.

[Mero]

Mero - ROB - 1,425,060 - 28 - ALL - Macky & Pentell - Character - PS2



Did this yesterday morning, little did I know then that it would later keep me top by 15000 points . As you can see my total time was over nine minutes!

Good work Vyothric, 700-800k at the end of stage 4 is pretty amazing, I'm lucky to even trigger the first extend by that point.

Fot the last few days of this I'm going to see if I can pull something off with Memory, I think she's probably the best character. You don't get to see her stats on the character select screen but I bet her shot and speed stats are maxed out. Good shot power is essential to scoring well, that's why I was able to pull of a decent score with Macky & pentell even though they're slow.

[kollisionBR]

The simple fact that Twinkle Star Sprites was chosen over DoDonPachi boggles my mind.
DoDonPachi is pure straight fuel for a whole 1-month competition. Twinkle Star Sprites is done in one day max....

And you guys keep amazing me with these massive scores.

[AmidstStorm]

The simple fact that Twinkle Star Sprites was chosen over DoDonPachi boggles my mind.
DoDonPachi is pure straight fuel for a whole 1-month competition. Twinkle Star Sprites is done in one day max....

And you guys keep amazing me with these massive scores.

Agree with every word of that post.

I didn't vote for TSS or dodonpachi but was surprised too. Im certainly going to start play testing the nominations from now on. Few Credits on each before voting can eradicate the weak parties. I dunno it's just surprising the choices we've ended up with. My favourite so far has been arrow flash purely because it felt like a 'real' progress shmup for me. Level, learn enemy patterns, fight boss. Proceed, die, learn from mistakes, yay 1CC. Far too easy though mind you but for that first week it was fun. Sonic wings and parodius ruined by rank for
Me and TSS ruined by lack of... 'game' and stupid AI which misery put it best when he said, 'like a fighting game'

[weakboson]

Whaaaaaat? DOJ easier than Ketsui?

Well that's just the impression I got. It might just be because I've played DOJ more so I find it easier. To be honest it's not like I've given a great deal of time to either of them so I can't comment on the later stages. For what it's worth I would say that at low rank DOJ is less intense than Ketsui. You can also have a lot of bombs if you chose Shotia, as well as hypers for a quick bullet cancel which gives you more margin for error. I never got the impression that Ketsui goes easier on you than DOJ but even if it did those things would mediate it somewhat.