December Shmup Competition Thread

[Duke.Togo]

Gradius is on the Wii Virtual Console. Not sure other than that,

[RetroRage]

That's the one game I don't need :/  oh well most of them are pretty cheap

[techwizard]

i'm officially in. i picked up a copy of Gradius and Lightening Force today!

[ae.tc]

yep me too

[MetalFRO]

Sign me up!  The only games I'm missing are U.N. Squadron and Otomedius, so I should be able to play along with everything.  Haven't touched Xyanide or Star Successor yet, and it's been ages since I played RayCrisis, so that will be nice to get some time in on those.  It's good that with Xyanide I'll be able to focus solely on that.  Same with RayCrisis, since that's the hardest and most manic of the Ray series.  I never quite got along with that one, as compared with the 2 previous games, but maybe dedicating some time to it will give me a different perspective.  Plus, ZUNTATA musical goodness!  

I have to warn you all - I played a TON of Lightening Force as a kid, because that was a game I bought as a new release, so while I haven't spent much time on it in recent years, a week of playing means I'll probably find my groove again relatively fast.  I shouldn't be too much of a threat on the other stuff, however.

@TechWizard - good on you!  The NES port of Gradius is solid and highly playable, and Lightening Force is one of my favorite games of all time, and certainly my favorite horizontal scrolling shmup.  Next time we do one of these, I'll have to suggest a Raiden game!

[singlebanana]

Welcome aboard!

[techwizard]

forgot to mention that i already own S&P: star successor, and Otomedius Excellent, so i'll join those as well.

[OatBob]

Sign me up.  I have most of these games.

[MetalFRO]

Okay, so I'm thinking about this December shmup competition, and I'm wondering how were going to handle Ray Crisis. Can we assume that we will be playing in special mode since the original mode allows a stage select and is basically just a short score attack?

[techwizard]

Okay, so I'm thinking about this December shmup competition, and I'm wondering how were going to handle Ray Crisis. Can we assume that we will be playing in special mode since the original mode allows a stage select and is basically just a short score attack?

lightening force seemed to have a stage select, or at least stage order select...i think a lot of schmups do that actually. it's up to Rich but if it were me i would say choose any route you want, because it'll still be the same levels everyone else is playing just in different orders.

[MetalFRO]

Okay, so I'm thinking about this December shmup competition, and I'm wondering how were going to handle Ray Crisis. Can we assume that we will be playing in special mode since the original mode allows a stage select and is basically just a short score attack?

lightening force seemed to have a stage select, or at least stage order select...i think a lot of schmups do that actually. it's up to Rich but if it were me i would say choose any route you want, because it'll still be the same levels everyone else is playing just in different orders.

The main reason this makes a difference for RayCrisis is that Original mode gives you a choice of 3 stages to play, out of a possible 5. Each has a different boss, likely worth different total point values, each with its own potential "milking" strategy. The scoring could be quite different based on which group of stages are selected, and which ship is chosen to pilot. The Special mode, however, is a straightforward affair with no stage select, thus the only variable being the craft.

[RetroRage]

If it's all about high score I don't think it really matters which order the stages are played in.  I guess that would be part of the strategy.  MetalFRO does the Special mode for Raycrisis have to be unlocked?

Just bought U.N. Squadron, slowly chipping away at the week-by-week lists.  It's funny, these monthly playthroughs are basically determining what I'm collecting these days.  It's a good thing because I'm actually playing what I buy now

[singlebanana]

Yeah, I think that to simplify things, just pick whatever stage order you want for RayCrisis. Sure, some may be more valuable in terms of points, but as long as you can visit all of them, that's okay.

[singlebanana]

BTW, I thought you guys might be interested in knowing what you're playing for this month.......

[img width=700 height=472]http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y359/necrom99/Video%20Game%20Scores/A65A72FC-8EFE-4BE1-849D-5B9E52D360AF_zpsag5p4dt2.jpg[/img]

And, the plane spins!

[RetroRage]

Ohhh snap I gotta win this one!  I have a couple friends that'll be extremely jealous to see this wrapped around my waist