March 2019 Shmup Club - Crimzon Clover

[coin_tengoku]

[img width=700 height=933]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190326/1cf50c7383f57f0aad1879b31c1403e1.jpg[/img]

Getting toward the end of the month. I haven’t made much progress but I’ve had a lot of fun. Here is my best score for novice.


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[MetalFRO]

That's a pretty good score! I'm still chipping away at Arcade/Original, but haven't managed to progress much. I did finally make it past the robo-snakes in Stage 3 last night, but only barely. I always bite it right around there. Hopefully, as I stream the game through the rest of the week, I can maybe get to the boss in that level, at least.

[zoydo]

@Mark_MSX: Nice one! You got a really nice break rate max.I still need to work on mine and also on keeping up my multiplier ongoing.

@coin_tengoku: Good job, you almost made it! Just a few more tries.


Gave the Type-I another try today.

Here's my score update:

[img width=400 height=640]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7823/47472969601_54f263e7bb_z.jpg[/img]

Couldn't even make it to the Stage 3 Boss today.

[coin_tengoku]

@Mark_MSX: Nice one! You got a really nice break rate max.I still need to work on mine and also on keeping up my multiplier ongoing.

@coin_tengoku: Good job, you almost made it! Just a few more tries.


Gave the Type-I another try today.

Here's my score update:

[img width=400 height=640]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7823/47472969601_54f263e7bb_z.jpg[/img]

Couldn't even make it to the Stage 3 Boss today.

@MetalFRO

Yeah arcade mode is insane! It really amps up on stage three and I am pretty sure the game requires memorization at this point. What a game though! Congrats to everyone that got an all clear this month.


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[MetalFRO]

I managed to reach the Stage 3 boss last night in Arcade/Original, but wow, I lasted all of 10-15 seconds. Once it shoots out the lasers, and ALSO throws globs of punk bullets at you, I was sunk. If I can tighten my strats on Stage 2, to get through more consistently, improve my Break timing, to better milk stars, for extra lives, and then route better through Stage 3, I think I might be able to get through that Stage 3 boss. But I'm not sure I'll be able to accomplish all of that before the end of the month.

[MetalFRO]

I have hit a wall with Stage 3. I managed to get this score last night, but I've stopped making progress:

[img width=480 height=640]https://i.imgur.com/Ne9On30l.jpg[/img]

So I asked for some videos with some good CC runs, and Mark_MSX graciously linked me to this bad boy from Jaimers91:



I'm not confident I'll be able to replicate most of this, but his Stage 1 sequence looks doable, so I might focus on that, and see if I can do that to at least boost my score to a better place, and then concentrate on better routing in Stage 3, based on what he's doing in the video.

[zoydo]

I also watched a few replays for strategic purposes and came across this run by Jaimers. I could learn a lot from this and tried to imitate some things too. It's still quite hard to do the right things with the correct timing. But it helped me to get a certain flow and to boost my score in Stage 1 and in parts of Stage 2. But by the beginning of Stage 3 it's still pure survival and dodging for me.

Jaimers got twice as much points in Stage 1, than i have at the end of Stage 3. That's brutal!

Haven't played since monday, hope i can do some final runs this weekend.

[MetalFRO]

I streamed the game earlier today, and explored Boost Mode, Ultimate Mode, and also Time Attack. I managed to eek out a clear on Novice in Boost Mode:

[img width=700 height=933]https://i.imgur.com/F9Yu6ju.jpg[/img]

I felt pretty good about that, given that it was only my second try in that mode on Novice, but as much as I’ve been playing it this month, it makes sense that I would have the level layouts and enemy placement pretty well committed to memory, and just had to compensate for the difference in bullet patters, and especially bullet speed. This is a mode that I think definitely warrants some serious play time, and something I’ll have to explore later on my own.

[zoydo]

@MetalFRO: very nice score and also a nice boost count for Stage 3!

I played some runs in Time Attack just for fun today, but couldn't achieve anything.

As is scrolled through my former posts today, i realized, that some pics are missing. That was not on purpose, i must have deleted them, when i updated my score-albums. I use Flickr to post images and im still not too familiar with it. Sorry for that, i'll try to avoid this next time.

So that's it, march is over (at least for me). I had lots of fun playing this awesome game with you guys and i'm looking forward to next month and Einhänder!

[Mark_MSX]

Hi everyone!

Ya this shmup club was a ton of fun! I definitely felt motivated to improve my score from my previous dabbling with the game. I do have a replay of my final posted score of the run. For fun I'll go ahead and render it to video for you all to check out if anyone is interested.

Overall I think this game is absolutely fantastic and I do plan on playing it more in the future to get a decent scoring clear of arcade original. :-D

Also...
I really feel the need to use this cat emoji.
 

[Square_Air]

[img width=639 height=400]https://i.imgur.com/tMe0hjp.png[/img]

Arcade Original - Type Z
Square_Air - 344,330,077,890 - Stage 5

I didn't end up playing much of this, but at least I increased my PB a bit.

I also feel the need to use the cat.
 

[MetalFRO]

Great stuff, everyone! I still need to post a couple scores, because Imgur is being picky about how frequently it will let me upload images. I have at least one Ultimate score to post, and I'd like to post my best Time Attack score, from a couple days ago. I'll be putting most of my thoughts into the podcast, but do want to say that this is an excellent game. Despite my own frustrations with it, due to my average skill level, I am starting to see why it's so well liked, and why it hit the #5 spot on the shmups forum's top 25 2018 list. Definitely one I'll have to go back to!

[zoydo]

Here some final thoughts:

What i really like about Crimzon Clover is how it seems to borrow elements from other shmups and combines them in a way that works out very well and makes absolute sense. As you play through the game you can spot quite a few things that seem familiar. Never too obvious, but in a way that pays homage to the genre (and some of its classics) in general.

Another thing that's really cool is, that you can always track your progress in the game by just taking a look at the medals and trophies you earn for the different modes and ships. It's also very comfortable to catalogue your scores, as the game shows you every information you need on the game over/score - screen (such as Ship, Stage Progress, Score, Stars, Break Rate, Boost Count, etc.). It even gives you all these informations in the replay-menu and in the online-leaderboards as well.

It's balanced very well and the multiple game-modes and difficulties make it challenging for everyone from beginner to pro. (The Time Attack Mode is perfect if you're busy and just want to play 5 minutes in between and also for caravan-like competitions)

Crimzon Clover just got everything one could possibly ask for, it looks nice and the soundtrack is awesome. It's still unbelievable to me, that this game was created by a single person!

[MetalFRO]

Just updated the high score listings on the first post - thanks everyone for participating, and we hope to see you here for future shmup selections!