July 2019 Shmup Club - Strikers 1945 II

[coin_tengoku]

Well, I'm not setting the bar that high, but I am only playing on Easy (level 4 in the difficulty selection):

[img width=640 height=480]https://i.imgur.com/CQJ5Jv0l.jpg[/img]

One thing to keep in mind, for those less familiar with the game, is that the stage order is fairly randomized for the 1st 4 stages, depending on which plane you pick. Even then, it's not the same each time. As you advance through the game, bosses that are easier to defeat in Stage 1 become more vicious and difficult in Stage 3 or 4. You'll spend time learning not only the base pattern, but then learning how to deal with increased bullet spam. I would also recommend taking out bosses as quickly as you can - don't skimp on bombs, and don't neglect to use your charge weapon when you have an opportunity. It can often be a lifesaver.

Thanks for the tip Metal!  I thought I remembered psykio games being random, but wasn’t sure about this game.


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[Duke.Togo]

I'm hot garbage at this, but I did sneak a few games in tonight.
[img width=700 height=933]https://i.imgur.com/BAn3L10.jpg[/img]

[Duke.Togo]

Got a better run today. Still getting a feel for which planes I prefer, but the Hayate seems pretty good.

[img width=700 height=933]https://i.imgur.com/PxF65jH.jpg[/img]

[EZ Racer]

First trip to 1-3 (on difficulty 4). I had never played this before, and my initial impressions of it- Sometimes you just want to blow s[tuff] up, and this game does a great job of scratching that itch. Lots of fun so far. Hopefully I can make progress.

[MetalFRO]

I finally managed to make it to Stage 5...once:
[img width=640 height=480]https://i.imgur.com/gfVuMXdl.jpg[/img]

One of the things that bothers me about the Strikers games, with the random stage order for the 1st 4 is, it's difficult to memorize the stage action when the bullet counts go up, and patterns get bigger and more complex as a particular stage is slotted in at 3 or 4. I can get the basic enemy placement down, but when I'm not powerful enough to take out everything as soon as it comes on screen, there will inevitably be "bullet barf" from some enemies, and with the large hitbox for each plane, it gets difficult to weave through stuff. The general consensus is that you need to "macro dodge" bullet patterns in Psikyo games, meaning, go around them. But that becomes difficult to do when you have 2 or 3 enemies throwing spread patterns at you from more than 1 place on screen, and the bullet patterns cross over one another, making it even harder to do. And some bosses throw out really large, complex, fast patterns when they're higher level, so it becomes increasingly important to destroy their final form as quickly as possible. It can be quite frustrating to navigate all that.

[Duke.Togo]

I agree. There are some levels that I am much happier in seeing earlier in the rotation rather than later. I think it would be better balanced with just a standard level layout. I guess the upside is that I don't get burned out since I don't keep hitting the same brick wall.

[zoydo]

Hey guys. I'm a bit late, but i had a very stressfull week at work and barely time to play.

But i still managed do do a few runs :

[img width=375 height=500]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48218941396_47ac831b5b.jpg[/img]

[EZ Racer]

This game is awesome. It's an adrenaline thrill ride, but I can tell I've gotten better at shmups in the past year in some of the ways I'm tackling the levels here. Love the soundtrack, love the graphics and theming. Love the little details that make it more playable, like only losing power levels if you touch other craft, and getting at least one powerup right away upon death.

Really only 2 complaints so far- Flying in the lower left edge of the screen can be difficult because the power meter covers up your ship, and I wish you didn't lose all your bombs when you die.

I tried all planes and kept track of the level order. All the planes feel comfortable and have their strengths, but I've been doing best with Flying Pancake and Hayate so far. The only plane I feel like I struggle with is Shinden, and even then I could it being a very good choice for an expert. I also have noticed that both times I made it to level 5, I played the Iron Casket stage last.

One last note, on my high score run I was excrutiatingly close to reaching 1-6. I died at the boss of 1-5, and after dying my last shots connected with the boss and triggered its explosion sequence. So close.

Goal is to reach 1-7 on 1C. I've used continues to reach 1-6, but man is that level hard.

[MetalFRO]

Great score, EZ Racer! That's going to be a tough one to beat - you're in the lead by a decent margin at this point!

[Mr_Stubbes]

I’ve been able to make it into the third level a few times. I feel like I’m improving every attempt, so hopefully that continues.

[img width=700 height=933]http://i.imgur.com/7ZcBDbD.jpg[/img]

[Duke.Togo]

I just wanted to experience the whole game, so I got a clear on Monkey difficulty. I really enjoy playing the game this way as it's a lot of fun just to shoot things. Great game.

[img width=700 height=933]https://i.imgur.com/0xri2hJ.jpg[/img]

[EZ Racer]

So after my last post of scores I realized that most had upped the difficulty to 5. Got this middle of last week but hadn't gotten it posted.

Also, yesterday got a chance to play it 2 player for the first time, and it really works well as a 2 player game. Bullet patterns and frequency seem to be exactly the same as 1 player, and the hardest change for me was that I would get confused as to which plane I was controlling, as there was so much action on the screen. The other thing I noticed about 2 player is it works better if you coordinate bomb attacks and call out powerups during play. We did a full run-through on difficulty-4 with continues, and I can't imagine getting through some of the later stages 1 player 1CC. Still awesome though.

[MetalFRO]

I managed to get a clear on Monkey, like Duke.Togo did.

[MetalFRO]

Here's my Monkey high score.

[MetalFRO]

I also managed to get pretty far a few times on Child difficulty, so here's my best score so far.