August 2020 Shmup Club - Zer0Ranger

[GravyBread]

My best single credit runs on WV/GO so far. Obviously no "killer" scores here but every run I seem to get just like a few seconds further so I'm very much hooked. Feel like WV might be my favorite of the two.

[img width=310 height=318]https://i.imgur.com/GfGwbH0.jpg[/img]

[MetalFRO]

Very nice! Yeah, White Vanilla is definitely less punishing than Orange Green, and I enjoy the frenetic pace of it, with all the warping around. I managed to clear the main stages tonight, though I died pretty quickly on the true last boss. Even so, I made my personal best by a good margin, and feel pretty good about my progress so far

[Corkman]

I think limiting the palette forces graphic designers to be more creative. I like how this game looks. I like the gameplay too. I think it's all done well but I'm just not seeing this as being one of my favorite shmups at this point. I can't quite put on my finger why. There's still 12 days to change my mind.

I've been playing mostly Green Orange. Here are my scores so far. I think I'm going to play a little more White Vanilla and see how that goes.

[MetalFRO]

Yeah, definitely give White Vanilla some time. I like the hectic pace that mode has, with the warping between different segments. It keeps you on your toes, and doesn't really give you a moment of respite.

[zoydo]

Finally beat my PB in White Vanilla.
Died at the last phase of the tlb. Still need to optimize the St.1 and 2 bossfights and i still struggle with the second bonus stage, so 900.000 seems possible to beat for me.

[img width=333 height=500]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50257962741_f1894b0c45.jpg[/img]

[Corkman]

Looking good Zoydo! You're right MetalFRO. I've been playing White Vanilla recently and it's feels more balanced. I like the scoring bonus stages. The whole warping around to different parts of different stage is interesting. Every time you get past the furthest part in your past runs, you're thinking "now where am I warping to?"

[MetalFRO]

Looking good Zoydo! You're right MetalFRO. I've been playing White Vanilla recently and it's feels more balanced. I like the scoring bonus stages. The whole warping around to different parts of different stage is interesting. Every time you get past the furthest part in your past runs, you're thinking "now where am I warping to?"

Yeah, it really keeps the pace of the game up, and makes things very interesting.

[MetalFRO]

Anyone have any final scores to submit, or final thoughts on the game?

[MetalFRO]

I managed to reach the TLB in White Vanilla a few times, but haven't managed to beat it yet. I did get reasonably far with it this evening, though, so I think I could probably take it down, with enough practice. Green Orange still wrecks me, though. But I got my PB in White Vanilla this evening, so I'm pretty happy with that.

[zoydo]

I wish i've had some more time to play Zero Ranger this month, but the other La Calice games kept me pretty busy. Still i managed to get a new PB for White Vanilla and i'm very happy with that.

Anyway, got some final thoughs:



Play Zero Ranger!

If i had to recommend a shmup to somebody who doesn't play shmups very freqeuntly, Zero Ranger would definately be one of my picks. It has a lot of surprises (replay value!), it has fantastic pixel graphics, fantastic music, fantastic stages and fantastic boss battles.

The fact that you have to earn your credits by grinding through the game makes it more accessible for newcomers, because you feel good beating the game even by credit feeding (creds are still limited).  It's still very challenging for more experienced players (2 loops, pretty hard!)

Vanilla Mode is a bit easier and maybe more attractive for new players if you're looking for a clear, but it's still a lot of fun to play for score, also for experienced players.

All this makes Zero Ranger not only a fantastic shooter, but also a fantastic videogame.

You should buy Zero Ranger now, it's fantastic!