September 2021 Shmup Club - Assault Shell

[MetalFRO]

[img width=700 height=175]https://img.itch.zone/aW1nLzM5NzgwNTkucG5n/original/Sw4S0g.png[/img]

Amber Black, a military faction based in the Asian Continent, has their influence all across the southern hemisphere, and has begun taking over other private military companies and factions. However, their rival JOKER will not stand for this. After a gap in their jumpgate defensive system due to the Enemy Black operation, JOKER begins their mission to take down Amber Black once and for all. Take to the skies, JOKER unit no.233487, and destroy Amber Black's ambition.

Pilot the insanity fighter "Assault Shell" and shoot down the enemy down to pieces! Select from 4 different variations, the powerhouse ALPHA, the high-ranged BETA, the stonewall GAMMA, and the melee master DELTA! Charge up your hyper meter to unleash a powerful hyper mode, but charge it up again to unleash the insanity system BLANK STAND, which not only makes you even stronger, but damages the enemy's sanity and turns them insane, making them harder to fight. Use the risk vs reward system effectively in order to score high and destroy efficiently! Blast through 5 stages and eradicate all of the large and epic bosses Amber Black has to throw at you!

Join the RF Generation Shmup Club in September 2021, as we take a look at indie shooter Assault Shell from Overloaded Studios! You can buy it now on Itch.io, or on Steam.

Check out the game trailer:


Participants:
MetalFRO
Addicted
MiniConsoleMan
Corkman
Reticulan

[MiniConsoleMan]

I'm in!

[MetalFRO]

For anyone on the fence, the game is on sale for it's 1-year anniversary. It's only $6.99 on Itch.io through Saturday, September 4th.

[Corkman]

 
  Count me in. Time to get blastin' 

[MetalFRO]

One thing I'm struggling with is the stage 1 boss. I have trouble reading its initial spread pattern, so I get hit too often. The later pattern I can do just fine. I may need to concentrate on just getting through that first pattern and health bar, and only engaging Hyper Stand in that mode, not Blank Stand, so I can get the benefit of the extra damage, but not make the pattern any more than I already have issues dodging, and then go full on in the 2nd phase. Other wise, stage 2 isn't bad, and the stage 2 boss is fairly manageable, at least until the final pattern, which can be a bit of a problem. Anyone else have difficulty with the stage 1 boss?

[Addicted]

I did for a little bit. At first the stage 1 boss can be frustrating compared to stage 2 or 3 but with some practice you can do it. Ganbare Guru!

Most of this game is micro dodging. Playing Touhou will help you with that.

[img width=700 height=367]https://vmi.tv/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/bullet-time.jpg[/img]

[MetalFRO]

Me: "Are you telling me I can dodge bullets?"
Reimu: "No. I'm telling you that when you're ready, you won't have to."

[Corkman]

  I'm starting to get a hang of this game. It's been awhile since I played a danmaku game so I had to shake that rust off. Also, I don't have a lot experience with using hypers in shmups so that will be a learning experience. I'll be playing for survival for the first few weeks here but I'll get into playing for score later since this game. The "blank stand" mode (red mode) I understand is for scoring seems interesting. But, I'll save those tougher bullet patterns for later once I get a better handle on the game.

  Been trying out all the ships. The variety in them is really nice and allows for different gameplay types.  I think I like the blue Ketsui ship the best so far. Those defensive shields sub-weapon she has are very useful since they seem to stay on screen and absorb bullets more than other subweapons. The red ship is nice and fast but I'm not sure how useful speed is in this micro-dodging heavy game. The green ship has a nice wide shot and might be my next favorite ship. The grey ship might have more potential as one to use for aggressive play. You can position your trailing buddies high on the screen and hold them there to decimate enemies.

  Anyway, having fun with this one. 

[MetalFRO]

I'm with you on the blue Ketsui-style ship and the defensive barriers. Despite it's slower speed, the homing option shots and defensive barriers make that one a bit easier to play with, I think.

[MetalFRO]

Finally getting something going in Assault Shell! I'm focusing primarily on survival strats, but with longer survival comes more score, because you get to see more of the game, and I have. As of my stream earlier this evening, I hit 1-5 on a single credit, and got my PB score to date: 264,762,650 points!

[Corkman]

  Nice job! Heck of run there!

   I see a lot of scores that end in stage 2 there. The stage 2 boss is really pretty difficult. It has 2 health bars and some tough patterns. The stage 3 and 4 bosses are much more
   manageable.

[Corkman]

 
   I'm getting a much better hang of this game now. I think I knocked the danmaku rust off and playing better now. Still just playing for survival.

   I noticed the blank stand cancels bullets as well. I've been using that in extremely dire situations where I need to cancel bullets or take a shield hit if it's available.

   Here's my scores at this point. Got to the final boss but didn't haven't any shields left. It might be time to do some practice on later stages.

[MetalFRO]

Great score! Seems like G-1 is the ship type to go to, particularly because it's special has such a defensive benefit to it. I've tried some of the other ships, but haven't clicked with one quite as much as Gamma with the type 1 special. I like the type 2, but with the spinning barriers, it's kind of unpredictable, and isn't nearly as good as a defensive measure, at least in my estimation.

[MetalFRO]

Got a new personal best this evening on stream! I feel like I'm close to clearing the 1st loop, and am feeling more comfortable with engaging Blank Stand in the first 2-3 stages for scoring. The first "extend" comes at 175 million points (an extra shield hit, essentially), and in stage 3, if you pick off all the small cannons at the midboss in stage 3, prior to taking out the large green core, you'll earn another extend as well. So there's definitely opportunity to help "extend" your game beyond stage 3, if you play your cards right

[4_T_en]

Okay, I'm in. I just started digging in this morning. I have a lot to learn.