After buying a stick, the next step is to get the feel of it and master it, if you don’t know what I mean. On some shmups (rRootage, Parsec47, NOIZ2SA) I tend to fare better, but on some others (the Garegga spirital trilogy, and maybe RFA) I tend to do worse.

I did, however, execute a 1CC on Thunder Force AC, two days after 1CC’ing Thunder Force III a second time. I’ve found that using A/X/Y, with thumb allocated to changing speed, is more comfortable than X/Y/RB. Same goes with Gradius, which puts the powerup button on button 1 rather than 3. AC is a fairly good port, but is graphically weaker in some spots. I did like Haides [AC/TS], however, and Ellis [AC/TS], despite being the mutant lovechild of Thunder Force II Stage 3-2 and Stage 5-2 4-2, is actually a challenge and isn’t a bland diagonal-scrolling stage where barely anything interesting happens. Only thing really hurting it is a lack of autofire, though various versions of MAME, controller-provided autofire, and the Saturn port fix that.

Thunder Spirits sucks. Still no autofire (inexcusable considering the overrated-as-hell SNES controller’s buttons), worse music in some spots, and when I use external autofire (generated by my stick), the game slows down Gradius III style. There’s two stages unique to this; I kinda like the new Stage 8, but Stage 6? Cerberus [Spirits] looks even more boring than Cerberus [III/AC]. This is a textbook example of why I don’t think SNES completely trumps the Genesis: SNES may have the higher color capacity and all the Mode 7 fancy-shmanciness, but it lacks the power needed to keep a game like Thunder Force III running at 100% most of the time. And even with the higher palette, Spirits somehow manages to look WORSE on the SNES, partly due to the SNES outputting 64 less vertical lines and thus necessitating smaller sprites.

Well, enough console ranting. I’ve also been using the stick for Tetris: The Grand Master. To play TGM on a stick properly, one must switch the restrictor from its square 8-way position to the diamond-like 4-way position.

This is easy to do on my FSTE, it just takes a lot of time, as mentioned before. On TGM2 and clones of TGM3, I can easily do the up-down motion necessary to do a firm drop, but I still have issues with the current piece shifting left or right slightly by accident. I also have to relearn some of the techniques I use to efficiently get pieces into tricky spots. This is made tricky by how I play on a keyboard: arrow keys for up/down/left/right, A for CCW rotate, S for CW rotate, and D for secondary CCW rotate. This means my hands’ roles are reversed. My hands, on a stick, will attempt to do a technique, but fumble with it. I have, however, noticed more consistency when playing on a stick: in T.A. Death mode, I can consistently break into the mid-200 range, whereas on a keyboard I have some bullcrap rounds where I don’t even hit 170.

However, there are tricks that I find easier on a stick: Zangi-moves are easier and feel more graceful on a stick, for instance. In instances where I need to perform a Zangi-move and rotate, I can more confidently move while rotating at the same time.

I may make a more long-term switch to 4-way in the winter, when I go to do some intensive TGM training. Heck, I may even use it in Blockbox League season 4.

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