Gaming Journals

TwinBee Hi-Score quest — Crush the West!

October 27, 2011 in Gaming | Tags: hi-score, konami, record, shmups, twinbee | by Aquas | 3 comments

About a week ago I discovered what the TwinBee western hi-score record was thanks to the STG records thread on the system11 shmups forum. According to this thread, “Baby Bonnie Hood” scored 4.017.500 and reached stage Stage 24. My current hi-score is 2.7 million so I feel I don’t have very far to go to beat this score. I’m going to beat this record!

If you follow my blogs on this site you probably know I really like TwinBee. It’s damn fun and having a goal to strive for is going to make reaching 4 million that much more enjoyable.

Right now I have all the save states I need setup for practicing the tough parts up to 4 million. The most annoying part about achieving this score is going to be the fact that recovering in this game is very haphazardly risky. There are only some select places in the latter 10+ stages where you have the opportunity to power up via bells without being harassed by enemies or enemy fire. I feel uncomfortable with intentionally dying when I only have one arm left and no medics. Only because by doing that I’m risking ending my credit from constant deaths on a failed recovery. On the other hand, if I lose my last arm or die during a hectic part of a stage, it’s also game over.

I found a place in stage 20 where I could possibly recover, in the metallic club area. But as it stands I’m not sure if I can rely on recovering. I’ll have to very careful not to lose my arms as I play. Right now I feel confident that I can beat 4 million, and I’d like to set a new bar for a western record with that. Maybe 5 million or better yet, I believe the game counterstops at 10 million.

I tried to test out using the shield + spread shot combo but it just doesn’t provide enough firepower for the latter stages compared to using options. So I’ll be sticking with options.

Overall I’m happy with this endeavor because this game is just so fun! Updates to come as I make attempts to 4 Million.

Raiden III thoughts and 1cc

October 24, 2011 in Gaming | Tags: 1cc, moss, raiden, raiden iii, raiden iv, seibu kaihatsu | by Aquas | Leave a comment

I actually played Raiden III briefly before I played Raiden IV. At the time I did think that the slow ship speed was a tad cumbersome but I did practice the game a tad and liked what I played.

Many people complain about the slow ship speed in Raiden III but after playing Raiden IV which has a slightly faster default ship speed, I can say with confidence that Raiden III’s slow ship speed is not an issue. But that is only true if you understand how to play Raiden III or Raiden IV. Speed is not an issue because most of survival can be boiled down to using small dodges; weaving inbetween bullet spreads. Seldom is a situation where you need speed to reach a safe area. Rather, the safe areas are present in the design of the bullet patterns. Where it is the player’s job to find a good preemptive positioning and dodging strategy to avoid death. This includes not cornering yourself when bullets will trap you! I guess the laymen just blindly assumes speed is what is needed to avoid death. And we (shmuppers) see the same rash assumptions elsewhere such as in bullet hell games where the onlooker assumes a stupid amount of skill is needed to play these games. No, only a small chunk of enlightenment will do people good!

I can’t say what people will like or won’t like, however. But Raiden III and IV are no-frills, classic shoot’em’up action and this is why I love these games.

I came back to playing Raiden III after a long hiatus! (But not before my time with Raiden IV)

The last time I played I had practiced and familiarized with most of the game and was in fact mostly prepared to perform the 1cc. I got burnt out or bored of it, however, and stopped playing. Coming back recently was not that difficult, though. It’s amazing how the brain works. Because despite, at least, a few months where I had left the game, it only took me a couple hours of practice to become acclimated again with the stages and bosses of the game.

Both are great games and each offer a hefty dose of Raiden style gameplay. It’s hard to say one is better than the other but I think the bosses and stages of IV were more diabolical compared to III. Stage 6 and 7 are amazing in III. I like the colorful parts of Raiden III and I feel like Raiden IV had more of that. The more I think about both games, the more I realize they are quite similar to each other. My mind has blanked out thinking of both of these games together in my head. Guess that’s it. ’Till next entry.

Atrophy Means Go to Shit

October 10, 2011 in Games, Gaming | Tags: Daimakaimura, Ghouls, Ghouls n Ghosts | by Dan Haigh | 2 comments

So, here’s how it started. Ghouls n Ghosts is the best game ever. I mean, it’s probably not the best game full stop, but it’s far and away the best game like it. Like what? Runny, jumpy, shooty. There’s no game that’s kinda like Ghouls that’s half as good as Ghouls.

Given that, it’s a deep source of shame for me that I’ve never cleared it. Like much that brings shame, I’ve resolved this mostly through repression. When I’m playing Ghouls I ache knowing nothing I could do with a pad that would be as worthy as beating it, and when I’m not playing it I’m sealing all thought of it behind bulwarks of ego.

And then Ghegs happens to mention that he’s playing it. And while he might not sign up for the previous two paragraphs, he also holds it in high regard and also has not gotten the deed done. So our pact was that we should both knuckle down and work on that there clear, while sharing notes, woes and fellow-feeling here on gamingjournals.

Clear means both loops, of course. I’m strangely unsure just how close I’ve gotten. I’ve looped it in years gone by, but only a handful of times, and I’m not sure how deep I went into the second loop on any of those runs. I do know that, back when I was at my best, many (most) of my plays ended at the st5 boss. So we’ll call that my ceiling. Progress begins when I’m beyond that, when I’m clearing the first loop.

Then what do we call what I’m doing now, which is ending games shy of the st4 boss? Rust does not seem a sufficient term. I think perhaps, based on this and plentiful other evidence, that I am significantly worse at action gaming of all sorts, thanks to age. This is unsurprising yet somewhat distressing to experience. Still, we’ll save the chronicles of the aging gamer for my book deal. We can regard the decline in Ghouls skill in isolation for now.

I’m playing whatever version is nearest at hand. So far that has meant a bit of MAME (World version of the ROM) and a bit of Capcom Classics Collection Remixed on the PSP. I am getting much better results on MAME. I am not at all sure that they are identical in difficulty, but that’s a slippery thing to determine. The PSP game, despite being apparently emulating the arcade, does not offer the same options as the arcade dip switches. They are both running on default diff, which both label as Normal, but the scales aren’t the same so that might mean anything. Life stock and extra life milestones are identical. There’s nothing obviously different, but I think the spawn rate might be just a bit higher on the PSP. Like I’m killing twice as many reapers by the time I cross the river. But then I could be imagining all that.

So that’s how it started. I would say the challenge is underway, but there’s not much of competition in it. We’re not racing to the clear, just pursuing it side-by-side. So the pursuit is underway? The thing is on! Description of follies to follow.

Various: Mega Man Legends 1 & 2, SSF4: AE Stuff

October 9, 2011 in Gaming | Tags: capcom, mega man legends, street fighter iv | by Aquas | 1 comment

Haven’t written one of these in a while, nor has many others on this site. We’ve all neglected it, but let’s put that aside and talk about games again.

For a couple of months I had an inkling to play the Mega Man Legends series again. These thoughts consisted mostly of the fact that I enjoyed it when I was 16 and it was cool and enjoyable. Riding this thought was also the fact I superficially decided against playing through Mega Man Legends 2. I set it aside because the control scheme was not exactly the same, or so I thought at the time. I don’t know where my copies of the games went off to, so I chose to emulate them in ePSXe.

Revisiting Mega Man Legends was a generally enjoyable experience. I often find myself critiquing a game’s difficulty as if it weighs on the experience heavily, but I’m not sure it’s always exactly warranted. That being said, Mega Man Legends is an easy game. This didn’t matter much to me as I spent much of the game in feelings of nostalgia. The shard of my 16 year old self coming through my memories of Rock and Roll’s prepubescent voices, Tiesel’s cocky shouting and Bonne’s lovesick quivering. Also in zooming around in the jet skates. Gotta love those jet skates.

Another reason for wanting to play MML again was because I did indeed want to give the sequel a real chance. Another part was probably the hubbub surrounding Mega Man Legends 3 cancellation. I wanted to see if finishing Mega Man Legends 2 would make me one of the many distraught MML fans who really wanted that sequel.

Having finishing the game, I think a third game would be very cool, especially in this age of gaming where a company like Capcom is expected to put out a triple A product for such a franchise. At the same time I’m not disappointed or upset. But if a new game came out, I would expect a much, much larger world than the previous 2 games. That reality excites me. As both games end you wish there was more to do and explore.

Mega Man Legends 2 was a good sequel. Many aspects of the original were improved upon. Notably I liked the new areas, bosses and enemies, as well as the new ruin areas. Since you travel to different islands in this game, instead of being stuck on one (Kattelox) there are varied scenes. Snow, desert, tropical. Getting this variety was refreshing and I loved the music for the different areas, as well as the battle tracks that play when Reaverbots shoot out of the ground in the over world.

One thing I missed about the first game was the ruins being interconnected with each other. That gave the world an interesting sense of cohesiveness. But in 2 it’s not there at all, in continuity to the setting.

Overall it was a carefully made game with the heart of Capcom that made it worth playing. And another one of those games that makes me laugh.

Moving on then to another Capcom title, Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition.

I managed to place 4th at my last local tournament. It consisted of about 40 entrants. Normally I don’t get past a 4th opponent. But this time, I finally performed in a satisfactory way. For many months I was having trouble adjusting to delay PS3 and HDTV’s introduce to the game. This is noticeable to me because I play the game on a 360, which has 1 less frame of input delay and because I play on a CRT which is about another frame of delay. I was having trouble hitting my 1 frame links and for my character Rose this is important because her most important link is 1 frame. Messing it up can lead to a big punish… anyway. I finally adjusted to it and that may be why I did better this time around.

I was put into the Loser’s bracket by a Blanka player which is hard for Rose… and I wasn’t very experienced in the match. After that I had to fight a Ken player who eliminated me in a previous tournament. I managed to beat him and after that I seemed to ride a momentum, knocking out about 5 other players. E.Honda, Cammy, (Balrog, Ryu,) Sagat players also fell to my Rose. I got to our strong Dudley player and lost fairly convincingly. But the best part is I have officially earned money playing a fighting game. Which is…. something. I profited $5 for placing 4th. Overall I’m satisfied but I’ve been putting some time into learning Evil Ryu and Makoto lately. Playing Rose all the time isn’t the most fun for me. I hope to do better next tournament but I need to practice more for sure.

Burnout 2 Time Attack, part 2

July 8, 2011 in Games | Tags: Burnout 2, Racing, Time Attack | by Ghegs | Leave a comment

After a week or so of playing Ocean Sprint (R) I managed to get sub-1:42. First I just shaved off tenths of seconds, went from 1:42,099 to 1:42,050 and 1:42,016, until I finally hit 1:41,783. Then I tightened it up a bit and got 1:41,633, which is my current best.

Almost immediately after my last post I went and tried a Dualshock 2. I had previously tested only the first Dualshock model, and the analog sticks feel and handle quite different there. Dualshock 2 fares much better, it still has a slightly larger deadzone than the Hori Anashin pad I used at the beginning, but it’s so much smoother and I feel have much better control with it. So I went and bought a brand-new Dualshock 2 and that’s my weapon of choice now.

I also revised my line going through the tunnel. My previous line was fast, but only if nothing went wrong while entering the tunnel. Nine times out ten something went wrong, either I missed the very narrow gap between wall and civillian car I need to squeeze through, or the said car happened to spawn as a semi-truck that time, making the gap nonexistant. So it became rather frustating. My current line is safer in that it gives me a better view of the tunnel going in, so I quickly see if there’s a car I need to avoid.

I’ve now spent almost ten hours on this one track that lasts under two minutes. Oddly, I still haven’t gotten bored with it, but I am annoyed at not knowing how to significantly improve my time. I could still tighten up some turns, but I think that would only get me to a low 1:41. At 1:41,633 I’m still over three seconds away from the WR 1:38,216. I’m gonna be really pissed off if I discover the owner of that time did it while playing the game at 50hz. For some reason the game’s leaderboards are mostly filled by Europeans.

I should probably test that, actually. Play the game in 50hz and see if my times are consistent with my 60hz times. Just to put my mind to rest. If it turns out I get better times that way I can drop the game. If not, maybe I’ll play another track for a while. Still got two other point-to-point (plus reversed versions) tracks to attack.

Dragon Warrior 4 Adventures Part 1

July 8, 2011 in Gaming | Tags: dragon quest, jrpg, mother, nes | by Aquas | Leave a comment

Lately it had been on my mind that I was interested in starting up some kind of RPG. In my friends radio talk show, she talked about her Top 3 NES games and Dragon Warrior 4 was one of them. When I heard this I thought, “well, I haven’t really played any the DQ games all the way through, nor do I ever hear praise for the NES DQ games, why don’t I try it?” and so I have and I am.

Like I mentioned I only played some of DQ VIII on the PS2 and honestly I wasn’t big on it… the game took a while to get going and then I game over’d in a really lame dungeon and called it quits. Perhaps the game deserves a little more credit from me.

Another reason I was interested in trying a NES DQ game was just to see for myself all the similarities to it and the Mother series which blatantly clones many of the DQ game’s aspects. The text that runs during battles, your party wiping out and not having to start from when you last saved, each character having their own limited inventory space (I actually love this aspect of EarthBound.)

Even in Dragon Warrior 4, the game is divided into chapters and each thus far start you with a completely different character whom you aim to meet up with the rest of the characters. I’ve always loved this aspect of the mother games, mostly for 2 and 3, and it’s a pleasure to experience it again from the place it came from. I love it because you get to have more fun with the initial leveling up process and I like how each character can differ stat and skill wise early on.

I’ve really been enjoying the game. A very charming experience for an NES RPG. I haven’t had to grind all that much, just what was needed. I just started Chapter 3 which stars a character who aims to be the best arms merchant in the world. You need a little patience to play this game but not much, the battles and text go by quickly.

Magic Drift

June 28, 2011 in Games | Tags: Burnout 2, Racing, Time Attack | by Ghegs | Leave a comment

I’ve returned to playing Burnout 2 which I still consider the best in the series. It was a bit of a learning (or unlearning, I should say) curve to forget about the 360′s lovely analog stick and triggers and go back to PS2′s stick and using the face buttons for acceleration and brake. The deadzone on the PS2′s analog stick felt huge so I opted to use my trusty Hori Anashin 2 pad with a more comfortable one. I got the hang of it now, but my car’s movements aren’t nearly as smooth as they were with the 360 pad.

My long-term goal is to time attack the point-to-point tracks in Burnout 2 and beat the best times I can find on the Internet. The best times I’ve found are listed on http://www.cyberscore.me.uk and http://www.vgr-fr.com so those two sites will act as my benchmark.

First target: Ocean Sprint (R), my all-time favourite track in the game. Not sure why I like the reversed version more. Best time is 1:38.216, my time is currently at a hair over 1:42. I’ve been playing the track seriously for maybe a week now and have improved my time almost every day.

First improvement came from just remembering how to do the boost start again. It has been a while since I played the game last. Second came from switching to manual transmission. Thanks Outrun Online Arcade, I used to avoid MT before you came along. The biggest improvement which shaved off whole seconds off my time came from figuring out how to boost my way through the tunnel located at roughly the midpoint of the track. It requires taking a slightly unorthodox line in order to avoid both the cars and the walls, with the boost on it’s quite easy to hit either otherwise. Now I can boost my way through the whole track.

My best run still had some small issues with, mostly how I lose time in some corners so hitting 1:41.xxx shouldn’t be a problem, but with my current approach I can’t beat 1:38.216. I do have some ideas on better lines at few places (the last three corners, mainly) so I’m going to have to start trying those. The difference between #1 and #2 times is pretty huge (1.6 seconds) so there might be something big I’m still missing.

Links of possible interest:
Track records @ VGR
Track records @ Cyberscore
Ocean Sprint map, the reversed track I’m playing goes from left to right.

Having the traffic sort of randomized even in Time Attack mode is a bit annoying. There’s usually always a car in the same spot every time, only sometimes it’s a normal car and other times a semi-truck. There’s one point in particular on this track where this is an important factor. Also, the tunnel I mentioned before is really harsh in this case. After the first cars (which are always there) there can be 0, 1 or 2 cars inside the tunnel, one of them in the oncoming lane hidden behind the corner. You either take a risk or a safer line at that point. Kind of a bummer, but I guess the best players will get the best times regardless.

Also, there’s a weird timer-related thing going on. When checking my recorded footage I noticed that the final time is a bit different from what the timer reads when I cross the finish line. I’m not sure if that’s a bug or if the game just doesn’t do the real-time timer correctly or what. Haven’t found any mention of it anywhere. If somebody else has the game and the possibility to check this out, lemme know how your game handles it.

Street Fighter IV — The Madness

June 6, 2011 in Gaming | by Aquas | Leave a comment

Some of you may know I’ve taken up playing Super Street Fighter IV, and have aimed to play at a tournament level. But something’s still missing with my play to become where I want it to be. Specifically with my character Rose.

For now I think I just need more discipline to my training. Right now I only practice FADC combos and my combos, safe jump timing practice and occasionally matchup specific things regarding which moves beat what. My safe jumps do need some work. And it’s finally coming to fruition about what it takes to play a fighting game competitively. Which is exciting as a new, serious fighting game player.

I’ve been to three SSFIV tournaments so far using Rose. But I haven’t made it past a 3rd opponent yet. I want to break through this barrier, at least. But now Super is over and Arcade Edition is taking over the tournament scene. I will still be using Rose unless I find a good reason to switch. But I’d like to try the new characters at least, they are all pretty neat. I’m most interested in Evil Ryu and I admit for fanboy reason. He’s just so damn evil!!

Almost bought the farm!

May 26, 2011 in Gaming | Tags: arcade, area 88, capcom, carrier air wing, shmups, stg, un squadron | by Aquas | Leave a comment

Since my UN Squadron post I started playing the arcade version and it’s really good. I got the 1cc after 4 hours of practice. Not too hard and still a very fun game. I’d recommend it if you’re looking for a game to 1cc.

Anyway I just tried the hardest mode on the arcade version, difficulty 8 (Hardest), 4 being normal. Finding the normal mode being a tad easy, I wanted to see what hardest offered. From what I could tell all the non-popcorn enemies have a bit of more health, bosses and their parts have more health, and bullets are faster and for boss battles, are shot out notably more frequently. I managed to squeak by with a couple save state re-dos on two of the bosses up to Mission 7 I believe which has the Minks, the ocean battleship stage.

While the large cannons on the battleship having more health put a wrench in the mix, also these napalm dropping popcorn ships just constantly come in after each other. Much more frequently than normal difficulty. This made it so I couldn’t hover by the large cannons as the screen scrolled at the beginning of the fight to destroy the cannons. The napalm would make me fly up. But then I couldn’t deal much damage except with my sub-weapon and enemy fire filled the screen too much. I’m stumped right now as to how to beat it, at least using Shin. Maybe Greg’s downwards shot could do it.

Since I got the 1cc on U.N. Squadron (AC) I tried Carrier Air Wing. Cool game. I like it. Similar to U.N. Squadron and similar quality from what I could tell. I’ll try to play it a bit more, maybe go for 1cc.

As for my SNES adventures, they have been discontinued as my buddy asked for his SNES back before I expected him too. The next adventure was going to be for Illusion of Gaia and Super R-Type. I got to play Gaia a bit though. Oh well.

Fresh-cut fruit

May 20, 2011 in Gaming | Tags: caravan, casual games, fruit ninja, mobile games, score attack, video games | by Raydere | Leave a comment

In the midst of my studying for final exams, I decided to pick up a neat little “casual” game known as Fruit Ninja.

The game consists of cutting up fruit thrown onto the screen for points by swiping across the touchscreen–somewhat like cutting enemies in Mazan: Flash of the Blade or possibly whipping enemies in Castlevania: The Arcade. Swiping 3 or more fruit in a single quick stroke yields a combo bonus. In two of the three 1P modes, bombs also pop onto the screen to hinder the player; a cut bomb in the standard mode yields an instant game over, while a cut bomb in arcade mode removes points.

I’ve been mainly working on Zen mode, a 90-second mode with no bombs and infinite lives. Seems like the more balanced of the two “caravan” modes; Arcade mode has the hazard of bombs (which I miss seeing in Zen mode), but the existance of status buff bananas tend to make this mode somewhat luck-based, meaning that equal performance across several rounds may not yield consistent scores.

Maybe I’ll try the standard mode, but it being an endless mode, it’s hard to play when I’m pressed for time.

My current Arcade record is 475, and my current Zen record is 228, and I play on a Motorola Atrix. It being widescreen, the game forcily stretches itself to fill the screen, an effect that really grinds my gears, and the Atrix’s touchscreen is prone to derping at times (twisting lightly on the phone seems to fix this). Anyways, if you play this game, add me on OpenFeint! My (current) username is Raydere no Bousou.