Most difficult shmups you've ever played?

oliverclaude

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Strange, other than Aero Fighters 2, is the one where I get the farthest with only 1 credit.

That's because the game is known for having notoriously unsteady rises of difficulty. Stage 5 is probably the easiest in the whole game, whereas 4 can be quite tricky to get through without loosing a life. And the bosses are a category on their own within this jigsaw of a difficulty curve.

Anyway, if by "farthest" you mean beating the 6th level a.k.a. What's That! -How Huge That Is!- while still remaining on one cred, then I'm also willing to label my previous post as "strange" -- if not, then your feelings are just that of a mediocre player/observer, just like anybody else's.
 

aha2940

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Anyway, if by "farthest" you mean beating the 6th level a.k.a. What's That! -How Huge That Is!- while still remaining on one cred, then I'm also willing to label my previous post as "strange" -- if not, then your feelings are just that of a mediocre player/observer, just like anybody else's.

Nah, 6th level no, at most I can do it to 4th level on my best day.
 

pegboy

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That's because the game is known for having notoriously unsteady rises of difficulty. Stage 5 is probably the easiest in the whole game, whereas 4 can be quite tricky to get through without loosing a life. And the bosses are a category on their own within this jigsaw of a difficulty curve.

Anyway, if by "farthest" you mean beating the 6th level a.k.a. What's That! -How Huge That Is!- while still remaining on one cred, then I'm also willing to label my previous post as "strange" -- if not, then your feelings are just that of a mediocre player/observer, just like anybody else's.

According to the Japanese wiki that ranks shmup 1cc difficulties, these are the Neo-Geo game's rankings (a few are missing like Ghost Pilots and Alpha Mission II). Higher numbers = harder. So Strikers 1945 Plus and Aero Fighters 2 are the hardest, but only when clearing both loops. I'm pretty sure Andro Dunos loops forever, but they don't have anything listed for loop 2 or beyond.

35:
Strikers 1945 Plus 2-ALL

32:
Aero Fighters 2 / Sonic Wings 2 2-ALL

24:
Blazing Star (autofire: -1)
Zed Blade / Operation Ragnarok (aufofire: -4)

21:
Aero Fighters 3 / Sonic Wings 3 2-ALL

20:
Andro Dunos 1-ALL
Pulstar
Strikers 1945 Plus 1-ALL

18:
Aero Fighters 2 / Sonic Wings 2 1-ALL

14:
Viewpoint

13:
Aero Fighters 3 / Sonic Wings 3 1-ALL

9:
Last Resort 2-ALL

5:
Twinkle Star Sprites

4:
Captain Tomaday
Prehistoric Isle 2 (autofire: -1)
 
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theMot

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Is it even physically possible to beat Raiden without some kind of auto fire cheat device? That game is some bullshit! Your wrist is dead by level 3.
 

oliverclaude

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According to the Japanese wiki...

True, but Japan is a different world. Well, maybe it's not the right kind of expression... I meant a different universe. My post covers western needs and according to Gemant there are few westerners that beat Blazing Star with one cred and even a lesser few, that did it w/o the use of auto-fire.
 

pegboy

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True, but Japan is a different world. Well, maybe it's not the right kind of expression... I meant a different universe. My post covers western needs and according to Gemant there are few westerners that beat Blazing Star with one cred and even a lesser few, that did it w/o the use of auto-fire.

Well as far as I know I'm the only westerner that has cleared Strikers 1945 Plus both loops, and there is only 1 guy I know of who has cleared Aero Fighters 2 both loops. Have you tried playing the second loop of either of those games? They are absolutely murderous.
 

egg_sanwich

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True, but Japan is a different world. Well, maybe it's not the right kind of expression... I meant a different universe. My post covers western needs and according to Gemant there are few westerners that beat Blazing Star with one cred and even a lesser few, that did it w/o the use of auto-fire.

I've 1cced Blazing Star on my big red without auto fire. There's no randomness as far as I'm aware which makes it actually very manageable with a bit of practice. If playing for survival only, simply avoid all bonus items to keep rank manageable, memorize, done.
 

oliverclaude

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Well as far as I know I'm the only westerner that has cleared Strikers 1945 Plus both loops, and there is only 1 guy I know of who has cleared Aero Fighters 2 both loops. Have you tried playing the second loop of either of those games? They are absolutely murderous.

Your score wouldn't count according to Arcadia rules anyway, but who else can verify it? Did you sent your vid to someone who could vouch for you? Still, I never mix up verts & horis. By "hardest" I meant among horizontal scrollers. My bad, should've stated that more clearly.

I've 1cced...

I don't know you, where are you listed with your score? Which ship did you use? Which rank did you have on each stage? etc. etc. In these days of age, where one can't even trust pics or videos, such unsubstantial "reveals" like in your post are nothing more than a yawn -- and you know it.

If you are unable to acknowledge the difficulty of a game, even if it was an easy one for you, then what's the use of talking about it? Other than sharing platitudes of course, that's always an option I gather...
 

pegboy

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Your score wouldn't count according to Arcadia rules anyway, but who else can verify it? Did you sent your vid to someone who could vouch for you? Still, I never mix up verts & horis. By "hardest" I meant among horizontal scrollers. My bad, should've stated that more clearly.



I don't know you, where are you listed with your score? Which ship did you use? Which rank did you have on each stage? etc. etc. In these days of age, where one can't even trust pics or videos, such unsubstantial "reveals" like in your post are nothing more than a yawn -- and you know it.

If you are unable to acknowledge the difficulty of a game, even if it was an easy one for you, then what's the use of talking about it? Other than sharing platitudes of course, that's always an option I gather...

Most of my runs are on youtube, including the Strikers 1945 Plus. If you want to watch it here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKT2bKsfYC4. As far as verifying or it counting on arcadia,I mean I don't know what else to say other than yes it's 100% legit but I did play in MAME and use autofire (not that it makes much difference in Strikers really). MAME actually has pretty bad input lag for Strikers Plus so that actually makes it a bit harder as well. Anyway, I've spent the last year and a half trying to 2-ALL all of the Strikers games, and I've done II, III, and Plus so far, all I have left is the original game.

And yes, if you limit it to hori games then I'm sure Blazing Star is the hardest Neo-Geo shmup. Prehistoric Isle 2 is probably the easiest lol, although I love that game.
 

egg_sanwich

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Your score wouldn't count according to Arcadia rules anyway, but who else can verify it? Did you sent your vid to someone who could vouch for you? Still, I never mix up verts & horis. By "hardest" I meant among horizontal scrollers. My bad, should've stated that more clearly.



I don't know you, where are you listed with your score? Which ship did you use? Which rank did you have on each stage? etc. etc. In these days of age, where one can't even trust pics or videos, such unsubstantial "reveals" like in your post are nothing more than a yawn -- and you know it.

If you are unable to acknowledge the difficulty of a game, even if it was an easy one for you, then what's the use of talking about it? Other than sharing platitudes of course, that's always an option I gather...

I can acknowledge that the game is a challenge (no arcade game is a cake walk), but given the fact that there is no randomness (at low rank anyhow) and that rank management is very very manageable, it is an incredibly fair challenge. Anyone that thinks otherwise simply hasn't spent much time with it.

My score is not listed anywhere, nor is it worthy of being on any high score tables - it was purely a survival run and nothing more. You may find it hard to believe in "these days of age" that people play games for the pure enjoyment and challenge, not for some internet bragging rights.
 

lions3

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Gaiares

Did I beat it? no idea. Haven't touched the game since the first month or two after release. Rented it and a couple of us spent a weekend or two as kids trying to beat it. Still remember the music. Only recently stumbled across a youtube video that reminded me about the game. Hmmm... I wonder how stupid expensive it is these day.
 

FilthyRear

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I 1-cc'd R-Type Leo a few years back. It was a severe case of "beginner's luck" because I sure as shit can't do that again.

It was emu'd on an OG Xbox, tho.

The closest I got for a 1-cc where I really put my mind to it and learned patterns and such was Raiden Fighters Jet. I made it to the second to last stage (I died in 1 or 2 places), then my game just completely fell apart. I ended up getting so burned out that I haven't touched that game in years.
 

xorthen

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I have to say PC Engine has the most difficult shmups titles:
- rayxanber ii (it took me a long time to pass level two. I've heard level 4 is impossible to pass)
- rayxanber iii
- image fight ii (barely pass level one.....)

Neo Geo
- Pulstar (needless to say......)

Level 4 is a Nightmare, but it's doable with lots of practice. But it definitely raises the bar from level 3. It goes from Hard, to WTF this is insane.
 

Zak

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I find Truxton II incredibly difficult. It feels like you have to finish it on 1 life.
 

komidore64

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The shooter that surprised me the most in terms of difficulty would probably have to be Radiant Silvergun. I watched a couple play-throughs on YouTube and thought, "Oh this doesn't look so bad." I then tried it out on Xbox 360 and boy did I get destroyed so quickly. Managing / figuring out which weapon to use on which enemy proved to be a lot more difficult than it appeared. I've played it a few more times since then, but I've still not managed to do much better.
 

gtmartini

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It was pulstar on Neo Geo CD, the game has really great graphics and is good. But I gave up because I could not pass the level 2 even with all weapons cheat!
There is also Robo Aleste for Sega CD, but this one I didn't try so hard, was still pissed of with Pulstar. :annoyed:
 

gtmartini

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correction, I did not pass the third level boss. I'll give it another try soon, what I don't like is come back to the check point.
 

geise

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If I die on the 3rd level of Pulstar i hit reset and start over.
 
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