- Some time back in January/February, I got in my head that maybe I could become a shmup guy. Didn’t really have any basis for this, simply a fleeting thought. Without looking anything up or trying to learn anything at all about the hobby, I figured I should at least beat Gradius on the NES, since that was the original shmup. My thinking was, if you can’t beat that, then you are not cut out for any of these types of games
- So, I’ve been practicing Gradius off and on, a few times a day, since earlier this year. The run I’ve just completed is a totally legitimate run, no deaths, save states, no Konami codes, a real “1cc.”
- I did have to use a LOT of save states to practice, but I knew I could not claim victory and say I’ve “beat” this game until I put it all together for 1 perfect run. The date stamp on this post is when I’ve finally done it.
- If you are going to attempt this, (which you should!) then do not make my mistake and go playing it on the Switch virtual console. I was practicing back and forth between this and the Analog, and this is the type of game you WANT a d-pad for. The analog stick makes things so much harder than they need to be. Almost all of my Analog runs went better than my Switch runs. Obviously the pictured win is a Switch run, but I don’t suggest that at all. I think I only did it by coincidence.
- Leading up to this finish, I had so many blown runs where I wanted to do the warp after the Moai heads because I wanted to skip Stage 4 (reverse volcano). However, I messed this up enough times that I ended up getting really good at the reverse volcano and wouldn’t have even needed to skip it. But, of course, on the run that’s actually successful, I did do the Moai skip correctly and didn’t have to do reverse volcano
- This game inflicts something on you psychologically where if you practice the later levels for several hours at a time, you become terrible at the earlier levels. I assume that’s due to the importance of getting powered up early. Get good at shield management (and/or get good at unlocking turbo mode) and you really flounder without it.
- After spending some time with this game, I started to really “get” how the game is trying to tell you when to be careful vs when to be aggressive. It feels good to get in the zone like that; for a game so simple, the whole system is shockingly well-made once you start thinking about it.
- I think I’m on the way to doing what I originally thought, which was ‘become a shmup guy.’ Pls suggest me beginner shmups on Twitter and Mastodon!
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サーフィン CLASSIC VIDYA REVIEW
Gradius
(Completed on 17 Jun 2024)
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サーフィン CLASSIC VIDYA REVIEW
Astro Boy Omega Factor
(Completed on 29 May 2024)
- Is this THE most slept-on game on the GBA??? I don’t remember anyone talking about it in its’ time but WOW is it awesome
- I cannot recall another action game besides maybe NES Ninja Gaiden which is this satisfying to control
- Rough summary of what’s going on: You are Astro Boy, and you are trying to save the world from…. something? (The plot makes no sense anyway if you’re not familiar with the manga, which I am not). In order to save the world, you must fight your way through stages which are sometimes beat-em-up style and sometimes shooter style. Many stages contain bosses at the end. There are unlimited lives and unlimited continues. Absolutely nothing in the game is missable. Since you’re a robot who is trying to develop a soul, you power up when you meet people, talk to them, solve their problems, etc.
- Sometimes feels like it’s only a boss rush style game, which is a good thing, because that is when combat is at its’ best
- Makes you do 2 loops in order to fully beat it, and this is one of the few instances where I had absolutely no problem at all with that. It’s not easy, but it’s so, so much fun that you can’t help yourself. When the first loop is done you don’t want to stop playing anyway.
- Very creative bit of game design / plot device: Loop 1 is entirely linear, and only after beating it, a “stage select” screen opens up. Without spoiling anything, there are plot reasons that you can now go to any stage you want. This matters a lot with regard to progression, because in Loop 2, you have to do things out of order, search for specific people to talk to, replay stages in different ways, etc. You would think it would be stale but it absolutely isn’t.
- Music was kinda hit or miss but maybe I’d like it if I had seen the show? Doesn’t really matter anyway because the game is so fast paced, and each individual level is so short, that nothing overstays its’ welcome
- Unfortunately, the good people at Treasure may have swung for the fences a little too hard when it comes to graphics. There are quite a few slowdowns, especially with lots of enemies on the screen, but IWABH I had stockholmed myself so hard that I started to welcome it, because it at least gives you a little more time to think when tons of stuff is flying at you at once.
- Not just one of the best games on the GBA! It is one of the finest action games ever made. Highly, highly recommended.
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I bet this is really nice if you're not already entrenched in vim or something
