Apidya

ChanceTime

ChanceTime

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Been playing this a bunch recently and I want the world to know. Despite that, I'm still absolutely fucking awful at Shmups, but this one is the only one I know of wherein I can play as a bee.

Anyone like this shit? Maybe other 2D scrolly shooty game suggestions? Amiga suggestions? Games with playable bee avatars?

First person to post a still of the rat boss gets several expired Halloween sweets.
 
i was really surprised when i saw this in the new thread list

I used to be really into shmups of all kinds during my teenage years, but my passion has waned over the years as I've migrated to other genres more manageable with my dyspraxia. That being said, here's Glowsquid's Certainly Flawed™ list of Essential smhups

Horizontal

Bio-Hazard Battle
Darius Gaiden
Gradius III (SNES)
Gradius Gaiden
Hyper Duel
In The Hunt
Last Resort
R-Type (duh)
R-Type II
R-Type Leo
R-Type Delta
Thunderforce III
Thunderforce IV

Vertical

Batsugun
Dangun Feveron
Dodonpachi
Gigawing
Raiden
Raiden DX
Rayforce
Silpheed (Sega CD ver)
Striker 1945 II
Super Star Soldier


i'm a big fan of other games I've not listed (Alpha Mission 2, Twin Cobra II, most of toaplan's output... etc) but I tried to keep it to gaems that are universally considered to be at least good, and that I've played sufficiently. I'll be happy to elaborate if needed.

Games with playable bee avatars?
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... Buck Bumble?
 
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Glowsquid said:
That being said, here's Glowsquid's Certainly Flawed™ list of Essential smhups
Click to expand...

That helps a lot, thanks.

There's also Ikaruga which is apparently really good. My local game shop uploaded a photo of a copy on the Gamecube they had, but sadly it went before I got there, which was a shame. Sadly I'm a complete pleb which shows by the list; Of them I've only played the Master System version of R-Type, and Thunderforce 3.

I thoroughly enjoy Apidya's powerup system, though I'm pretty sure there's others like it. Is it Gradius where you can pick when the weapon upgrade happens? I don't know how to describe it properly, really.

Oh yeah and for bee avatars, there's Pinobee I guess. It's not great.
 
yeah, Apidya's power up system is lifted wholesale from Gradius. An handful of other games also have it (on top of my head, Ajax and V-Five)

I've bolded Gradius Gaiden above because it's truly a special game, and I figure it warrants some elaboration. There's a lot to like about it, like...

The ability to completely rearrange the power-up bar, avoiding a lot of the unstable equilibirum that made most of the older Gradius love or-hate it.

The excellent visuals and soundtrack

But the best thing about it is the stage design. The 2nd level is a junkyard made of the wrecked bosses from the previous Gradius games. Another is a series of volcanos that's being sucked into a black hole... etc. It's varied and creative, and plays with the series conventions brilliantly.

The game was rereleased as part of Gradius Collection on the PSP, which is on psn.
 
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I'll definitely be sure to check out Gaiden, but in general I've really neglected Gradius. I'll pick up III for my SNES if I ever see it. Darius was also featured in Rainbow Islands which is a pretty clear sign I should take a look at that, too.
 
The first half of the Darius series gets somethin of a bum rap (which i suspect is due to HG101 rather terrible writeup of the series), but I think at the very least Darius II is worth playing. I don't like the original much, tho.

one of the big draw of the series (and taito's other arcade games from the period) is their sometimes trippy, often beautiful soundtrack by zuntata. I mean, this is the first stage's theme in darius gaiden:

 
Melluh said:
how could you forget to mention player two is a smaller bee

I FEEL OPRESSED
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To anyone confused by this, Mel actually identifies as a drone kin. Thus far Apidya is the only game to give her representation, and that's just not good enough considering she's weighed down by being Player 2. You don't know opression until you're completely denied a Queen to mate with.

WHERE'S THE JUSTICE, PEOPLE.
 
Thunder Force II's deal is that it has two type of gameplay - horizontal sequences like the sequels (albeit considerably more difficult - for one you lose all weapons when you die, not just the currently equipped one), but also freeform overhead stages where you need to destroy all bases in the level to progress. The overhead gameplay is... not good at all.

I limited the list to games I have extensively played. Thunder Force II has a following with hardcore mega drive fans, but I didn't play it much.
 
Glowsquid said:
As far as SCD shmups go, Android Assault is pretty neat!

Click to expand...

Oh hey, seems like it!

That title, though. I want you to imagine a cartoon for young kids, right. You know how they'd usually have offish generic titles to in-universe shows and vidya? Like that bit in Help I'm A Fish wherein Fly says "I need to install Space Blaster!"? 'Android Assault' sounds so that.

"DW, what are you doing?! That's my Android Assault disc you've broken in half to make a necklace!"

and then Arthur would rip out her heart and hold it up to the moon and dance while praising an Aztec god as blood rained down everywhere.

That show was a bit inappropriate considering it's for kids. :c
 
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