• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

The Mega-Cave Shooter Post, because they're totally awesome and sweet

Been playing Death Smiles over the last few days - got a 332 million clear with Follet. Last time I tried playing it, I really didn't enjoy it because I thought Death Mode was just a lazy, sloppy way to increase the difficulty, but it's a lot of fun once you put in the work to learn how to deal with everything. That being said, I still think DS2 is more fun because of its faster pace.

I wish Cave would make a DS3 that has the polish and completeness of DS1 with DS2's gameplay improvements. Maybe some day...
 

Dash Kappei

Not actually that important
Only themes and gamerpics.



DoDonPachi and Futari both have their Black Label modes as DLC. They are both very much worth it, especially Futari's. Don't know about the USB stick, I read that, too, but I personally never had any problems.

For DDP I guess the DLC is available on the Euro store I guess? 1600 points iirc? Damn, that's a lot, explain to me why is that worthy or if I should grab jpn points and go for Futari 1.5 BL dlc first... please? :)
 

danmaku

Member
For DDP I guess the DLC is available on the Euro store I guess? 1600 points iirc? Damn, that's a lot, explain to me why is that worthy or if I should grab jpn points and go for Futari 1.5 BL dlc first... please? :)

Futari BL is available on the EU store, too. The game is region free so the DLC was uploaded on every marketplace (it's named something like "Mushihimesama Hutari Black Lavel" but it's there). If I had to choose between them, I'd go for DDP BL, it's so much better than vanilla Daifukkatsu. The double shot mechanic tied to sadistic rank progression is great, it's a Yagawa game, and it shows. Futari BL is fun, but to me it feels like "Futari on steroids", like they wanted to inflate scores just for the hell of it. I prefer 1.5.
 

Yes Boss!

Member
Grumble, grumble.

So, I'm here stuck in Kyrgyzstan for a few days with wifi available for the first time after a year. Naturally, I download the three new iOS game. Get through with downloading the fwo new Mushi games (YAY!) but Blissfull Death says I need a device with a "forward-facing camera". The fuck. My trusty two-year old iPhone won't let me download. Very sad face ;-(
 
Grumble, grumble.

So, I'm here stuck in Kyrgyzstan for a few days with wifi available for the first time after a year. Naturally, I download the three new iOS game. Get through with downloading the fwo new Mushi games (YAY!) but Blissfull Death says I need a device with a "forward-facing camera". The fuck. My trusty two-year old iPhone won't let me download. Very sad face ;-(

Yep - the "forward-facing camera" requirement is the only way developers currently have to force you to use an iPhone 4/iPad 2 or later device. For whatever reason, Blissful Death was given higher system requirements even though people who have jailbroken their older devices says it works without issue.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
dat Saidaioujou OST @_@

So much techno goodness... even that hint of dubstep in the boss theme.
 

Yes Boss!

Member
Nice!

Been playing Bug Princess 1and 2 ALL DAY today.

The iOS games are easily my favorite Cave releases. But, I'm mostly a handheld game player.
 

Zeth

Member
holy shit @ Bug Princess 2 Black Label. Couldn't be better timing. I've been addicted to Futari BL for the past month and 100% of my iOS gaming is Futari/BP2 1.5. Boss Rush mode could be cool. It looks like the original Mushi bosses will be included in the same app?

The only thing that has me worried is "Purchase items to enhance your weapons!"
 

Zeth

Member
Can anyone tell me how I should set up my button layout for Deathsmiles/IIX? Is it one of the default styles? I usually like to start with the layout used in the arcade and go from there. I find it kind of disorienting coming from the horizontal shmups.
 
Can anyone tell me how I should set up my button layout for Deathsmiles/IIX? Is it one of the default styles? I usually like to start with the layout used in the arcade and go from there. I find it kind of disorienting coming from the horizontal shmups.

Left Shot / Right Shot / Bomb
Rapid Left / Rapid Right

is what I use on a stick.
 

BOTEC

Member
Can anyone tell me how I should set up my button layout for Deathsmiles/IIX? Is it one of the default styles? I usually like to start with the layout used in the arcade and go from there. I find it kind of disorienting coming from the horizontal shmups.

I like to do this as well, and I have a hell of a time finding that info out sometimes. The best resource is usually the game's official website "system" page (in Deathsmiles' case it's http://www.cave.co.jp/gameonline/deathsmiles2/k_item.html). The layout is as iconoclast described.

Some of the newer games (DDP DFK Black Label and Mishihimesama) have a "key dispaly" option which puts a little graphic of a stick and buttons with labels on the left side of the screen, so you can see what you're hitting and when. I appreciate that very much.
 
Man, Cave needs to stop with the Open Feint nonsense. They issue iOS app updates so frequently for the dumbest things like "Upgraded Open Feint to latest version." Man, who cares?! Who honestly. Cares. If you have multiple Cave games on your iDevice you have to download all these multi-hundred-MB updates...It's so corny...
 
Man, Cave needs to stop with the Open Feint nonsense. They issue iOS app updates so frequently for the dumbest things like "Upgraded Open Feint to latest version." Man, who cares?! Who honestly. Cares. If you have multiple Cave games on your iDevice you have to download all these multi-hundred-MB updates...It's so corny...

There's nothing forcing you to download the updates.
 

Zeth

Member
I'm trying to figure out when Bug Princess 2 BL will be out. TouchArcade says they expect it within the month. Is that usually the time between trailer and release for previous games?
 
But, they are forcing me to click the app just to get the badge to go away on both my phone and ipad.

I turned off badges for the Cave games a long time ago. You could also opt to just flat out not receive push notifications period. There isn't really much they can tell you of interest besides games/IAPs going on sale, and I think we do a good enough job of keeping this thread updated that we don't need every last Cave game lighting up to tell us too.
 

Zeth

Member
Sooner rather than later for BL. Reckon it will be out in a week or two.

That's what I wanted to hear, heh. I'm so excited for this. I get a lot of mileage out of the iOS ports and I think it works best with these games, so BL will be a nice addition. Maybe I'll make some progress in maniac, since I suck at it on 360.
 

shaowebb

Member
Okay am I blind or something? I just went to xboxlive.com and I live in the US. I look up Bullet hell and I see this.

Mushihimesama hutari black lavel
(yes its title is written in english on the site that way)
Is this real? I thought this was only for japanese 360's or something. Can I just buy it on Xboxlive's site and have it enqueue up in my downloads to play here on my US system?

Please someone tell me I can buy this.
 

Semblance

shhh Graham I'm still compiling this Radiant map
Okay am I blind or something? I just went to xboxlive.com and I live in the US. I look up Bullet hell and I see this.

Mushihimesama hutari black label

Is this real? I thought this was only for japanese 360's or something. Can I just buy it on Xboxlive's site and have it enqueue up in my downloads to play here on my US system?

Please someone tell me I can buy this.

It's the Black Label DLC, not the actual game itself. You still need the disk. Disk is region-free though.

Speaking of which, really I wish they'd put up DDP's DLC for US Live.
 

shaowebb

Member
It's the Black Label DLC, not the actual game itself. You still need the disk. Disk is region-free though.

Speaking of which, really I wish they'd put up DDP's DLC for US Live.

Thanks for clearing this up. When it came up I thought I had the chance to own Black Lable mode by itself and for that price I was going to dive on it. I still don't have the cash to get it imported yet.

On the plus side I do have akai katana and death smiles to enjoy and so long as they dont take it off xbla I'll be buying deathsmiles 2 at some point. also I saw an 80pt shmup in indie today called shoot 1up and its pretty fun. Easy to OP your ship in but what else is 80 spare points worth these days.

Soon though I'm gonna need some topdown from cave. All the US stuff is side scroll and I'd like to dive into either Mushihime or Espgaluda sometime on an import next year. If only they'd make a castle shikigami 4 to tide me over cheaply or something. At least I can score raiden aces cheap and with the gamestop $10 off used coupon this week I can maybe go in on raiden 4.

Guess I just wanted to play some topdown after all that Deathsmiles and such with my friend the other day.
 

Semblance

shhh Graham I'm still compiling this Radiant map
Soon though I'm gonna need some topdown from cave. All the US stuff is side scroll and I'd like to dive into either Mushihime or Espgaluda sometime on an import next year. If only they'd make a castle shikigami 4 to tide me over cheaply or something. At least I can score raiden aces cheap and with the gamestop $10 off used coupon this week I can maybe go in on raiden 4.

Guess I just wanted to play some topdown after all that Deathsmiles and such with my friend the other day.

You could always try Guwange or DoDonPachi Resurrection if you're looking for something fairly cheap and vertical / topdown. The former is 800 points on XBLA and the latter can be imported for $20 or less from Europe. Works on US consoles too.
 

shaowebb

Member
You could always try Guwange or DoDonPachi Resurrection if you're looking for something fairly cheap and vertical / topdown. The former is 800 points on XBLA and the latter can be imported for $20 or less from Europe. Works on US consoles too.

Reaaaaaaaaally :D
Time to hit some online stores.

Also since were talking cheap topdowns anyone else here play the freeware game Eden's Aegis?
QkBh0.jpg

Gameplay and the japanese site to download it

This thing is ridiculously good and its music is great. It has that gimmick of your bomb button both spraying bullet hell everywhere and converting all the enemy bullets on the screen to gold. You get 2 hits before a death in this one and losing a hit or life clears all bullets from the screen eliminating their potential cash conversion. Plays like a dream and has a 60 fps mode. Slowdown can occur similar to Mushihimesama games in particularly intense stuff which is cool for setting up cash conversions of big points.

Someone online said its highly inspired by Cave titles and it looks it. Is there a particular Cave shooter this plays like though because its really freaking good.
 
Eden's Aegis bears more than a passing resemblance to Espgaluda, but I haven't really played the game in enough detail to know if the game mechanics are all that similar.

Espgaluda is extremely awesome and well worth checking out.
 

shaowebb

Member
Eden's Aegis bears more than a passing resemblance to Espgaluda, but I haven't really played the game in enough detail to know if the game mechanics are all that similar.

Espgaluda is extremely awesome and well worth checking out.

Yeah Espgaluda and mushihimesama are my two big "wants" from my import list now that I know Dodonpachi isn't going to be expensive.

As far as Eden's Aegis goes here are the mechanics:

  • You have two normal shots. Tap it to get a wider spread and hold it to narrow the spread and rapid fire. The Rapid Fire version slows you down.
  • Your enemies drop Gold and you have to pick it up to collect the points from it.
  • You have a "bomb"-like move in this game, but instead of killing everything it converts all the bullets on the screen into gold and makes the Gold home in on you so you auto collect it. When this move is used you also let loose a barrage of shots. You have to kill your enemies with these as the move itself doesn't destroy your enemies and it just converts their bullets.
  • The more you fire your shots the faster your meter fills up. When this meter is full you gain access to a special attack that depletes the meter. This attack launches additional shots alongside of your own that tend to home in on enemies they pass near. Kill an enemy with this shot and it will convert that enemy's bullets that are still on the screen into Gold and you will auto collect them. This acts like a mini version of the bomb but it only converts the bullets of who you kill.
  • You get 2 hits, 3bombs, and 2 lives. The first time you are hit it says "guard" and eliminates all bullets on the screen eliminating any chance to convert those shots into money after you recover. When you die all shots are cleared as well so that you cant simply respawn and drop a bomb to be rewarded for bad play. Each new life restores your two bombs.
  • There are 5 levels and each have sub bosses and really great music.
  • You can earn credits (continues), but I'm not certain at what point total they are awarded.
  • There are only 2 playable cast unless there are more to unlock and I've somehow not heard of it.
  • If you beat it on hell difficulty without losing any lives you get to face the true final boss.

So how similar does this sound to Espgaluda and Mushimesama?
 

japtor

Member
Is is anything ever coming to Andriod?
I was going to say "at least you got an original shooter"...then remembered DDP Max was for Windows Phone.

Well it got some ports, I guess they're still just stuck in Japan/Asia cause Android's store system?
 

shaowebb

Member

shaowebb

Member
Odd story...
Got bored with school and the internet and left to walk through a random store. I tried out K-mart since its a rare trip to make for me. Apparently they had games marked down to lik 1.99 and 99.

I stopped a clerk and asked him to scan those to make sure that was the real price given that there were other stickers. Nope...they were PENNIED OUT.

Came home with Sin and Punishment for the Wii, and for PSP Star Ocean First Departure, Buzz! Master Quiz, and Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake.

Booya.

Also I've been playing Akai Katana Slash mode and I am confused as hell with this game compared to how easy it was to strategize in Deathsmiles for loot. In plane mode I pop my satellite as close to enemies as I can. If I tap I get bigger green thingies and if I hold I get smaller ones. These fill my meter which is used to extend my time in Phantom mode. Phantom mode seems invincible so long as I tap, but I could be wrong. When I hold it I generate a ton of hits and start to produce swords. If I manually switch back to plane they fire.

I have no idea how I'm getting the yellow things, or metal or how to strategize for points here. Please someone explain this to me because I'm really confused here. Isn't there a way to increase the value of stuff before flipping modes for more points? My score is terrible right now and I know I got to be misunderstanding all this attack/defense mode stuff because I'm not making any profit here.
 

Zeth

Member
Making some nice progress with Futari Black Label original. High scores is 500mil (Reco) right now but I should be able to hit 650-700. I've done it in Normal Play, just been having bad luck in score attack and little patience lately. Restartitis is super frustrating.

Finally hit 60mil for stage 1, which is close to the high end of what's possible if I'm not mistaken, so that's pretty encouraging (edit: best replays are more like 75mil, oops). Major areas I need to work on are maximum milking/shedding on midbosses, specifically stage 2 and 3. And stage 5 in general needs the most practice because I end up playing it so little compared to the others, and it gets really hectic with a high counter. Though it rarely happens, I try to keep it under 100k in the event that I no miss up to stage 4/5

I really want to try BL Maniac, but I get my ass handed to me in stage 3 if not stage 2. Am I right in thinking BL Maniac is a bit easier than 1.5 Maniac? The meter is much easier to keep up in BL and there's lots of slow down. I guess if Maniac destroys me I can work on 1.5 original, which is easier than Maniac but decidedly less fun than BL for me.

I really hope Bug Princess 2 Black Label is released soon. Will be awesome to have that game in my pocket.
 

Zeth

Member
Looks like Bug Princess 2 Black Label is out tomorrow (23 June) in the US. $13.99.

I expect some will be unhappy with that, but I'm super excited anyway. I've fallen in love with this game recently. Can't get enough.
 

hongcha

Member
I wonder why such a high price. I was going to grab it for $5 like the other two Bug princess games, but I'll wait for a sale for this one.
 

vall03

Member
yeah, was hoping there was some release day discount or something, might probably get it around early July since I also want to get DoDonPachi Resurrection.
 
Yay!

Kinda pricey but I'm sure there will be sales at some point.

No early adopter discount?

The website has a footnote saying $13.99 is the full price. Not sure why that would be there if they weren't planning on the usual day one sale. I'm sure the cave_world_en Twitter will announce the day one pricing when they're ready.
 

Yes Boss!

Member
Probably just testing around with pricing models, I guess.

Still not bad but folks will complain. $9.99 would have been a nice price.

Still bought, no problem from me, this price.
 

hongcha

Member
So this week, MrMonkeyMan over at shmups became the first westerner to clear the Ura Loop

Amazing accomplishment! But what do you mean by "westerner" and why do you make the distinction? All those in America and European countries? All non-japanese? Is it racial or geographic? For example, how are Japanese born and raised in England classified? Or a Caucasian born and raised in Japan?

I read this a lot in discussions about shmups, but I don't get why a distinction between Japan and "the West" is made for accomplishments done in these games. I don't really see that for other genres.
 
Amazing accomplishment! But what do you mean by "westerner" and why do you make the distinction? All those in America and European countries? All non-japanese? Is it racial or geographic? For example, how are Japanese born and raised in England classified? Or a Caucasian born and raised in Japan?

I read this a lot in discussions about shmups, but I don't get why a distinction between Japan and "the West" is made for accomplishments done in these games. I don't really see that for other genres.

Basically a geographic distinction, specifically to delineate between two separate arcade cultures.

The North American/European culture which ended in the late 90s, where AFAIK Raiden III was the last localized shooter PCB. No CAVE games, no Grev games, no Raizing AFAIK. In other words the most interesting, most evolved era of shooters never came to these areas, so there was never a proper culture like there is in Japan.

Really I think there should be two categories: Japan and non-Japan really. Chinese players like x91 have turned in some amazing scores on CAVE shooters and I know there is a small Korean scene. The difference is the depth of knowledge, the dedication to learning the game, geographical spread and sheer numbers of players.

In that sense I think a distinction is fair. Not something to be used as a crutch by any means. People should aim for the sky. Players like MrMonkeyMan, Gus, Zaarock, NTSC-J, EOJ, Iconoclast and others have put up scores that directly compete with Japanese players on the Xbox360 as well as on PCBs. Similar dedication can produce similar results.

And re: your last point I think there are distinctions made in other genres actually. For instance in SF, Sabin is the best Dhalsim in the west, Justin the best Rufus. Who is the best in the world? We find out at Evo (or in shooters' case, in Arcadia).
 

Yes Boss!

Member
Downloaded!

Though the game is effectively a little over $20 if you add the Boss Rush Mode ($7 additional).

Bought both.

They do let you play once a day if you don't want to pay the additional $7, though.

Mushi and Mushi 2 Boss modes are separate and not globbed together. Looks like the cycle and get harder and harder...looks like it will be great fun.
 

vall03

Member
Downloaded!

Though the game is effectively a little over $20 if you add the Boss Rush Mode ($7 additional).

Bought both.

They do let you play once a day if you don't want to pay the additional $7, though.

Mushi and Mushi 2 Boss modes are separate and not globbed together. Looks like the cycle and get harder and harder...looks like it will be great fun.

wait what?! so thats what the IAPs are for?
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Whoa... $14 for Bug Princess 2 Black Label?

Sorry Cave.. can't do that. You're crazy. Waiting for a sale for sure.
 
Top Bottom