Ketsui : #13

Current High Score: 91.947.608 - Stage 5 - Panzer Jager

After about twenty credits (which included two credit-feeding clears), I managed to pull another 91 million score, but it was still not high enough to surpass my personal best. I'm hitting a wall with this game.

Again, I managed to make it to Stage 4 with one life--and to top that off, survived through most of that bullet-ridden stage without any bombs in stock. I even destroyed the first nightmare (pictured here) and managed to get 5-Chips off him. There are tanks that roll out on the bottom of the screen, and they can be used to set the 5-Chip counter right before he's about to die. His two angry brothers got revenge on me though, as one of them trapped me in the corner and killed me with that blue spread shot. I have no idea how to score against those particular nightmares, but someday I'll figure it out, or I'll check out the superplay for once.

From Stages 1-3, I was calm and precise enough to survive, but right before I died, I was beginning to fall apart. I was getting the shakes since I was feeling really excited and then my hands started to get cold. When this happens, I'll do stupid things like tap-dodge right into a bullet I was able to dodge a million times before. I lost two lives in between my first death and the 4th boss. Two stupid deaths. What a waste of life. But oh well, shit happens.

Ketsui : #12

Current High Score: 91.947.608 - Stage 5 - Panzer Jager

**Picture above is a beautiful screen shot sven666 took of Ketsui crashing during the first stage.

I made it to the last boss last night. I had one life left with 4 bombs, and I thought I could take him--but instead, I foolishly crashed into a bullet and died. I fell over and screamed obscenities to myself for a couple minutes.

I was kicking so much ass in the beginning. I 1-lifed towards the end of the fourth stage before choking hard with three stupid deaths. I then made it to the last stage with three lives left and missed the special extend too. My new roommate, who was just moving in that evening, came out to check out what I was screaming about. He was into rhythm games so he could relate to my experience.

For the past week, I have been taking a short break from shooters because I was starting to get tired of them and felt like playing something slower or just doing something else entirely. So I read through an unfinished book I once wrote in High School and started taking up the guitar (an old classical acoustic that was sitting in my garage).

So last night was the first time I played in a while. It took several pathetic runs before I suddenly managed to pull a good one. Even though I made it to the last boss, my score was still lower than my highest score (91--almost, though), which kind of sucks because I realized that even if I did beat the last boss, my score would probably be below 100 million, which sucks because everyone who has finished the 1st loop on the Ketsui High Score Thread (on the Shmups! Board) has scores over 100 million, so naturally, I'd expect my score to at least be higher than that.

Oh well. My Stage 4 and 5 scores are sloppy, being bomb and death-ridden as hell anyway, so that's where the problem is.

FIGHT LIKE A ROBOT

Ketsui #11

Current High Score: 91.947.608 - Stage 5 - Panzer Jager

The war against EVAC Industry continues. After plugging away at this game on a daily basis ever since I hit that last high score, I still haven't even come near it. I am starting to get a little burned out, but the game still remains fun whenever I come back after a period of time.

Whenever I'm on a roll, I feel almost invincible...until I get that first death. And then all of that energy is lost from that one single death. Dying early between the first and second stage is even worse. The emotions start to kick in, and I immediately feel like I want to restart whenever that happens.

That's when I have to start killing emotions and push through, because that's all I can do if I hope to gain anything more from that run. Can't let stupid deaths like that get in the way of my enjoyment. Self-defeating emotions like that have no role in shooting games. As that one game Berzerk once said: Fight like a robot.

Pictured above is my first high score I took a picture of back in November. 28 million on Stage 4 and 6.7 million on Stage 2! I'm glad I've come a long way since then. ; )

Dodonpachi DOJ: #2

New High Score: 54.810.500 - Stage 5 - Type A - Exy

This was a lucky run. I somehow managed to grow some balls and gave DOJ what it wanted and pulled off some high chains on the first level. I broke 10 million on the first stage, which is definitely a personal best, and I got the extend. Usually, I finish Stage 1 with just 5-6 million, and then I'd get the extend towards the end of Stage 2. I notice when you chain well right off the bat, it is then so much easier to score higher after that. I guess there is a "no shit" attached to that.

For Stage 3-4, it was a survival fest. I have no idea how I managed to get past Stage 4 and its boss, since I never practice Stage 4. I honestly believe that the fourth stage is much easier than the third, because I absolutely hate those propeller ships from Stage 3 that fill the screen with bullets, forcing me into a corner so I can disgrace myself with a panic bomb.

Dodonpachi DOJ: #1

New High Score: 31.484.490 - Stage 4 - Type A - Exy

Since I have both Ketsui and DOJ hooked up at the same time in my cab, I've been putting in a few runs in between sessions with Ketsui. What I do is credit-feed through Ketsui to practice the later stages until I "beat it", and as the credits role, I'll switch to DOJ and play one run. That way, I don't have to waste time sitting there waiting for Ketsui to be ready again since you can't skip the ending. Or, if I get tired of Ketsui, I'll play DOJ. And vice-versa.

So out of the blue one day, I manage to break 31 million, which is my highest score yet...and it isn't much at all, given a respectable Japanese score is over 1 billion points.

Scoring well in DOJ is so reliant on chaining, that merely surviving is not enough. You could pull the craziest dodging to keep yourself alive for two loops, yet you can never leave an impression on DOJ unless you can chain properly. It's like confidence and women. Sure, you can work hard to impress her with a nice car, a nice job, getting skilled and knowledgeable in everything women are into, but if you're either insecure or lack the confidence to take the initiative, you could be pulling rabbits out of hats or hoisting elephants on your shoulders, and she won't even give you a second glance.

Same goes for DOJ. If you can't chain worth shit, your score isn't going to get anywhere. That's basically where I am with this game. I've been playing on and off for a couple years, and while my dodging has improved tremendously over the years, I still cannot consistently chain the beginning of the first stage. It's like, "LOOK, DOJ! I can make it past two bullet-ridden stages without losing any lives AND I've used all my Hypers! I've even used them on the bosses. Plus, I got to Stage 4! Aren't you proud of me?!"

"Oh, that's nice. What's your highest chain?"

"Um, 503."

"No score for you!" (Throws its head back and laughs, walking away.)

It is frustrating, and I hate it. But somehow, I just keep crawling back to the game because I can't get enough of this punishment. I have such a masochistic relationship with this game, and yet, I love it, even when it kicks my ass 100% of the time.

Need some room to breathe...

Ketsui #10

New High Score: 91.947.608 - Stage 5 - Panzer Jager

I still have the shakes from this run, and as I am typing this, I'm taking deep breaths while listening to some trance so I can calm down. My god, I thought I was going to beat it tonight. So close. I was just a couple enemies away from reaching the last boss. I let those bombs fly, panic bombing whenever I got cornered or when it was clear I could not weave past a pattern. Can't let myself die until I use up all those bombs. I sometimes do better when I know I don't have any bombs left, though.

I didn't play yesterday, so the initial runs were crap. I know why. Whenever I try to make things perfect in the first two levels I ALWAYS die. ALWAYS. So I tried something different. Fuck trying to be perfect at scoring. Worry about that after you complete the first loop. It's okay to score in places where you're confident you won't die, but when it comes to the point where you're putting your life on the line for 500K points, forget it. Bomb. The game actually rewards no-missing a stage a lot in its end-of-stage bonus--a single death can costs millions, while having a lot of lives stacked will grant you a large enough bonus that it will make up for shitty scoring (at least for my standards). So fuck pride. Pride only hurts.

So with that in mind, I managed to 1-life up towards the middle of the fourth stage on two subsequent runs, grabbing every extend, and then making it to stage 5. On the 91 mill run, I finally managed to get that 1-up in stage 5 for the first time. Don't know how I managed that so abruptly, but I just made sure that Panzer Jager went down before I did, without using any bombs (I didn't have any when I took him on anyway).

I have to figure out a way to make it to the last boss with at least 3 bombs, and I can take him. Tomorrow will only tell.

Dodonpachi DAI-OU-JOU (Cave/AMI, 2002)

Death is a natural part of life. Just as there is birth, there is also death waiting at the very end of the bargain. Nothing lasts forever, and everything comes to an end. It is the way nature works. Why not accept the idea and embrace it? Because once we have accepted death as a natural part of life, then we have also made amends with another natural part of life as well: with living.

The subtitle of Cave's third sequel to their flagship DoDonPachi series reads "Dai-Ou-Jou", which translates to "die a natural death" or "peaceful death". I see it this way: DDP-DOJ is a game that is so hard, that you better get used to the idea of dying if you want to enjoy it. The rule can be applied to every other shooter, but DOJ embraces this idea with its title, along with its beautifully poetic poster art, which stands with me as one of the greatest videogame covers ever made.

Contrary to what I mentioned about its difficulty, the game itself isn't that impossibly hard; it is playing it the way it wants you to play it (for score), which makes it incredibly difficult, and that is through its chaining system while dealing with its rank. That, in addition to filling the entire screen with bullets the moment you enter Stage 1, a more difficult second loop, and a true last boss with bullet patterns that will wring out the acid from your stomach.

A lot of people point out that this game is evil for many reasons. One reason is the rank system. Whenever you're surviving and scoring well at the same time, it will "reward" you with a special power-up known as a "Hyper", which you can activate by pressing the bomb button.

Collecting and utilizing these Hypers will grant your ship some extreme firepower that could rival the power of the Sun, causing you to rip through enemies while blowing your chain counter through the roof. While using a Hyper during a boss, though, the bullets speed up, increasing your chances of death. So doing this while facing a boss can be an insane decision akin to suicide, but the rewards for scoring will be immense. Plus, it provides for an exhilarating experience for dodging bullets.

As though that weren't enough, each time you use a Hyper, the entire game gets incrementally harder, or ranks up, and bullets will travel faster, but it will all cancel out when you die or use a bomb, making the game manageable until you start kicking ass again.

But this is just the beginning. I haven't even gotten started on the chaining. Chaining is the root of its scoring system.

So even after you begin to make dramatic improvements at DOJ, it still feels as though the game remains a step ahead of you at all times, and you don't feel like you can handle the game until you've spent some serious time with it. Thinking about it this way, I could devote my entire life mastering DOJ. I've played it on and off for years since I got the PS2 port, and I still cannot chain the first section of Stage 1 consistently. Maybe my brain isn't wired to intuitively chain enemies or something, but all I know is, if I wanted to, I would have to spend a lot of time getting the hang of it before I got anywhere.

But that isn't why I play DOJ (yet, at least). I love playing it just to see how far I can make it or to see if I can finally nail a chain for a stage. It's not a game I'd like to exclusively devote to, but it is great to play in small doses especially after playing Ketsui, since it deals a lot of punishing frustration, but I always come back to it. I keep my expectations low when I approach DOJ, because I really do believe it takes a masochistic streak to come back to it everyday to get your ass handed to you (but then again, don't all shooters do that?). Despite that, I love the way the game feels. The Type-A ship (paired with Exy) is neither too fast nor too slow for me, and switching from rapid C shot to button A laser feels so satisfyingly responsive, that I can only blame myself if I break a chain or die that peaceful death.

Sometimes I wonder about how popular the DOJ PCB would have been if Arika never ported it to the PS2. Would it have surpassed the ludicrous price of a Ketsui kit or even the relatively insane price of a bare Guwange box (which went for hundreds a while back)? I own both the port and the PCB, so I can attest that I love the game, despite not being good at it at all, but I do wonder.

Ketsui : #9

New High Score: 82.872.280 - Stage 5 - Panzer Jager

I must be on fire or something. Right after breaking a new high yesterday, I sat down and broke another one today! This time I managed to survive past the part in Stage 5 where I died last time (those goddamn kamikaze planes with the suicide bullets).

I had more lives than I did before, so I had an advantage since there were more bombs to spare. I made it to the part where you're going underground and managed to dodge my way up to that moment before you fight the last boss where you start facing your own helicopters.

If I had one more life, I could have beat the last boss, given I had some luck with the dodging, since I could probably beat him if I had at least three bombs to use. I did miss the Stage 5 1-up since I bombed at the part where you're taking on the Tiger Schwerts before the mid-boss. I need to find a way to get that next time, since having one additional life could be the difference between clearing it or not.

Playing for survival is the way to go. I will try not to bomb in the first two stages, but when I begin to get cornered by bullets as I'm aggressively trying to get those 5-chips, I will bomb, since I'll usually die when I don't. I hate it when I have to dodge bullet spreads shot literally a ship distance away from me and then dying with a full bomb stock. Pride makes me do stupid things. After Stage 2, the gloves are off. It's all about dying without any bombs from that point on.

My Stage 4 score is ass though. I think my overall chip counter read 500 after I vanquished that super-tank boss. Why do I feel like I can't get any better at this game, yet I know for a fact that if I kept playing, I will? That's the glass ceiling shooters give us, this feeling that they are impossible, but they're really not. That glass ceiling does not exist.

There is no spoon.

Stayin' Alive

Ketsui: #8

New High Score: 77.072.835 - Stage 5 - Panzer Jager

Yes, now I remember what made Ketsui fun. : )

"Bombing like a wuss" isn't the correct term to describe it anymore. It's more like stayin' alive than anything else. Caring about your lives, putting stock in them, and then doing whatever you can to keep that bullet from your hitbox. It's almost like having self-respect, where you will not tolerate any abuse. It's like protecting those you love.

I was playing way too risky before, so it was then becoming normal for me to die out by Stage 2. I would throw away my lives for the score--and the sacrifice wasn't worth the lives and bombs I'd waste. All of those accumulated deaths were beginning to wear me down, as you can notice in the last couple posts.

I survived past the Stage 5 midboss this time, barely limping away as he exploded while I had no bombs in stock and only one life left. And then came those goddamn kamikaze planes, which forced me into the bottom-left corner. I somehow managed to toss the ship over piles of suicide bullets, thinking I made it, and then just before I knew it, I smashed into a lone suicide bullet and died a peaceful death. Good times.

Enjoying the Process

Ketsui: #7

Current High Score: 73.568.896 - Stage 5 - Panzer Jager

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

--Lao-tzu

The last couple of days were frustrating, with runs at 40 million being tough, while hitting the rare 50 million being the unexpected high. My stick was becoming loose, so I tightened it yesterday, making the movements feel less slippery. My scores for the first two levels are getting better, but I'll die earlier as a result because I'm taking more risks as regards to collecting those 5-chips.

I got the timing down for getting the extra 5-chips from those two bombers in stage 1. The trick is while holding C-Shot, press and hold down the A-Shot just as the plane begins spewing that pink bullet spread. Results may vary, since I use the Panzer Jager. This is also assuming you are about one-ship distance away from the plane and are spraying it with your C-Shot the moment it enters the screen.

Lately, I've been a huge bullet magnet, and I have to admit, it is pissing me off. Bullets somehow manage to find my hit box, and I will die in an instant. I'll just be cruising up to an enemy for a close shot, and the first bullet that comes out of him nails me, and then all sorts of negative thoughts fill my mind. I lose chips from my overall counter. My end of the level bonus is now lessened. I'll have one less ship now. I died with a full bomb stock. It is so demoralizing I'll just end up losing more lives from the shock of this first death. But then again...

FUCK THAT. Enough bitching. I've just realized that it was wrong of me to feel so frustrated over not being able to score higher than my previous high. If I can only have a good time whenever I beat my high score, then where's the fun after I accomplish that? The vicious cycle continues.

So after re-reading some Taoist texts (recommended= The Tao of Pooh), I've begun to remember again that it is the process which I should be enjoying, and not just the end result of getting that high score. It only takes one good run to get that high score--and that is accomplished after 20 or so minutes. That's 20 or so minutes of pure bliss. How much time is spent before that? It could be months spent practicing. If those months are pure misery and hard work, then where's the fun in that? Why the hell do I even bother then if it isn't good for me? Someone once told me that if you're going to stick to something, you better find ways to make it enjoyable, or else you're going to get burned out.

When was Ketsui most fun for me? I say I had the most fun when I was bombing more or before I began getting anal about scoring. Hell, I can't even finish the first loop, and I'm still getting stingy over using those bombs. So make sure I die without any bombs in stock, and don't pay so much attention to score? Yeah, that will be easy. Also, when I die early, I shouldn't give up either. Just keep it up and see where it goes.

Ketsui : #6

Current High Score: 73.568.896 - Stage 5 - Panzer Jager

Was able to get up to 65 million on Stage 4, so at least I know I'm making some kind of progress, since my average highest for the day is increasing. Some days my highest will be in the 50s, though, which is great because there was a time it was once around the 40s. I'm getting more consistent with getting 30 mill by the end of the second stage, and have hit 33 a few times. In terms of total score, though, I am still inconsistent as hell.

I remember how Progear would piss me off because I was so inconsistent at it. Well, Ketsui is much worse, I think, but for some reason, it doesn't piss me off so much. I think it's more because I was so impatient with Progear, thinking I'll 1CC it really soon, that I got frustrated when it didn't happen. I think I know why I was so impatient. It was because deep down, I really wanted to play Ketsui, but I was passing up on it even though I had the resources to obtain it at the time.

Ketsui : #5

Current High Score: 73.568.896 - Stage 5 - Panzer Jager

If today's session taught me anything, it is to appreciate what you've got. I managed 63 million twice today--which I would have felt great about if I hadn't set the bar so high with that last amazing run.

That's the thing with shooters. Once you break that personal high score of yours, you're not satisfied until you beat that score the next time you play, so there's this high and low effect. At least that's how it is with me. I'll be all excited and exuberant from doing so well one day, and then my expectations are higher for me the next time I play. The pressure's on. Then when I fail to break a new personal record, I'll start feeling a little discouraged or frustrated. It's like I can only have the most fun whenever I get a personal best. That's really demanding, since the better I get at it, the more I will have to outdo myself to get that "high" again.

I can only imagine what it's like for those that can loop this game--or hell, for those that want to spar with DOOM. For the uninitiated, in order to meet DOOM, you have to no-miss, no-bomb the first loop with a score higher than 120 million to unlock the Ura Loop--which is super-fucking hard compared to the first loop--and then you'll have to survive through that to get to the final boss, kick his ass, and then out comes DOOM, a true last boss so sinister, he will make you wet your pants. And then what happens after that? You're a legend that just took on a legendary boss. So far, it seems like only one western player has beat DOOM, and that is the obscenely skilled "MrMonkeyMan". His replays are on youtube. Insanity.

Ketsui : #4

New High Score: 73.568.896 - Stage 5 - Panzer Jager

My hands are still trembling from this run as I am typing this. I was so excited that I couldn't even enter in my initials right. What a great run. A 13 million point increase from my previous score!

I played like crap earlier though. Hours before this run, my highest score was like 46 million, and it felt like an unbreakable ceiling trying to pass that score--and my other scores hovered around 8 million. I even sucked badly when I credit-fed. It wasn't until I had some dinner and ended up watching that Jodie Foster movie "Little Man Tate" on TV that I came back and kicked some ass. I also had Letterman on TV behind me, so maybe that had something to do with it. I don't like Letterman, by the way. I never found him to be that funny--maybe his humor is too smart for me or something.

My first small goal was to get 30 million by the time I got to stage 3, since I always got around 27-29 million after the 2nd level tank boss. I guess I just had to get more efficient with collecting the 5 Chips. And then I managed to break 31 million, twice. The first time I did that was for the 58 mill run in the picture above, but I would end up dying in these stupid, back-to-back deaths, until I ruined a potentially good run. So I dusted myself off and tried again.

That next run, I decided to myself that if I were going to die, then I should die with no bombs in stock, so I remembered my experiences with Progear and bombed like a wuss. No Ura Loop for me (Try to bench 100 before you go for 350, buddy). So I ended up 1-lifing up to the fourth stage, which was a record for me. I remained calm throughout, until I survived into the 5th stage and then died at the mid-boss with 73 million.