Espgaluda : #3

New High Score: 24.571.780 - Stage 5-2 - Ageha

I think I got this score a little over a month ago, as I've been procrastinating with posting it here. It's a nice 1 million increase over the last one, even though I remember ending it during one of Jakou's final forms.

I keep choking in this game, though. I can do so well in parts that are a whole lot more difficult than the places where I die. There are also moments where I'll be on a roll, and after noticing that I am doing really well, I fold under the pressure and begin my back-to-back deaths. I mean, what the hell, it's like I'm making the game harder than it really is. No pressure.

Let's have some fun.

Espgaluda : #2

New High Score: 23.609.780 - Stage 5-2 - Ageha

Wheeeee, a 100K score increase. Actually, it's been over a week since I last touched this game, since I've been too lazy to update the blog (It's actually 11/8/07 as I am typing this since I saved this entry on Nov. 1st). I was playing Galuda consistently on a daily basis and was making some steady gains, placing top 5 on my scoreboard the second day of playing and then eventually beating my highest score a few days later. For some damn reason, whenever I am progressing from where I left off, I keep putting the game aside. This has happened many times in the past.

What happened was that on the day before Halloween, a 5.6 earthquake shook the Bay Area, and since I was paranoid my TATE'd TV was going to tip over, I YOKO'd it back to its original position, and have been too lazy to bother TATE'ing it back to play again. Plus, I didn't want to play until I at least posted something up here about it, but I kept procrastinating. I also had this very strong urge to play Elemental Master from the Mega Drive/Genesis for some damn reason. Maybe I was so into Death Smiles during Halloween and the double-sided, firing dynamic of it reminded me of how you can shoot behind you as well in Elemental Master.

Espgaluda (Cave/AMI, 2003)

Espgaluda was released in 2003 by Cave and ported to the PS2 in 2004 by Arika. I wasn't kidding when I wanted to fall back on something easier. Known to most players as Cave's easiest shooter, honestly, I don't think Galuda is THAT easy.

It's certainly not a cake-walk, but compared to the likes of DoDonPachi Dai Ou Jou or even Progear (Ha), it is definitely doable. There is only 1-Loop, and its key gameplay mechanic includes slowing down all of the bullets on the screen. Plus, the patterns are easier to manage.

Galuda is one of those games where I can play just to listen to the music alone. In fact, what motivated me to play it so much in the past was just so I could make it to Stage 4 and listen to its beautiful track. It's like what one guy once wrote about it in the past: It's better than sex.

Unlike Progear, I already have some experience with the game under my belt. The farthest I've been was making it up to the last boss, and my highest score for the moment is 23,500,420. I haven't 1CC this game yet, even though I've come pretty close to, and this has haunted me for some time. I want to reach my fullest potential with this game, and that is why I am choosing to focus on it.

I'm playing the PS2 port using the same HRAP Stick (Sanwa JLF stick with Sanwa buttons) on a TATE'd TV. The character I'll be using will be the agile Ageha, which is pretty much the default character.

**Images courtesy of The Sheep's World of Arcades
**For more info on Espgaluda, check out icycalm's fantastic review over at insomnia.ac