Death by Purple

With the start of a new school term, and probably a severe cut in my free time, I've been pushing to get in at least 90 minutes or so of Mushi Futari a day.

Because I'm a thickie and enjoy visceral rewards for little or no effort, I've taken a liking to Arrange Mode. I've cleared Original and Maniac with scores somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 billion. Nothing special, but it feels good to beat a game while practically asleep. I got to the TLB in Arrange Ultra on my first try, and got snuffed with maybe 2/5 of a lifebar to go. I can do it if I cut down on stupid deaths. If the other difficulties are any indication, 1 or 2 credits is all I need before I get into the swing of it.

I doubt I'll ever play it for score, but until I'm satisfied with my Arrange Ultra performance, it'll get regular rotation in my daily play.

Back in the Geek Cave...

with all of my games and shit. I ordered Mushi Futari and it got to me over break, so I'm hoping I can pick it up and keep with it. I still need to find a game I really want to sink time into. The closest I've gotten is either Noiz2sa or Parsec47, which is a little disappointing, since I've thrown myself at just about every shooter I could, and those were the most addicting.

I liked the original Mushi, but that PS2 port is ugly as sin. It looks better when played on component cables, but it's just a trade off. Gave up the fuzzy edges and got everything else.

I also played Thunder Force VI for the first time today. There has to be something to that game I just don't get. Or the bosses really are that easy.

Takumi Takeover

The last few days are a blur of medaling and reflect-based score mechanics.

I've been making a small push to improve my survival in Giga Wing Generations. The day I got it I lucked out with a 140 kei score ending on stage 5 and I've yet to replicate it for some reason. I'm withholding working on scoring until I know the back half of the game some more. I can consistently no-miss no-bomb the first 3 stages with Hawk and Robin, but then stage 4 beats my ass with a steak tenderizer and I can't figure out why.

In-between GWG I've been dipping into the original Giga Wing as well as Mars Matrix. I don't know if it's because I've improved since I played them last or because I started using shmupMAME, but my runs are noticeably better, even if still complete shit compared to absolutely anybody else.

Tis' truly the time of Takumi.

Finals Are Over...

yay I guess. Too bad I'm at my house instead of the apartment, where all of my games are. I did snag my PS2 and GigaWing Generations and Raiden III before I left though. So it's those and MoF (boo). Found out I had it sitting on my thumbdrive. Here I was, hoping to have an excuse to not play it.

So bout' dem Double Spoiler eh?

Somebody uploaded a bin+cue yesterday, so I obliged and downloaded ZUN's latest sparkley color-fest.

I always liked Shoot the Bullet. It was the last good game He made before spiraling down into mediocrity.

I've been lacerating my gums on Mountain of Faith for International Shmupreciation Month, so DS was a very welcome distraction.

I can't dig any further into either game though because finals aren't over quite yet (boo).