Saturday, February 18, 2012

3rd Blog Anniversary!

And here we come to three years of logged shmupping.

No big additions to the collection besides the fact that after taking the plunge for a Neo Geo AES I finally dedicated myself to playing some games on it. It might seem that three titles weren't that much of a dedication though, but I assure you that each one of them was totally worth it. Ironclad and Viewpoint were both enlightening tough rides, and Andro Dunos served as a colorful throwback to less powerful 16-bit systems. For my next Neo Geo achievements I have my eyes set on Prehistoric Isle 2 and Sonic Wings 2.

This last year a good portion of the shooting games I played were chosen because I took part in competitions with fellow gamers around the globe. It certainly fuels the motivation to play stuff I wouldn't dare to approach on a regular basis, such as Sol Divide. I was able to 1CC all of them, not always within the given time frame though, with the exception of Judgement Silversword. This game is simply a beast, I shall throw a party for the closest friends at my place if I manage to clear it someday. As for the competitions themselves I believe the most important thing is to have fun. Shmupping is a rather lonely hobby, so having someone somewhere sharing the game with you is some kind of a gaming miracle.

As always I appreciate all the support and constant motivation from comments and constructive feedback. Special thanks go to fellow gamers and shmuppers Jorge, StarMist, Battletoad, Ben and Ben - for the partnership, corrections, contests, hints, shoutouts and occasional tomfoolery. As promised to Nick in one of my previous comments, pretty soon I'll write something about my personal methods for shmupping. Not that they matter much, I just want to throw something different to celebrate 200 1CC posts.

Let the 4th year begin.

12 comments:

  1. 3rd bday!? Happy birthday my friend!

    I know I joined the blog and shmup party late but as I may have said previously, perhaps indirectly and more often to others about you. You have been an inspiration both for my collecting and my playing of shmups and given me some good solid advice when approaching games, and when i've hit brick walls in my collecting. So i thank you for that Ed.

    Your blog is always enjoyable to read, and I often forget that English isn't your first language.

    Here's to many more blog entries, I will crack open a beer for you tonight as i'm playing Gunhed and Sexy Parodius.

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    1. Oh and thank you for the mention :)

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    2. Thanks, mate. :)
      Yes, the genre is dying but there are so many great games already out there that they'll keep us busy for years!
      Cheers!

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    3. Too true Ed. I hope you manage to join us on the RG Forums for the next game. Game #1 ends in 24 hours

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  2. Keep it up, man!

    Really enjoying it all. Reviews of the game are detailed enough to explain it all, and you're covering some stuff I'd forgotten about, making me go back for more, or look to pick it up.

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    1. Tks, Jake!
      Regarding forgotten stuff, be on your guard because I'm planning to go through some more obscure shooters in the upcoming months, yay!

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  3. A little late to the party, but happy birthday!
    Always enjoying your detailed reviews and thoughts (even though right now I have to catch up quite a bit) and I'm already looking forward the next months and years to come. ;)

    So keep up the great work and the fever for our beloved hobby!

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    1. Fever SOS here we go!
      [ no, I don't really like Dangun Feveron .... and I'm not really sad Cave gave up on it for XBLA.... HAHAHA ]
      [ bring us PROGEAR, Cave dammit!! ]

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  4. Happy birthday! Looking forward to another year of encouraging and enjoyable shmup experiences! Couldnt possibly 1cc anything, so living it out through you Edward:)

    Keep it up!

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  5. Congrats, Edward!

    Your blog was probably the main reason to take Shmups more seriously. While I previously enjoyed them for the thrill, they couldn't hold my attention for a long time, and I genuinely thought that it was impossible to finish them on one life. While I still haven't 1cc'ed any game, I did have a few minor successes, like reaching stage 4 on Dodonpachi on one credit. Also, in reply to one of my comments you mentioned that you sometimes practice parts of games in MAME. This turned out to be a fabulous idea, and instead of wasting ten minutes with some pointless game on my phone, I fire up MAME, and duke it out with the stage 3 or stage four boss of DDP. I must say that I haven't had this much fun with videogames since I was a kid.

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    1. I believe that the rush we experience with a shmup is unparalleled in any gaming genre. Add to that replay value and we notice that even though it's a "dying" commercial genre it's also the least likely to fade. Immortal fun will always be there for those willing to find it.
      Tks for the kind words! :)

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