Curriculum to finally beat ZeroRanger (approachable shmups)

[callmearc]

I have attempted to reach the later stages of System Erasure's ZeroRanger about five times now. I deeply enjoy the game, I love the gameplay, I want to become a true ZR sicko.

I am just so terrible at this kind of game. Shmups are a massive blind-spot for me; I genuinely don't think I ever played one as a kid. And I'm finding looking at "best shmups of all time!" lists is not helping, because they tend to be written by people already good at the genre and whoo boy I am not.

I'm rocking an Odin 2 Portal, so I can play pretty much anything up to PS2, a lot of Vita, and some NS.

Anyone know an approachable curriculum to Git Gud, as it were? For reference, Ikaruga has been the most fun so far but I bounced all the way off the PSP's Gradius collection.

 

[RustySK]

Blue Revolver.

I think that game does a fantastic job of teaching you how to approach bullet hell shmups - where to focus your eyes, what to prioritize, when to make large movements and when to just inch your way around and and and.
Be aware that it is also not afraid to challenge the player though - that game will not just give you a win off the get-go.

Its scoring and extra life systems are of course its own thing as per usual with the genre, but as far as basics go that game offers some of the best teaching tools I've seen. Not to mention that it's also just a really good game.

 

[qw90700]

I checked the game. Honestly never played much of vertical ones before. Such gameplay style is weird to me. I remember playing one on Atari 2600 and NES, I don't even remember their names but I hella played horizantal ones on Sega Genesis a lot.

All tips I can make is constantly move from one side to another because such games tend to be designed in a way when you stay in one place too long (even for 1 second) you will be trapped with tons of attacks and enemies. And then you gotta learn the pattern of the level sometimes too. Try to kill what you gotta kill as soon as possible and ignore what you can skip killing. Some enemies are "bait" so trying to kill them will make you killed lol. Other than these IDK what to say.

 

[Leviafen]

Zeroranger is probably the perfect game to start with in that case. I was the same way and through sheer determination i learned all the skills necessary to see the games ending. The skills i learned were easily applied to other shmups. While i wasn't instantly rolling through them i understood the flow and what was expected of me. Not to say git gud but rather dont give up and persevere.

 

[Pinballbuzzbro]

What trained me on Shoot Em' Ups were emulate arcade games! Via emulation you can p much guarantee victory no matter how hard of a time the game gives ya due to the whole inserting coins thing, and most of them have instantaneous respawning too, making it even more approachable! Being able to play a game start to finish over and over again may sound too easy to be fun, but it actually helps your mind get accustomed to how the game works and all it's little bells and whistles!

Games I'd recommend to start with are:

Zed Blade
Simplistic but well designed horizontal shooter that's incredibly fair and easy to get the hang of! Also available on all modern systems via the Arcade Archives series

MUSHA Aleste and Space Megaforce
Vertical shooters that both feature thrilling intense level design while being very approachable, both games have Unlimited continues, level select codes and give your ship multiple hits before exploding

Aero Fighters 2 and 3
Wacky vertical shooters with like. 5 billion different playable characters, all of which having different playstyles and attack types, 3rd game has branching paths as well. They're chaotic, but also very simple and easy to pick up and play IMO.

Q-Yo Blaster
Plays similarly to Zed Blade but with the wackiness of Konami's Parodius series. Similar to Aero Fighters there are a TON of playable characters and the game is super simple in terms of level design, no obstacles or terrain hazards, just pure enemies and bosses!

 

[Regulus Blue 2]

Awesome game, been waiting for the final update forever tho.

 

[callmearc]

Zeroranger is probably the perfect game to start with in that case. I was the same way and through sheer determination i learned all the skills necessary to see the games ending. The skills i learned were easily applied to other shmups. While i wasn't instantly rolling through them i understood the flow and what was expected of me. Not to say git gud but rather dont give up and persevere.

lmao this is EXACT answer I was afraid of!

Awesome game, been waiting for the final update forever tho.

I've managed to stay unspoiled for ZR, is it not complete?

 

[Regulus Blue 2]

lmao this is EXACT answer I was afraid of!


I've managed to stay unspoiled for ZR, is it not complete?

The final update is for a mode called Black Onion. It's been in development for a couple of years now. It seems that you can enable an earlier version of it through debug mode but I never tried it.

 

[Varyag]

ZeroRanger itself is a good one, but if you're still feeling like you're not getting through there are many other shmup games out there for you to sink your teeth into on your journey. I personally really like Graze Counter GM, Batsugun Special, Soldier Blade, and the Novice modes on modern CAVE ports such as Dodonpachi or Mushihimesama. There's a ton of console shmups you can emulate here on the Repo, and a ton more arcade shmups on MAME romset that you can find on the Internet Archive easily.

And I always bring up this video when someone needs some better explained recommendations.