Hey guys, I’ve been starting trying to get people into this great shmup fighter for the X360. For the price of probably $15 now you can pick up this great game, albeit, it will probably be hard to find. If you plan on playing this game with arcade stick then the setup would be like this.
M S B
A — OD
M - Main Weapon
S - Sub Weapon
B - Barrage
A - Action (Dash/Shield)
OD - Overdrive
As you can see, there are three different kinds of shots. There are input commands in this game and all of these special shots are performed by doing the correct input (eg. HCF) and M+S or B. Pressing the main and sub weapon simultaneously (M+S) doubles as the barrage command. The A button doubles as dash and shield. You can map these commands to separate buttons if you desire. Tapping the joystick in any direction pressing A initiates the dash, while in neutral you will activate the shield. The shield also activates a special shield shot for most characters and for the cost of the green energy bar prevents large down stun from being hit too many times (which automatically activates the antifield).
What you might see in some videos for this game is the huge mecha shooting shitloads of projectiles at their opponents. This mode is called BOSS. It is activated by press A+M+S at the same time. It requires BOSS stock, located at the bottom at the screen. BOSS mode can be used to regain health if used before you health goes into “Vanish” mode. The amount of health your BOSS gains is dependent on the green energy bar located underneath your health bar. As previously stated, “Vanish” will appear in your life bar when you are close to losing. If you activate BOSS during this time you will activate Final BOSS. You will not regain any health in this form, and if you are defeated you lose the round.
Although, Final BOSS is obviously far more powerful and each BOSS gains access to special Final BOSS attacks. The attacks vary per character. Also, if you have no BOSS stock or are against your own opponents BOSS (basically times when you cannot activate BOSS) A+M+S allows to manually activate an “antifield” normally automatically activated when you take too much damage. An antifield eliminates all bullets within a large circular radius for the cost of the half of your green energy bar.
People generally like to see tier lists, so here is my tier list for the game.
S-Tier:
Karel
Changpo
A-Tier:
Ernula
Cuilan
Mika
B-Tier
Sakurako
Fabian
Lili
(Note: Each character has two different cartridges, A and B, which vary the speed and trajectory of shots. Also, statistics such as overall mech speed and defense will also vary.)
Karel is a beast. Used properly this guy’s snipe shot is really stupid. It does ridiculous damage and punishes those who don’t pay attention. This same shot takes down BOSS modes in a heartbeat. His barrages are all useful and setup his shot. His shield shot is incredibly useful as well. All around strong character. His BOSS is strong and you’ll probably need to antifield a lot of his shots unless you are a great dodger.
Changpo’s BOSS is very beatable, but she is very versatile and fast. Her cartridge of choice is most likely A, because the shots come out much faster. Changpo is almost impossible to melee because of her neutral barrage and she easily keeps the pressure on the opponent.
Ernula, well what to say. Her main weapon is the BEST in the game making her very newb friendly. She has great defense and she can take off the laser shoulder for some very tricky setups. Her sub-weapon, the aforementioned laser goes through EVERYTHING. It eats up missiles, goes through shields and always stuns on full hit. Her boss, while obvious where to shoot at it, is always risky. And yes, her laser is a major BOSS killer.
Cuilan might not look it, but he has the best keepaway in the entire game. His main gun is pretty weak, but he’s just so hard to do damage to. His sub-weapon bombs act as a cover and stun on hit. His barrages are so useful that his energy bar has only 4 charges. (Barrage attacks take one charge) So managing a bar is a big thing. His major downfall is his crummy BOSS and when he does get hit, he takes bigger damage.
Mika’s main weapon combos and leads to stun. His missiles are the best homings in the game and dude has all sorts of different dash and shield shots. His barrages pollute the screen and he’s a major BOSS killer. On top of that, his BOSS requires to break pieces off before damage can be done. He loses out a bit on versatility though. His shots are generally small bullets and while reloading missiles he is left to dodge until reload.
Sakurako is good, but has some terrible matchups. She is very difficult to use, but her missile barrage is a BOSS killer. Her shield mines absorb most bullets and allow her to get off safe barrages. But, her BOSS sucks. It’s probably the second worst in the game. She often gets shot while trying to put out her shield mines and even then she’s not safe from quicker character like Changpo or Ernula’s laser.
Fabian relies on his lance shot a lot. He requires a lot of skill to play and getting of his lance shot is the key. He does damage comparable to Karel’s snipe shot on hit except his lance costs bar. =/ He has a great dash and trippy sub-weapon, that stays on the screen for a long time. Probably one of the better sub-weapons. Although, he probably has one of the weaker BOSSES.
Lili seems good on paper, but her main weapon has her standing around way too much. She can pollute the screen, but if you watch closely you can easily defeat her. The entire fight is a battle to get her massive bubble shot out and it’s not easy. She has no big damage options and she has a very hard time defending herself against BOSS mode. Her boss is easy to beat if you pick your spots.
The tier lists in this game probably mean less in this game then in others. This just gives a general idea of character options and what not. So, feel free to use anyone in this game, because this game is very deep and all characters have good chance to beat any other.
Example Match Video:
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Techniques:
To come…
As soon as a get more time I’ll add more to this post. Feel free to discuss and ask questions.
