Article: Plasmo’s 2020 Shmup Year in Review!

The following is written by Plasmo, a friend and frequent collaborator with the Electric Underground

(1) Personal Favorite Achievements of 2020:

In  2020, I had been mostly busy with community building. However,  I’ve  also spent a good amount of time playing shmups and had some very   intense phases scattered over the course of the year. Let’s reflect on   the goals I set myself a year ago in the same thread and see how those   turned out.

From last year’s post:

“After  having left the port for now, I want to focus on the  arcade version of  Pink Sweets once again. At the moment I am building a  completely new  route, which is presumably going to revolutionize the  perception of the  game for better or worse. The goal is clear: beat the  world record  with Lace of 20,614,480 by YOS.K! This is all for the new  year! If I  find some extra time, I also want to give Hacha Mecha Fighter  a closer  look.”

Indeed, I have  succeeded in beating YOS.K’s world record score and  then some! In fact,  I got 21,208,450 already on January 4th, with  further improvements to  21,509,730 (January 17th), 21,698,970 (January  27th), 23,024,020  (February 22nd), 23,721,990 (March 1st), 25,506,390  (April 21st) and  ended the year with a 26,441,790 (August 24th). My  route was constantly  changing as I was finding more and more new scoring  opportunities.  This progress doesn’t indicate what an amazing gamer I  am but rather  how badly optimized this game was and still is. If  anything, this just  tells us what we already know, which is that Pink  Sweets is not a very  popular game in Japan and overseas.

I’ve  also spent just a little bit of time with Hacha Mecha Fighter  and  posted small demo clips showing the no fruit bonusses for stage 2 and stage 4.

(2) Personal Biggest Screw-ups of 2020:

Getting  a good run in Pink Sweets with my old route (triggering  infinite lives  on stage 5) ultimately resulting in the 25,506,390 score  above was a  tough struggle. Before I got the run, I have messed up three  runs in a  row (obviously with dozens of additional restarts in between)  right  before the very last extend. Being denied to enter infinite mode  that  close and failing the run always exactly at the same spot was very   difficult mentally. What’s more, with every failure, the pressure for   the next potential chance was increasing as well. When I finally got the   25,506,390 I felt completely exhausted and had to take a longer rest.

(3) Favourite Achievements by Others of 2020:

This  is where the fun part starts! This is also the part where I have  so  many things to mention, I’m probably going to forget half of it! But   let’s try anyway.

The year 2020  has been absolutely phenomenal in terms of activity. So  many people  suddenly found themselves with more time on their hands as  usual and  this really showed in the end. But let’s start at the  beginning, and oh  boy was it a beginning! The genre of shmups had been  granted access to  the GDQ event series for the first time! This has led  to fantastic  live performances during AGDQ 2020 with Mushihimesama Futari Ver 1.01 by Gus and during SGDQ 2020 with Ketsui by Moglar, Dodonpachi Saidaioujou by Kayar, and Touhou 09.5 Shoot the Bullet by pingval.   Performing well in a live setting is always something very special. It   was a great feeling of unity to see the whole community coming  together  to cheer for our ambassadors! Hopefully we will see many more  shmup  performances during GDQ events in the future! Aquas has already taken up the torch for AGDQ 2021 but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here!

Apart  from these events, we have seen many players going absolutely  out of  their way to tackle ridiculous challenges. The first thing that  comes  to my mind is Omkol’s 2-All of Dodonpachi Daioujou White Label!  Omkol was a relative newcomer to the genre and had been pushing the   game relentlessly for over 2 years. When it finally happened I honestly   couldn’t believe it myself at first. He has also produced the most  solid  survival route for this game I know. I was very happy to see more   activity in general from the Russian shmups scene, as Russia still has   some catching up to do when it comes to this genre. It seems that  Omkol  might be an inspiration for a very strong new player base to  come!  Looking forward to see more of your scores, my Russian friends!

A  similar achievement that comes to my mind is Daringspino’s quest to   beat Dodonpachi Daioujou Black Label. Black Label is easy you say? Well, Spino did it with Type A-Shot!  It was pure joy to follow his 1 year long journey! Moreover, this  isn’t  just a bare survival clear and shows some very neat chaining,  too! Check out his his slightly higher scoring run of 1,194,756,620 points.   But there’s more! Daringspino also got the world record in the   eccentric Arrange A mode of Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu and has improved his   own score ultimately breaking the elusive 20 trillion barrier. If you   like big numbers, don’t miss his video achieving 21,605,096,843,632 points – truly a christmas miracle!

And while we’re at it with Dodonpachi Daioujou Black Label, let’s not forget to mention iconoclast’s 3,200,043,730 with Type B-Expert,   which is now awfully close to HFD’s score of 3,308,161,360 of the old   superplay DVD. Will 2021 be the year of the takeover? Either way, it’s   inspiring to see one of the best western players not giving up his main   game. Let’s reach for the stars!

Most  of the achievements I’m writing about here are single game   achievements. However, there’s no way I can’t mention Juju Kenobi’s path   of destruction through the genre. Every game this man touches will go   down in flames. Want some examples? Sure! How about Ketsui 2-All Omote 300,379,412 with Type A, Dodonpachi 2-All 322,838,210 with Type A-Laser (he also got a score of 359,935,920 but no clear), Dodonpachi Daioujou Black Label 2-All 2,032,283,010 with Type A-Expert, and Progear no Arashi 2-All 67,655,490 with Ring/Nail?   You might ask how this is possible within only one year for a single   individual? I must disappoint you, I have absolutely no clue…!

We’ve  also seen the comeback of the mysterious VioletHatPurple. A  quiet guy  who is grinding like crazy in the dark. Then he pops up and  delivers  absolutely absurd achievements, most importantly this year a no miss / one bomb 2-All clear of Gunbird 2 with Tavia scoring 4,205,300!  Gunbird 2 is tough as nails and this score now is the top score of the   shmups forum! Violet didn’t quite stop there and got another 2-All in a   Psikyo game, this time around Strikers 1945 II with the respectable score of 2,738,900! I’m telling you, these 2-Alls don’t come easy…

Are  you ready to go one step further? Then brace yourself for easily  one  of the most extreme achievements of the year, Moglar with a 551,176,593 in Ketsui with Type A!  This is currrently the third highest score in the world for what is   arguably one of the most difficult and complex shmups out there. The   importance of this achievement cannot be overstated. If I had to choose a   single favorite achievement of 2020, it would probably be this one. It   fills my heart with joy that Moglar shows absolutely no sign of  slowing  down. I’m thrilled to follow his progress in 2021!

We’ve had CAVE and Psikyo but what about Raizing? Armed Police Batrider in particular was probably the game of 2020! With scores like 20,884,050 by Satis, 20,368,700 by Eaglet  and 19,672,720 by Chum (Carpet Solo), Batrider has received what can   only be described as a Swedish invasion! However, there are countless of   Japanese players who really went all out on this game as well, for   instance 27,533,500 by SKR or 25,529,440 by nekobi. Overall a very hot year for Batrider!

Let’s  talk about world records. No previous year has brought in so  many  world records for arcade games from players outside of Japan than  this  one! For me, 2020 can be said to be a turning point. The  long-standing  WR dominance of Japan is slowly beginning to fade. So what  do we have  in store? The old guard was stronger than ever before! The  iconic Gus  has defeated the counterstop in Mushihimesama Futari, Ultra  Mode and is  now going beyond. He’s simply playing in a league of his  own. A score of 5,234,968,837  is hardly comprehensible anymore for a mere mortal. On the other hand,   the prequel to Futari, the og Mushi has been absolutely destroyed by   Kiwi who got the world record for Maniac Mode, no autofire with a score of 1,061,006,564! Kiwi has also uploaded killer replays for the autofire categories: Maniac Mode 1,842,732,721 points and Ultra Mode 1,080,775,113 points. His work on this game is absolutely awe-inspiring. We are just not worthy…!

Other world records have been achieved by NTSC-J, who got a score of 281,940,480 in Muchi Muchi Pork clearing both loops with Ikuo! This score was unfortunately not a clear but he also got a clear score of 265,538,480!  The crazy thing is that this score was played in a Japanese arcade so   that he was able to submit it to the Japanese Highscore Association   (short: JHA)! Getting a world record is one thing but doing so in a   public settings is just madness! Huge congrats!

The  old boys of Galaga have also worked hard in 2020! Jacob Upland  got the  world record in Galaga, Original Mode as part of the Namco  Classic  Collection Vol. 1 with a score of 565,420 and the original game of Galaga received two new world records of 20,980,450 (Marathon) by Jordan Dorrington and 10,904,570 (Tournament) by Armando Gonzalez. The former has already been beaten in early 2021 with a 25,000,350 by Armando Gonzalez making him the Galaga double champ again!

Hang  in there! One more golden era game before we continue! The  legendary  sikraiken has once again demonstrated his perfectionism to the  world by  being the first to break through round 256 of Bosconian (New  Version) –  formerly known as the killscreen! In fact, not even a  killscreen can  kill this man and stop him from getting the counterstop at 9,999,995 live on stream!  This battle was also an exercise in perseverance as the run took 8   hours and 22 minutes, ultimately ending in round 587 – that’s two   “killscreens” in one run!

If we  now shift our focus over to the Japanese side of things, we  notice  about 70 new world records for shmups submitted to JHA (not  counting  multiple submission for the same game). These are obviously too  many to  discuss in detail here so I just want to highlight a few of  them!  Early 2020 opened with a bang! Hituji was the second person ever  to  reach 800 million points in Dodonpachi by achieving 800,885,810 with Type C-Shot.   Scores this high make use of a scoring glitch, which was still kept   secret by a couple of players back in January. Due to the amazing   efforts of DDP mastermind Blackisto, this glitch was found again and   published in late February. You can read about all the intricacies in this article.   The glitch hunt, its reveal, and all of the surrounding spectacle have   received considerable media attention and will go down in history.  We’re  even again on the level of knowledge. Recruiting new Dodonpachi  players  now!

Another game of the  classic Dodonpachi series that has seen some  crazy new scores is  Dodonpachi Daioujou Black Label with a new world  record with Type  B-Expert by Rokukichi. Check out the godlike replay of 3,681,252,160 points! Honorable mention go out to the Chinese player LYX who got a score of 3,618,047,010 with Type A-Expert, just short of world record!

Disco fever! Early 2020 also had a new WR in Dangun Feveron with Type B of 15,302,103 points by HTL-PAL!  The player had been working on this for a very long time and has   ultimately proven to the world that Type B has a higher scoring   potential than the secret cat character. Way to go!

2020  wouldn’t have been the same without SPE’s continuous efforts to   completely demolish the WR leaderboard for Deathsmiles. In 2020, he got 670,737,982 with Rosa (Canyon), 564,261,938 with Rosa (no Canyon) and 503,624,978 with Casper (no Canyon). There is only a single category left out of 8 for SPE to reach a perfect WR sweep for Deathsmiles! Will 2021 be the year?

Ever  since the 20th anniversary of Esp Ra. De. in 2018 we’ve seen a  number  of new world records for this game. One superplayer in  particular, the  magnificent Clover-TAC, who has played the game since  release in 1998  has pushed the score ceiling to new dimensions,  absolutely killing the  competition and leaving the second place far  behind. Clover-TAC has  achieved 44,645,250 with Irori and 43,289,640  with J-B 5th. I didn’t  expect such scores to be even remotely possible  for humans. They are  among the craziest scores I have ever seen in a  shmup. Sadly, no  replays exist for these wonderful records…

Talking  about perseverance, let’s take a look at Konami’s classic  Detana!!  Twinbee. The player Koizumi had been playing the game at least  for a  decade (and possibly longer than that), which has culminated in a score of 4,720,900 in 2020!  This game is absolutely brutal, you wouldn’t believe just how cheap  the  difficulty of the loop is. And so this score belongs to the most   extreme records to come up in 2020. Don’t miss the replay! A must-see!

One  other player who is very bad at giving up is WSM-Tsuiimaru. If  you  follow my WR News ticker over on Twitter you have noticed that this  man  basically posts a monthly world record for this game. And this has   been going on for years, too. In 2020, we have seen the top scores of 3,002,410 without autofire and 3,040,180 with autofire. Keep it up, Tsuiimaru!

Here’s  a confession: I’m a sucker for underplayed games with an  esoteric  scoring system. So when I saw GOTYO posting a score of  11,800,947,190  for Milestone’s Karous, my heart was pounding! When the  player was then  releasing a high quality replay upload complete with  text commentary  explaining every small detail in this game, I couldn’t  hold back my  excitement! Do yourself a favor and watch this absolutely fantastic video showcase!

We’ve had Dodonpachi before, so now on to the next big  shmup title: It’s none other than Battle Garegga! Ever since the   official Japanese leaderboard on JHA was closed down in 2014 due to the   detection of an infinite scoring glitch, players were thrown into an   identity crisis. Therefore, the terrific port by M2 in 2016 was just   what the community needed! The year 2020 saw three new world records for   this highly competitive game: 17,968,650 with Bornnam by Y.S.333, 16,920,870 with Chitta by KET, and 17,521,570 with Wild Snail by Yamanaka, the latter two of which have been streamed live on Youtube – click on the links to watch the replays!

Possibly  the most popular shmup of 2020 in Japan was Great Mahou  Daisakusen aka  Dimahoo. The craze for this game went to insane  dimensions and so it’s  only natural to see a couple of new world  records, too! Most notably, 89,074,210 with Birthday by Miku (replay not available but you can find a video scoring 84,460,690 points by the same player here), 99,999,999 with Solo Bang by Clover-TAC, 99,999,999 with Golden by Boredom, and 98,992,400 with Chitta by SOF-WTN. Just a couple of days ago, SOF-WTN has also achieved a counterstop of 99,999,999 with Chitta, which is easily one of the greatest superplays you will ever see in your life. His routing skills are pure art.

Lastly,  I would like to highlight E.G.I.’s demolishing of Ikaruga by  breaking  all three world records for Prototype Mode using the Steam  port! 32,120,760 points on Easy difficulty, 37,985,220 on Normal difficulty, and 35,078,170 on Hard difficulty  – all accompanied with replays, so don’t hesitate now! On the topic of   Ikaruga, the English speaking community has also found some new   interest. Following MAZ and Softdrink’s progress in this game is just   wonderful! I’m confident we will see much more from the two in the near   future! Particularly noteworthy is also the fantastic strategy guide of Ikaruga over on the Shmups Wiki, which is a collaborative effort under the lead of Xer Xian. Play more Ikaruga!

And  speaking of which, the year 2020 had more to offer than just  insane  scores! The newly founded Shmups Wiki in particular is already a  pillar  of the community. The wealth of knowledge over there is ever   increasing! Huge shout outs to the admins Charlene and Komidore! You are   doing a fantastic job! Check out the website in its entirety here: Shmups.Wiki

Other  community members have also been hard at work creating shmup  content,  e.g. in form of youtube videos. To name just two shining stars,  check  out The Electric Underground and Shmup Junkie! Both have very different styles but luckily we don’t have to choose only one! Just subscribe to both of them!

When  it comes to new content on youtube, there are a couple of other  very  interesting video uploads such as the audio commentaries for Soukyugurentai by DMC and Air Gallet by Meriscan.   Can we have more of these, please? Very insightful and entertaining!   Similar to that but definitely catered to a more hardcore audience is Juju’s legendary 7-hour video breakdown of his route in Dodonpachi. 📷  If you rather prefer to read  than to listen, then 2020 had three new  installments of Icarus’  brilliant Special Demonstrations series for you!  Battle Garegga 20,959,490 by Kamui, Dodonpachi 638,295,200 by Jaimers, and Donpachi 71,919,080 by SOF-WTN.

Even more extremely interesting text commentaries can be found on Jaimers’ channel, e.g. for Out Zone or Darius Gaiden  for which you have to activate the subtitles. The production quality  of  the uploads on this channel has recently gone through the roof!

What else has happened in 2020 and deserves recognition?

・  Dent4f continued to organize shmup tournaments on a very  regular  basis! You wanna compete against others for highscores? Then  give La Calice Cup a closer look!
・ Softdrink has cemented himself as one of the greatest English shmup commentators of all time! Check out his commentary to Kamui’s run of Battle Garegga during Kemonomichi 3!
・ So many shmup dedicated streaming events happened, I have trouble even remembering them all! Check out Mark’s Shmup Slam, the French Shoot the Baguette, and the two Japanese events CAVE Shmupmania, and STG Relay. In fact, there have been countless of smaller events so this is just a very short list of the bigger ones!
・ Trap15 is now working at Exa and has released Dodonpachi Saidaioujou Exa Label. This is probably as big as it can get.

(4) Goals for 2021:

I’m  not sure where to go from here with Pink Sweets (I’m still at  it!) but  I want to eventually move on from it this year. Hacha Mecha  Fighter  and Dodonpachi with Type A-Shot are already waiting!

(BONUS) CHALLENGES TO OTHER PLAYERS:

Let’s enjoy shmups together!

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