The Electric Underground

Article - Why I’ve Stopped Obsessing About Secret DDP Score Glitch // Looking Towards the Future

*Update  - I ended up not giving up on knowing and launched the Score Glitch  Bounty along with a group of fellow shmup players and we eventually  uncovered what the glitch was.*

First  thing I want to make clear is that I am not mad at the  Japanese shmup  community or have any negative feelings towards them at  all. It is not  my intention for this article to attack them or cause any  sort of bad  blood. Inste...

Article - Futari 1.0(1)/1.5 Ultra Version Differences By SMC

Written by SMC

Plasmo said I should post this here. Some of the general differences apply to other modes.

*Note from Mark* Plasmo is a friend of the website, he helps a lot with the video index.

Written in anticipation of the upcoming Stunfest 2019 demonstrations.

General

– &...

Article - The Prison of Unpopularity (A Fav of Mine)

First  off, I want to clarify that, the issues and concerns that I  will  express in this article do not apply to my fellow shmuppers and  members  of the community. The shmup community has been very supportive  of my  content and has certainly demonstrated they are not all about   popularity and getting ...

Article - Is It Too Late? Are We Currently in a Shmup Viewership Black Hole?

I   apologize if this blog post comes across as negative or as a downer,   but this topic is something that has been on my mind for a long time and   today I feel like writing about it. Maybe this is a good idea to get   the doubts off my chest, or maybe this will come across as me being   pessimisti...

Article - Why Shmup Viewer Count Matters (Though I Wish It Didn’t) A Follow Up to Shmup Viewership Black Hole Article

I’ve  decided to write this follow up to provide some clarification  and  background information to my previous article “Is It Too Late? Are  We  In a Shmup Viewership Black Hole?” When I wrote that article  yesterday,  I figured it wouldn’t be very popular or something people  would want  to read...

Article - A Hardcore Shmup Player’s Thoughts on the Nintendo Switch

*Update!  Since the years after publishing this article and seeing how the Switch  Lite turned out, I'd say pass on the switch lite, the OG switch with  Hori joycons and split pad pro is much better.*

Just  a few days ago Eurogamer released an article called “The Switch  might  be the best console for s...

Article - How to Study Shmups, Dissect SuperPlays, and Create Efficient Routes By Juju Kenobi

A Guide to High-Level Play by Juju Kenobi

Edited and Localized by Mark MSX

Foreword by Mark

After  collaborating with Juju on his Shmup Spotlight article for the  website  and digesting many aspects of the article to try and incorporate  into &...

Article - Is Shmup Talent Real? Exploring Why A “Get Gud” Mentality Is Losing Potential Players.

If  there is one question that the genre of shmups will force players  of  all skill levels to ask, it is definitely the question of: “How do I   get good at these games?” While there are plenty of other genres and   styles of gaming that are as equally intensive and difficult as STG, I   feel like no...

Article - The Dodonpachi Score Glitch Bounty is Alive With a Lead!

The Tangled History of Shmups’ Most Notorious Glitch

Glitch Found!!! Bounty now Canceled!

All Donation Drive Money Has Been Refunded.

Hello everyone!

Today, the Glitch Bounty Committee, which consists of  Blackisto, Gusto, Jaimers, KZ, and myself, would  like to announce that &n...

Article - The “Double GP Glitch” of Dodonpachi Explained

(written and researched by Plasmo with additions by Blackisto & Hatsune Mike)

Background

This  glitch is said to have been  triggered accidentally already shortly  after the release of the game in  the late 1990s. However, people were  confused about the inner mechanics  of it and were not able to replicate  it with confidence until very  recently. The glitch was reconsidered to  be used for scoring and the...

Article - Introduction to Scorekeeping for Japanese Arcade Games and Why World Record Videos are not Mandatory - Written by Plasmo

I noticed that recently the same   types of questions regarding world records, verification methods etc.   keep popping up. Newcomers to arcade games, perhaps used to how the   speedrunning scene is handling their records, often seem to  wonder what  is going on in this scene and how we can even accept world  records  without any video proof. For this reason, I have written this  small  introduction that aims to cover the methods of ...

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 thr...

It's Patreon Voted Review Nomination Time!

Hi everyone, 

Last month's game (muchi muchi pork) should be released this weekend. In the mean time, now it's time to nominate this month's games. So all you have to do is write the name of the game you would like to nominate for when we start voting. The voting will start next Monday :-)

Sincerely,

Mark

Electric After Dark Podcast - Will Future Shmups Come From the West or Japan?

Electric After Dark Podcast - Will Future Shmups Come From the West or Japan?

October is TREASURE MONTH on the Channel! (Also Recording New Electric After Dark Tonight)

Hi Patrons!

Since you are my favorites I thought I'd announce this here first, but October is going to be Treasure Month on the channel where I cover a bunch of treasure games and have discussions about treasure! Yes this will include ikaruga too ha ;-)

Also I am going to record a new ep of electric after dark tonight that I recommend you all check out, sorry for the delay with the ep but I haven't been able to record in long sessions for the past two weeks because I have had a pe...

Patreon Voted Review Winner! Muchi Muchi Pork!

In a landslide victory we have Muchi Muchi Pork :-)

Patreon Voted Review, VOTE TIME!

Here are the nominees! 

Soldier Blade

Muchi Muchi Pork

Battle Bakraid

Alpha Mission II/ ASO II: Last Guardian

Sexy Parodius

Dodonpachi 2: Bee Storm

Gradius 3

Gradius 1

Remember Shmup Homies get 1 vote and Illuminati get 2! Please write your name on your vote :-)

Thank you so much for supporting ...

Patreon Voted Review COMPLETED! Stella Vanity

September Patreon Voted Review Nomination time! (Don't Worry Stellavanity is Coming Soon)

Hi everyone!

Time for the patreon voted review nominations! Sorry for the bit of the delay with Stellavanity review, I've been working on it just sort of a beast of a game to discuss ha. It should be done soon though!

Anyway, in the mean time lets begin with our nominations for september! Just leave your nomination in the comments. 

Cheers and thank you for supporting the channel!

Sincerely,

Mark

Space Moth & Star Hunter DX Developer Interview! (Electric Live Audio Podcast)

Winner (by a very close vote) Stellavanity!

Shmup Slammed! (Patreon Podcast) Electric AfterDark

Patreon Voted Review Tiebreaker!!!! Vote NOW (Ends in 24 Hours)

Hi everyone!

We have a rare tie in this month's voting! Stellavanity and Battle Bakraid have the same amount of votes! So now we come to a tie-breaker! Everyone vote again but you can only choose between stellavanity or Bakraid :-)

Here's the link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdW9c2cuFAtBJk_KCEUzGVNXYlbS7g8XujzSP3Idp...

August Vote Time! (Hurry Ends this Friday)

Hi everyone!

Due to the beast that was shmup slam 4, this month's patreon vote has a shorter window then usual, that way I can get the review worked on during this weekend :-) So the vote will end this Friday at 9 PM MST (8/20/2021). 

Remember to write your name/tier on your vote! Shmup Homies get 1 vote Shmup Illuminati get 2. Illuminati can vote twice for the same game or once for two separate games. 

Here are the nominees!

Donpachi

Ghost Blade HD

It's August Patreon Voted Review Nomination time!

Just write your nominations in the comments below, we'll start voting on them right after shmup slam 4!

Electric After Dark Podcast - I'm Making a Shmup! My Design Philosophy (for better or worse)

July Patreon Voted Review Winner! PINK SWEETS (By a Healthy Margin)

July Shmup Review VOTE TIME!

Here are the nominations:

Ten and Till

Pink Sweets!

SuperGrafx 1941 COUNTER ATTACK

Thunder dragon 2

Alpha Mission II / ASO II Last Guardian Neo Geo

CosmoDreamer

Battle Bakraid

Dodonpachi Ressurection (DFK)

Here is the voting link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdW9c2cuFAtB...

July Patreon Review Video Nomination Time!!

Hi everyone, 

Time for the nominations for July! Just write the game you'd like to nominate in the comments, we'll start voting on Saturday 7/10/2021!

Cheers and thank you so much for supporting the channel!

Sincerely,

Mark

7th Day Electric EP 21 - Alternative to Traditional Leaderboards Idea, Electric Cup!