High Score Competition #164: U.N. Squadron

[Mr_Numbers]

High Score Competition rules and scoreboard
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,143138.0

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Game Name : U.N. Squadron (USA)
ROM Name  =     unsquad
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Settings:
   default : Difficulty : Normal
                      Lives : 1

Controls:   
    Joystick:      8-way (I think?)
    3 buttons:   Fire, Special Weapon and Select Special Weapon

Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.N._Squadron

Game Play:
The game is a typical side scrolling shooter, going against the trend of other Capcom shooters, such as 1942, and 1943: The Battle of Midway, which are vertically scrolling shooters. However, like other Capcom shooters, the player has an energy bar that is consumed over the course of a single life as the player sustains damage. This trait is highly uncommon among other comparable arcade-style shooters which normally use a system of reserve lives, where one of which is lost upon a single enemy hit. Before entering a level, the player has the opportunity to purchase special weapons or added defenses in the shop. The player earns money to buy weapons by destroying enemy planes and vehicles during levels and, when the level is finished, any unused weapons are converted back into money.

The player can choose between three mercenary pilots: Shin Kazama, Mickey Simon, and Greg Gates. Each pilot flies a specific plane and has slightly different capabilities.

Last Day:
Sunday, May 3rd 12:00am PST

- Quest for the Bronze Joystick! The most successful competitor of each calendar year will possess & display the BYOAC Bronze Joystick Trophy. See this thread for details:The BYOAC Bronze Joystick (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,137522.0).
Happy Gaming!

Scoreboard
==============
1.) WakiMiko            1,211,080
2.) yamatetsu          259,960
3.) j.fitzenr               251,740
4.) popsicle              238,310
5.) Mr_Numbers       86,930
6.) tomstewdevine   81,830
7.) epetti                  48,530
8.) harveybirdman    48,230
9.) BorgDog              44,030



PS - Please excuse my lack of knowledge when it comes to creating forum post. 

[harveybirdman]

Hell yeah!

[jasonbar]

Darn. Can't get enough of SHMUPs, & this is a grand one.

Wrapped up the cab last night in prep for a move--it will be in storage for a bit...  *sniff*

-Jason

[harveybirdman]

I forgot how hard this is....


Let's set the bar low 48230

[epetti]

Setting a slightly lower low bar of 47,230. Died on the second boss.

[Mr_Numbers]

47,630

I forgot how hard this game is as well lol.

[j.fitzenr]

God I love this game.  Funny enough I was just watching Area 88 the other day! 

If this was the SNES port, I'd be gunning for 1st place... as it stands, I'm just gonna try to NOT BE LAST PLACE this time

[Mr_Numbers]

Finally made it past the damn stealth bomber!

86,930

[WakiMiko]

149,530

[tomstewdevine]

50,230

Every time I'm hit I can always tell where I made the mistake, so I think I can do better.

[j.fitzenr]

Shaking the rust off but I guess I'll start here.

131330

Every time I'm hit I can always tell where I made the mistake, so I think I can do better.

Maybe it's just because this is literally one of my favorite video games in the history of anything (My brother and I drove like 2-3 hours to some Funcoland in god-knows-where just to buy an SNES copy so we didn't have to keep renting it... and there was a laundromat near us that had a cab for some reason when I was young.  They just had a Ms Pac, and UN Squadron... weird choice!) but that's what strikes me that's so fun about this game.  Like, the difficulty and learning curve seems really solid, and I never really feel like I got completely hosed by a death.  I gotta stop gushing and get back to getting rid of this damned rust.

[epetti]

Inched up. 48,530. Still can't make it past the stupid second boss.

[j.fitzenr]

189880...  I can't believe I died on that damn boss.  Was sooo close. 

Which characters ya'll usin?

[Mr_Numbers]

I seem to do best with the guy in the middle (Mickey?).

[harveybirdman]

My poor skill requires the warthog with the down shot

[WakiMiko]

I'm still undecided between Shin and Mickey. Mickey has the more powerful shot but Shin has a higher autofire rate. He also moves slightly faster. If external autofire were allowed, Mickey would probably be the best choice.

Third character sucks.

[tomstewdevine]

I played a couple more games last night, but it didn't go well, I just can't seem to make it past that Stealth Jet.  But I feel like Mickey is the best for me, the dude on the end is garbage, having that down shot hinders you more than helps.  The fist person is probably the best for advanced players, but I really depend on that powerful shot. 

I like that you can't crash by touching the ground, it makes the first level really easy, I can consistently beat that level without getting hit once. In the second level I take the most damage from the silver enemy jets, I always seem to run into the their shots at least three times before getting to the stealth jet.

I do best when I buy the $2000 gun option the first level and the missiles on the second level.

I hope to put in some work on this game this weekend. I think I'm going to play it all the way through for practice and to see how the game progress's.

Also I just wanted to say that this thread is really F%$&*@g dope, you get to play a game that you probably wouldn't have normally played a lot, you get to see where you stand compared to other players, and get a little conversation going with the game........ and a pbj wise crack or two.  Can't go wrong. 

[pbj]

Well, I do okay until I get to the big tank on the first level.  Then I'm raped and cast away like yesterday's newspaper.  Over and over again.

[epetti]

I use the middle guy. For the tank as soon as he appears I just unload the $2000 missile until it's empty. That gets him to within a shot of dead. Second level I can get through almost without getting hit but then the boss destroys me.

[Mr_Numbers]

Buy the weapon and wait till you get to the tank, then stay a bit low and unload the entire thing into him as quickly as possible.  The tank will die in no time.

Well, I do okay until I get to the big tank on the first level.  Then I'm raped and cast away like yesterday's newspaper.  Over and over again.

[yamatetsu]

Don't buy any weapons in level 1, save the money. When you get to the tank, fly as low as possible, keep close to him and keep firing. If you have the right position, he cannot hit you. Just fire away and adjust your position when he moves.

If you do it right, he won't hit you at all. If you do it good enough, you might get hit once or twice.

[tomstewdevine]

Don't buy any weapons in level 1, save the money. When you get to the tank, fly as low as possible, keep close to him and keep firing. If you have the right position, he cannot hit you. Just fire away and adjust your position when he moves.

If you do it right, he won't hit you at all. If you do it good enough, you might get hit once or twice.

Nice, you always get at least $17000 the first round, so that extra $3k you save by not buying a weapon could be used to buy the $20000 weapon and possibly get past that stealth jet. Well I will be trying this tonight.

So Yamatetsu, you obviously crush at these games.  What is the game you're the best at?

[WakiMiko]

Don't buy any weapons in level 1, save the money. When you get to the tank, fly as low as possible, keep close to him and keep firing. If you have the right position, he cannot hit you. Just fire away and adjust your position when he moves.

If you do it right, he won't hit you at all. If you do it good enough, you might get hit once or twice.

There's another safe spot: I you stay at about the height of his "eye" (the blue thing), you don't have to move at all.

In the third stage there is a hidden unicorn just before the boss that gives you a shield when collected. To get it to appear you have to destroy all the trees up to that point. The first tree is very easy to miss because you have to fly down and to the left as soon as the stage starts.

[tomstewdevine]

Nice, thanks WakiMiko.  Any sweets spots for the second level boss?

[WakiMiko]

Not really. When he appears he only drops mines so you can stay pretty close to him and get some easy shots in. After that you have to dodge.

[j.fitzenr]

For a quicker kill low on the tank is great, but the 'eye' spot is solid.  There's only two patterns he fires big missiles in, and they alternate; if you stay all the way back on the screen near vertical center, you can slide up and down a small amount, back and forth, and slip through safe spots every time (and spamming your gun takes care of the little shots pretty much 100% of the time back there.)

The stealth, no bueno.  Lots of dodging.  I tend toward the higher parts of the screen if I can but this boss is the only one so far I can't find a reliable pattern to.  He's a piece of cake with Greg though.

[WakiMiko]

251,710 (Shin)



Here is an STG Weekly episode about U.N. Squadron. I didn't know it was based on a manga.



If you like shmups I highly recommend subscribing to their Youtube and Twitch channels. Lots of great episodes covering awesome games.

[yamatetsu]

Nice, you always get at least $17000 the first round, so that extra $3k you save by not buying a weapon could be used to buy the $20000 weapon and possibly get past that stealth jet. Well I will be trying this tonight.

Those missiles won't help you against the stealth jet, as it can't be detected by them. You could only use them as normal shots. My strategy is to buy the longer health bar and then get obliterated by the jet, and that's only if the smaller jets don't get me before, of course. I hate those slow shots. Fire something rapidly at me and I will probably dodge it, use slow shots and I will have ample time to crash into them 

So Yamatetsu, you obviously crush at these games.  What is the game you're the best at?

Umm, there actually is no such game.  I usually play a game until I get fed up with it and then move on to the next one. This competition kinda forces me to stay at the game and give it my best, which means that I play the compo games a lot more than I would have otherwise. Practice makes a good score 

One game I used to say I'm good at is Tetris. That of course was before I was humbled by the hardcore version. Now I'm a mediocre hardcore player (at best) and find the normal version which I've played for nearly 30 years boring. Thanks Waki. 

[j.fitzenr]

author=WakiMiko link=topic=145027.msg1508796#msg1508796 date=1429901284
Here is an STG Weekly episode about U.N. Squadron. I didn't know it was based on a manga.

I'm not a big anime fan.  There's about four or five anime series I absolutely love and about four thousand I can't stand... but I really love the Area 88 OVAs.  Like I really recommend it.  You can find them on YouTube if you're so inclined. 

One thing I've noticed is that while it seems like the obvious way to play for score is to save money... once you commit to a special weapon.... use it!  You only get a very small amount of cash back for unused special weapons.  I didn't do extensive testing but after a few first level playthroughs it looks like you get like 20% of your cash back, so if you buy bullpups... use those bullpups during the level!  Each char seems to have different specials for the levels too, which gives the gameplay a surprising amount of variety between chars.  I'll be interested to see which character gets used by our winner!  I've been capping out similarly score-wise with all three so far, and haven't committed yet.

Level 3 boss; if you don't finish it off on the first pass (which takes specials or, maybe the most spastic of fingers) once you turn around, shoot the hell out of the mid-air around the middle of the screen on the far right, there's a free power-up star thing that refills your energy and gives you points; basically, if you can survive the onslaught of the launchers on the far right of that fortress, you win. 

I forgot how much this game's difficulty spikes around level 6 and 7, at least for me.  Ugh. 

[WakiMiko]

One game I used to say I'm good at is Tetris. That of course was before I was humbled by the hardcore version. Now I'm a mediocre hardcore player (at best) and find the normal version which I've played for nearly 30 years boring. Thanks Waki. 

Haha, glad you are enjoying it. TGM is both a blessing and a curse because it's so addictive.

BTW, I'm an S8 now in TGM1. GM feels within reach!

So Yamatetsu, you obviously crush at these games.  What is the game you're the best at?

It's Hopper Robo.

[tomstewdevine]

Cool, thanks guys, hopefully my next post will show my score over 100k

[yamatetsu]

Which characters ya'll usin?

Definitely Shin. He has the highest fire rate, and, more importantly, seems to have the most agile plane. I've used Mickey before because he has the most firepower, but kept getting shredded by the smaller jets and the stealth jet. Using Shin at least gets me to the stealth bomber every time, but I still have not been able to beat that sucker.

In case someone missed it : It's vital to kill every red enemy and to collect the green / blue pods they leave behind. Those power up your main weapon.

[Mr_Numbers]

Please do, I'm in third again and don't want to pick the next game 

Cool, thanks guys, hopefully my next post will show my score over 100k

[yamatetsu]

78,030

[WakiMiko]

One thing I've noticed is that while it seems like the obvious way to play for score is to save money... once you commit to a special weapon.... use it!

Isn't money and score completely separate or am I missing something here?

Level 3 boss; if you don't finish it off on the first pass (which takes specials or, maybe the most spastic of fingers) once you turn around, shoot the hell out of the mid-air around the middle of the screen on the far right, there's a free power-up star thing that refills your energy and gives you points; basically, if you can survive the onslaught of the launchers on the far right of that fortress, you win. 

It doesn't give you points so it's not worth it to go for it IMO. Easier to finish off the boss on the first pass.

[yamatetsu]

Isn't money and score completely separate or am I missing something here?

IF you are able to waltz through the easy levels (ha !) without spending money, you'll be able to buy better special weapons or even special weapons and more health later on, which will help you to survive longer, enabling you to make more points.

[j.fitzenr]

My bad, I really thought that power up gave points on level 3... oops!  If you can survive it though, you can finagle more points out of destroying the stuff on the right side too on the second pass, at least.  And my fingers aren't fast enough to finish off the boss on pass 1 without the shells.

And I'm sorry if I was unclear, basically what I mean is that you get money returned to you at the end of the level for unused special weapons... but it seems to be a complete pittance compared to the original purchase cost. 

 

IF you are able to waltz through the easy levels (ha !) without spending money, you'll be able to buy better special weapons or even special weapons and more health later on, which will help you to survive longer, enabling you to make more points.

Yeah that was kinda my point... with the new life bar and power ups every level, it would seem for us mortals the best way to play is to optimize for getting as far as possible, not playing for max points.  I need to start proofreading these threads so i start making sense. 

I just credit-spam-monkeyed through the game once since I haven't seen past level 7 in years and to see if I could get a better handle on scoring, weapons, etc.  It appears that on completing the last level, your money DOES indeed convert to points.  Not that it matters, since anybody who can manage to 1cc this game will beat us by literally millions of points but just in case we have any freaks of nature up in these parts.

Depending how 'friendly' this competition is, keep us all posted on secrets if you're so inclined; there seem to be so many hidden power ups and points scattered that I just can't consistently find!  I swear I stumble onto health power ups at seemingly random times (and that unicorn on level 3... great if you can grab it!)  And there's a little spaceman looking dude on level 4 that gives you a nice chunk of points if you pick him up but I can't figure out how to trigger him consistently!

[popsicle]

84,430 with the 3rd guy

[j.fitzenr]

I wasn't going to post until I actually made a larger score breakthrough, but I couldn't help myself. 

251,740 with the Greggers.  Given the score that made me laugh, but given that I ended the run by screwing up an easy pattern and dodging directly into a bullet, I'm a little salty.

[WakiMiko]

Almost made it to the last stage: 532,150



Secrets I found:

Level 3: Unicorn (Destroy all trees, gives you a shield)
Level 4: Mobi-chan (Shoot next to the 3rd ground missile launcher thingy)
Level 5: Mobi-chan (Falls from top of the screen after destroying all rock pillars, can be hard to catch, gives you a laser weapon)
Level 6: Mobi-chan (Shoot the ground at the beginning of the top path)
Level 9: Mobi-chan (Drop a bomb right after the conveyor belt building)