Happy New Year 2020 to all of you and your family! While a large majority of people are preparing to adopt good resolutions at the beginning of this year, which marks the beginning of a new decade, my still insatiable desire to challenge myself in the videogame field once again took over, pushing me once again into my retrenchments. This time, my devotion went to a choice piece of game, since it is a question of putting an end to a long torture of several years. Indeed, despite my record of arcade games finished in one credit, including a good part of shoot'em up made by Cave (which makes me a bit proud !), Battle Garegga was so far resisting me.
Title considered by many as one of the first Manic Shooter/Danmaku in the history of video games, this monument of the genre which was born in 1996, will forever remain one of the games that gave me the most trouble. Having a gradual difficulty, materialized by a punitive rank system that will increase by step and according to your actions, Battle Garegga is an extremely vicious shmup that will not stop humiliating you, if you hope to try the adventure of the one credit. Here, no dense patterns that literally fill the screen (although some passages are quite "bushy"), but rather a succession of treacherous traps, not hesitating to catch you on the backside if you're not concentrated enough.
To get out of it, I had no choice but to assimilate all the components of the game in its entirety. More than anything else, I had to learn how to juggle with this famous rank system and try to tame it without it unleashing a thunder of projectiles whose outcome would inevitably lead to game over. Fortunately, the version remastered by the M2 studio on PS4, allowed me to immerse myself in all the subtleties of its gameplay. The tools allowing to visualize the difficulty curve, but also to ensure a better visibility in the patterns, have been of a precious and invaluable help in my journey. Today, I am happy and proud to deliver you the video of this achievement !
Notes about the run :
I made this one credit through premium mode. This one is similar in every way to the original arcade version, with the difference that it allows a better visibility of the enemy shots which are then highlighted (purple colors). In addition, this mode offers two extensions: The first one to 1 Million and the second one to 2 Million. The arcade version grants an extension every million. You're going to argue that this mode is more difficult. Not really, since you can get extra lives under certain conditions. For example: destroying all of a boss's parties or not bomb in various places...
In order to maintain the rank at an acceptable level, you must then accept to deliberately lose a life. So don't be surprised to see me die regularly. Some deaths are intentional and some are not. :)
Losing a life also grants a stock of extra bombs. This makes it easier to get out of certain embarrassing situations, but also allows you to score on different key points of a level.
For the purpose of this "exploit", I use a hidden character, unlockable using a code quite similar to a Konami code.