Name: Sagaia V.2 Co-op (M.Knight & Prickly Angler) Clear (ABDFHKO) @Prickly_Angler
Uploaded: 2026-09-23T08:17:00-05:00
Duration: 8 min 17 s
Description: Sagaia V.2 Co-op (M.Knight & Prickly Angler) Clear (ABDFHKO)

Sagaia V.2 Co-op (M.Knight & Prickly Angler) Clear (ABDFHKO)

Prickly Angler 2026-09-23 | Sagaia V.2 Co-op (M.Knight & Prickly Angler) Clear (ABDFHKO)

DoDonPachi DaiOuJou (A-Ex) Clear (1-5)

Prickly Angler 2025-07-16 | M2 Gadgets on during the run

Score : 65 137 800

Played on M2 ShotTrigers port for PS4

Twinkle Star Sprites (Arcade Japan, Character Mode Level 8, Nanja Manja) Clear

Prickly Angler 2025-06-19 | No autofire

Max Hit : 28

Final Score : 1 228 290

Played on Arcade Archives port on Playstation 4

Twinkle Star Sprites (Arcade Japan, Character Mode, Nanja Manja) Clear

Prickly Angler 2025-06-18 | No autofire

Max Hit : 15

Final Score : 617 150

Played on Arcade Archives port on Playstation 4

Super Spacefortress Macross (Arcade Japan, Maximilian Jenius, autofire) Clear (Stage 8)

Prickly Angler 2025-06-03 | Final score : 3 048 100

Played with 15hz autofire

Played on Arcade Archives port on Playstation 4

Played live on twitch on June 3rd of 2025 :

twitch.tv/videos/2476293353

Dariusburst ACEX + (2nd Silver Hawk) No-Miss Clear (PTY)

Prickly Angler 2025-05-08 | Final score : 96 357 000

Played on DariusBurst ACEX + for PS4

Dariusburst ACEX + (2nd Silver Hawk) No-Miss Clear (PSX)

Prickly Angler 2025-05-01 | Final score : 146 220 900

Played on DariusBurst ACEX + for PS4

Dariusburst ACEX + (2nd Silver Hawk) No-Miss Clear (ORW)

Prickly Angler 2025-05-01 | Final score : 121 480 000

Played on DariusBurst ACEX + for PS4

Played live on twitch on April 22th of 2025 :

twitch.tv/videos/2361513540

Dariusburst ACEX + (2nd Silver Hawk) No-Miss Clear (CGL)

Prickly Angler 2025-03-31 | Final score : 116 555 320

Played on DariusBurst ACEX + for PS4

Akai Katana (Arcade, Tsubaki/Sumire) Clear

Prickly Angler 2025-03-24 | Final score : 104 877 724

Played on Playstation 4

Hishozame (autofire) Clear (Area 142)

Prickly Angler 2025-03-21 | Played with 30hz autofire and default fire rate

Final score : 767 280

Played on M2 ShotTrigers port for PS4

Operation Ragnarok (autofire) co-op Clear (M.Knight & Prickly Angler)

Prickly Angler 2025-03-19 | Played with autofire (normal)

P1 : Uncle Beard
Shot : Vertical
Missile : A S
Rear : Twin

P2 : Ms. Charlotte
Shot : 3 Way
Missile : Homing
Rear : 2 Way

P1 : 1 451 400
P2 : 1 136 120

Played on Arcade Archives port on Playstation 4

Akai Katana (Arcade, Shion/Suzuran) Clear

Prickly Angler 2025-03-16 | Final score : 99 093 681

Played on Playstation 4

Akai Katana (Arcade, Botan/Kikyou) Clear

Prickly Angler 2025-03-14 | Final score : 62 898 392

Played on Playstation 4

Touhou Perfect Sakura Fantastica (Original Story, Kids, Reimu Hakurei) Clear (incomplete)

Prickly Angler 2025-03-13 | Incomplete video recording

Version 1.1.1

Final Score : 2 479 748 690

Played at Ekuru Game Center

Darius Gaiden No-Miss No-Bomb Clear (ABDGLRW)

Prickly Angler 2025-01-23 | No autofire

Final Score : 9 801 350

Played on the Darius Cozmic Collection for Playstation 4

Played live on twitch on January 23rd of 2025 :

twitch.tv/videos/2361513540

Operation Ragnarok (Uncle Beard, Wave/A S/Wave, autofire) Clear

Prickly Angler 2025-01-16 | Played with autofire (normal)

Character : Uncle Beard
Shot : Wave
Missile : A S
Rear : Wave

Final score : 3 958 550

This weapon type is usually used by score players, as it is the one with the most potential. I wanted to do a clear with it, but figured it might be the opportunity to get a higher overall score in the game. I tried to see how far I could push the score with my current strats and knowledge of the game (I have seen top scoring replays but haven't studied them to the point of applying the most advanced strats). This score is far from optimal, I don't really score on the last part of the game. I am rather satisfied with it for the time being despite that I still have much more to uncover, something I may do in the future (despite the port gaving some issues for scoring). This ship type is not the easiest to handle : out of all the weapon combinations it is the one that leaves the most blind spots on the front. It is however a pretty powerfull weapon type with unique firing angles, and can be suited for some players even for survival.

Battle is Begun : The highest scoring stage in the game, and the one that has made its infamous reputation. It's really tricky to reach the perfect milking spots on the floor, so I didn't bother too much with that. Ideally you should never want to move out of the floor and only destroy the ennemies with the missiles. It's also possible to suicide to get more power-ups early on (with some memory manipulation for avoiding the bomb drop). Bombs can used for crossing the two cliffs while staying inside the floor (1:42).

Roc Carrier : I did not power-up as I should have in the stage (accidently took too one missile instead of a shot) which limited my scoring possibilites. Here you want to stay in the ground as much as possible and destroy zakos with missiles without dammaging the core.

Lunar : In this stage it's possible to shoot on the towers and structures (frame button seems to allows to have a perfect placement as the screen scrolls). The best way to milk the caterpillar ennemy (6:01) is to get underneath it, which is riskier than the spot I used. The ennemies firing with their arms (7:18) can also be milked more efficiently by going underneath the arms, there will be more of them later in the game. The last ennemies that can be milked are the mechas throwing grenades (7:53).

Moon Walker : Again I played it safe here and did not go too close to the boss to milk, you can go much closer.

Mars : As I still don't know how to deal with the crushing ennemy I use a bomb to pass it safely (12:11). The snake section at the end needs improvement, you can get much more points out of them.

Cosmic Slime : This boss can be tricky so I first use a bomb to weaken it before milking it (by trying not to dammage the core). It's best to start the fight at the bottom of the screen (not what I did so you can get to milk some bullets before hitting the slimes).

Asteroid : This is one of the few stages with some floors and ceillings you can milk, but as there's many ennemies and asteroids it's important to focus on those as well. I haven't studied the stage enough so I focus on the ennemies. The big ship firing rockets can be milked very easily by doing some sweeps (17:57). I milk the walls for a bit, but for better milking it's best to bomb without killing the weak point, pass the wall, and then milk with the rear wave.

Constrictor : This boss can be milked more effectively and longer. After a totally stupid death I decided to kill the boss pretty quickly.

Surface of Jupiter : No scoring done on this stage and any other later stages (aside from just shooting at things) . This type is really good for the end section with the snakes.

Loki : It's possible to milk the arms and the asteroids without taking much risks. The second phase drags out with this ship due to its innability to do precise and consistent dammage.

Frontier of Solar System : A pretty suited type for dealing with ennemies. A silly death at 27:43, no idea why I didn't just bomb.

Big Bill : One of the worst types for this boss fight because of the wave blindspots that aren't compensated by a forward-firing missile. Since I didn't hit the boss properly I died despite using two bombs, and even missed a power-up due to being a bit greedy.

Yggdrasil : A really effective type for this stage, I just ended up using more bombs than needed because I was powered-down

Insane Ship : This formation is effective on this boss due to the waves and missiles' firing angles.

Valkyrie : Not my best final stage, I died early on to a configuration I can regularly dodge without bombing (32:42), partly because I was a bit late on ennemy destruction (because of still being powered-down). Played it very safe when I was on my last life.

Played live on twitch on December 5th of 2024 :

twitch.tv/videos/2242624870

Played on Arcade Archives port on Playstation 4

Sonic Wings 3 (Germany Team) Co-op (M.Knight & Prickly Angler) Clear (Stage 9)

Prickly Angler 2025-01-08 | P1 (Junkers Ju-87 Stuka) : Myself
P2 (Dornier Do 335 Pfeil) : M.Knight

Played with autofire

Final score : 1 292 000

P1 : 695 500
P2 : 596 500

Played on the Arcade Archives port on PS4

Darius Gaiden No-Miss No-Bomb Clear (ABDGLRX)

Prickly Angler 2024-12-27 | No autofire

Final Score : 9 381 120

Played on the Darius Cozmic Collection for Playstation 4

Darius Gaiden No-Miss Clear (ACFIMRX)

Prickly Angler 2024-12-27 | No autofire

Final Score : 8 293 190

Played on the Darius Cozmic Collection for Playstation 4

Darius Gaiden No-Miss Clear (ACFIMSY)

Prickly Angler 2024-12-27 | No autofire

Final Score : 9 445 570

Played on the Darius Cozmic Collection for Playstation 4

Darius Gaiden No-Miss Clear (ACFIMRW)

Prickly Angler 2024-12-27 | No autofire

Final Score : 8 411 270

Played on the Darius Cozmic Collection for Playstation 4

Darius Gaiden No-Miss Clear (ACFJNSX)

Prickly Angler 2024-12-27 | No autofire

Final Score : 8 864 500

Played on the Darius Cozmic Collection for Playstation 4

Darius Gaiden : skipping Hysteric Empresss third phase

Prickly Angler 2024-12-27 | Requires pixel perfect or near pixel perfect positionning for it to work. This strategy can be usefull as a last resort or for a no-miss no-bomb speedrun attempt. Thanks to Rastan78 (youtube.com/@UCVTteLDFXuj4VEl0ynM_7mg) for finding this spot

Darius Gaiden : Zone M (No-Miss, 1 Scoring Bomb)

Prickly Angler 2024-12-12 | Titanic Lance is a dreaded boss, and one that has made the reputation of Darius Gaiden. While I managed to no-miss no-bomb the boss in the past using savestates, I never did it in a full run. As I recently improved on this boss I thought it would be a good idea to my explain strategy against this boss. It's far from being the most optimized strategy in terms of survival (timing out the boss is much better for rank control) or scoring (I miss out on some parts, and many milks), but it's one that I'm satisfied of and that I can pull off somehow consistently although I still need more in-game practice.

Stage (00:00) : The important thing to not pick up the red power-ups, as it will ruin everything. It is however very important to pick all the other power-ups : the two green ones (depending on the route taken you may not get the multi-homing napalm in stage 6 if you miss even one), the purple one, and the two blue ones (turns yout I didn't need the second one as I was already maxed out on the arm and got an unwanted rank increase). I thus try to avoid shooting at the red powers-up, or at least I try to shoot them when they're at the left side of the screen : I go to the top of the screen for that. Once they are away I sweep up and down to make sure I destroy every asteroid containing a power-up (the blue ones can be missed if not carefull). If the red power-ups gets in the way I go to the right, though it makes it easier to miss a power-up.

Titanic Lance :

1st Phase (00:38) : At the beginning I point-blank the boss, then as soon as the arms appear I go a bit above the bottom far-left of the screen and stay still. When it's about to fire the laser I bait the boss at the bottom of the screen and go up while point-blanking. If you've messed up baiting the laser it's safer to cross to the other side (at the expense of a single arm unit) than staying still and risk having the shield obliterated by the laser.

2nd Phase (00:54) : The hardest phase to do without bombs probably. It's hard to put into words how to dodge this pattern exactly. There's several ways you can do it, but overall it's better to not hold one direction for too long while dodging them.

3rd Phase (1:06) : I use a mobile safespot (works at the bottom as well) to trivialize this pattern, it's one that one need to create by drawing him to a certain spot (if done wrong you may end up with less space for dodging). While I'm in the safespot I occasionnaly hit right while hanging to right side so to fire my napalm bombs more vertically, I also go towards the left whenever the missile capsule appears so to herd the missiles.

4th Phase (1:45): Just a big destructible object that self-destructs when reaching a certain point of the screen, just point-blank it before that happens (it may be impossible if powered-down).

5th Phase (1:50) : The upper part yields an arm, and the bottom one a main shot p-up, it's better to go for the arm in most cases. Once the two blocks stop you need to move and go around the part you want to destroy, note the blue balls move back when hit by bombs. This phase may look scary and claustrophobic, but it's quite easy once you get the feel for it.

6th Phase (2:07) : I do some extreme point-blanking at the beginning to finish this phase as soon as possible. Stay left to destroy the missiles safely (it's easy for one to sleep by and hit you), and destroy the amonites before they start accumulating.

7th Phase (2:39) : The tricky part is to avoid the red power-up while destroying the fish. I use a bomb for score during that section since the debris are worth 250k in total, it also makes surviving much easier as they have high hit points.

8th Phase (2:53) : It's very important to reach the head coming from the bottom because you want to get rid of all the drones before proceeding to attack the brain (otherwise they will attack when you do). Normally the first volley is the only one you should dodge : the best strategy for that is to point-blank so to destroy as many drones as possible and then go left when they rush in towars your ship. Destroy the rest of the drones with the rear bombs, then destroy the protection guarding its brain and start attacking it (ideally you want to it with the two lower bombs and the bottom white missile).

9th Phase (3:40) : Probably the second hardest phase of the fight. It's important to move with slow taps while boss fires the 90°lasers, otherwise you'll end up getting trapped without any space to get away. The final Taito lasers are a bit tricky, I find it best to pass above them but depending on the cycle and the boss's position (it can move higher sometimes) I may attack from the upper right, and dodge the lasers by moving backwards (you do less dammage by dodging like that though). This phase's duration may vary depending on your agressiveness, I sometimes manage to destroy the boss before the final lasers firing once.

Played on Darius Cozmic Collection for Playstation 4

Dariusburst ACEX+ Co-op (M.Knight & Prickly Angler) No-Miss Clear (QUZ)

Prickly Angler 2024-12-11 | GAIDEN Silver Hawk (P1) : Myself (No-Miss)
Next Silver Hawk Burst (P2) : M.Knight (No-Miss)
Final scores :

P1 : 70 426 351
P2 : 39 375 401

Played on Dariusburst ACEX+ for Playstation 4

Coin-op Classic 2024 : Operation Ragnarok (Uncle Beard, Vertical/A S/Twin, autofire) Clear

Prickly Angler 2024-12-09 | Played with autofire (normal)

Character : Uncle Beard
Shot : Vertical
Missile : A S
Rear : Twin

Final score : 2 881 450

This clear was done on December 8th of 2024 during Coin-Op Classic 2024, it was commented by @LordBBH and @M_Knight_Jul : youtu.be/3WROEwVFqn8?t=242. This was my finest survival run I ever did on this game : a perfect final stage, good ressource management, and very few mistakes.

Played on Arcade Archives port on Playstation 4

Operation Ragnarok (Uncle Beard, Vertical/A S/Twin, autofire) Clear

Prickly Angler 2024-12-08 | Played with autofire (normal)

Character : Uncle Beard
Shot : Vertical
Missile : A S
Rear : Twin

Final score : 2 814 250

This clear was done on my first attempt at this game after my Shmuptember 2024 failed demonstration (youtu.be/ik0zLgrIe9E). For my revenge during Coin-Op Classic I choose a variation of the "Darius II type" which is a very good type (youtu.be/Wj08vGSOGl4), the only difference being that I switched the 2 Way for the Twin which is ultimately more usefull in the end. Overall Twin is the most powerfull rear weapon and the most effective to deal with any ennemy coming directly from behind despite yielding less points than Wave. Some specific notes about the run and this formation (for more general survival tips check out the comments I wrote for this run : youtu.be/ux5eZ4yJ3sM) :

Battle is Begun : Not too much to say about this stage, I just exploit the weapons' firing angle the best I can in order to destroy every ennemy.

Roc Carrier : For this boss I used the shot, but you can use the missile as well

Lunar : What can be bit tricky with this formation as you don't have much frontal firepower to get rid of the ennemies coming up front. If you're not agressive it's easy to get cornered (with things like the mechas'grenades or the linear zako waves). This is why I use a bomb in the final section (5:33), this one is free since you'll get a surplus in stage 3 otherwise.

Lunar Walker : This formation is really good for proctection against the destructible bullets, but the bossfight will last a bit due to the lack of frontal firepower.

Mars : This formation is really handy against the slime ennemies, however the mid-sized ennemies coming from the front and the section with the dragons will be more difficult and will take longer than with every other formation.

Cosmic Slime : This boss is really consistent with this formation, to the point I don't feel the need to bomb in order to increase consistency. The bomb (11:08) was used for safety, as I didn't remember the placements very well.

Asteroid : This stage is pretty easy with this type, as it allows to easily intercept ennemies and asteroids from all directions, as well as to destroy the walls pretty fast.

Constrictor : An easy boss with this type due to the sheer power of A S missiles and being able to hit in every direction. I got myself trapped (14:35) and had to bomb quickly into the fight.

Surface of the Jupiter : The lack of fontal power makes the sections against cross-firing ennemies pretty long and dangerous (as they move slowly closer to you), so I just prefer to bomb them (15:00, 15:54). On the other hand this formation is really good in the late section with the big snakes (16:03-16:56) to the point that bombing is really not needed (though I did as I was derusting).

Loki : A S missile is really cool for destroying the tentacle heads really fast, but the lack of frontal power will make it longer to destroy the first phase safely, and also will make the second phase a bit longer.

Frontier of Solar System : This is a stage where this formation shines, as it just really helps to be able to shoot everywhere and save bombs in some spots. But on the other hand the midsized ennemies will take much longer to defeat and are prone to using more bombs .

Big Bill : With this formation it's important to get really close so to kill the boss with two bombs.

Yggdrasil : Another stage where being able to shoot in every direction is pretty handy. First death was really silly, all I needed to do was to bomb (22:21), the second death was pretty ridiculous as well.(22:55). The big blue ennemies at the end are really easy to destroy with maxed out A S missile as long as you get close (24:28-24:50).

Insane Ship : Twin is by far the best weapon for dealing with this boss without wasting bombs (Vertical and A S missile are also usefull to a much lesser extend), although I didn't do it in this run due to low rear power.

Valkyrie : This is the stage where a formation such as this one is the most usefull, as it allows to cover every section of the screen and move more freely. This was a very clean survival attempt, the only real mistake was not doing one of the herdings correctly and getting trapped before being able to reach the hyper bomb (26:18)

Played live on twitch on December 2nd of 2024 : twitch.tv/videos/2316764028

Played on Arcade Archives port on Playstation 4

Operation Ragnarok (Uncle Beard, 3 Way/ A S/ Twin, autofire) Clear

Prickly Angler 2024-11-10 | Played with autofire (normal)

Character : Uncle Beard
Shot : 3 Way
Missile : A S
Rear : Twin

Final score : 3 067 700

For this clear I decided to clear the game with the same frontal weapons as one of my earlier clears (youtu.be/ApuMbAE4MhY), just replacing the rear Wave by Twin, which is more powerfull. Having a linear rear shot has some advantages and drawbacks, and requires a different approach than 2 way on some sections. 3-Way coupled with A S missile gives some really great coverage on the sides (though not directly above or below). A S missile is the most powerfull missile by far and the best for protecting the sides, but due the side angle it is also the worse for attacking ennemies coming from the front. Overall this formation is really good for the main difficult sections of the game with many ennemies coming from the sides but will struggle against ennemies coming from the front. Some specific notes about the run and this formation (for more general survival tips check out the comments I wrote for this run : youtu.be/ux5eZ4yJ3sM

Battle is Begun : Nothing much to say here

Roc Carrier : A rather long fight, due to being low on power and missiles not firing forward.

Lunar : 3 Way and A S missile is a pretty good combination for this stage, including for dealing with the ennemies coming from behind that the 2 Way would normally get.

Lunar Walker : This formation is really good for proctection against the destructible bullets, the bossfight will last a bit due to the lack of frontal firepower though.

Mars : This weapon combination is very handy against the slime ennemies (Twin is much better than 2 Way for those), however the ennemies with high hp coming from the front will take a lot of time to destroy. Because of the lack of vertical or 2 Way I decided to bomb the crushing ennemy (8:00).

Cosmic Slime : This boss is really inconsistent and even this formation has blind spots. As I did not want to take any risks I used a second bomb at 11:15.

Asteroid : This stage is pretty easy with this type, allowing to easily intercept ennemies and asteroids from all directions, as well as destroying the walls pretty fast.

Constrictor : A really easy bossfight due to the sheer power of A S missiles and 3 Way consistency.

Surface of the Jupiter : The lack of fontal power from the missiles makes the section against takes second cross-firing ennemies pretty long and dangerous (as they move slowly closer to you), so I prefer to just bomb them (14:54, 15:53). On the other hand this formation is good for the late section with the big snakes (16:15-17:03), I used a bomb for extra safety (16:40) but it's not too difficult to do this section without bombing with this type.

Loki : A S missile is really good for destroying the tentacle heads fast, but the lack of frontal power-up from the missiles will make it longer to destroy the first phase safely, and also will make the second phase a bit longer. I trapped myself at 19:07 and had no other real choice but to bomb

Frontier of Solar System : A pretty good type for this stage, having a wide shot helps. In this stage I did a lot of lifesaving panic bombing (19:46, 19:57, 20:25), which in addition to the bombs used earlier did end up costing me a life because I was out of bomb on sections I needed them. I was able to do the second section with the backing-down ennemies without dying or bombing this time (21:06).

Big Bill : Big Bill : A bit of a bad type for this boss unfortunately I ended up wasting one bomb (22:16).

Yggdrasil : Probably the most effective shot and missile for this stage, especially sections with the zakos. Having a 5-Way shot just happens to be extremely usefull here. I died once running into a bullet, and relied on some bombs but overall I did ok in this stage.

Insane Ship : A S missile allows to do a lot of dammage on point blank pretty fast when the bomb is active. Twin is by far the best weapon for dealing with this boss without using bombs (Vertical is also usefull to a much lesser extend). I was thus able to save one bomb by point-blanking from the front.

Valkyrie : A really usefull type for this stage, as it allows to cover the zakos coming from every direction pretty well. Due to its higher firepower rear Twin is very effective for dealing with the wrecked ennemies (25:30, 26:40). I was pretty liberal with the bombing, which caused me to not have any against the cross-firing ennemy (27:40), the most difficult section of the stage.

Played live on twitch on September 6th of 2024 :

twitch.tv/videos/2318890041

Played on Arcade Archives port on Playstation 4

Dariusburst ACEX+ Co-op (M.Knight & Prickly Angler) No-Miss Clear (OSX)

Prickly Angler 2024-10-15 | Legend Silver Hawk Burst (P1) : M.Knight (No-Miss)
GAIDEN Silver Hawk (P2) : Myself (No-Miss)

Final scores :

P1 : 79 554 501
P2 : 54 963 201

Played on Dariusburst ACEX+ for Playstation 4

Dariusburst ACEX+ Co-op (M.Knight & Prickly Angler) Clear (BFK)

Prickly Angler 2024-10-08 | Legend Silver Hawk Burst (P1) : M.Knight
GAIDEN Silver Hawk (P2) : Myself (No-Miss)

Final scores :

P1 : 29 976 001
P2 : 54 494 601

Played on Dariusburst ACEX+ for Playstation 4

Dariusburst ACEX + Co-op (M.Knight & Prickly Angler) Clear (AEJ)

Prickly Angler 2024-10-08 | Legend Silver Hawk Burst (P1) : M.Knight (No-Miss)
GAIDEN Silver Hawk (P2) : Myself

Final scores :

P1 : 44 687 401
P2 : 51 884 001

Played on Dariusburst ACEX+ for Playstation 4

Sagaia V.2 Co-op (M.Knight & Prickly Angler) Clear (ABDFILP)

Prickly Angler 2024-09-10 | Proco Jr. (P1) : M.Knight
Tiat Young (P2) : Myself

Played with 5, 10, 12, 15, and 30hz rapidfire

Final scores :

P1 : 1 112 530
P2 : 1 883 260

Played on the Darius Cozmic Collection for Playstation 4

Operation Ragnarok (Uncle Beard, Vertical/ Homing/ Twin, autofire) Clear

Prickly Angler 2024-09-01 | Played with autofire (very short)

Character : Uncle Beard
Shot : Vertical
Missile : Homing
Rear : Twin

Final score : 3 050 450

For my seventh Operation Ragnarok clear with a different type I settled for Twin, which was the last weapon that I hadn't used on a clear (I intended this clear to be the fifth but failed a few times very close the end). First time I tried Twin I was not at ease dealing with the ennemies coming from the upper back and lower back (e.g. 5:17, 7:35, 17:07, etc.), which is why I choose Vertical alongside it. Homing missiles were picked to increase firepower on the front while still providing some coverage. Overall Twin is the most powerfull rear weapon and the most effective to deal with any ennemy coming from behind despite yielding less points than Wave. This formation is rather weak overall though handy in some sections. The main issue is the lack of any weapon that can do high point-blank dammage.

Some specific notes about the run and this formation (for more general survival tips check out the comments I wrote for this run : youtu.be/ux5eZ4yJ3sM) :

Battle is Begun : Nothing much happening on this stage.

Roc Carrier : Same for the boss.

Lunar : This formation is decent for this stage though the end section before the boss can get a bit tricky with the lack of firepower. As I had previously died a few times in that section I preferred to bomb at 5:35 (rightfully so).

Lunar Walker : A pretty effective type overall for this boss (not that it matters much).

Mars : This type is terrible for this stage as the lack of power is really noticeable when fighting the slimes. It was not uncommon for me to bomb depending on the random slime behavior.

Cosmic Slime : Not a good type for this boss. I often found myself having to circle around sometime after the first bomb, this time around I had to bomb another time because of a nasty pattern (9:59).

Asteroid : This formation is absolutely terrible for dealing with the wall sections (the worst right after Wave & Homing) because of the lack of firepower and homing missiles' innefectiveness to deal with those. It's very important to point-blank so that the missiles hit the weak point of the wall while backing down or else it will because a "bomb or die" situation. Here I died because of not backing down enough on one of the walls (12:24), but overall I was pretty consistent at not dying so I felt bad for this mistake. The formation is really usefull for dealing with the zakos and little asteroids though, Twin being better than the other two Rear weapons here I think with its thick shot.

Constrictor : A rather good type against this boss, Twin allows point-blank for behind for some good dammage.

Surface of the Jupiter : A really good type for this stage. Homing missiles deal with the cross-firing ennemies and the zakos effectively, Vertical is handy for the sections with the zakos and the snakes, and Twin is simply the best weapon to deal with the snakes. It's very possible not to bomb at the snakes with this type, but decided to plan a bomb for consistency (15:22). Aside from that I did a bad move by trying to take a bonus power-up (14:17), that was needless and it's important to note the lower safespot is safer as it has more room, I also used a bomb for safety after killing the second cross-firing ennemy (14:44).

Loki : This type is ok for the first phase, the Vertical shots can be used for the tentacles. It's also pretty good for the final phase though I failed pretty badly at destroying it at the right spot and bombed to shorten the fight (16:29).

Frontier of Solar System : A good type for this stage. Twin is the best weapon for dealing with the mechas coming from behind. I died very stupidly by forgetting about the zako wave coming from behind (18:00), but it wasn't bad in the end since I managed not to use many bombs thanks to the rank drop.

Yggdrasil : This formation is pretty decent at dealing with this stage's zakos (though not being able to shoot diagonally isn't the best), however it's the worst possible against the slugs at the end of the stage. Fortunately I improved a lot in dodging them, which is a bit trickier than it seems with the slow ship, big hitbox, big bullets, and the mechas with the jetpacks.

Insane Ship : Twin is by far the best weapon for dealing with this boss without using bombs (Vertical is also usefull to a much lesser extend). I was thus able to save one bomb by point-blanking from the front.

Valkyrie : This was my best attempt at this stage by far. The death felt odd, almost as if it wasn't normal for me not to have died yet (24:51). I did good on the final boss's pattern, and I had another life in stock. This type is good for the stage but awfull against the boss as you can't do a lot of dammage quickly (this cost me some runs).

Played live on twitch on August 27th of 2024 : twitch.tv/videos/2234813814

Played on Arcade Archives port on Playstation 4

Operation Ragnarok (Uncle Beard, Wave/ A A/ 2 Way, autofire) Clear

Prickly Angler 2024-08-08 | Played with autofire (normal)

Character : Uncle Beard
Shot : Wave
Missile : A A
Rear : 2 Way

Final score : 3 050 450

For my fifth Operation Ragnarok clear I've decided to take the Wave along the A A missile, which make for the most frontal weapon combination in the game. Wave is probably the most powerfull weapon of this game, and the best in terms of scoring because of the absurd amount of tick points it gives compared to the other weapons. Because of how the Wave upgrades one will get a bigger blind spot in front of the ship at the benefit of better side coverage the more power-ups one takes. Due to this I stay at level 3 until stage 4 in order to have a more concentrated fire stream. Among all the missiles A A is the slowest to upgrade to a good level, as it only beomes half-decent at level 3 and interesting at level 4, and even then the increase in firepower doesn't always jutify losing the coverage. Despite this A A missile type comes very usefull in certain sections, and has a very good-looking sprite at max level which that makes it really pleasant to use. Having frontal missiles covers the Wave's frontal blind spot very effectively, at max power it's very satisfying to have a concentrated fire stream that will make short work of anything coming from the front. However this weapon combination is overall the worse for side coverage, despite the Wave being able to hit ennemies in angles 3 Way and Vertical can't. I should point out that seing LordBBH's replays with this type made me want to try it :youtu.be/qSMMER72Ip0

Some specific notes about the run and this formation (for more general survival tips check out the comments I wrote for this run : youtu.be/ux5eZ4yJ3sM) :

Battle is Begun : In this stage I take max out missile power just for fun.

Roc Carrier : Wave and A A missile is the bestcombination for speedkilling this boss.

Lunar : This stage is harder with this missile type as it doesn't have much coverage, and the frontal firepower isn't very usefull except for the busy section at the end (4:49). For survival it's better to power-up the Wave before the missile.

Lunar Walker : The best type for speedkilling this boss.

Mars : Wave alongside A A missile is the most effective type for speedkilling the slime ennemies and dragons. To do more efficient dammage I avoid to take the last shot power-up.

Cosmic Slime : The best type for speedkilling this boss, but since there is a free bomb there's no need to take any risks on this inconsistent boss.

Asteroid : This stage is a bit harder with the A A missile as it lacks any coverage for dealing with the zakos ans asteroids, though the extra frontal firepower is very usefull on the wall sections. At 9:48 I had to bomb because I was in an odd situation.

Constrictor : A A missile is good against this boss, but Wave's blind spot prevent this formation from being the best for the speedkilling this boss. Rather average type overall against this boss.

Surface of the Jupiter : A A missile isn't particularly handy in this stage for the sections with the zakos coming from the sides, but it ends up being pretty usefull against ennemies with high hp.

Loki : The first phase of the fight is easier with A A missile as the laser cannons get destroyed faster and you don't have to worry about hitting the core when shooting on the sides. The second phase however lasts longer than with Homing.

Frontier of Solar System : A A Missile is quite good in this stage : it really helps against the evil red mechas and other ennemies with high hp. The frontal power allows to destroy most ennemies from the front before they shoot. I was pretty happy with my performance here overall, as I played very safely.

Yggdrasil : Easily the worst shot and missile combination for the beginning of the stage. Lack of coverage from the missile and angle of the Wave makes the section with the zakos a very tricky, and I lost a few lives in a dumb way (20: 41 and 21:03). Overall AA missile is very serviceable against the backing-down ennemies, and most especially because the big blue ennemies at the end are much easier to destroy (21:37), especially since I wasn't at full shot power.

Insane Ship : A A missile is a much better type than Homing against this boss, as you can really rack up point blank dammage pretty fast.

Valkyrie : A A missile is useless on this stage because the mainly threat is zakos, along with the Wave it is among the least usefull combinations to have. I did pretty well on here overall, I definetely have a better route than at the time of my first clear, though I still need to improve at the section with the cross-firing ennemy (25:10) and I also got myself walled by the homing bullets stupidly (24:59). At 23:24 I decided to bomb so to get the shot power-up that was really needed

Played live on twitch on August 6th of 2024 : twitch.tv/videos/2217615655

Played on Arcade Archives port on Playstation 4

Operation Ragnarok (Uncle Beard, 3 Way/ A S/ Wave, autofire) Clear

Prickly Angler 2024-08-08 | Played with autofire (normal)

Character : Uncle Beard
Shot : 3 Way
Missile : A S
Rear : Wave

Final score : 3 003 900

For my sixth Operation Ragnarok clear I've decided to clear the game with a different rear weapon from 2 Way, which I had always used so far. Having a linear rear shot has some advantages and drawbacks, and requires a different approach than 2 way on some sections. Compared to Twin, rear Wave has a different shooting angle and leaves the same blindspot at max power, overall I find it to be a bit weaker. As I was a bit apprehensive of the ennemies from behind I took 3 Way coupled with A S missiles, which gives some really great coverage on the sides (though not directly above or below). AS missile is the most powerfull missile by far and the best for protecting the sides, but due the side angle it is also the worse for attacking ennemies coming from the front. Overall this formation is really good for the main difficult sections of the game with many ennemies coming from the sides but will struggle against ennemies coming from the front. Some specific notes about the run and this formation (for more general survival tips check out the comments I wrote for this run : youtu.be/ux5eZ4yJ3sM) :

Battle is Begun : I missed two power-ups in this stage for not dealing enough dammage to the helicopters (1:52, 2:37). As it didn't hurt my routing I decided to continue the run.

Roc Carrier : A rather long fight, due to being low on power and missiles not firing forward.

Lunar : 3 Way and A S missile is a pretty good combination for this stage, including for dealing with the ennemies coming from behind that the 2 Way would normally get.

Lunar Walker : This formation is really good for proctection against the destructible bullets, the bossfight will last a bit due to the lack of frontal firepower though.

Mars : This weapon combination is very handy against the slime ennemies (Wave is much better than 2 Way for those), however the ennemies with high hp coming from the front will take a lot of time to destroy. Because of the lack of vertical or 2 Way I decided to bomb the crushing ennemy (8:10).

Cosmic Slime : This boss is really inconsistent and even this formation has blind spots. As I did not want to take any risks I used a second bomb at 11:15.

Asteroid : This stage is pretty easy with this type, allowing to easily intercept ennemies and asteroids from all directions, as well as destroying the walls pretty fast.

Constrictor : A really easy bossfight due to the sheer power of A S missiles and 3 Way consistency.

Surface of the Jupiter : The lack of fontal power from the missiles makes the section against takes second cross-firing ennemies pretty long and dangerous (as they move slowly closer to you), so I prefer to just bomb them (14:57, 16:03). On the other hand this formation is good for the late section with the big snakes (16:15-17:03), I used a bomb for extra safety (16:44) but it's not too difficult to do this section without bombing with this type. Note that I did a big mistake at 15:45 which could have cost me a life in attempting to grab the power-up.

Loki : A S missile is really good for destroying the tentacle heads fast, but the lack of frontal power-up from the missiles will make it longer to destroy the first phase safely, and also will make the second phase a bit longer.

Frontier of Solar System : A pretty good type for this stage, having a wide shot helps. I took a pretty silly death at 20:33, then the rank went down for a while before taking another death at 21:38 (wanted to save the two bombs for the boss). A rather bad performance.

Big Bill : A bit of a bad type for this boss unfortunately I ended up wasting one bomb (22:16).

Yggdrasil : Probably the most effective shot and missile for this stage, especially sections with the zakos. Having a 5-Way shot just happens to be extremely usefull here. I died once when I should just have used a bomb, and I ended up wasting two bombs on the big blue ennemies despite them being easy to destroy with A S missile.

Insane Ship : A S missile allows to do a lot of dammage on point blank pretty fast when the bomb is active.

Valkyrie : A really usefull type for this stage, as it allows to cover the zakos coming from every direction pretty well. Due to its higher firepower rear Wave is much better at dealing with the wrecked ennemies (25:42, 26:50) than 2-Way. I did alright overall despite not always taking the best decisions

Played live on twitch on August 6th of 2024 : twitch.tv/videos/2217979350

Played on Arcade Archives port on Playstation 4

Sagaia V.1 Co-op (M.Knight & Prickly Angler) Clear (ABCEHKO)

Prickly Angler 2024-07-24 | Proco Jr. (P1) : M.Knight
Tiat Young (P2) : Myself (No-Miss)

Played with 5, 10, 12, 15, and 30hz rapidfire

Final scores :

P1 : 1 276 360
P2 : 1 933 870

Played live on twitch on July 23th of 2024 : twitch.tv/videos/2205848752

Played on the Darius Cozmic Collection for Playstation 4

Sagaia V.2 Co-op (M.Knight & Prickly Angler) Clear (ABCEGJM)

Prickly Angler 2024-07-24 | Proco Jr. (P1) : M.Knight
Tiat Young (P2) : Myself

Played with 5, 10, 12, 15, and 30hz rapidfire

Final scores :

P1 : 1 203 280
P2 : 1 996 950

Played live on twitch on July 23th of 2024 : twitch.tv/videos/2205856212

Played on the Darius Cozmic Collection for Playstation 4

Sagaia V.1 Co-op (M.Knight & Prickly Angler) Clear (ABDIFLP)

Prickly Angler 2024-07-24 | Proco Jr. (P1) : M.Knight
Tiat Young (P2) : Myself

Played with 5, 10, 12, 15, and 30hz rapidfire

Final scores :

P1 : 1 320 020
P2 : 1 528 330

Played live on twitch on July 23th of 2024 : twitch.tv/videos/2205477181

Played on the Darius Cozmic Collection for Playstation 4

Sagaia V.2 Co-op (M.Knight & Prickly Angler) Clear (ABDFHKN)

Prickly Angler 2024-07-24 | Proco Jr. (P1) : M.Knight
Tiat Young (P2) : Myself

Played with 5, 10, 12, 15, and 30hz rapidfire

Final scores :

P1 : 1 113 280
P2 : 1 881 600

Played live on twitch on July 23th of 2024 : twitch.tv/videos/2205868264

Played on the Darius Cozmic Collection for Playstation 4

Darius II (2-screen, Difficulty B, 12hz autofire) No-Miss Clear (ABDGKPZ)

Prickly Angler 2024-07-18 | Played with original PCB dipswitch autofire (12hz)

Final score : 3 008 040

Played on the Darius Cozmic Collection for Playstation 4

Darius II (2-screen, Difficulty B, 12hz autofire) No-Miss Clear (ABEIMRX)

Prickly Angler 2024-07-18 | Played with original PCB dipswitch autofire (12hz)

Final score : 3 155 180

Played live on twitch on July 2nd of 2024 : twitch.tv/videos/2186314804

Played on the Darius Cozmic Collection for Playstation 4

Darius II (2-screen, Difficulty B, 12hz autofire) No-Miss Clear (ACFIMRW)

Prickly Angler 2024-07-18 | Played with original PCB dipswitch autofire (12hz)

Final score : 3 281 810

Played live on twitch on July 2nd of 2024 : twitch.tv/videos/2187125089

Played on the Darius Cozmic Collection for Playstation 4

Darius II (2-screen, Difficulty B, 12hz autofire) No-Miss Clear (ABEHLQV)

Prickly Angler 2024-07-18 | Played with original PCB dipswitch autofire (12hz)

Final score : 3 069 070

Played live on twitch on July 2nd of 2024 : twitch.tv/videos/2186901744

Played on the Darius Cozmic Collection for Playstation 4

Darius II (2-screen, Difficulty B, 12hz autofire) No-Miss Clear (ACFJOUV)

Prickly Angler 2024-07-18 | Played with original PCB dipswitch autofire (12hz)

Final score : 2 829 520

Played live on twitch on June 30th of 2024 : twitch.tv/videos/2186316505

Played on the Darius Cozmic Collection for Playstation 4

Darius II (2-screen, Difficulty B, 12hz autofire) No-Miss Clear (ABEIMSY)

Prickly Angler 2024-07-18 | Played with original PCB dipswitch autofire (12hz)

Final score : 3 078 630

Played live on twitch on June 30th of 2024 : twitch.tv/videos/2186314804

Played on the Darius Cozmic Collection for Playstation 4

Darius II (3-screen, Difficulty B, 12hz autofire) No-miss Clear (ABEINSX)

Prickly Angler 2024-07-18 | Played with dipswitch autofire (12hz)

Final score : 2 963 310

Screen settings :

- Screen Size : Height 0 and lenght 0 for each screen

- Screen position :

Left screen : Vertical position 3, Horizontal position -4
Central screen : Vertical position 6, Horizontal position 3
Right screen : Vertical position 8, Horizontal position -3

- Colours :

Left screen : Red -31, Green -6, Blue -2
Central screen : Red 0, Green -15, Blue -31
Right screen : Red -5, Green -31, Blue -8

- Scanlines :

Filter : B2

Played on Arcade Archives port on Playstation 4

Darius II (3-screen, Difficulty B, 12hz autofire) No-miss Clear (ABEINTY)

Prickly Angler 2024-07-18 | Played with dipswitch autofire (12hz)

Final score : 3 038 730

Screen settings :

- Screen Size : Height 0 and lenght 0 for each screen

- Screen position :

Left screen : Vertical position 3, Horizontal position -4
Central screen : Vertical position 6, Horizontal position 3
Right screen : Vertical position 8, Horizontal position -3

- Colours :

Left screen : Red -31, Green -6, Blue -2
Central screen : Red 0, Green -15, Blue -31
Right screen : Red -5, Green -31, Blue -8

- Scanlines :

Filter : B2

Played on Arcade Archives port on Playstation 4

Darius II (3-screen, Difficulty B, 12hz autofire) No-miss Clear (ACFINTZ)

Prickly Angler 2024-07-18 | Played with dipswitch autofire (12hz)

Final score : 3 083 630

Screen settings :

- Screen Size : Height 0 and lenght 0 for each screen

- Screen position :

Left screen : Vertical position 3, Horizontal position -4
Central screen : Vertical position 6, Horizontal position 3
Right screen : Vertical position 8, Horizontal position -3

- Colours :

Left screen : Red -31, Green -6, Blue -2
Central screen : Red 0, Green -15, Blue -31
Right screen : Red -5, Green -31, Blue -8

- Scanlines :

Filter : B2

Played on Arcade Archives port on Playstation 4

Darius II (3-screen, Difficulty B, 12hz autofire) No-Miss Clear (ACFJOTZ)

Prickly Angler 2024-07-18 | Played with dipswitch autofire (12hz)

Final score : 2 886 930

Screen settings :

- Screen Size : Height 0 and lenght 0 for each screen

- Screen position :

Left screen : Vertical position 3, Horizontal position -4
Central screen : Vertical position 6, Horizontal position 3
Right screen : Vertical position 8, Horizontal position -3

- Colours :

Left screen : Red -31, Green -6, Blue -2
Central screen : Red 0, Green -15, Blue -31
Right screen : Red -5, Green -31, Blue -8

- Scanlines :

Filter : B2

Played on Arcade Archives port on Playstation 4

Darius II (3-screen, Difficulty B, 12hz autofire) Clear (ACFIMRX)

Prickly Angler 2024-07-18 | Played with dipswitch autofire (12hz)

Final score : 3 028 880

Screen settings :

- Screen Size : Height 0 and lenght 0 for each screen

- Screen position :

Left screen : Vertical position 3, Horizontal position -4
Central screen : Vertical position 6, Horizontal position 3
Right screen : Vertical position 8, Horizontal position -3

- Colours :

Left screen : Red -31, Green -6, Blue -2
Central screen : Red 0, Green -15, Blue -31
Right screen : Red -5, Green -31, Blue -8

- Scanlines :

Filter : B2

Played on Arcade Archives port on Playstation 4