Shmups

[KSubzero1000]

• Chapter 1: FLEX

So... I must have finally hit the third(?)-life crisis and bought a new stick to celebrate.



Ta-Daaaaa!

The HORI Real Arcade Pro N Hayabusa (PS3/PS4/PC), with all custom parts, including some color-matched Sanwa OBSFS-30s and a Gunmetal OBSJ-24 for the Options button (plus Gunmetal balltop). Really happy with my purchase overall.

Some review I read claimed it was easy to customize the art and that I could just slip a custom art sheet underneath the stock plexi, which was one of the reasons I bought it. Unfortunately that turned out to be completely inaccurate information and I would actually have to destroy the stock art before being able to apply a new art and plexi, so I decided to keep it as is for now. I'm afraid it would diminish the overall stability since the stock parts are all glued very tightly together and the custom plexi would only be held in place by the screws/buttons and nothing else.



I originally had some Ikaruga motif in mind, hence the coloring scheme. Even put together some neat artwork. But it's probably safer this way. Besides, the stick itself rocks!

I found the stock Hayabusa lever surprisingly good. But the buttons seemed a bit wobbly and somewhat unreliable. The Sanwas on the other hand are just... wow. I can see why they became the industry standard. Insanely responsive. *clickclickclickcliclicliclici*

The NOIR layout is super comfortable, I'm kinda surprised no manufacturer other than HORI appears interested in it. Much more ergonomic, especially when leaning back and keeping the stick on your lap.

I LOVE how much room there is to rest your hand on underneath the buttons. It's the little things that count.

One adorable little feature is the safety cover mechanism "protecting" the Options button:





Anyway, aren't I missing something? ...Ah, yes.

• Chapter 2: INFOMERCIAL

I could still go for a shorter throw, I reckon.

I know I'm over a year late on this but ooh darling, do I have the perfect lever for you:
Enter the Seimitsu LS-62-01. (N.B.: SIXTY-two, despite the PCB's fake info.)



Aka the shortest, tightest, cleanest, most precise lever on the market. PER-FECT for shmups. That throw... it's so incredibly short! And the best part...



It comes with a stock octagonal gate. And I haven't had any issue with hitting the diagonals too early like I was expecting to. In other words, this thing is nothing short of impeccable. The spring is not quite as stiff as the LS-32's, and I reckon it might not be the ideal choice for fighting games since it leaves absolutely zero room for error, but the responsiveness is amazing for shmups. Virtually no deadzone whatsoever. Buttery smooth. Try it.

Ketsui with this thing is just... *chef's kiss*. I'm sooo glad I took a chance on this little mystery factor instead of playing it safe and tossing a LS-32 in there. After having tried both, the LS-62 wins hands down.


PS: Last comparison pic of my two angels:

[Stanshall]

Congratulations, you luxurious mother fucker. That is gorgeous! I didn't think you'd top the VX...

That LS-62 sounds fantastic, as well. I might just order one and give my stick a new lease of life. I've been playing a bit of Ketsui here and there, plus some Muchi Muchi Pork Arrange and Daioujou X (a fun but unbalanced arrange) but my 360 has predominantly been an OutRun 2 box for the last month or so. I'm excited by your description, though, and I've relatively little to lose.

Please report back how you're getting on with it!

[KSubzero1000]

That LS-62 sounds fantastic, as well. I might just order one and give my stick a new lease of life.

It is indeed fantastic. And arcadeworld has it back in stock at the moment:

https://www.arcadeworlduk.com/products/ ... stick.html

(I had to order from some frenchman which cost me 20€ in shipping and it came with a bent pin. Count your blessings.)

You won't regret it. It's the scalpel to the LS-32's Claymore. Get ready for the brain surgery.

[Stanshall]

Haha what a great description. OK, you've sold me. I'll report back!

[KSubzero1000]

Please report back how you're getting on with it!

Oh yeah, I completely forgot to mention. I've actually had this thing lying here for a month! It's just that I've been really busy otherwise and forgot to post about it until now. But I've put some proper hours on it and it is grandiose. Lots of Ketsui and BWR and all that jazz.

I have to agree with your general consensus of "Seimitsu Lever + Sanwa Buttons" after trying out those Silent Sanwas. It really is the best of both worlds, isn't it? Super responsive and great... ahem... tactile feedback. You know what I mean. *clickclickclick*

[hazeredmist]

• Chapter 1: FLEX

So... I must have finally hit the third(?)-life crisis and bought a new stick to celebrate.



Ta-Daaaaa!

The HORI Real Arcade Pro N Hayabusa (PS3/PS4/PC), with all custom parts, including some color-matched Sanwa OBSFS-30s and a Gunmetal OBSJ-24 for the Options button (plus Gunmetal balltop). Really happy with my purchase overall.

Some review I read claimed it was easy to customize the art and that I could just slip a custom art sheet underneath the stock plexi, which was one of the reasons I bought it. Unfortunately that turned out to be completely inaccurate information and I would actually have to destroy the stock art before being able to apply a new art and plexi, so I decided to keep it as is for now. I'm afraid it would diminish the overall stability since the stock parts are all glued very tightly together and the custom plexi would only be held in place by the screws/buttons and nothing else.



I originally had some Ikaruga motif in mind, hence the coloring scheme. Even put together some neat artwork. But it's probably safer this way. Besides, the stick itself rocks!

I found the stock Hayabusa lever surprisingly good. But the buttons seemed a bit wobbly and somewhat unreliable. The Sanwas on the other hand are just... wow. I can see why they became the industry standard. Insanely responsive. *clickclickclickcliclicliclici*

The NOIR layout is super comfortable, I'm kinda surprised no manufacturer other than HORI appears interested in it. Much more ergonomic, especially when leaning back and keeping the stick on your lap.

I LOVE how much room there is to rest your hand on underneath the buttons. It's the little things that count.

One adorable little feature is the safety cover mechanism "protecting" the Options button:





Anyway, aren't I missing something? ...Ah, yes.

• Chapter 2: INFOMERCIAL

I could still go for a shorter throw, I reckon.

I know I'm over a year late on this but ooh darling, do I have the perfect lever for you:
Enter the Seimitsu LS-62-01. (N.B.: SIXTY-two, despite the PCB's fake info.)



Aka the shortest, tightest, cleanest, most precise lever on the market. PER-FECT for shmups. That throw... it's so incredibly short! And the best part...



It comes with a stock octagonal gate. And I haven't had any issue with hitting the diagonals too early like I was expecting to. In other words, this thing is nothing short of impeccable. The spring is not quite as stiff as the LS-32's, and I reckon it might not be the ideal choice for fighting games since it leaves absolutely zero room for error, but the responsiveness is amazing for shmups. Virtually no deadzone whatsoever. Buttery smooth. Try it.

Ketsui with this thing is just... *chef's kiss*. I'm sooo glad I took a chance on this little mystery factor instead of playing it safe and tossing a LS-32 in there. After having tried both, the LS-62 wins hands down.


PS: Last comparison pic of my two angels:

Wow! This looks amazing. I am very jealous!

[Alex79]

That stick looks well nice. I've still got my PS3 Madcatz SFIV tournament stick, but it doesn't work on many PS4 games or even on one of my laptops due to some driver issue, which is a pain as there's nothing better than hooking up a laptop to the TV and playing MAME with a dedicated stick.

[Flabyo]

These guys can likely sell you something to fix that, the fighting game scene swears by them:

https://www.brookaccessory.com/product/

[ratsoalbion]

Yes, I have Brook converters to plug my Hori RAP 4 (PS3/PS4) into both Xbox One and Switch.

[Alex79]

Ah that's awesome! I've got loads of Switch shmups I'd love to play with a stick. Thanks for the link

[Alex79]

Jesus... That's just about the worst website I've seen in a long time! Wonder why they don't make it easier to navigate and find what you're looking for.

[ratsoalbion]

I got mine off of evil Amazon.

[hazeredmist]

I have this one for the PS3/4 stick our dearly departed clippa gave me, it works really well I think and gives a wide range of compatibility options:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mcbazel-MAGIC- ... YHENGM6DQ1

[Stanshall]

I tried to fit my LS-62-01 and realised that it doesn't work in terms of cabling with my stick. I needed an LS-62 which seems impossible to get to hold of. Took it as an omen and finally took the plunge on a Brook Universal Fighting Board. Should be here within a week. Excited to get it going.

[KSubzero1000]

I tried to fit my LS-62-01 and realised that it doesn't work in terms of cabling with my stick.

Oh, really? That's unfortunate, sorry to hear that. I had zero issue with plugging the default H5P cable of my RAP N onto the LS-62-01 connector pins, otherwise I would have said something.

Hope it works out somehow.

[Stanshall]

I tried to fit my LS-62-01 and realised that it doesn't work in terms of cabling with my stick.

Oh, really? That's unfortunate, sorry to hear that. I had zero issue with plugging the default H5P cable of my RAP N onto the LS-62-01 connector pins, otherwise I would have said something.

Hope it works out somehow.

Not your fault in the slightest, I just didn't look carefully enough before taking the plunge. I don't have that five-pin cable on my stick so there's nothing to attach it, basically. I have each individual directional connection wired up on my LS-32.

I've wanted a UFB for ages, but I could never quite justify the cost. I might as well just go for it now.

[Stanshall]

Also, quick recommendation for Missile Dancer, a cute little Crimzon Clover lite on the Japanese eShop. It's all based around the lock on mechanic and expanding your lock on range and number of missiles. It lifts some boss designs from Garegga but it's got some neat little twists along the way. I got a Normal 1CC but no capture so I'll have another few goes at it and see if I can upload. Good fun!

[Alex79]

Sounds interesting, do you think it's likely to get a WW release? How do you buy your Japanese games, just get a gift card online for the eShop?

[Stanshall]

Sounds interesting, do you think it's likely to get a WW release? How do you buy your Japanese games, just get a gift card online for the eShop?

I expect it will do at some point. Rolling Gunner was Japanese eShop only for quite a long time but eventually made its way. It tends to be the case that anything that doesn't require much localisation arrives on the other eShops soon enough. This is already in English, anyway, so it should come across.

In terms of buying from the Japanese eShop, it's a bit more fiddly because you have to buy JPN credit from PlayAsia or similar. I just set up a separate Japanese account too keep things simple. You can play any downloaded games off any account so it's no big deal once you set it up, only takes ten minutes.

Here's Missile Dancer, just got another 1CC, starting to get the hang of the scoring on certain stages and doing some little boss milking strats. It's a really fun little game, actually. More depth than I first realised.

[Alex79]

Oh yeah I have Japan and USA accounts set up, just wondered how you'd gone about buying credit. Incidentally, have you tried the Japanese NES library app? It's worth getting for a couple of extra games.