Finally am getting the medal mode early consistently and got a score I'm not embarrassed of (Thanks for the guide
@Atro, it helped a ton!):
GMEGBLN - PCB - 31,028,870 - IXION- Level 40
I had a much easier time getting the medal mode with Ixion, really touchy controls but I'm finding it the superior ship to the others (besides the slave lol)
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I always had a respect for this game before but man, I've fallen completely in love again and feel blessed that I got a PCB for peanuts awhile ago. At first getting into its guts and studying the mechanics seemed like such a colossal chore and incredibly intimidating when first trying to score, but when things click the game will suck you into an absolute trance, it's awesome. The visuals are pretty uninspired but it's marvellously detailed and top class pixel art, and while I always thought the music was meh and the weakest part of the equation before, when you get into that flow state then it literally all blends together into such a beautiful, tasty STG stew. I was first exposed to it with the Aces collection on 360 as a teen but I had the stupid idea that I should 1CC the games in order which I proceeded to never do, so Jet was never something I put real time into. And that's a huge shame, 'cause while the entire series is great this definitely stands out as the best game Seibu ever made and even one of the best shmups of all time, though it's definitely for enthusiasts and not something I'd recommend to casual players
The biggest annoyance for me is how lucrative the special medal mode is which makes a failure an instant restart, and it really is an absolute slog in an arcade setting to start fresh every time you fuck a run up. For that reason alone I think the 360 port is the definitive version if you can get over the refresh rate goofiness. The slave formation stuff needing algebra to not be random to you is also an incredibly annoying design decision and really blows