Sunday, February 15, 2015
By: Matthew Doucette
2022-JAN-10 UPDATE:
Unfortunately, a few of the links, including the world record video, are now offline. Here is an update though: Here is an article about Mark R. Johnson achieving a world record in Score Rush:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/vvjye3/an-insider-look-into-the-world-of-competitive-bullet-hells
Now, onto the original post...
This is amazing!!! We have new Score Rush world record and first ever completition of the game in GODLIKE difficulty! Since its release in 2010, Score Rush was one of the only (notable) games in the world that was left uncompleted in its highest difficulty setting. Congratulations Mark R. Johnson (@UltimaRegum, ultimaratioregum.co.uk) on acheiving a danmaku (bullet hell) world record!
Score Rush World Record Run:
This is absolutely incredible:
World Record run of Score Rush (Xbox 360).
P.S. Read the comments of the video to see a discussion between myself and Mark R. Johnson.
Score Rush World Champion's Post Mortem:
Mark R. Johnson posted a post mortem of becoming a world champion at Score Rush, "Score Rush World Record" (web archive). It is an in-depth analysis of both his accomplishment and of the game's design. Wonderful work and an interesting read.
How You Can Try GODLIKE:
To play Score Rush in GODLIKE mode, you have to earn it. Each difficulty mode is unlocked by beating the previous difficulty mode. This is not meant to be a nuisance; It is meant to dissuade players from challenging difficulty modes they are not yet skilled for. We wanted to avoid punishing the player within an already punishing game. When the game launches, you are in NORMAL mode, the easiest mode.
(P.S. There is no EASY mode, on purpose of avoiding poor reviews from game reviewers who do not know their history -- something I argue is necessary for proper appreciation of traditional game genres such as shoot' em ups. Although some good friends of mine are game reviewers and would argue this point is not true, it is true that game developers add additional design into their games specifically for game reviewers. An example of reviewer-influenced design in Score Rush is the abolishment of the EASY mode, to avoid a game reviwer playing through the entire game in easy and ripping the game apart for lack of content. Considering that challenge is the content of Score Rush, an analogy for this is fast-forwarding a movie and concluding there is lack of a story-line.)
Back to my main point, Score Rush is designed to evolve with your skill, rather than feeding you to the sharks. In most cases, players never beat NORMAL mode and are left unaware there are additional difficulty modes or an end to the game. All by design.
Here are the difficulty modes to beat and unlock to challenge GODLIKE:
- NORMAL
- HARD
- EXPERT
- CRAZY
- INSANE
- GODLIKE
I have beaten CRAZY and got the final boss in INSANE. So even I cannot challenge GODLIKE mode. Here is my completion of CRAZY:
Score Rush lead designer, Xonatron, completing CRAZY mode.
That is all!
About the Author: I am Matthew Doucette of Xona Games, an award-winning indie game studio that I founded with my twin brother. We make intensified arcade-style retro games. Our business, our games, our technology, and we as competitive gamers have won prestigious awards and received worldwide press. Our business has won $190,000 in contests. Our games have ranked from #1 in Canada to #1 in Japan, have become #1 best sellers in multiple countries, have won game contests, and have held 3 of the top 5 rated spots in Japan of all Xbox LIVE indie games. Our game engines have been awarded for technical excellence. And we, the developers, have placed #1 in competitive gaming competitions -- relating to the games we make. Read about our story, our awards, our games, and view our blog.