DescentBB

I just beat levels 1-7 of Descent on Ace with no deaths and no reloads. I even had 200 shields when exiting level 7. What a satisfying feeling!

I know it's no big deal, as it's just the 7 easiest levels of the game, but still, I believe it's the first time I've pulled this off. Level 6 was still as hard as ever and I decided to go for a cautious approach, luring out roaming robots and dealing with them when they come out. It worked surprisingly well - apparently on Ace the robots have a strong tendency to roam as soon as they hear you. What I'm proudest of would be the fact that I didn't even use the cloaking device in the lava pit next to the red door - I charged into the red key room with no boosts at all, sacrificing some health, but reached the cloak in the hidden area with like 87 shields or so (the lowest amount I've had throughout the entire run, I believe), and used the invulnerability hidden next to the area exit to help me deal with the reactor room. I had something like 115 shields when exiting the level.

Once again, I'm amazed at the skill and finesse of Parallax with dispensing power-ups. While the levels may be on the crudish side geometry-wise, they're really fun when it comes to the gameplay. Cloaks and invulnerabilities in levels such as 6 or 7 can be used recklessly, but can be saved for when they really shine.

I'll continue the run and see if I'm able to do the subsequent levels without dying. I don't think it's very likely, but what the hell

I wouldn't call the geometry crude... well maybe by modern standards
A lot of the areas in parts of the game like Mercury or Mars or Neptune have a simple elegance that's stood out to me and made the areas genuinely memorable. Though I'll admit part of that memorability was enemy placements.

I finished Descent on Ace about a year and a half ago but I still haven't beat Uranus on Insane... even though I did manage Descent 2 and 3. I have to say I still find the difficulty balance in Descent 2 the best, contrary to everyone else's opinion -- and I think I got far enough into First Strike to make that judgement on the grounds that I made it...

Alter-Fox wrote:I wouldn't call the geometry crude... well maybe by modern standards
A lot of the areas in parts of the game like Mercury or Mars or Neptune have a simple elegance that's stood out to me and made the areas genuinely memorable. Though I'll admit part of that memorability was enemy placements.

I finished Descent on Ace about a year and a half ago but I still haven't beat Uranus on Insane... even though I did manage Descent 2 and 3. I have to say I still find the difficulty balance in Descent 2 the best, contrary to everyone else's opinion -- and I think I got far enough into First Strike to make that judgement on the grounds that I made it...

Finished is one thing, finished with no deaths and no reloads is another!

Luck has been with me today, as I've managed to extend the feat to level 10 inclusive - no deaths and no retries. Level 9 turned out to be much easier than I remembered it to be. I've also managed to do it in Secret Level 1 - the only part when I reloaded were the final supervisory robots. On the first try the released platformers fried me, but I cinched it on the second with like 45 shields left.

I dealt with the platformer matcen in the yellow key area in the following manner: moved forward to activate the matcens three times, then waited a bit and lured out two green platformers, taking them out with lasers. Then I fired the recently acquired Mega into the area, taking out 5 of them, then I finished the job with a Fusion blast that took out 7. I know there should have been 18 of them in all, but matcens are slightly bugged in Rebirth, so they sometimes fail to spawn a robot when they should.

I had the most trouble in the entire level with the area beyond the yellow door - took unnecessarily much damage from the plasma drillers behind that one door in that circular area with the fuel center, and lost quite a chunk to cloaked drillers. In the huge, unlit area the cloaked drillers were the only robots that posed any threat to me at all, but they cost me like 50 shield points or more. The fusion hulks were dealt with from a distance, as were the green platformers, who thanks to the big space were harmless. I decided to play things out patiently and wait for the two platformers from the red keycard door to emerge before shooting them, and that was a good decision. The reactor room was easy as two fusion hulks seemed to congregate near the entrance and I could shoot them half-hidden behind a wall, so I took no damage there. The only problem were the missile platformers released by the supervisors near the exit, but that was like the only part I wasn't in total control of.

Still, I think I did pretty well. I seem to be on a roll, this cautious strategy coupled with good aiming accuracy, dodging skills and reflexes is really paying off so far, seems like a good recipe for Ace.