Survival Tier List

[Princess Rescuer]

Survival runs, once the main mode in Umihara Kawase (and the only mode in the original Super Famicom game) have been demoted to a secondary mode for experts in Sayonara and aren't even unlocked from the start. They're no less challenging, though- they challenge you to complete Field 0 to boss in under 30 minutes and with only 3 backpacks (as opposed to 8 and 10 in previous games). Your total time is determined by your five survival times put together (viewable if you highlight the E icons after completing that icon's boss), so try to cut as much time as possible by using riskier strategies and skipping as many backpacks as possible. Be sure to wean yourself out of backpacks and safe strategies whenever you're ready- your times won't improve unless you do. Your ranks aren't set in stone- they can improve as you improve your total time. One thing that matters is consistency- if you're completing runs more often and not resetting or losing all of your lives, that time you're aiming for will happen eventually!

Here are the tiers. If you haven't completed a Survival run, it will add 30 minutes to your total time.

Novice: Under 90 minutes

Amateur: Under 75 minutes

Pro: Under 60 minutes

Champion: Under 45 minutes

Princess Rescuer: Under 30 minutes

For any help on trouble fields, just ask me!

[KawaseFan]

My PC version survival mode times add up to just over 26 minutes, 40 seconds.  My F46 ending time needs some improvement, though.

[Princess Rescuer]

Do you enjoy my various topics and challenges? I'm only trying to introduce new players to getting more comfortable with the series and extending the amount of replay value they can have with it. My posts are from an expert, to a newcomer. They aren't really for you.

Have you seen any other players, Japanese or not, who have achieved PR rank on either the PC or Vita versions?

[KawaseFan]

Yeah, I do like your topics and challenges.  You've come up with some really interesting ones.

Regarding other players with total times under 30 minutes, I've spent some time looking through the Vita and PC in-game rankings, as well as the rankings board gori.sh hosts at http://gori.sh/chirari/ (I really need to update my times there).

Out of the players who have times uploaded for all endings as of this post's most recent update, these are the best.  I decided against going into centisecond-level of detail for this list because it didn't seem necessary to answer your question.  I'll update the post if you do want that, though.
guterham / ポルス (PC; 13m 59s)
Ramtieger (らむてが) (Vita; 14m 41s)
wai (わあい) (PC; 17m 38s)
gori.sh (Vita; 18m 53s)
Wanikun (Vita; 19m 55s)
Tooro (とおろ) (Vita; 20m 20s)
akira (Vita; 21m 2s)

In addition, on the PC version, guterham (known as ポルス on gori.sh's rankings board) ranks #1 for four of the five endings, with a total of 10m 58s for those four, but doesn't currently have a time uploaded for the F46 ending.  Should guterham upload a time for that ending in the future, I'll update this post. EDIT: Post has been updated.

I, uh, had a lot of spare time tonight.  I hope I didn't make any mistakes, and I hope I haven't overlooked any players with similar times.

[Princess Rescuer]

Okay, so he would currently have a time of 40 minutes and 58 seconds in that case. Those other players though, they're amazing.

Forgot to mention, using characters other than Umihara (all 3 outfits) disqualifies you.

[Princess Rescuer]

I'd like to see if any of these players take my suggestions for High Score, All Golden Arrows, and All Unlocks runs. Or if they even view this site at all.

[Tooro]

I regularly read posts in this site, but excluding long ones due to my poor English ability ;-).  Princess Rescuer's suggestions seem interesting.  I will try some of the suggested rules and will post my record.  (Before that I need my Vita charged and also need some rehabilitation...)

[Princess Rescuer]

Toro, do you own a Vita TV? Maybe you could record yourself better, as well as use a more comfortable controller. I have 100%ed both games as well as gotten very good at them. Almost to the level of KawaseFan. I play with a Crystal Dualshock 4. Unfortunately, I have no ability to record games. Glad to see I've inspired someone!

[Tooro]

Sorry, I'm not sure what the word "record" means.  (Japanese vocabulary includes a lot of mistakenly imported foreign words, which always confuse me.)  What I meant is that I will post a text message with some digits indicating the time I spend to accomplish the suggested speedrun.

By the way, I own both Vita and Vita TV.  I prefer Vita because I want to watch TV programs while playing.  Vita's bare controller is very bad but become comfortable by attaching a rubber grip such as this (http://www.gametech.co.jp/products/catalog/8199/8199_1.html), but I'm not sure it (or similar ones) is available worldwide.

[Princess Rescuer]

"Re-cord" means, like, you film it. It's different to the other use of "record" which is like a new record. On Vita Tv, you can capture the footage directly from a TV. On Vita, you'll have to hold a camera while playing it. You don't want to do that, do you?

Perhaps I just have big American hands, but I find the PS4 controller much more comfortable. The Vita's buttons are very small and the D-Pad is tiny. Even the DS and PSP's buttons and D-Pad were acceptable for me, but not the 3DS's and Vita's. Too small. Plus, the thin Vita edges dig into my palms somewhat. The game just looks much nicer on a TV as well and others can watch it if they're in the room with you.

Looking forward to seeing it!

[Tooro]

I understand.  Thanks!

[KawaseFan]

I've updated the post of mine with the list of times.  There are now two players with overall times below 15 minutes; guterham and Ramtieger.  Amazing stuff.

[Princess Rescuer]

Under 15? That's beyond my wildest expectations! Outstanding!