FINALLY, bloody speed square!

[Formalhaut]

So, as you may or may not know, I am playing FFVII for the first time. I say first time, I watched my older brother play it through to it's entirety, so I know most of the plot and everything, but this is my first time playing it.

And so this play-through has been going on now for a good few months, so you're expecting me to be deep into Disc 3 right?

Actually I've only just gotten past the first visit to the gold saucer. I know right.

The reason for this huge time frame is the damned Speed Square. I'm quite the completionist, and I really, really, really wanted Aerith's umbrella. It's attack power is pretty incredible given her natural alacrity towards magic, not strength, so I wanted to see it in action. More importantly, it's unobtainable after getting the airship so I wanted it now.

So a few months ago, I started doing that accursed rollercoaster in the speed square to attempt to get 5000 points. I tried many a time, but for the life of me I could never get that magical number. Many times I got around 3500, maybe the 4000's. Never got 5000.

It got to the point that I actually quit my game for awhile to take a break because I just couldn't get 5000! Oh it was so annoying. A few months later...

...yesterday, I finally got the bloody umbrella. It was incredibly tough, but I got 5214 points. I scraped through, so to speak. And oh... I could finally progress through to the story. I've never ever reached past Gongaga. But now, with that burden off of me, I can finally go past.

But that's before I do the optional sidequests, such as the superb levelling spot in Junon (the alarm trick), the next Fort Condor battle, getting the mythril, and boosting my second Enemy Skill Materia up.

But after all that... finally I can get on with the game.

So, share your experiences with the bloody Speed Square.

[Pumpkin]

Sorry, I can't help you with this. I hate the Gold Saucer with a passion so I did my best to avoid it. Sharky took care of most of it for me.

[Raistlin]

I messed around with the Speed Square a bit in my first playthrough or two of FFVII, but I never really bothered after that. It was just too annoying and difficult to get those high scores on a standard PS1 controller.

[Formalhaut]

Another annoying thing with the Gold Saucer is GP. Such a rare commodity yet you need bucketloads if you want the expensive Battle Square items.

[Pumpkin]

The battle square was the easiest way for me to get GP. You could try that.

[Psychotic]

For the longest time I had no idea you could blow up that huge UFO at the end. My penis gun always shrivelled up before I could finish.

[Crop]

I actually always enjoyed Speed Square and indeed all of Gold Saucer. In fact, I'll sometimes put on FFVII if I have maybe 30 minutes to spare and play on some of the Gold Saucer games.

I don't think I have gotten below 5000 on Speed Square in a couple of years now.

[noxious.sunshine]

Bump that mess. I hate Speed Square.

But then again, I'm also not good at shooting games in general.

[Mirage]

My experienced with speed square:

Hey a minigame
Oh, these controls are pretty unpolished and and the framerate is low
I'll just go ahead and never play that again.

[Jiro]

I hated the Speed Square. Playing on PC, at least the version I have, is literally impossible as it runs at about 5x speed. Same thing with all the Gold Saucer games and their corresponding sections in the game. I'm dreading the submarine part 'cause I don't want to miss the Huge Materia.

Mind you, I still managed about 2800 points in the Speed Square without the ability to aim. You just shot straight most of the time and do okay.

[Jinx]

The only Golden Saucer game worth playing is Mog House. Because it's smurfing adorable.

[MJN SEIFER]

I love the Speed Square, but then I never really tried to get anything from it that much, I used it (and pretty much everything else in the Gold Saucer) as a way of relieving stress before heading off to the next mission. The Speed Square, Chocobo Racing Square, and everything except the Submarine game in the Wonder Square were just things I did for a bit of fun, because I loved them so much.

The only thing in the Gold Saucer that annoyed me at times was the Battle Square, and I enjoyed it too when I wasn't really trying for anything, but it did when I cared what prize I was getting, so if I cared about the Speed Square's prizes more, I'd probably share your frustration.

For those who don't know this yet; the Speed Square is easier if you press circle rappidly, rather than hold it down - that way, your lazer will never get seriously low, and this is very useful for destoying the big UFO. Also, one of the lights at the end is a target (I think on the left) just before the ride ends.