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[A Black Falcon]

There are TONS of awesome shooters that hit the PC-Engine/CD-ROM.


Many will crush a newb, but Lords of Thunder isn't particularly difficult (at least compared to its prequel).

Bah, start with Nexzr...

If you can manage to master that, you're ready for pretty much anything.

(Of course compared to something that amazing a lot of shmups would probably seem like letdowns in comparison (if you manage to get past the first wave of enemies that shoots at you, that is... ), but oh well...)

How could I have forgotten this awesome shooter. BTW, I'd recommend the PS port. I remember reading that the Saturn version was inferior / had issues.

Technically it's not a shmup because it's not auto-scrolling (that is, the screen only moves forward when you move forward), actually, like Pocky & Rocky 1 or 2 on SNES or Twinkle Tale on Genesis (or Heavenly Guardian on PS2), but they're certainly more than close enough to the genre to be mentioned in this thread. But shmup fans seem to get pretty picky about what is and isn't a shmup... a more inclusive definition might be nice, I think, but oh well. You do have to draw a line somewhere.

Most of the above plus :

• Under Defeat (DC) - one of my favorites
• Triggerheart Exelica (DC, XBLA)
• Border Down (DC)

Yes, and particularly the first and third of those. Under Defeat and Border Down are exceptional games.

 

[MightyKAC]

I've always enjoyed Radiant Silvergun. I would definitely recommend it.

There really isn't enough that can be said about this game. To me Ikaruga was like Radiant Silvergun lite. Of course thats just me. Anyway, any fan of the shmup genre should worship at the church of Treasure.

IMHO no one does it better.

 

[lupin23rd]

I'm kind of LTTP on shmups as well although I always enjoyed them when I was a kid (Captain Skyhawk and Axelay), but I picked up a whole whack in Japan in the last three months:

Donpachi (SAT), Dodonpachi (SAT), Strikers 1945 (SAT), Strikers 1945 II (SAT), Espgaluda (PS2), DoDonPachi DaiOuJyou (PS2), Ibara (PS2), Karous (DC), Milestone Shooting Collection (Wii), Mushihimesama (PS2 - found it for $20 lol hope it works)

There were a whole bunch of others I missed out on that I will have to get when I go back.

Also picked up Raiden 3 on PS2 and Space Invaders Extreme (DS) when I came back to Vancouver, and looking at picking up Einhander, Raystorm, Raycrisis, and Shienryu on PSN...

:] :lol

Spoiler

I actually need to pick up another Saturn and an import PS2 so I can actually play half of these now LOL

 

[alistairw]

http://shootthecore.moonpod.com/ ?

I love this site so much. I recommend it to anyone reading this thread right now.

 

[British Monsoon]

You should seriousley consider getting an action replay cart so you can play imports on your Saturn - so many good SHMUPS, personally i'd reccomend;

• Batsugun (originator of the bullet hell sub-genre, quite steep difficulty)
• Battle Garegga (amazing manic sooter, one of the best on the system)
• Blast Wind (highly underrated vertical shooter from Technosoft)
• Cotton 2 (side scrolling cute-em-up)
• Cotton Boomerang ($$$ awesome alternative version of Cotton 2 with a fair few gameplay changes)
• Game Tengoku (weird SHMUP set in a videogame arcade)
• Hyper Duel (another geat Technosoft shooter, this ones horizontal)
• Layer Section (aka Rayforce, awesome Taito SHMUP)
• Radiant Silvergun ($$$ amazing Treasure SHMUP)
• Sengoku Blade (awesome side scrolling samurai shooter)
• Soukyugurentai (probably my favourite shooter for the Saturn, well worth checking out)
• Stellar Assault SS ($$$ technically not a SHMUP, more of a space shooter but well worth hunting down as the Saturn re-make is superior in every way)
• ThunderForce Gold Pack 1 & 2 (compilation of ThunderForce 2-4 + ThunderForce AC)
• ThunderForce V (One of the best looking shooters on the system)

 

[Dark Octave]

And it's something I'll never get over either.

Stop saying "shmups" please. I'd like to reclaim the word "shooter" in my lifetime.

I agree 100%. I hate the term as well. Sounds like an insult more than a description. Someone said it best on this forum once when they said "let's give the shooter genre it's dignity back".

Anyway, Einhander is a great shooter to try out. One of my all time favorites.

"Who that guy? What a shmup!" See what I mean? Ugly.

 

[Tain]

The single most important thing is to not request a million suggestions, actually.

Find one game you like. Play the shit out of it. Do not continue; every single worthwhile shooter is beatable on a single credit, and for many many good shooters, this task is not stupidly hard. Seriously, I know it's easy to jump up and down and point at the number of bullets on the screen and talk about how impossible it must be

Spoiler

and post about it on kotaku and call yourself brian ashcraft

, but believe me: most people here could clear some arcade shooters if they tried.

If you don't approach shooters (hell, most arcade games in general) with a no continues/valid score mindset, the games are nothing but 20 minute displays of pretty sprite art and fast music with little merit otherwise. I know that sounds elitist as fuck, but thems the breaks. If you do approach them that way, you'll find the most rewarding games on the planet.

Espgaluda is probably the best shooter out there in terms of quality versus accessibility. If you are afraid of modding your PS2 and want another great game that is as easy to clear as the come, check out Omega Five on XBLA. Gradius V is good, but it's a bit on the long side, and not the easiest around. Ikaruga is also good, but very challenging and unorthodox, and I think it put a lot of people off of the genre without them even realizing it.

 

[Attack You]

I'm not in the mood to argue these as cream-of-the-crop for the genre, but some of my faves from back in the day were:

Silkworm (NES, Arcade)
Air Buster (Gen/MD, Arcade)
Steel Empire (Gen/MD, Arcade)
Last Resort (Neo-Geo)
Twinkle Star Sprites (Saturn, DC, PS2, Neo-Geo)
Space Megaforce / Super Aleste (SNES)
Sol-Feace (Sega-CD)

I'd echo a lot of the ones mentioned already, but I'm too lazy to list 'em. OK, maybe a few. Sub-Terrania is love. I have a soft, gooey spot for all things Darius. When I bought a PS1, Raiden Project was the only game I bought with it. I regret not obsessing over PCE shooters more, but a friend is about to remedy that real soon. Abrupt end.

 

[A Black Falcon]

I love this site so much. I recommend it to anyone reading this thread right now.

Had to search my bookmarks file to find it (checks size... my Seamonkey bookmarks file is 1.9MB? :lol)... evidently I have it listed there eight times. Who knows where though, when you search it just lists them, it doesn't tell you where the things you found actually are in the file tree...

But anyway, yeah, Shoot the Core and Shmups.com are certainly the best genre sites out there.

The single most important thing is to not request a million suggestions, actually.

Find one game you like. Play the shit out of it. Do not continue; every single worthwhile shooter is beatable on a single credit, and for many many good shooters, this task is not stupidly hard. Seriously, I know it's easy to jump up and down and point at the number of bullets on the screen and talk about how impossible it must be and post about it on kotaku and call yourself brian ashcraft, but believe me: most people here could clear some arcade shooters if they tried.

If you don't approach shooters (hell, most arcade games in general) with a no continues/valid score mindset, the games are nothing but 20 minute displays of pretty sprite art and fast music with little merit otherwise. I know that sounds elitist as fuck, but thems the breaks. If you do approach them that way, you'll find the most rewarding games on the planet.

Espgaluda is probably the best shooter out there in terms of quality versus accessibility. If you are afraid of modding your PS2 and want another great game that is as easy to clear as the come, check out Omega Five on XBLA. Gradius V is good, but it's a bit on the long side, and not the easiest around. Ikaruga is also good, but very challenging and unorthodox, and I think it put a lot of people off of the genre without them even realizing it.

There's nothing wrong with just playing a game and enjoying it. If you don't want to try to be amazing at the game and just want to play it, do.

I would agree that the best way to get really good at a shooter is to play it trying not to die (or at least not to get game over), but you don't HAVE to want do do that... but it is true that I got my best score ever in (the better Amiga version of) Llamatron 2112 (Jeff Minter's amazingly good arena shooter) when I stopped using continues or the robot and started seeing how far I'd get without them. And presto, in a little while I was better, and indeed got my best scores ever in the game, one time even getting past level 100 (the final stage really) and going to loop two. I hadn't done that before, for sure.

But even so, shmups, and other kinds of shooters, can be great fun if you just play them and use continues.

 

[Apharmd Battler]

AWESOME THREAD!! The nostalgia here is going to make me pull some old stuff out of storage.

 

[Dave Long]

Jesus H. Christ. They're called shooters!

Also, listen to this man. He knows of what he speaks.

The single most important thing is to not request a million suggestions, actually.

Find one game you like. Play the shit out of it. Do not continue; every single worthwhile shooter is beatable on a single credit, and for many many good shooters, this task is not stupidly hard. Seriously, I know it's easy to jump up and down and point at the number of bullets on the screen and talk about how impossible it must be

Spoiler

and post about it on kotaku and call yourself brian ashcraft

, but believe me: most people here could clear some arcade shooters if they tried.

If you don't approach shooters (hell, most arcade games in general) with a no continues/valid score mindset, the games are nothing but 20 minute displays of pretty sprite art and fast music with little merit otherwise. I know that sounds elitist as fuck, but thems the breaks. If you do approach them that way, you'll find the most rewarding games on the planet.

 

[Eccocid]

Bangai-O? i loved the uber deep, highly intelligent cutscenes! THEY ARE OMGWTFBBQ! lol
that game worths just for those weird cutscenes.

 

[SturokBGD]

My best advice is similar to the above... do not go out of your way to mod consoles to pick up obscure Japanese shmups on obsolete systems until you're really into the genre. Yes, some of these games are really great, but there's a wealth of great well-known easy-to-find easy-to-play titles in the genre, even in 2008.

Also, Soldier Blade on Wii VC (was a TG16 game). I've played that one game more than I've played any of my retail Wii games.

 

[lupin23rd]

Good lord just got a PS2 capable of playing Japanese games, and Ibara is owning my ass so bad :lol

Any tips?

Spoiler

Other than getting an HRAP which will make me 10x better right?

 

[JRPereira]

Are there any other shmups with bosses like g-darius? I can't get over how awesome the bosses in g-darius are.

 

[vitaflo]

Didn't need to preface the thread title with LTTP, calling them "shmups" assumes as much.

 

[camineet]

Very underrated side scrolling shmup with exellent gameplay: Aldynes on SuperGrafx.
(not on the standard TurboGrafx/PC-Engine).

Another good one is arcade-only Dogyuun by Toaplan.

 

[Mr. Smith]

there is one capcom cps2 game that saddly got under everyones radar, Progear. the gameplay is quit good but it is the artstyle and the graphiks that make the game stand out. if you somehow can get your hands on the game, try it. btw i had to play it on mame since there is now way i would find that machine in my area. also its hard as hell to find that game online...

 

[VNZ]

A question from a guy not late to the shmup party, but indeed late to the PSN party (actually I haven't arrived just yet): Any news on shmup content on (jp) PSN (not counting old PS1 software), or is that still an XBLA exclusive thing?

 

[ghibli99]

Thread is awesome, but frustrating in that it is so vast (like the genre itself).

To the OP, you picked a good game to start with. The 16-bit era had so many quality shooters that it's tough to pinpoint a subgenre leader.

Pick up Gate of Thunder if you haven't done so already. If you find that you're enjoying horizontally scrolling shooters, you'll definitely like Thunder Force III-V. Personally, I enjoy Thunder Force II as well, but the overhead levels are something folks either like or hate. It was one of my first Genesis games, so I definitely don the nostalgiagoggles when I think about it.

Another fun hori shooter is Namco's Ordyne. It's cartoony, but man, it's a quality game with very cool scaling and rotation effects for its time. It had a nice, anime-style attract sequence, and is well-polished. You'll also enjoy the Parodius series if you're digging Gradius. Gradius Gaiden is a must as well.

Anyway, sorry for this being so redundant, but I had to chime in since it's cool when someone discovers this genre and it clicks. It's still my favorite genre (my avatar is from Cave's Guwange), and it's great that there's been a nice revival in the last few years.

 

[xemumanic]

I haven't read this whole thread, but just about every game mentioned thus far is awesome, but here's one I don't think has been named yet...M.U.S.H.A on Sega Genesis/MegaDrive.

A couple other great ones are R-Type III, Phalanx (SNES, GBA or x68000, try the latter if only to see the intro disc), Gley Lancer.

Also, watch "Japon: Histoire Du Shooting Game". You can download it at http://shmup.canalblog.com/ .

 

[Poimandres]

there is one capcom cps2 game that saddly got under everyones radar, Progear. the gameplay is quit good but it is the artstyle and the graphiks that make the game stand out. if you somehow can get your hands on the game, try it. btw i had to play it on mame since there is now way i would find that machine in my area. also its hard as hell to find that game online...

Indeed, this is a great game. Wonderful art.

For any fan of the shooter (in the traditional use of the term) I'd recommend picking up a GP2X for portable action. I'd buy the originals if they were available- but unfortunately very few of these games filter through to PAL territories.

Personally, R-Type Delta > R-Type Final

Also check out Raiden Fighters for a damn good time.

 

[ghibli99]

Personally, R-Type Delta > R-Type Final

Without a doubt, IMO. Didn't play Leo that much, but I enjoyed all the others in the series, and was absolutely blown away when I first played the TG16 version (the last version I had played prior to this was the Sega Master System version, which was actually quite good, but the TG16 version took arcade shooter ports to the next level).

 

[camineet]

there is one capcom cps2 game that saddly got under everyones radar, Progear.

Progear is probably the last CPS2 game I tried, a few years ago, that I had not played before. It's pretty damn good!



BTW, for fans of Raiden, Konami's Lightning Fighters is another good clone.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

What? No gravity-based shooters? Gravitar, Oids, Thrust, Solar Jetman, and Sub-Terrania are all fantastic. Or are those not under the shmup umbrella? Are they action-shooters? What are they?

 

[A Black Falcon]

What? No gravity-based shooters? Gravitar, Oids, Thrust, Solar Jetman, and Sub-Terrania are all fantastic. Or are those not under the shmup umbrella? Are they action-shooters? What are they?

Sub-Terrania is amazing, but yeah, I'm not sure where to put it either... they're their own category really.

 

[$1148 Jack]

I'm addicted to Dangun Feveron and Armed Police Batrider at the moment.
Both are fantastic imo.

 

[ghibli99]

^^^ Dangun has some fantastic music. Disco, but very unique for this genre.

Sub-Terrania is amazing, but yeah, I'm not sure where to put it either... they're their own category really.

This game looks terrific! I never played it, but it sounds really cool. How's the difficulty? I find most Euro-sourced shooters to be hard as hell, and not in a good way.

 

[Cow Mengde]

Nanostray 2 for the DS. The touch screen controls are sex. I feel like I'm invincible with the touch screen. Although it does block your view a little, I'd say 95% of the deaths were the result of my own carelessness. Also, if you want to complain about the ship moving slow, you should blame yourself for not understanding the concept of ship speed. You know how in games like R-Type/Gradius where if you grab too many speed up power ups, your ship could easily slam into the walls with a slight tap? Well, Nanostray 2 eliminates that problem because the speed of your fingers determine the speed of the ship, NOT the power-ups. Plus, you can adjust the ship's speed at the weapons screen before each stage. The reason you feel the lag is actually due to your fingers having more control over the speed. The ship's default speed can't move as fast as your fingers. Once you've figured that out, you can freaking dance around bullets while making figure 8 maneuvers.

 

[LALILULELO]

Thanks for that touchscreen tip on Nanostray 2, gave up on it till reading this...and beat it in one go (yeah on easy but still!) def. way better then the first Nano, even though its a gamedesign copy/homage on almost every know shooter, will enjoy this on the DS

I love Starsoldier on the PSP (why never more shooters came out for the PSP?, come on CAVE!)

other shooters I love are already mentioned
some other I def like, Ibara, Mushihime, Varth, Homura, Gunbird, Psyvariar, Dragon blaze, Mars Matrix, Parodius!

 

[A Black Falcon]

This game looks terrific! I never played it, but it sounds really cool. How's the difficulty? I find most Euro-sourced shooters to be hard as hell, and not in a good way.

Hard, as you might expect. It's not straightforward -- you have mission objectives and are shown a map of the level beforehand, with briefing text. You then need to figure out how to achieve your objectives. It's probably the closest thing I've ever played to a space sim in 2d side-scrolling... great game. The graphics and audio are also AMAZING. Zyrinx was brilliant that way... their other Genesis game, the top-down helicopter shooter (think kind of Desert Strike inspired) was an incredible graphical showcase, with CG videos, scaling and rotating, polygonal graphics, and more... and similar great music to Sub-Terrania. Then they did the amazing 32X Demo Video, which you may have seen (if not look it up on Youtube, it pushes the 32X in ways no released game ever did...), and Scorcher on Saturn and PC, before going bust with the rest of Scavenger. But anyway, Sub-Terrania is quite good. It takes some time to get used to, and you will need to play levels several times in order to figure them out and figure out what to do (there are some puzzles, as well as find-this-item things and kill-that parts) and what the best order for doing them is, but it's a very good game.

Because it's not a standard shmup I don't know if it could be compared to other "Euro-style" shooters (what do you think of as examples of that, anyway), though... the best comparison really is Solar Jetman (which is, of course, also European, being from Rare). But Solar Jetman is a lot longer and less fun (and, probably, harder), and has less depth too... Sub-Terrania is the game to play.

And at least watch videos of Red Zone, it's amazing what it pulls off on a Genesis.

 

[Cafeman]

I have a PS2, Wii/GCN, Xbox, PS3, Saturn, Genesis, and can get a Dreamcast for $40 from a local shop, which might be a worthy investment.

My Xbox is hacked and can play emus, but I prefer owning the original games and systems they were originally made for. (I even saw the SegaCD port of Lords of Thunder, and it looked and sounded less than stellar.)

I used to play nothing but shooters (oops, shmups ... thanks ECM for cementing that word). But I'm finding it hard to dig the memories out and concisely comment, still here's a try...

Lets start with Genesis and Sega CD. I would suggest the following if you are truly finding these spaceship shooters your thing.

First of all, Technosoft's Thunderforce III and TF4 aka "Lightening Force". TF4 is far more impressive but TF3 is great in its own way too, in fact TF3 is a bit easier. My opinion is to skip TF2.

Next, the Compile games of MUSHA (GENESIS) and a semi-sequel Robo Aleste (Sega CD). MUSHA has better playability (IIRC, it has a more robust weapons system) but Robo Aleste CD has CD audio and some really cool scenes too. Love the train and avalanche boss for example! These games are just heaven on a piece of white bread for me.

Another Genesis shooter is Gaiares -- a bit dated feeling but if you are already used to genesis 16bit games you'll understand what its appeal was. It has one very unique weapon (The TOZ) in which you can send it out to an enemy ship and steal that ship's power. This is quite innovative and makes the game have its own unique feel. It also has hilariously cheesy cutscenes with the big boss being a female name o' ZZ Badnusty!

Also on Sega CD there is Silpheed. Now, it is pretty weak as a pure shooter (plays like Galaxians overtop streaming backgrounds to be honest) but as a game I've also enjoyed it, and it does get challenging. On PS2 there is the sequel Silpheed 2 by Treasure of all the surprises! You gotta play the Sega CD original to fully appreciate the PS2 game, my opinion.

Saturn -- I love Darius Gaiden and Galactic Attack. I've owned Radiant Silvergun and Thunderforce V for Saturn since the day I bought 'em for $40 and $25 respectively, but you may find RS prohibitively expensive now. RS is awesome. Darius Gaiden and G Darius are also on PS2 (Taito Classics 2). I like Darius Gaiden more -- I prefer the advanced 2D FX and feel more than G Darius' early 3D feel.

Dreamcast has a bunch. I'd suggest you start with GigaWing and Mars Matrix, and maybe GigaWing 2 although I like GigaWing more. Speaking of these, above I mentioned my appreciation for the innovation found in Genesis Gaiares with its TOZ weapon. GigaWing was the first game I ever saw with an equally refreshing innovation - the reflect mechanism. Reflect those hundreds of shots right back at'em, if you've timed it right. And Mars Matrix refines it even more. You won't 'get' the strategy of Mars Matrix and its combo accumulation until you unlock the first strategy video and watch it. Then you'll see what is possible, and man, is it addictive.

 

[ghibli99]

Hard, as you might expect. It's not straightforward -- you have mission objectives and are shown a map of the level beforehand, with briefing text. You then need to figure out how to achieve your objectives. It's probably the closest thing I've ever played to a space sim in 2d side-scrolling... great game. The graphics and audio are also AMAZING. Zyrinx was brilliant that way... their other Genesis game, the top-down helicopter shooter (think kind of Desert Strike inspired) was an incredible graphical showcase, with CG videos, scaling and rotating, polygonal graphics, and more... and similar great music to Sub-Terrania. Then they did the amazing 32X Demo Video, which you may have seen (if not look it up on Youtube, it pushes the 32X in ways no released game ever did...), and Scorcher on Saturn and PC, before going bust with the rest of Scavenger. But anyway, Sub-Terrania is quite good. It takes some time to get used to, and you will need to play levels several times in order to figure them out and figure out what to do (there are some puzzles, as well as find-this-item things and kill-that parts) and what the best order for doing them is, but it's a very good game.

Thanks a lot for the detailed description... you sound like you came up w/ Amigas. I can definitely appreciate those companies who could push hardware and really do stuff that the systems were not initially designed (or expected) to do. Scavenger... they did Amok, right? I remember going to E3 (probably around 1996~97), and they were there sporting mohawks, etc. Totally different from any other companies at the time, which I thought was really cool. I remember DHGF featuring their stuff quite a bit in the magazines, and although I didn't play their games when they came out, I remember them getting quite the mixed reviews.

Because it's not a standard shmup I don't know if it could be compared to other "Euro-style" shooters (what do you think of as examples of that, anyway), though... the best comparison really is Solar Jetman (which is, of course, also European, being from Rare). But Solar Jetman is a lot longer and less fun (and, probably, harder), and has less depth too... Sub-Terrania is the game to play.

Thanks for that. When I think of Euro shooters, stuff like Team 17's X2... and when I talk about difficulty, things like the Adventures of Lomax come to mind, even though I know that's not a shooter. Amazing artistic and musical craftsmanship, but damn, those games were tough. Playing through stuff like that is probably why I find so many modern games so easy in terms of pure difficulty (and again, this is why I am still in love with this genre).

And at least watch videos of Red Zone, it's amazing what it pulls off on a Genesis.

Will do... thanks for the FYI on this!

 

[A Black Falcon]

Thanks a lot for the detailed description... you sound like you came up w/ Amigas. I can definitely appreciate those companies who could push hardware and really do stuff that the systems were not initially designed (or expected) to do. Scavenger... they did Amok, right? I remember going to E3 (probably around 1996~97), and they were there sporting mohawks, etc. Totally different from any other companies at the time, which I thought was really cool. I remember DHGF featuring their stuff quite a bit in the magazines, and although I didn't play their games when they came out, I remember them getting quite the mixed reviews.

Almost... I started on DOS PCs. Nobody owned Commodores here... in Europe sure, I guess, but in the US? Not by the late '80s/early '90s anyway, when I would have began noticing. Everybody I knew either had Mac or PC. I've always been on the PC side. Only got consoles later... But anyway, yeah, another Scavenger team, Lemon, made Amok.

Zyrinx only made the two Genesis games, most of that amazing 32X demo video, and Scorcher.

HG101 has a nice article on their games too: http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/zyrinx/zyrinx.htm

... oh yeah, and if it wasn't obvious, Red Zone is the helicopter shooter. Forgot to mention its name in the first paragraph. It's even harder than Sub-Terrania. That game is HARD.

Before a couple of years ago, the only Scavenger game I had actually played was the PC demo of Scorcher, which is a weird futuristic racing game where you're in a ball. I liked it a lot though, I love futuristic racing games... but then I got Sub-Terrania, and once I figured out what it was, I loved it. I think the comparison to PC space sims is deserved, really.

Thanks for that. When I think of Euro shooters, stuff like Team 17's X2... and when I talk about difficulty, things like the Adventures of Lomax come to mind, even though I know that's not a shooter. Amazing artistic and musical craftsmanship, but damn, those games were tough. Playing through stuff like that is probably why I find so many modern games so easy in terms of pure difficulty (and again, this is why I am still in love with this genre).


Will do... thanks for the FYI on this!

Never heard of X2... *looks* Ah, EU/JP release only, that would be why. I'm not sure about Euro-shooters (aside from that I love Jeff Minter's games, particularly Llamatron and Tempest 2000), but I played quite a few DOS shmups in the early to mid '90s. I listed some earlier in the thread, but oh well... Raptor (my favorite DOS shmup), Star Goose (An older one, for me... loved that game!), Major Stryker, Overkill (kind of like Gradius+Galaga, I guess... and good.), Tyrian (classic!), The Adventures of Dr. Riptide (average), Flying Tigers, Major Stryker, Xerix (I mostly remember this one for its failure screen, I think...), Galactix (weird controls, but fun), Kiloblaster (never liked this one much), Invasion of the Mutant Space Bats of Doom (average, sadly), Highway Hunter, Stargunner, various Space Invaders clones... the DOS version of Llamatron (arena shooter, not shmup)... perhaps Zone 66 also, if it counts as a shmup (quite good game either way).

I think a lot of those are American and not European, but I'm not sure exactly which are from where, for the most part.

The Apogee/Epic stuff particularly spoiled me, from the beginning I pretty much expected any decent game would let you save between levels... even in shmups, as you can see in Tyrian, Raptor, and Major Stryker for instance. Of course lots of others didn't have saving... those were the ones I mostly didn't finish back then.

 

[permutated]

Top 3 all time personal favorite gaming genres.

My personal fave shmup titles:

1) Ikaruga
2) Radiant Silvergun
3) Raiden II
4) Einhander
5) R-Type Final

 

[permutated]

QUESTION OF THE DAY:

There was a vertical shmup where you were a Ninja, you could be one of two or three Ninjas and you ran vertically on the ground...

WHAT WAS THAT GAME?

 

[Gasgul]

what was the arcade game was akin/spin off to that anime that when all 5 add-on's were attained would turn your ship into a firebird?

was the anime (english translation) battle of the planets?
was the name of the game called g-force?
in not really sure m very drunk right now,

 

[Dascu]

QUESTION OF THE DAY:

There was a vertical shmup where you were a Ninja, you could be one of two or three Ninjas and you ran vertically on the ground...

WHAT WAS THAT GAME?

Guwange?

 

[sixteen-bit]

QUESTION OF THE DAY:

There was a vertical shmup where you were a Ninja, you could be one of two or three Ninjas and you ran vertically on the ground...

WHAT WAS THAT GAME?

Ninja Commando?

 

[ghibli99]

Almost... I started on DOS PCs. Nobody owned Commodores here... in Europe sure, I guess, but in the US? Not by the late '80s/early '90s anyway, when I would have began noticing. Everybody I knew either had Mac or PC. I've always been on the PC side. Only got consoles later... But anyway, yeah, another Scavenger team, Lemon, made Amok.

HG101 has a nice article on their games too: http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/zyrinx/zyrinx.htm

That's cool man... I grew up on Apples and PCs, and owned a few C= machines later, but not really in their prime. One of my buddies in college ran a BBS on his Amiga, and this is where I got my first taste of Amiga demos like State of the Art, Hardwired, etc., as well as crystal-clear SVHS anime subtitling via genlock. Absolutely *blew* me away at the time. The games were also so much more advanced (from a technical perspective) than stuff I was playing on the PC... their focus on arcade-style games spoke to me a bit more than PC titles since I loved console gaming so much at the time (16-bit era). Then again, some of my favorite games of all-time are PC-based.

Thanks for the link as well... very cool that Jesper Kyd did the music. Used to listen to his .mod files endlessly back in the day when he was w/ TSL.

The Apogee/Epic stuff particularly spoiled me, from the beginning I pretty much expected any decent game would let you save between levels... even in shmups, as you can see in Tyrian, Raptor, and Major Stryker for instance. Of course lots of others didn't have saving... those were the ones I mostly didn't finish back then.

Haha... yeah, for some reason saving in a shooter just never clicked with me. Unless it was a really lengthy one (which is the exception rather than the rule), I love that these games are designed to be played and beaten within a short amount of time if you play legit and 1CC them. Even though this is my favorite genre, it's rare for me to actually 1CC a well-designed one. It's an amazing feeling when you do, which is one of the things that makes this genre so rewarding. Good ones give back what you put into them.

 

[Hive]

What i'd like to know is, which system has the best library for SHMUPS? Does the PS2 have many compilations I could import?

 

[djtiesto]

^^^ Dangun has some fantastic music. Disco, but very unique for this genre.


This game looks terrific! I never played it, but it sounds really cool. How's the difficulty? I find most Euro-sourced shooters to be hard as hell, and not in a good way.

Yeah, more games need disco in their soundtracks, methinks...

 

[Chris R]

I LOVE these types of games. Working on making my own SHMUP on XNA at the moment... Its coming along kinda nicely, and I'm also going to try and add a few new features to spice the game play up.

 

[Dr Zhivago]

what was the arcade game was akin/spin off to that anime that when all 5 add-on's were attained would turn your ship into a firebird?

Terra Cresta?

 

[Fireblend]

I love shmpus, probably I don't have the experience to back that up though; I have just beaten a couple of Touhou games, Ikaruga and Cho Ren Sha 68k (which is actually free, click to download). Shmups are indeed awesome. I don't know why Space Invaders Extreme is kicking my ass right now D:

 

[sixteen-bit]

What i'd like to know is, which system has the best library for SHMUPS?

Starting with 16-bit and ending with current-gen; TurboDuo, Saturn, PS2, Xbox 360

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Starting with 16-bit and ending with current-gen; TurboDuo, Genesis, Saturn, PS2, Xbox 360

Fixed. Genny had a ton of great shooters.

 

[AndresON777]

Aegis Wing on xbla is pretty good, 4 player coop...short though. It was a free game at release, presumably still is.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Fixed. Genny had a ton of great shooters.

As did the Super Famicom. And the PS1. And the Dreamcast. I'm just separating the superlative from the good.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

As did the Super Famicom. And the PS1. And the Dreamcast. I'm just separating the superlative from the good.

Well, in that case, I'd disagree that Turbo-Duo had a better lineup of shooters than that of the Genny's.