cj_iwakura
Member
After two weeks of voting, I'm proud to bring you NeoGAF's Essential Shmups of 2013.
Be Attitude For Gains!
#1 - Ikaruga - 46 votes
1) Ikaruga - One of the biggest things I look for in a shmup is an elusive quality I call rhythm. The organization of enemies, the pace at which you destroy shit, where the slight pauses are between waves. For me, Ikaruga has the best rhythm of the shmups and is more or less the game that caused me to fall in love with the genre.
#2 - Mushihimesama Futari - 34 votes
1. Mushihimesama Futari Black Label (360/ARC): Hands down the best scrolling shooter I've ever played, and one of my top three games of all time. Cave could dominate my top 5 all by themselves, but this is their shining moment. Variable difficulty modes with three different scoring systems, including dynamic rank, proximity kills, and counter cash-ins. Gorgeous Nausicaa-esque visuals, with purple bullet blossoms and tons of gleaming gems. This is a game that just keeps giving, and one that shouldn't be missed by any genre fan.
#3 - Gradius V - 32 votes
Fuck Ikaruga, this is Treasure's real game. Gradius V is a shmup spectacle unmatched by any other. Annoying and unskippable story sequences are a drag, but that doesn't stop Gradius V from feeling like the Street Fighter IV of shmups: it ignores the evolution the genre had undergone from the late 90's into the early 2000's and brings things back to basics in a high-production, spectacular way. I like it a whole lot.
#4 - Radiant Silvergun - 18 votes
The level and boss variety in this game cannot be overstated. Between the xp system, varied locales, and narrative, it can feel at times like an adventure game in shmup clothing - there's just so much to do throughout. Also, despite the puzzle style scoring, it's a shooter at heart unlike Ikaruga
#5 - Ketsui - 15 votes (TIE)
This is my ideal Cave game. The enemy designs are awesome. The patterns are fast and nasty, matched only by Daioujou's, and they're perfectly placed. The environments are bleak and gritty. The music is straight-up evil. The scoring system, should you want to mess with it, is easy to understand, hella risky, and visually and aurally satisfying.
#5 - Lifeforce / Salamander - 15 votes (TIE)
This game blew my young mind back in the 80s, both graphically and challenge-wise. As a kid this game inspired me to "design" (draw in a sheet of paper) my own levels and play through them with a pencil... instead of paying attention to the class I was currently at. Very varied and ingenious level design was the bread and butter of the Gradius/Salamander series but this always felt special.
#6 - Mars Matrix - 14 votes
An all-time classic. Blistering difficulty, great scoring systems, and a novel bullet reflect system that's 100% Takumi. The Dreamcast version is the way to go, with a shop system that gives you rewards to spend all those golden cubes on. I blame Mars Matrix for getting me into high-scoring. A wonderful game, really.
#7 - Axelay - 13 votes (TIE)
The continue screen in this game, with the planet being eclipsed in flames left a very lasting impression in me. This game wasn't afraid of saying "hey! look at my graphics! I'm a show-off!", while still playing great. Level 2 where you travel through a space colony, only to see the planet in the distance is one of those parts where you wished we could be that technologically advanced.
#7 - R-Type - 13 votes (TIE)
In my eyes there is just not a more important game to play in the genre than R-Type. the music is perfect, it introduces a very cool weapons system with different kind of options. Has the one-button two types of shot technique. Sprite work is exquisite. Bydo Empire is, hands down, the best enemy to shoot against. And it is tough. Some might see the memorization as a negative but that is what shmups began as and even the more modern ones where you guide your bullets still require deep pattern memorization and manipulation. R-Type is my true desert island shmup.
#8 - Bangai-O - 11 votes (TIE)
A shoot'em up with puzzle elements where you pilot a giant robot ?!? Treasure makes fun of the shmup genre here, and the game was really great fun to play. Bonus points for the gratuitous missile massacre.
#8 - R-Type Final - 11 votes (TIE)
I don't know if I could put up with its technical issues (loadtimes, framerate) nowadays but the game's atmosphere is like nothing else. Bazillions of ships and secrets to unlock give it plenty of life if you're not the type to just play these games for score and such.
#8 - Darius Gaiden - 11 votes (TIE)
My favorite in this series. The branching pathways can lead to some excessively brutal levels but I still think the game is perfectly manageable. My favorite score in any STG.
#9 - Espgaluda - 10 votes (TIE)
1. ESPGaluda - my favorite shmup ever. I think the "kakusei" system is absolutely brilliant and balanced for both newcomers to bullet-hell and veterans who want to get the most out of the game's scoring system. Great music and a steampunk-type setting round out the package.
#9 - Muchi Muchi Pork - 10 votes (TIE)
Kill enemies, collect pigs; use lard shot to kill enemies, produce and collect pork. This simple four-step cycle, and the vicious score chase that it creates, is what fuels Muchi Muchi Pork, a game that merges Battle Garegga programmer Shinobu Yagawa's harsh rank management gameplay style with the late period "item explosion" hedonism of Ikeda. Although the two would collaborate on other games later on, this one had the best synthesis, it wasn't too grindy like Ibara, and it wasn't too technical like Dodonpachi. In a just world, this game would be beloved right alongside Ikaruga and other reviewer darlings...
The more pork the better.
#10 - Akai Katana / Crimzon Clover / Geometry Wars 2 / Progear no Arashi / Thunder Force III / Thunder Force IV
9 votes, six-way tie)
*Love the scoring system in this game - once you get the hang of it, it's amazingly satisfying. - Gunstar Hero
*Break mode and double break mode create ENORMOUS gold and as per the usual enemy bullets on screen when they die also become gold. One of the best games ever made. - Shaowebb
*The best use of an online leaderboard system. The best conduit to scorechasing ever made. Every high-skill score game should steal this system; every single one. -DJ Incompetent
*Playing this game on an emulator was the catalyst to my first Candy Cab purchase in 2009 so that I could play the original CPS2 board. I love everything about it, the art, the music etc. - Hodders
*Maybe not the best I have played, but it is fantastic and it was the game that got me into the genre to begin with. Still think it has some of the best Genesis music. - gngf123
*Just an amazing game. Awesome weapon switching, awesome soundtrack, awesome stages that are several screens tall, awesome everything. - Luka
The rest of the nominees and votes received:
Code:
Raiden Fighters Jet 8
Mushihimesama 8
Gradius Gaiden 8
Espgaluda 2 8
DoDonPachi 8
Deathsmiles 8
BattleGaregga 8
Super Stardust HD 7
Sin & Punishment 2 7
R-Type Delta 7
Lords of Thunder 7
Einhänder 7
DoDonPachi Maximum 7
Soukyogurentai 6
Sine Mora 6
M.U.S.H.A. 6
Gradius III 6
Gradius II 6
ESP RA.DE. 6
DoDonPachi DaiouJou 6
Darius Burst 6
Contra 6
Castle Shikigami 2 6
Blazing Star 6
Twinkle Star Sprites 5
Trouble Witches Neo 5
Super Stardust Delta 5
Söldner-X 2 5
Sengoku Blade 5
Raystorm 5
Guwange 5
Gunbird 2 5
Ginga Force 5
G-Darius 5
DeathLabel 5
Under Defeat HD 4
Tyrian 4
Thunder Force V 4
Thunder Cross 4
Starfox 64 4
Space Invaders Infinity Gene 4
Soldier Blade 4
Sin & Punishment 4
Rez 4
Radirgy 4
Pink Sweets 4
Nexzr 4
Giga Wing 4
Gate of Thunder 4
Bangai-O Spirits 4
Touhou 08: Imperishable Night 3
The Guardian Legend 3
Space Megaforce 3
Senko no Ronde Duo 3
Salamander 2 3
Rayforce 3
Raiden Fighters Aces 3
Parodius 3
Panzer Dragoon Zwei 3
KiKi KaiKai 3
Ibara 3
Gunstar Heroes 3
Gleylancer 3
Gaiares 3
Fantasy Zone 3
Exceed 3rd 3
Donpachi 3
Dangun Feveron 3
Cotton Boomerang 3
Cotton 2 3
Cotton 100% 3
Cannon Spike 3
Batsugun 3
Zero Wing 2
Zanac 2
XMultiply 2
View Point 2
Vertical Force 2
U.N. Squadron 2
Twinkle Tale 2
Touhou 12: Phantasmagoria of Flower ViewV 2
Touhou 11: Subterranean Animism 2
Thundercross 2
Tempest 2
Super Star Soldier 2
Super Aleste 2
Strikers 1999 2
Spriggan Mk II 2
Space Invaders Extreme 2 2
Space Harrier 2
Söldner-X:Himmelsstürmer 2
Sol-Feace 2
Silpheed (SCD) 2
Shooting Love 200x 2
Sexy Parodius 2
Raycrisis 2
Raptor: Call of the Shadows 2
Pulstar 2
Power-Strike II 2
PARSEC47 2
Panzer Dragoon 2
Metal Black 2
Hitogata Happa 2
Gravity Crash 2
Gradius: Interstellar Assault 2
Galaga Legions 2
Galaga 2
Exceed: GBC 2
Every Extend 2
Eschatos 2
Dragon Spirit 2
Dogyuun 2
DoDonPachi Resurrection 2
Deathsmiles 2x 2
Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams 2
Castle Shikigami 2
Border Down 2
Blazing Lasers 2
Armed Police Batrider 2
Aero Blasters 2
ZeroGunner2 1
Zanac X Zanac 1
Xenon 2 1
Twinbee 1
Tumiki Fighters 1
Triggerheart Exelica 1
Touhou: 07: Perfect Cherry Blossom 1
Thunder Force 1
Super Dimensional Fortress Mac 1
Sunset Riders 1
Starfox 1
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II 1
Shock Troopers 2 1
Shock Troopers 1
RRootage 1
Raiden Project 1
Raiden 2 1
R-Type Leo 1
R-Type II 1
Omega Fighter 1
Noiz2sa 1
Metal Slug 3 1
Mamoru-Kun Curse! 1
Layer Section 1
Jets 'N' Guns 1
Jamestown 1
Image Fight 1
Hydorah 1
Gunsmoke 1
Gunbird 1
Grid Wars 2 1
Eliminate Down 1
Eden's Aegis 1
Dead Nation 1
Darius 1
D-Force 1
Cybernator/Assault Suits Valken 1
Choplifter 1
Battle Squadron 1
Assault Suits Leynos 1
Air Buster 1
Ai Cho Aniki 1
After Burner: Climax 1
Aero Fighters 2 1
Thanks for voting!