Shmups Are The Best Genre You Don’t Play

Black_Stride said:
Yeah.....Nahh....not like this, not on the Switch.
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What is the difference between the new version and switch version?
 
Anyone else play shmups with a fightstick instead of a controller? I use one to have more of an arcade feel. I really want a Seibu Kaihatsu collection with Raiden 1/2/DX, Raiden Fighters 1/2/Jet and Viper Phase 1.

Edit: I just seen the post above.😄
 
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F31 Leopard said:
Anyone else play shmups with a fightstick instead of a controller? I use one to have more of an arcade feel. I really want a Seibu Kaihatsu collection with Raiden 1/2/DX, Raiden Fighters 1/2/Jet and Viper Phase 1.
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Yes 100% of the time.

I have several sticks, but only 1 for Switch (8BitDo). So that for Switch shmups and either that or my Razer Panthera for Steam shmups.

It's much better in my opinion.
 
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I've been craving a good one recently for some reason. Enter the gungeon probably. I remember we had 1945 arcade at the plaza when we were young punks and everyone would compete for top score.

They only had 1945, Area 51, and xmen vs street fighter. We would smoke joints after school and chill down there playing arcades and pool. Until we caused you much problems and they kicked us all out.

Those were the days
 
Got to ask, are we counting Run and Gun as part of shmups or are we counting them as their own thing? I admit I do like me some Metal Slug/Gunstar Heroes.
 
Impotaku said:
with consoles like switch fully embracing the genre
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Which is funny as it is the worst console it terms of input lag. Overall, a lot of recent re-releases have a ton of input lag. You can definitely see that publishers are abusing the slight gain in popularity to release stuff quickly. I know that the Switch is popular, but with the exception of M2 stuff, I would definitely avoid this console for shmups.
 
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Any worth playing on PlayStation?

This is one genre I'm not at all familiar with.

I lean into roguelike for the same reason as OP. Not much time for gaming.
 
dave_d said:
Got to ask, are we counting Run and Gun as part of shmups or are we counting them as their own thing? I admit I do like me some Metal Slug/Gunstar Heroes.
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I've always regarded them as their own thing. Like I'd never have regarded Contra and Gradius as the same genre back in the day.
 
While we're at it, the best subgenre you don't play are zone/trance shooters. There's something about the almost psychadelic effect you get when you force your brain to run on reflex alone.

I love shmups. I don't grind on them the way I used to, can't remember my last true 1cc, but I still get into a couple of them every year and revisit some old favorites. Currently playing some Gradius V.
 
Yeah, I haven't really played a lot of shmups. But Drainus looked cool and Platinum released a new Sol game that was received pretty well.
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Also got Astrabreed on a sale under 4 bucks.
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I love shmups! My proudest achievement has to be about 10 years ago when I finally got that 1CC in Espgaluda 2. I fell off of them a bit since then, but recently I started on trying to loop Gradius V.
 
Biggest problem with arcade shmups is when you die in later stages, getting power ups and keeping them can be EXTREMELY DIFFICULT.
90% of the time you have to fight the boss with your starting vulcan pea shooter. Some games circumvent this by allowing you to recollect a portion of those power ups immediately after death.
The shmups where you have to restart at a check point gets old the fastest.

My most favorite shmup games of all time is Steel Empire, with Gradius 3 tailing right behind it.
 
I love these games. Both Drainus and Hyper Echlon was high up on my "best of 2022" list.
Hoping for a Gradius V remaster soon!

And yeah, that feeling when overcoming a intense, very difficult part of games in this genre is pure bliss.
 
I just blew through half of super dimension fortress macross last. Night. Way too easy on normal. And mediocre at best. It's okay becasue it was clearly made for fans to enjoy and relive a story. Fine by me!

I don't get around to the genre that often but I do still play. Most recently before that, I found r-type final 2 on ps+ and I was having a great time! Before that would have been the most recent darius game, which did not support an ultrawide letterbox like I was hoping. Then before that was ikaruga on switch, which I bought on reflex but upn playing it I realized I fucked this game out a long time ago.

The true bullet hell ones are not appealing to me. I like the classic style with more room to maneuver.
 
The 32 bit era was the beginning of the end of the genre due to the rise of 3d (ack).

Have there been any games since the 32 bit era that did pixel sprite work (and supposedly blended with 3d a la Radiant Silvergun/TF V/etc.) at least or beyond the level of the Saturn?
 
G-Bus said:
Any worth playing on PlayStation?

This is one genre I'm not at all familiar with.

I lean into roguelike for the same reason as OP. Not much time for gaming.
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PlayStation has the majority of titles I own and play for it.

What sucks is I don't know of "the best" to onboard someone who is interested.

For me Ikaruga is my first entry into it because I loved the artwork I saw online for it. I haven't 1cced this and in my OP mentioned it's my "long term" goal to beat it .

That said I would recommend some of these :

Sine Mora Ex (Has a story and visually good)

Battle Garrega (less insane bullet hell focus , lots of ships , incredible soundtrack , a super easy mode to just have fun with)

Ketsui Deathiny (less ships, more bullets , high speed gameplay)

Lastly, I'd add Capcom arcade collection . One of the volumes has ProGear and 4 other Shmups with it . The ProGear alone is worth it and that game SLAPS.

Oh and FYI even like 15 year old pcs can run shmups off steam like mushihimesama or DoDonPachi.
 
cartman414 said:
The 32 bit era was the beginning of the end of the genre due to the rise of 3d (ack).

Have there been any games since the 32 bit era that did pixel sprite work (and supposedly blended with 3d a la Radiant Silvergun/TF V/etc.) at least or beyond the level of the Saturn?
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Sol Cresta fits this bill right ? Made by platinum games.

Also Sine Mora Ex.

I forget if indie titles work here. ZeroRanger is a masterpiece.
 
Hell yeah, but I suck at bullet-hell so I go for more horizontal shmups. Andro Dunos 2 was one of my favorite games of 2021.
 
Arsic said:
Sol Cresta fits this bill right ? Made by platinum games.

Also Sine Mora Ex.

I forget if indie titles work here. ZeroRanger is a masterpiece.
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Sine Mora Ex is polygon based.

I'm most interested in Sega Saturn and beyond, as the Saturn was the last console hardware with sprite hardware optimizations. (Almost everything after could brute force it.)

As for indie games, I'm all for it!
 
rogr rogr said:
What would you consider a must besides Ikaruga?
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Thunder Force IV/Lightening Force, Dangun Feveron, Battle Garegga, Ketsui Deathiny, Dranius, Deathsmiles, Raiden Fighters 1/2/Aces, R-Type III & R-Type Final 2, Any Cave title such as Dodonpachi, Mahou Daisakusen aka Sorcerer Striker.
 
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Can I show a video of my shoot em up that I am making here? I know self promotion is frowned upon but may be something C cartman414 may be interested in as its sprite based 2D and not 3D

(very old video though and the encoding is terrible, will make a new one when I get chance, I work full time so only pick at the game really and a lot has changed since my videos were made but still, gives you an idea of it)
 
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midnightAI said:
Can I show a video of my shoot em up that I am making here? I know self promotion is frowned upon but may be something C cartman414 may be interested in as its sprite based 2D and not 3D

(very old video though and the encoding is terrible, will make a new one when I get chance, I work full time so only pick at the game really and a lot has changed since my videos were made but still, gives you an idea of it)
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I'll allow it*
How about a small sprite sheet tease.


*Holammer is not a GAF moderator.
 
Switch is my shmup machine.
I have a clip on TATE rotating thing that snaps onto the pro controller.

Shmups are good for short bursts, but regular games are good for short bursts too.
Shmups are quite taxing on the brain and nerves, it's not something you can sit back and enjoy, it's actively learning and being on edge all the time.
Still a lot of fun, but I haven't done much of it lately (I think I look for shmups to buy more than I play them, lol)
 
midnightAI said:
Can I show a video of my shoot em up that I am making here? I know self promotion is frowned upon but may be something C cartman414 may be interested in as its sprite based 2D and not 3D

(very old video though and the encoding is terrible, will make a new one when I get chance, I work full time so only pick at the game really and a lot has changed since my videos were made but still, gives you an idea of it)
Click to expand...

Worst case post it on the shmup Reddit if you haven't already. Should get eyes .
 
I tried embracing the genre a few years ago, but besides my old age and diminished reflexes, I think I really need a good grip on a joystick for precision. I get that people master these games with controllers, but I could never do it with thumb sticks. If I had the space for a table to put an arcade stick on, I would readily try again. Not that I would become an expert, but at the very least, I would feel I was playing properly. Same with racing games, I really think I need a wheel to enjoy to them. Could never wrap my head around driving with a controller. Too different than a driving a car in real life.
 
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