Shoot the Core! - Gaf Shoot ‘em Up (aka Shooter/SHMUP) Reference Thread

Felt like posting a progress report on my breaking into the shmup genre.

As mentioned a few pages back, my only experiences with shmups before was Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth years ago. Due to the OP I tried out Axelay, which I absolutely loved. It didn't allow for much customization, but I felt the weapons were all pretty useful and the level design was solid. I managed to beat the game, though I have not 1CCed it.

Raiden Fighters Aces on XBLA
I love all of the different ships and the flashy weapons. Sprite work is fantastic and controls are solid. It took me awhile to figure out all of the mechanics (didn't realize there was a charge shot forever). Using the default 3 continues I can consistently reach the final stage of Raiden Fighters 1, but can't beat it. Haven't really tried to solo Raiden Fighters 2 yet.

Super Megaforce
I actually manged to 1cc this game. There were a lot of weapons in this game, but I found most of them to be pretty useless. That could be attributed to finding a particular set of weapons I just liked. After playing this and Axelay, I think I like shmups that have obstacles to maneuver around and not just enemies to shoot like in Raiden Fighters.

Touhou 7: Something Cherry Blossoms
Since I hadn't really played any manic shooters, I tried Touhou 7. I didn't really enjoy playing this all that much. I felt like the pace was too slow for my liking, though that is partly to allow you some time to think about how to dodge the bullets. I also wasn't a huge fan of the style, though some of the bullet patterns looked very nice. Have only made it to stage 3 on one continue (I'm pretty bad).

Gradius III
I picked up a copy of Gradius III for the SNES last week. I like how you can choose which power ups you want. It has been pretty cool experimenting with the different types of weapons. My main complaint with this game is that dying once is almost always a complete game over. Though typically check points give you 2-4 power up enemies right away, I find that the later stages are nearly impossible to survive with a low number of power ups. I've managed to reach the 3rd boss on 1cc so far.

I noticed you guys talking about playing with Arcade Sticks for Raiden Fighters IV. Never really considered it myself. Guess I'll break out my Arcade Stick and give Raiden Fighters Aces a go with it.

I want to check out some more manic shooters to try and get a feel of whether or not I like them or not. What would you recommend?
 
Killrion said:
I want to check out some more manic shooters to try and get a feel of whether or not I like them or not. What would you recommend?
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Sounds like you haven't tried a Cave game yet. I don't think it's at all an exaggeration to call them central to the genre over the past decade and a half.

If you can play Japanese PS2 games, play Espgaluda. That's my favorite introductory Cave game. DoDonPachi (PSX, Saturn, emulated in MAME) is another great one.

Mushihimesama Futari on 360 is also excellent (an understatement), affordable (Platinum Collection release goes for something like $40), and will run on all regions. If you can't play Espgaluda or DoDonPachi you might as well play this, and most people consider it a better game in the long run.
 
So... Raiden Legacy... On Android. Is it any good? I've read people shitting on it on last page, but was it about the PC version only? Is it the same on Android?
 
Accoun said:
So... Raiden Legacy... On Android. Is it any good? I've read people shitting on it on last page, but was it about the PC version only? Is it the same on Android?
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If you're looking for accuracy, you should probably look elsewhere. It adopts the Cave mobile port convention of allowing your ship to move further and faster than naturally possible in the arcade game because it will follow your finger anywhere on the screen. There is some weirdness with the refresh rate too as it seems to judder when you move the ship around rapidly.

Fun time waster, but don't go in expecting something perfect.
 
Tain said:
Sounds like you haven't tried a Cave game yet. I don't think it's at all an exaggeration to call them central to the genre over the past decade and a half.

If you can play Japanese PS2 games, play Espgaluda. That's my favorite introductory Cave game. DoDonPachi (PSX, Saturn, emulated in MAME) is another great one.

Mushihimesama Futari on 360 is also excellent (an understatement), affordable (Platinum Collection release goes for something like $40), and will run on all regions. If you can't play Espgaluda or DoDonPachi you might as well play this, and most people consider it a better game in the long run.
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this ^ there's a dedicated cave thread too.

also raizing, psikyo, and toaplan
 
Super Aleste is really odd. The stages are ridiculously long to the point that, near the end of the first stage, I started to suspect that it was just an endless loop like cho ren sha! I haven't played too many other Compile shooters yet but Musha Aleste didn't seem quite this long. :P
The weapons are weirdly balanced and half of them seem pretty useless outside of specific situations. You can basically plow through the entire game with a fully powered laser, but by level 5 and up recovery can be damn hard if you have the wrong weapons. Dying can be incredibly frustrating especially on a boss with no special lives since the checkpoints are sooooo far back.
Still, it's really fun and the $50 I spent on it was definitely worthwhile. I got to the end of stage 5 on my first credit, and I can see myself clearing this in pretty good time. I also like the caravan mode.

I've also been spending some time with R-type final lately. My appreciation of that game has grown a lot and unlocking new ships is a lot of fun. Playing with the base R-9A is a good challenge and it really feels like the stages are balanced around it. Using the more powerful ships that can wipe out enemies before they appear onscreen can lead to a lot of 'dead air' that people tend to complain about. There's some really, really neat ideas in this game's stage design and the story is a wonderful mindfuck. The realization that all 3 alternate endings were canonical blew me away. :)

Also, R100 Curtain Call has to be one of the coolest ship designs ever!

GiBD7zB.jpg
 
sixteen-bit said:
y'all play that astebreed?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6NoDhlE5e0
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Yeah got it the day it came out on Playism. Its a pretty awesome game with great presentation. Game is a tad easy on normal but that can be a good thing for people who are just getting into the genre.

Only minor issue with the game right now is that if you play it through Steam and you popup the overlay, take a screenshot, or a friend notification pops up the game becomes foggy (probably some gamma issue). Its an easy fix but it can be annoying at times. I'm sure this will be fixed by the time it comes out on Steam. At least on Playism they'll give you a Steam code once the game is released so that's pretty cool.
 
luka said:
I've also been spending some time with R-type final lately. My appreciation of that game has grown a lot and unlocking new ships is a lot of fun. Playing with the base R-9A is a good challenge and it really feels like the stages are balanced around it. Using the more powerful ships that can wipe out enemies before they appear onscreen can lead to a lot of 'dead air' that people tend to complain about. There's some really, really neat ideas in this game's stage design and the story is a wonderful mindfuck. The realization that all 3 alternate endings were canonical blew me away. :)

Also, R100 Curtain Call has to be one of the coolest ship designs ever!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I played that not long ago, one of my biggest gripes with it is the performance, the Bydo Forest (3.5) is the worst offender, everything is sooooooo slooooooooow that I lose all will to push onward.

I recall dead air only really being a problem in the first stage since it has quite a few parts where the only thing happening is some spectacle in the background. Well, and the Bydo Forest but that's a result of the slowdown, not the stage design itself.

Still haven't figured out how to fight Gomander or Nomemayer without cheesing them (mega wave cannon for the former, needle force for the latter) despite playing the game enough to unlock all 101 ships... Also having to use some ships for 1-2 hours to unlock the next is crazy, that really leads to monotony and prevents experimentation. By the time you unlock the 99 you're so tired of the damn levels that you won't really enjoy your trophy anymore...
 
luka said:
Super Aleste is really odd. The stages are ridiculously long to the point that, near the end of the first stage, I started to suspect that it was just an endless loop like cho ren sha! I haven't played too many other Compile shooters yet but Musha Aleste didn't seem quite this long. :P
The weapons are weirdly balanced and half of them seem pretty useless outside of specific situations. You can basically plow through the entire game with a fully powered laser, but by level 5 and up recovery can be damn hard if you have the wrong weapons. Dying can be incredibly frustrating especially on a boss with no special lives since the checkpoints are sooooo far back.
Still, it's really fun and the $50 I spent on it was definitely worthwhile. I got to the end of stage 5 on my first credit, and I can see myself clearing this in pretty good time. I also like the caravan mode.
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I agree with you completely. Some levels are ridiculously long and then you get some stages which are very short. Laser, Missiles, Circle, and Power Shot are all I really ever used.
 
It's about a year old but I just found this interesting little r-type final retrospective at eurogamer. It is a bit flowery and I feel he's trying to read a bit too much into messages that probably aren't there, but I'd be lying if I didn't get a little teary-eyed by the end. It's a fun read. :)

I think it's interesting that Irem accepted that the the series was dead and made a game that pushed back so hard by encapsulating everything that defined early horizontal shooters (extreme memorization, difficult recovery, methodical pace) as a tribute to the genre while Konami and Treasure made Gradius V to try and push horis into relevance by turning it into some kind of fast paced bullet hell hybridization with tiny hitboxes, fast, dense clouds of bullets, and screen-filling explosions.
 
Tain said:
I bought it, but I was in the middle of playing Mushihimesama so I haven't put any time into it. And then I decided to grab Shikigami no Shiro 3 for 360 and Crimzon Clover is coming out soon and there are a million other games that aren't STGs too and aaaaaah
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I feel ya. Suddenly there's a shitton of STGs out this summer. Can't keep up.
 
AlabastreAizo said:
So, Bullet Soul Infinite Burst came out--is it region free??
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I have a NTSC-J 360, so I couldn't test that even if I wanted to, but people on shmups.com forum say it is. I believe there was also an official twitter confirmation by 5pb that Infinite Burst is region-free, but I've never seen it. Still, I say it's a safe bet that it is.

Hopefully I get mine on Monday or Tuesday. I'm interested in whatever that "secret" mode is that's teased on the official website.
 
Any tips on where can I get a relatively cheap NTSC-J Xbox 360? My Cave Shooting Collection arrived today and I really wanna check out Mushihimesama HD.
 
I guess this is a good place to ask. What are the good options for shmups on the PC? I know Crimzon Clover is coming out soon, and Astebreed looks interesting (although I'm not sure about the rails segments).
 
HiddenWings said:
I guess this is a good place to ask. What are the good options for shmups on the PC? I know Crimzon Clover is coming out soon, and Astebreed looks interesting (although I'm not sure about the rails segments).
Click to expand...

Honestly, the very best games are in MAME. Outside of emulation you're looking at slightly older ports of games like the Shikigami no Shiro series or really old ports like Gradius collections and RayStorm. Barring that there are some solid doujin games like the Touhou series, Siter Skain games, the recently released and localized Astebreed, and Crimzon Clover.
 
Jotamide said:
Any tips on where can I get a relatively cheap NTSC-J Xbox 360? My Cave Shooting Collection arrived today and I really wanna check out Mushihimesama HD.
Click to expand...

Nippon Yasan have the best price, but they're sold out of the 4GB slim models (they've replaced them with the E units which are missing VGA and some audio settings, if I remember right). They do still have the 250GB model (31,500¥), though. If you're in Europe, they have a shipping option where they send it to a holding in France and them ship it again to you (so you don't have to pay customs fees, just the VAT).

Nin-Nin-Game have the 4GB slim (23,300¥) in stock, but you'd have to factor in customs fees. As far as I know, these are the best prices and the only places that haven't replaced all their slims with the E units yet.

edit: If you just want a cheap system you could hold out for an old Jasper unit to come on eBay. Yamatoku-Classic list used consoles quite often.
 
So I spent a few minutes with Bullet Souls Infinite Burst last night. I never picked up the original since the demo made it seem like majorly boring shit, and this is still kind of the same. I guess it's probably due to the incredibly generous bullet canceling. Enemies throw large amounts of bullets your way, but as soon as you blow them up, all their bullets disappear. This makes the levels trivial, and the boss encounter the only interesting part. Which is a shame, since the bullets patterns are actually interesting, cool looking, and fun to dodge.

The new thing is Burst Mode. You start with weapons at maximum, collect medals from blown up guys, and charge the Burst meter. Burst replaces the bomb, and powers your guy up for the duration with bigger guns. It's OK, but in a game where the player is already overpowered, it just adds more visual effects that clutter up the screen.

Normal mode is similar to the original game I guess. In this mode you get a traditional bomb, and occasional weapon power ups. I don't know if that's new, but I don't recall it from the demo.

Caravan mode is like the old Hudson games. A timed score attack mode. It even has a new stage that looks like the old games, with random blocks and shit to blow up as you fly by. This part is cool.

The "secret" mode isn't in the main menu, so I guess it's locked. The manual makes reference to a "Musou" mode. I dunno, sounds mindless somehow...

And finally, I really, REALLY want to murder the pink-haired girl. No not the space cop, the other one. Holy shit! She makes the DDP Sai Dai Ou Jou chatter seem Shakespearean by comparison.
 
Since I didn't see it mentioned yet: the PSP Gradius Collection was released on PSN in Europe yesterday.
Though, going by the store description, it's not Vita compatible.
 
Danchi said:
Nippon Yasan have the best price, but they're sold out of the 4GB slim models (they've replaced them with the E units which are missing VGA and some audio settings, if I remember right). They do still have the 250GB model (31,500¥), though. If you're in Europe, they have a shipping option where they send it to a holding in France and them ship it again to you (so you don't have to pay customs fees, just the VAT).

Nin-Nin-Game have the 4GB slim (23,300¥) in stock, but you'd have to factor in customs fees. As far as I know, these are the best prices and the only places that haven't replaced all their slims with the E units yet.

edit: If you just want a cheap system you could hold out for an old Jasper unit to come on eBay. Yamatoku-Classic list used consoles quite often.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice!

Jucksalbe said:
Since I didn't see it mentioned yet: the PSP Gradius Collection was released on PSN in Europe yesterday.
Though, going by the store description, it's not Vita compatible.
Click to expand...

Damn, I was hoping on grabbing it eventually but no Vita compatibility, no sale.
 
Got my Bullet Soul: IB in. Did not realize that the limited came in such a big box...cool buy kinda annoying at the same time. Pretty excited to give this one a go.

32FE3530-AFAD-456C-88BD-0122C6799A8A_zpsdpsc3keu.jpg
 
Yes Boss! said:
Got my Bullet Soul: IB in. Did not realize that the limited came in such a big box...cool buy kinda annoying at the same time. Pretty excited to give this one a go.

http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv358/gbuczek/32FE3530-AFAD-456C-88BD-0122C6799A8A_zpsdpsc3keu.jpg[IMG][/QUOTE]

Moar pics plz
Click to expand...
 
Yes Boss! said:
Ok,

http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv358/gbuczek/01F0FEC4-0E31-4D46-A7AC-9B57B0721D8C_zpswj9vriwu.jpg[IMG]

[IMG]http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv358/gbuczek/AFF2EE0A-D70E-4FF8-95AF-0B52ADB3F4F2_zpso2cqpkrd.jpg[IMG]

[IMG]http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv358/gbuczek/74BCD474-2E37-4600-A3DA-8056C50A6728_zps6bqrktw5.jpg[IMG]

And this thing seems silly, like an extended advertisement for XBOX One:

[IMG]http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv358/gbuczek/D539D16A-C0EB-4169-B5FD-4E0BE27C6B51_zpsscr5fakh.jpg[IMG]

Overall a cool package for a late release for J-360.[/QUOTE]

Wait, so they just give you the latest issue of Famitsu Xbox? Does it at least have some info about Bullet Soul in it? Seems quite random.

Edit: I guess it's a 5pb sponsored issue. Still, an odd pack-in for a Limited Edition. No OST or anything?
Click to expand...
 
Genki said:
In the event that it becomes Vita compatible in the future, is the PSP Gradius Collection good? Any issues?
Click to expand...
I snagged it on Vita during that PSN store mishap, it runs fine. Good ports of I-IV, no Salamander or Gradius V.

Love to see a nice collection on PS3/PS4 with everything.
 
BOTEC said:
Wait, so they just give you the latest issue of Famitsu Xbox? Does it at least have some info about Bullet Soul in it? Seems quite random.

Edit: I guess it's a 5pb sponsored issue. Still, an odd pack-in for a Limited Edition. No OST or anything?
Click to expand...

Looks like a reformat of some official magazine, yes. more bookish format. And it comes with a remix CD...uput it in my mac and it comes up on iTunes as a Jake Virt Kaufman title (dude from Shantae stuff).

Have not opened the magazine...really no interest. I just buy the LEs of all the 360 titles.
 
I just saw those pics and thought that a Japanese LE didn't include an OST or AST or some form of *ST, and I felt the fabric of our reality breaking down... but then I saw that it actually did, and all was right with the world.

Yeah, it seems like Jake "Virt" Kaufman has become the shooting game remix dude at this point. I'm cool with that. He does good work.
 
Yes Boss! said:
Got my Bullet Soul: IB in. Did not realize that the limited came in such a big box...cool buy kinda annoying at the same time. Pretty excited to give this one a go.
Click to expand...

I also got my copy in today and yeah while having the larger box is nice I really don't quite understand why we got a magazine to go with it haha. Maybe I'll open it up and take a look but probably not. Now...what to do with this original version DLC code since I have the physical version of it already. Hmmm...
 
skatebored said:
I snagged it on Vita during that PSN store mishap, it runs fine. Good ports of I-IV, no Salamander or Gradius V.

Love to see a nice collection on PS3/PS4 with everything.
Click to expand...

There was a separate Salamander Collection that was Japan only. I was expecting the Gradius games to come to XBLA /PSN and it never happened, Konami seem to have forgotten them. :(
 
I too was surprised with the large box, especially with the ass shot on the front. Mine is now carefully hidden behind a Zone of the Enders LE box of roughly the same size.
 
sixteen-bit said:
It also contains Gradius Gaiden. Great game.
Click to expand...

Best Gradius.

Mind still going back and forth on Bullet Soul IB. The demo was okay, nothing special but sort of fun. Baby-mode bullet cancelling makes survival awful and boring but I guess the scoring encourages point blanking which would make things more interesting. Hmmmmmmm..
 
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