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

Not so much a shooter as a run and gun, but I bought the Metal Slug Anthology on Wii this weekend. Why does it not have Classic Controller support?!
Yeah, that really annoys so much that I didn't buy this yet or perhaps never. I plan to buy an arcade stick for PS3/2. so maybe I'll get the PS2 version (or perhaps not, still undecided since I already have Metal Slug 3 for PS2, awesome game BTW but so hard...).
 
Not so much a shooter as a run and gun, but I bought the Metal Slug Anthology on Wii this weekend. Why does it not have Classic Controller support?!

I adapted to the Wii Remote quickly at least...

I believe it was a launch title, and they didn't know about the Classic Controller in development. I think it DOES support the Gamecube controller though.
 
I am going to Tokyo for the first time in October, what reasonably priced region free shooters should I look out for? I have most US systems, plus I'd like to pick up a JP PS2 while I'm there. I can play import stuff on my Dreamcast and Gamecube via swap discs. Here's a list of what I have to look for:

-Star Soldier Collection (PSP)
-Salamander Portable (PSP)
-Ketsui Death Label (DS)
-Espgaluda 2 (360)
-Ginga Force (360)
-DoDonPachi Dai Ou Jou (PS2)
-Thunder Force VI (PS2)
-Psikyo Collection(s) (PS2)
-Psyvariar 2 Ultimate Final (PS2)
-Ibara (PS2)


Am I missing anything awesome? I'd like to get Border Down but I was under the impression that it was pricey. Same for Muchi Muchi Pork! & Pink Sweets on 360. Is that second Milestone collection on Wii worth looking at if I have the first one? Also, I'm not too knowledgeable about what good PS1 and Saturn shooters are out there.


Not so much a shooter as a run and gun, but I bought the Metal Slug Anthology on Wii this weekend. Why does it not have Classic Controller support

Yeah I hated this also. I ended up trading it in and getting the PS2 version instead.

I believe it was a launch title, and they didn't know about the Classic Controller in development. I think it DOES support the Gamecube controller though.

This is true, but if I remember correctly it forces you to use the analog stick and there's no way to use the d-pad instead.
 
Am I missing anything awesome? I'd like to get Border Down but I was under the impression that it was pricey. Same for Muchi Muchi Pork! & Pink Sweets on 360. Just to note, I can play import stuff on my Dreamcast and Gamecube with swap discs.

Go for Eschatos on 360...lots to do in that game, has the two Wonderswan games, is cheap (new budget version out there for $30). Also Mushi Futari plat, if you don't have it already. Border down is pricey there, above $100 for the standard, used.

Second Milestone has everything in the first and then more...renders the first release obsolete.

And for PSP, Darius Burst. It is still expensive to import but you could get it there for cheap. Not as good as the iOS version since that has Another Chronicle, but awesome since it is not touch only. Don't forget the other PSP Konami collections. And there is that neat PC Engine collection in PSP that had Sapphire...worth getting if you can find it for less than $10.
 
Speaking of Darius, I've been waiting for the price to go down on Darius Burst for ages, but it's gone the opposite way, figures. Is it worth the high import price? I take it there's no cheaper "best" version on the way?
 
Speaking of Darius, I've been waiting for the price to go down on Darius Burst for ages, but it's gone the opposite way, figures. Is it worth the high import price? I take it there's no cheaper "best" version on the way?

Sadly, no. The file on the j-store is even like 4000 yen which takes it way up with our shitty exchange rate. I was doing the same thing, waiting for a few years, finally just spent the $55 online at Tokyo Shmups.

Speaking of worth it. Graphics are identical to the iOS version ($10 cost to see if you like it) just does not have the AC version. I played about an hour over the weekend. I really like it. Really awesome music. The only other Darius I've played previously is the old Super CD version in the early nineties. The franchise kinda seems hard with cheap shots.
 
Glad that I waited. I was interested in Akai Katana at release, but I held off as I had other shooters in my backlog. Just picked it up on Amazon and $17 is way easier to swallow now then $40 a few months ago. I'm excited to start it, I purchased Deathsmiles a while ago and while a really liked the game the whole theme of it really bothered me, so I traded it in without really playing it. I'm hoping this will hit the same general feel with different theme.

Regarding modes for it, what is the mode that I should start playing with? Origin, Climax or Slash?
 
Glad that I waited. I was interested in Akai Katana at release, but I held off as I had other shooters in my backlog. Just picked it up on Amazon and $17 is way easier to swallow now then $40 a few months ago. I'm excited to start it, I purchased Deathsmiles a while ago and while a really liked the game the whole theme of it really bothered me, so I traded it in without really playing it. I'm hoping this will hit the same general feel with different theme.

Regarding modes for it, what is the mode that I should start playing with? Origin, Climax or Slash?

Slash was my favorite, and is the default iirc. The "mining swords/spirit attack/score big" (or whatever its actually called) mechanic is the best scoring system in a Cave game, period. Rushing into a giant explosion, following your swords and colllecting giant gems is such a rush, and pays off big time one you nail it.

Man, I love that game.
 
Go for Eschatos on 360...lots to do in that game, has the two Wonderswan games, is cheap (new budget version out there for $30). Also Mushi Futari plat, if you don't have it already. Border down is pricey there, above $100 for the standard, used.

Second Milestone has everything in the first and then more...renders the first release obsolete.

And for PSP, Darius Burst. It is still expensive to import but you could get it there for cheap. Not as good as the iOS version since that has Another Chronicle, but awesome since it is not touch only. Don't forget the other PSP Konami collections. And there is that neat PC Engine collection in PSP that had Sapphire...worth getting if you can find it for less than $10.

Thanks, I'll add Eschatos the PSP games to my list. And I do own Mushi Futari.
 
I know I posted this in the Cave thread, but some folks might not have it subscribed and it moves fast.

Akai Katana for xbox 360 just droppped in price.

$24.99 new and $19.99 used. These are gamestop prices, but people price match and if you check Amazon its already as low as $13 before shipping there in some cases.

Its a really top notch shmup where you have to change between ship form and ghost form. You also get a satellite in ship form and you have to build meter in ship form to stay in ghost form longer. Its got mechanics that equate to shoot in one form to build metal, shift to other form to have that converted to bullet destroying katanas, fire said katanas for big gold. And it also has mechanics where if you stay in one form gold won't be collected and it will hover around you growing in size until you shift back. There even bullet reflection in this game.

It sounds like a lot, but with all these tools its way easier than a lot of other cave shmups in my eyes, and it allows for absolutely ridiculously high scores to be achieved by bouncing between forms, and juggling bullets/gold/metal/katanas to find new ways to churn out higher scores out of areas of stages. Lots to do and each mode place drastically different using some of these tools and not others.

Get in here...its cheap and awesome.
 
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Just got Abadox for the NES and Salamander DX pack plus for the Saturn today...playing the series for the first time.

Salamander has one of the most intimidating boss battle themes ever o_o Gotta love all the voice clips before boss battles. Kinda sucks that Salamander 2 has infinite continues, but then again I see why. Good to know where the theme I heard for the first time in Gradius V originated from.


Question about Darius and Gradius: Are they pronounced "Darr-rius" and "Grade-ius" or Darius like the name and Gradius as in Graduation? Also wish Super Darius II PC Engine wasnt so expensive. At least Gradius II is decently priced.
 
Wife just got a 3DS. Time to buy up some Nano Assault. I hear it has 10 bosses and over 30 levels. Sounds like a nice and meaty shmup for when I'm on the go. Anyone know if Nano Strike 1 or 2 are any good since there only $2-$4?
 
Salamander has one of the most intimidating boss battle themes ever o_o Gotta love all the voice clips before boss battles. Kinda sucks that Salamander 2 has infinite continues, but then again I see why. Good to know where the theme I heard for the first time in Gradius V originated from.

Salamander 1 & 2 are some of the most underappreciated shmups ever, I love them. I own the PS1 version of said collection, and the PSP version which included Xexex as well, which is fun but a bit weird.
 
Salamander 1 & 2 are some of the most underappreciated shmups ever, I love them. I own the PS1 version of said collection, and the PSP version which included Xexex as well, which is fun but a bit weird.

Any big difference between the PS1 and Saturn versions? Oh and I see that if you pick Loop 02 at the main menu after beating the game (?), you dont seem to have any continues, only lives.

Also what do you guys think about the Parodius series (the Saturn deluxe pack in particular)? Never really took a serious look at that part of Konami's series, but after watching a few videos, it seems pretty fun. Not to mention the general craziness of it all.
 
Any big difference between the PS1 and Saturn versions? Oh and I see that if you pick Loop 02 at the main menu after beating the game (?), you dont seem to have any continues, only lives.

Also what do you guys think about the Parodius series (the Saturn deluxe pack in particular)? Never really took a serious look at that part of Konami's series, but after watching a few videos, it seems pretty fun. Not to mention the general craziness of it all.

The only difference I remember reading awhile back, is that the PS1 version outputs the native 256 x 224 resolution of Salamander/Life Force, other than that they´re pretty much identical. I think this is because the Saturn couldn´t output lower res than 320x240 15 khz or something like that, which was also notable on other arcade ports and on the Tactics Ogre version which looked odd compared to SFC and PS1 versions.

As for Parodius Titles I think they´re pretty fun but aren´t meant to be taken seriously; personally the ones I like the most are Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius and Sexy Parodius which were standalone releases, but Parodius Da! and Gokujuu Parodius (which are on the Deluxe collection) are great too. I remember reading in the shmups forums that several members hated it, a Parodius game was featured last year on their annual STG tournament and lots of users complained about the unfair difficulty and unappealing scoring system.
 
Small update on Ginga Force: Play Asia just notified me that the October 2012 release has been moved to November.

Kind of figured this would happen since we dont have a specific date yet, but I hope it dosen't move any further.
 
Small update on Ginga Force: Play Asia just notified me that the October 2012 release has been moved to November.

Kind of figured this would happen since we dont have a specific date yet, but I hope it dosen't move any further.

I'm just hoping it does not get cancelled/moved to next gen. Want one last big original title for J-360. SDOJ next year lets me think the system has a little life in it.
 
Ginga Force is looking really good. I don't think it can get cancelled at this point. Isn't it pretty much done already? Really happy it is rf as well.
 
I'm going to give away an extra key for Jamestown on Steam here.

You'll also get Wizorb, BIT.TRIP.RUNNER, Gratuitous Space Battles as well so hurray. I just wanted to dump it here so that Shmup fans would claim it.

Any takers? First to post gets the key to the whole lot.

Me? Hopefully, my laptop can run Jamestown.
 
Me? Hopefully, my laptop can run Jamestown.

Ah man, I feel bad for you not getting jamestown. I thought no one was going to reply since the thread had been pushed off the front page already and had no replies. You must have missed it by seconds before I just dumped the codes over in the Free to a good home thread thinking no shmupper wanted them.

I tell you what I'm going to do because I feel pretty bad about posting it in this thread and then abandoning the deal thinking I had no takers. I'm going to buy you the whole indie bundle and send you via PM the gift link. You can download them for whatever platform you want and enjoy Jamestown like you had hoped to do. (great game I strongly suggest investing in the dlc later too)

So since I accidently tugged at your heart strings and snatched Christmas away instead of Jamestown I'm just going to give you.
  • Rochard
  • Shatter (my GOD the OST is incredible)
  • Spaz
  • Torchlight
  • Vessel
  • EFF
  • DUSTFORCE
  • Bit Trip Runner
  • Gratuitous Space Battles
  • JAMESTOWN!
  • Wizorb

Enjoy Shinriji. I think you deserve it and sorry for tugging at your heartstrings. I thought no one cared earlier.
 
Just dropping in to say I (briefly) played Otomedius Excellent (360) the other day and really didn't like it. Just so bland and boring. :(

I did also start Trouble Witches Neo (XBLA), and I like that one a lot! Fun core gameplay mechanics, nice visuals/music, the floating store reminds me of Namco's Ordyne, and yeah, I had to change the voices to Japanese after about 10 seconds. The English VO was just... ouch! :P
 
I did also start Trouble Witches Neo (XBLA), and I like that one a lot! Fun core gameplay mechanics, nice visuals/music, the floating store reminds me of Namco's Ordyne, and yeah, I had to change the voices to Japanese after about 10 seconds. The English VO was just... ouch! :P
Same. That VA might just be the worst I have ever heard. Ever.
 
...

I did also start Trouble Witches Neo (XBLA), and I like that one a lot! Fun core gameplay mechanics, nice visuals/music, the floating store reminds me of Namco's Ordyne, and yeah, I had to change the voices to Japanese after about 10 seconds. The English VO was just... ouch! :P

I need to get around to that game. I bought it day 1, and never even loaded it up. It just sits there on my hard drive. :(
 
I need to get around to that game. I bought it day 1, and never even loaded it up. It just sits there on my hard drive. :(
Yeah, it was the same for me. I bought it a long time ago, and had forgotten I'd even had it. I had to reformat my hard drive recently, and while going through my past purchases, I saw that I'd bought it, so I made it a point to play it this year. :)
 
Yeah, it was the same for me. I bought it a long time ago, and had forgotten I'd even had it. I had to reformat my hard drive recently, and while going through my past purchases, I saw that I'd bought it, so I made it a point to play it this year. :)

I was put off by the cartoony art style, not sure why, I usually like that stuff. I really only bought it to support SNK. Drop me some names that it compares to, maybe that will get me interested.
 
So who here is buying Ether Vapor now that its on Steam? I'll be doing it, but I want to wait a bit first so I can at least finish a few other things I need to work on. Game looks awesome, top down, side scroll and Sin and Punishment style 3D stages.
 
So who here is buying Ether Vapor now that its on Steam? I'll be doing it, but I want to wait a bit first so I can at least finish a few other things I need to work on. Game looks awesome, top down, side scroll and Sin and Punishment style 3D stages.

Don't know. I tried the demo, didn't really like it. Maybe when it's on sale.
 
I have it, it's great fun. Presentation is top notch.

It's been a while, but I think the big mechanic was that after you destroy an enemy, you can then absorb any bullets they had mid flight (their "souls"). Those "souls" then fill up your meter. I don't remember if the meter was for score, or if it was to unleash some more powerful attack.
 
Psychic Force 2012 announced for NESiCA Live in latest Arcadia, releasing December 2012.

・No HD upgrade.
・Same game as the 1998 original
・No win/loss recording

Reported here for archival purposes.
 
BTW I think Nyu Media is having a sale on the Exceed Collection of shmups on their site till Nov. 2nd

3 shmups marked down to $4.99

You can read about it on their facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/NyuMediaLtd
http://exceedseries.com/purchase-the-exceed-collection

I got these games and I got to say they are a real blast to enjoy.
Gun Bullet Children is a pretty solid topdown shooter
Vampire Rex has some really stellar polarity flipping gameplay like Ikaruga
Jade Penetrate Black Package is just an overall amazingly intense ride

All 3 have great soundtracks too. If you dont' own them already its $5 and you'll spend more at McDonalds on lunch than you would for these. They are worth way more than a McDonald's lunch in terms of enjoyment and value so go for it!
 
Lol, what kind of demand is there for THAT?

Real Tizoc.
Have to say I'm surprised there's not even win/loss recording given that it's an internal Taito project to support an important arcade platform for them. There must have been some serious tech barriers with the Wolf System.
 
Not sure if it is considered a shmup, but I am considering picking up Bangai-O Spirits now that I have a 3DS. Impressions? I never played the originals.

$10. Worth a shot. DS version is the more fun one of the two recent releases. Not my cup of tea as it was a bit too much "in your face" with the turorial. But I'll give it another go since you brought it up.
 
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