fatty
Member
I’m a fan of the genre but by no means an expert. Trying to keep track of which games are available on what system, the names (Mushihimesa-meca-hiney-ho-what?) and what region they are available in has become quite a chore. There are a lot of questions that I had (and some I still have), and what about people who are new to the genre and are curious on where to start?
That’s what this thread is for.
This is in no way a complete list (yet) but hopefully it will prove useful as a reference and with others’ help a guide to steer others to the shooters they are most interested in.
Also, I refer to these games as shooters even though many might associate that word to a FPS game, but I just don’t like the word ‘SHMUP’.
Shoot ‘em Up Primer
What was the first shooter?
Many people cite Space Invaders as the very first shooter but Wikipedia points out that video game journalist Brian Ashcraft states that the honor belongs to Spacewar!, a very early computer game. Either way, we can probably credit Space Invaders for kick-starting the genre.
What are the different types of shooters?
This one is a little tricky for me to answer but I mainly put shooters into 3 different types of groups: Power-up focused, Bullet Hell and Run & Gun. Of course not every shooter will fall into one of these but these are just three different categories that I normally associate them with.
-Power-up focused
I would consider these to be where the player becomes more powerful by adding additional weapons and/or increasing the strength of your existing weapon. Games in this group that come to mind are Superstardust HD, the Gradius and Aleste series.
-Bullet Hell
Also referred to as manic shooters, these games consist of the player having to dodge an overwhelming amount of projectiles on the screen. The developer Cave is known for this sub-genre of shooters. Some examples of this group include Death Smiles, Mars Matrix and I believe Superstardust HD also overlaps into this category. While the introduction of Bullet Hell type games seemed to start a sort of renaissance of the genre to those who were already dedicated, I also think it intimidated newcomers due to its apparent difficulty.
-Run & Gun
These games feature protagonists on foot, rather than flying in space, and they sometimes have the ability to jump. Some people don’t like to group these in with the other types but I still consider them to be in that same vein and there are enough of them where I put them into a separate set. Contra, Ikari Warriors and Gunstar Heroes are a few examples.
There are other sub-genres that I left out, such as fixed-view and rail shooters, but most of the games that I come across fit in one of the above three categories.
What are the most popular shooter series?
These days, Cave shooters are the most popular, but I think for two reasons. One, they put out some quality games and the other being that since this is now such a niche genre a majority of the shooters released today are from them. Until recently these were only available as imports but Mushihimesama Futari Ver 1.5 was released in Japan as a Region Free title, and Death Smiles will be getting a release in the U.S so things are looking better. But as for popular series within Caves’ shooters? I will have to defer to someone with more knowledge on the subject since I only have a couple of import shooters.
The 80’s were a great time for shooters where we saw the birth of what would be many great series. Konami would come out with Gradius (my favorite series), Irem with R-Type, Raiden was released by Seibu Kaihatsu and Thunder Force by Technosoft. Raiden actually came out in 1990 but I figure it is close enough. Many games in these series are considered classics and some sequels are still being released to this day.
How should a shooter be played?
I may get some flack for this, but basically any way you want. I will say this though, many dedicated shooter fans have a goal to 1cc (1-credit-clear, basically beating the game without continuing) the game to show that they’ve truly mastered it. Some games will have infinite continues which lend themselves more toward the side of 1cc where others with limited continues, like Gradius V, I’m happy enough to get a feeling of accomplishment trying to get further on each play through. I’d say whatever way gives you more satisfaction in that particular game is how to approach playing it. There was a lot of bickering in this thread (Any PS3 SHMUPS) about this very question and to me it’s just not worth arguing about.
Where should I start?
This is where I hope to rely on the expertise of others, especially when it comes to imports, but I’ll just state some of my favorites. And since I’m budget minded, I’ll try to keep the barrier to entry pretty low.
While there aren’t as many retail releases for shooters these days, with the digital distribution services available to us we have quite a bit to look forward to (or in some cases revisit).
Gradius V (PS2) – This is the only one that I’ll mention that is not readily available at a cheap price, but I couldn’t finish this thread without a nod to my favorite shooter of all time. A beautiful looking game (this along with Ikaruga are my favorite looking shooters), fantastic boss battles, and it’s a joy to play by yourself or with a friend.
Ikaruga (XBLA) – Costing only $10, this is a steal. If you are starting off with this one, you may want to consider using the Easy difficulty so you don’t have to worry about the polarity aspect of the game (based on the colors black and white, depending on what color your ship is determines if you absorb or get killed by an enemy’s shot). But once you become a bit more comfortable with the system, don’t hesitate to bump it up to normal, the game becomes much more satisfying.
SuperStarDust HD (PSN) – Also only $10, this is the first PSN game I purchased and I keep going back to it. It’s not the conventional type of shooter that is normally associated with the genre (think of it as a modern day Asteroids on steroids), but that doesn’t mean that it should be overlooked.
Raiden Fighter Aces/ Raiden IV (360) – Both can be had for about $20 each (Raiden IV is currently at that price at Best Buy and Gamestop). Everything I’ve mentioned up to this point has co-op play so be sure to take advantage of this because these games are quite a bit of fun with a friend.
Axelay (Wii VC) – The Virtual Console on Wii has so many great shooters available so I have a hard time singling out just a few but Axelay would have to be one of them. This one plays both on horizontal and vertical scrolling stages and has a nice soundtrack as well.
R-Type III: The Third Lightning (Wii VC) – Out of all of the different R-Types, this is the one I’ve put the most time into. I see many prefer R-Type Delta (also now available on PSN), but I thought it lost some of its charm in the move to 3D. R-Type III has nice variety from stage to stage and each of its three different weapon pod types has its own distinct feel, something many shooters suffer from. I’ve heard mixed things about R-Type Dimensions on XBLA, though.
Gunstar Heroes and Contra III: The Alien Wars (Wii VC) – I felt obligated to include a couple of run & gun type shooter classics. If you’re reading this thread though, you’ve probably already played them. If not, grab a friend and get to it!
Other Resources:
http://www.shmups.com
http://shootthecore.moonpod.com/
http://www.racketboy.com/retro/sega/saturn/2008/10/sega-saturn-shmups-2d-shooters.html (great article about the shooters available on the Sega Saturn)
http://www.racketboy.com/retro/2009/01/phenominal-playstation-ps1-2d-shooters-shmups-library.html (article by the same author, but for the Playstation instead)
http://www.racketboy.com/retro/2006/02/shmups-sega-saturn-vs-sony-playstation.html (another article on racketboy comparing shooters on the PS and Saturn)
http://www.archive.org/details/retro-core-saturn-shooting-special (Saturn Shooter Compilation Video)
Neogaf threads:
ITT, we rave about shmups
The Mega-Cave Shooter Post, because they're totally awesome and sweet (excellent resource on Cave’s shooters)
Grev |OT| Shooting up the future! (great thread on G Revolution games)
What are some of your favorite shooters? (older thread but references a lot of classics on the older systems)
Are there any good PC shmups?
Lttp: SHMUPs
Best NES shmups (and other non-traditional reccomendations)?
That’s what this thread is for.
This is in no way a complete list (yet) but hopefully it will prove useful as a reference and with others’ help a guide to steer others to the shooters they are most interested in.
Also, I refer to these games as shooters even though many might associate that word to a FPS game, but I just don’t like the word ‘SHMUP’.
Shoot ‘em Up Primer
What was the first shooter?
Many people cite Space Invaders as the very first shooter but Wikipedia points out that video game journalist Brian Ashcraft states that the honor belongs to Spacewar!, a very early computer game. Either way, we can probably credit Space Invaders for kick-starting the genre.
What are the different types of shooters?
This one is a little tricky for me to answer but I mainly put shooters into 3 different types of groups: Power-up focused, Bullet Hell and Run & Gun. Of course not every shooter will fall into one of these but these are just three different categories that I normally associate them with.
-Power-up focused
I would consider these to be where the player becomes more powerful by adding additional weapons and/or increasing the strength of your existing weapon. Games in this group that come to mind are Superstardust HD, the Gradius and Aleste series.
-Bullet Hell
Also referred to as manic shooters, these games consist of the player having to dodge an overwhelming amount of projectiles on the screen. The developer Cave is known for this sub-genre of shooters. Some examples of this group include Death Smiles, Mars Matrix and I believe Superstardust HD also overlaps into this category. While the introduction of Bullet Hell type games seemed to start a sort of renaissance of the genre to those who were already dedicated, I also think it intimidated newcomers due to its apparent difficulty.
-Run & Gun
These games feature protagonists on foot, rather than flying in space, and they sometimes have the ability to jump. Some people don’t like to group these in with the other types but I still consider them to be in that same vein and there are enough of them where I put them into a separate set. Contra, Ikari Warriors and Gunstar Heroes are a few examples.
There are other sub-genres that I left out, such as fixed-view and rail shooters, but most of the games that I come across fit in one of the above three categories.
What are the most popular shooter series?
These days, Cave shooters are the most popular, but I think for two reasons. One, they put out some quality games and the other being that since this is now such a niche genre a majority of the shooters released today are from them. Until recently these were only available as imports but Mushihimesama Futari Ver 1.5 was released in Japan as a Region Free title, and Death Smiles will be getting a release in the U.S so things are looking better. But as for popular series within Caves’ shooters? I will have to defer to someone with more knowledge on the subject since I only have a couple of import shooters.
The 80’s were a great time for shooters where we saw the birth of what would be many great series. Konami would come out with Gradius (my favorite series), Irem with R-Type, Raiden was released by Seibu Kaihatsu and Thunder Force by Technosoft. Raiden actually came out in 1990 but I figure it is close enough. Many games in these series are considered classics and some sequels are still being released to this day.
How should a shooter be played?
I may get some flack for this, but basically any way you want. I will say this though, many dedicated shooter fans have a goal to 1cc (1-credit-clear, basically beating the game without continuing) the game to show that they’ve truly mastered it. Some games will have infinite continues which lend themselves more toward the side of 1cc where others with limited continues, like Gradius V, I’m happy enough to get a feeling of accomplishment trying to get further on each play through. I’d say whatever way gives you more satisfaction in that particular game is how to approach playing it. There was a lot of bickering in this thread (Any PS3 SHMUPS) about this very question and to me it’s just not worth arguing about.
Where should I start?
This is where I hope to rely on the expertise of others, especially when it comes to imports, but I’ll just state some of my favorites. And since I’m budget minded, I’ll try to keep the barrier to entry pretty low.
While there aren’t as many retail releases for shooters these days, with the digital distribution services available to us we have quite a bit to look forward to (or in some cases revisit).
Gradius V (PS2) – This is the only one that I’ll mention that is not readily available at a cheap price, but I couldn’t finish this thread without a nod to my favorite shooter of all time. A beautiful looking game (this along with Ikaruga are my favorite looking shooters), fantastic boss battles, and it’s a joy to play by yourself or with a friend.
Ikaruga (XBLA) – Costing only $10, this is a steal. If you are starting off with this one, you may want to consider using the Easy difficulty so you don’t have to worry about the polarity aspect of the game (based on the colors black and white, depending on what color your ship is determines if you absorb or get killed by an enemy’s shot). But once you become a bit more comfortable with the system, don’t hesitate to bump it up to normal, the game becomes much more satisfying.
SuperStarDust HD (PSN) – Also only $10, this is the first PSN game I purchased and I keep going back to it. It’s not the conventional type of shooter that is normally associated with the genre (think of it as a modern day Asteroids on steroids), but that doesn’t mean that it should be overlooked.
Raiden Fighter Aces/ Raiden IV (360) – Both can be had for about $20 each (Raiden IV is currently at that price at Best Buy and Gamestop). Everything I’ve mentioned up to this point has co-op play so be sure to take advantage of this because these games are quite a bit of fun with a friend.
Axelay (Wii VC) – The Virtual Console on Wii has so many great shooters available so I have a hard time singling out just a few but Axelay would have to be one of them. This one plays both on horizontal and vertical scrolling stages and has a nice soundtrack as well.
R-Type III: The Third Lightning (Wii VC) – Out of all of the different R-Types, this is the one I’ve put the most time into. I see many prefer R-Type Delta (also now available on PSN), but I thought it lost some of its charm in the move to 3D. R-Type III has nice variety from stage to stage and each of its three different weapon pod types has its own distinct feel, something many shooters suffer from. I’ve heard mixed things about R-Type Dimensions on XBLA, though.
Gunstar Heroes and Contra III: The Alien Wars (Wii VC) – I felt obligated to include a couple of run & gun type shooter classics. If you’re reading this thread though, you’ve probably already played them. If not, grab a friend and get to it!
Other Resources:
http://www.shmups.com
http://shootthecore.moonpod.com/
http://www.racketboy.com/retro/sega/saturn/2008/10/sega-saturn-shmups-2d-shooters.html (great article about the shooters available on the Sega Saturn)
http://www.racketboy.com/retro/2009/01/phenominal-playstation-ps1-2d-shooters-shmups-library.html (article by the same author, but for the Playstation instead)
http://www.racketboy.com/retro/2006/02/shmups-sega-saturn-vs-sony-playstation.html (another article on racketboy comparing shooters on the PS and Saturn)
http://www.archive.org/details/retro-core-saturn-shooting-special (Saturn Shooter Compilation Video)
Neogaf threads:
ITT, we rave about shmups
The Mega-Cave Shooter Post, because they're totally awesome and sweet (excellent resource on Cave’s shooters)
Grev |OT| Shooting up the future! (great thread on G Revolution games)
What are some of your favorite shooters? (older thread but references a lot of classics on the older systems)
Are there any good PC shmups?
Lttp: SHMUPs
Best NES shmups (and other non-traditional reccomendations)?