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What are some of your favorite SHOOTERS? (56K, maybe?)

fatty

fatty

Member
Lately, I've been playing these a lot and I'm kind of bummed that this genre is slowy going away. So I kind of gotten around to thinking about some of the ones that I've played in the past and really enjoyed. These are some of my very favorite ones, and if you even remotely consider yourself a fan of the genre, you owe it to yourself to try these bad boys out. In the words of a once infamous game about two guys who fought countless ninjas to save our president: "Are you a bad enough dude to play these games?"

IKARUGA
By Treasure
System: Gamecube

This is the game that made me go back to playing shooters again. As most of you know, it is insane. It makes me feel all warm and cuddly inside to know that the Gamecube was chosen to harness the powers of this game but yet sad that it didn't get too many other shooters. I've only gotten to the fourth stage and it is still kicking my butt.

At first I didn't think I would care too much for this game because you don't really get weapon upgrades per se as its thing is that you have to deal with the whole polarity issue. And while it takes a little getting used to, it get's addicting, very addicting. While I'm at it does anyone know where the videos are of people racking up the crazy combos. I saw some here but the videos always froze up on me about 15 seconds into it. Anyone find any others or have better luck with these?

ikaruga_040903_gcn_r03lg.jpg

icky_031203_gcn_02.jpg


SPACE MEGAFORCE
Presented by TOHO
System: SNES

These screenshots don't do the game justice but for a system known for constant slowdown if too much was happening at one time, well let's just say Space Megaforce pushed the Super Nintendo to the limits. While Ikaruga didn't really focus on the weapons aspect, Space Megaforce had this feature in spades. Used to those small 'options' in Gradius? Wait until you see what the 'circles' could do for you in this game! If you ever come across this game in a Gamestop, pawnshop, whatever. Please pick it up.

megaforce.jpg


space_megaforce.gif



Einhander
By Square
System: Playstation

A shooter, by Square? Yep, and a darn good one at that. As you play, the polish put into the game that Square is known for, really comes shining through. This one shouldn't be too hard to find and the great thing about the PS2 backward compatability allows you to still enjoy it.

And yeah, the screenshots look like crap but that's all IGN had.

ein.3.jpg


ein.6.jpg


Star Fox
By Nintendo
System: SNES

Not the normal shooter that we were accustomed to, Nintendo really took some bold steps with this game. Not only was the move to 3D big, but you also had wingmen err winganimals that you had for backup (or that you had to babysit, whichever way you want to look at it). It made me actually start to care about the characters although I was always saving them (stupid freaking Peppy the frog, do I have to hold your hand for the whole mission!?!). Yeah, even with Star Fox 64, I still haven't had as much fun in the Star Fox universe as I had with this gem. Maybe I need to go back and give Star Fox 64 another try. +1 for an awesome last boss. Why didn't we get Star Fox 2?? Anyone remember the picture scans in some old EGM a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away? Yeah, I know. Everyone here hates EGM because of TEH BIASSED and you only suscribe because its free and you use it for spare toilet paper but I like the mag (except for a time around the mid 90's when it really did suck but that's another story. By the way, am I the only one that really misses GameFan? And isn't it great how I keep throwing this post off track??)

Anyway...I'm crossing my fingers that Namco will put out a great but "true" follow-up.

starfox1.jpg


starfox2.jpg


Looking forward to:
star-fox-assault-20041112111844864.jpg


nintendoconf_051403_303.jpg


Radiant Silvergun
By Treasure

Ikaruga's daddy. I still haven't been able to play this one but I want to so bad. How did it compare with Ikaruga? Anyone, anyone? Bueller? Anyone? I'm still trying to hunt down this game.


RadiantSilvergun-13.jpg

RadiantSilvergun-12.jpg


By the way, is there anyone on the same level as Treasure when it comes to these types of games? Other favorites that I didn't mention such as Life Force, Gradius,and Axelay are also by this company. Just goes to show you that when you're not making a game about stretching and popping the nipples of breasts the size of hot air balloons you can make a great game.

Other honorable mentions that should be played (and some of these I still need to get around to playing):

R-Type Series
R-Type (SNES)
R-Type III (SNES)
R-Type Final (PS2)
Gradius V (PS2)
Axelay [Weapons installation complete. Good Luck](SNES)
Gradius 3 (SNES)
Mars Matrix (Dreamcast)
G. Darius (PS1)
Gradius (NES)
Lifeforce (NES)

But that's just a few that I really like and I know that I've forgotten so many. So what am I missing that's out there that I need to play?? Let me know your thoughts on some of these mentioned? I almost picked up Raystorm the other day, anybody get a chance to play that one? Thanks!!
 
My all time favourite scrolling shoot-'em-ups are probably Sol-Feace on MegaCD and Gates of Zendocon on Lynx. My reflexes are not as good as they used to be, Ikaruga was way too hard :(
 
After taking months off from playing video games, I'm just getting back to playing some shooters...

Radiant Silvergun is still my favorite. The game gets a lot of hype simply because it's so expensive on eBay, but it really is that good. It's got a ton of depth and amazing boss battles. Lots and lots of boss battles. It isn't the type of game where you can just blast everything. You need to set up combos to increase the strength of your weapons and get high scores. It's also ridiculously hard. For my money, there's nothing better. Sadly, I never invested much time into Ikaruga but I plan to someday.

As far as side-scrollers go, I like Gradius Gaiden. It's way better balanced than any other Gradius game. The graphics are nice, the music is great, and it's got some really nice and original levels unlike some other Gradius games. Gradius 5 may give it a run for its money though. I haven't gotten to play much of that yet, but I really like what Treasure's done with the franchise. You can actually beat the game without having to one life it.

Other shmups I've enjoyed a lot... the Thunder Force series, Psikyo's stuff (Gunbird, Strikers 1945), Cave's stuff (DonPachi, DoDonPachi, damn can't even remember the name of some other stuff), Battle Garegga (as well as 8ing/Raizing's other stuff), as well as the Layer Section games.
 
My faves that spring to mind:

Gaiares (Genesis) - Probably my #1 pick...

gaiares.jpg


Air Buster (Genesis)
Gain Ground (Genesis)
Thunder Force III (Genesis)
Pocky & Rocky (SNES)
 
Don't get me wrong either... I like Einhander, Radiant Silvergun, etc a lot, but they were already mentioned. :)
 
I guess there are the rail shooters too like Panzer Dragoon / Rez / Silpheed (though those really haven't aged well at all...).
 
original strikers 1945, none of that "+", "2" BS:
system: arcade
xStrikers_1945.jpg


esp.ra.de
system: arcade
esp.jpg

esp7.png


guwange
system: arcade
guwange.png

boss6a-guwange.gif


vasara
system: arcade
vasara.png

vasara2_4.png


blazing star
system: neo geo
BlazingStar.jpg

blaz1.jpeg


dodonpachi
system: arcade and psx/saturn (import)
04.jpg


gradius v
system: ps2
2.jpg


and also dragon breed, dangun feveron, batsugun, batrider etc.

edit: most games i listed are arcade games.
 
fatty said:
this genre is slowy going away
Click to expand...
Disagree.
This generation we've seen (or are going to see) Ikaruga, Border Down, Chaos Field, Shikgami Shiro 1 and 2, Psyvariar 1 and 2, Espgaluda, Dodonpachi Daiojou, Ketsui, Mushihime, XII Stag, Trizeal, Gradius V, Gigawing Generations, R-Type Final, Raiden III, and many re-releases or updates (Strikers 1 & 2, Sengoku Ace & Blade).
There have been plenty of shooters made in this current age.
pops619 said:
Radiant Silvergun ... gets a lot of hype simply because it's so expensive on eBay, but it really is that good.
Click to expand...
Disagree.
 
Harmful Park (PS1)
Harmfulark-ps-jp.jpg

Awesome cutesy Parodius-esque PS1 shooter.

Gaiaseed (PS1)
not because it's amazingly good - it is good, but not amazing... good music. But the intro... oh my god... the sheer comedy of it.

Phoenix (Arcade)
The retro king, baby.

Blazing Star (Neo Geo)
Great stuff.

Mars Matrix (Arcade)
really REALLY under rated.
 
This is the perfect thread. I was going to make something that falls right in line with this, so here it is.

Awhile ago, there was talk about good shooters on the N64. Unfortunately, I can't remember the thread, and I can't remember any of the games. Someone help me by naming good shooters on N64.

Also, Recca on Famicom gets much love from me.
If you can find it, play it. It might come up as Summer Carnival '92 Recca or something similiar.
 
hmm..

I rmemeber people naming import (at least I think they were import games) on N64.

Bangioh comes to mind, but I'm not sure if I'm correct. Anyone have any idea?
 
Good N64 shooters? I don't think there's really anything great as far as traditional shooters go, but both Sin and Punishment and Bangaioh are outstanding. You can also get Bangaioh on Dreamcast but I prefer the N64 version as it's more challenging.

Gradius 5 is more accessible than the other Gradius games because when you die, you start from the spot of your death and can pick up the options you had. In the other games, you started from a set point and lost all your power-ups, generally putting yourself in extremely difficult situations. Still, it's a very challenging game. This isn't a straight left to right shooter like the rest of the series. Treasure has thrown a lot of twists and turns in, and as they usually do, they throw stuff at you from everywhere. I'm half decent at shooters and after several days of playing I still can only get to the third boss.
 
I love threads like these, especially when games I never knew about are mentioned, like Vasara and Harmful Park. I wish more people would post pics of the games they're mentioning too.
 
poster39ku.jpg


We need a Renovation / Wolf Team appreciation thread. This game, Gain Ground, El Viento, Arcus Odyssey, etc... rocked the house back in the heyday of the Genesis.
 
impromptu top 5!

1. battle garegga
2. donpachi
3. r type delta
4. layer section
5. thunderforce IV

in the recent flood of new stuff, it's been a while since i've done any committed shmupping. i guess i'll get back to it with chaos field, whenever that comes in the mail. i'm already pissed off that the dreamcast version doesn't save high scores, though. might ebay it and wait for the gc version.

...but what i'm really looking forward to is dragon blaze on psikyo collection vol. 3. god that game looks gorgeous. shame they've bundled it with sol divide, which is probably one of the worst games an otherwise competent developer has ever produced
 
My personal favorites include many of the ones already listed here:

- Lords of Thunder (DUO)
- Blazing Lazers (TG-16)
- Axelay (SNES)
- Star Fox (SNES)
- Life Force (Arcade)
- Star Wars & The Empire Strikes Back (Arcade)


I'm probably one of maybe ten people who really enjoyed Philosoma (PSone, 1995)... I wish I could find a copy without paying in pints of blood.
 
DJPS2 said:
I'm probably one of maybe ten people who really enjoyed Philosoma (PSone, 1995)... I wish I could find a copy without paying in pints of blood.
Click to expand...
It's scarce, but it doesn't seem to be in much demand. The last few eBay auctions for it went unsold with single-digit starting prices.
 
Thanks for all of the suggestions and also for the pics that you are providing. By the way, could you also put the system for which its for by the game you are referring? Thanks.

I've always wanted to get around to trying the Thunderforce series as it looks really fun. I can still remember the old Genesis ads where it showed screenshots of many of its games and I think it was Thunderforce (can't remember which one but think it was 3), Strider, and Super Monaco GP that stood out because the graphics were so nice. I saw Thunderforce V (PS1) at Gamestop the other day and was really tempted to pick it up but for some reason I didn't. Maybe I need to.

Also, please tell me more about some of the ones available for the Genesis. The only three games that I have for it are Gunstar Heros, Batman and Robin, and a Madden game and I would like to try to pick up some more shooters (like some that Unison mentioned) for the system if I can find them.

Some Genesis shooters (opinions appreciated):
Gaiares
Air Buster
Gain Ground
Thunder Force III
Arrow Flash
BioHazard Battle
Galaxy Force 2 (looks terrible)
Grind Stormer
Heavy Nova
Hellfire
Midnight Resistance
Raiden Trad
Subterrania
Forgotten Worlds (Genesis version any good?)
Layer Section (Genesis?)

If they suck, please don't hesitate to let me know. From this thread, some of the games that sound interesting and I want to learn more about are:

Battle Garegga (??)
Gaiares (Genesis)
Do Donpachi (??)
Layer Section (Genesis?)
Thunderforce series (are III (Genesis) and V (PS1) the best?)

So even if you see it mentioned, please give it your seal of approval as the more votes it gets, the more likely I am in trying to go and find a copy.

And what is the deal with Battle Garegga and Do Donpachi? Are they imports? Do Donpachi looks great but I can't find too much information on it.

As for Axelay, I've been playing that lately and I'm on the final boss. Really great game. Thanks, for all the suggestions. It is appreciated.
 
battle garegga and dodonpachi are arcade games, by raizing and cave respectively. battle garegga was ported to the saturn, perfectly or close to it. dodonpachi was ported to saturn and playstation; the playstation version is rarer, but has much clearer sound, non-pixelly explosions, and an option to turn the slowdown off completely. its predecessor, donpachi, which is more restrained but at least as good, is much better on psx than saturn.

layer section is the saturn port of an excellent taito arcade game called rayforce. it's available domestically as galactic attack. either version is very cheap. it's had two weaker arcade/playstation sequels, raystorm and raycrisis.

thunderforce III and IV are genesis games, yeah. although the best way to play these games is on the saturn's thunderforce gold pack II, which features thunderforce AC, the expanded arcade version of thunderforce III, and a slowdown-free thunderforce IV. tfIV is one of the greatest horizontal shooters ever, but it's so graphically ambitious that it slows the genesis hardware down in places. you also might be interested in thunderforce V, which is available on saturn and as a graphically-compromised psx version. II is terrible, and I is an ancient japanese pc game.

most of those genesis shooters you mentioned were poor to begin with or have aged badly. i'd recommend musha and gaiares for starters. also certainly thunderforce III and IV if you don't want to spring for the saturn compilation. of the ones you mentioned, biohazard battle and hellfire are solid too.
 
Thunder Force V is a great choice for shooters, but it's a bit on the easy side ... at least the Saturn import. The game's still a lot of fun, and has plenty of replay value.
 
Gaiares - About as good as it gets on the Genny... You can steal a new weapon from any enemy, the stages are varied & scroll in multiple directions, the challenge level is pretty high.

Air Buster - Very fun, imo, and one of the easier games on this list. It holds a warm place in my heart, and it's great to pick up and play every once in a while.

Gain Ground - I'm a huge fan of this one too. It's probably closer to Gauntlet than a shooter, since you're controlling a guy on a field ffrom an overhead perspective, but I guess you could as easily compare it to a fixed-screen Ikari Warriors. The novelty is that you rescue people as you play through the levels, and they all have different firing modes. Very, very cool. I hope this will be in the Sega Ages collection.

Thunder Force III - Everyone's right about this being top notch. It's not too hard to memorize everything in it and become a pro.

Arrow Flash - I wasn't really into this one. Shooters were a dime a dozen on the Genesis & this one doesn't stand out.

BioHazard Battle - Really well designed, but kind of ugly to look at. Better than average, but not a Must.

Galaxy Force 2 (looks terrible) - This was a conversion of the rail shooter in the arcade. I think you can beat it in like 10 minutes. It was more of a graphics powerhouse than anything, so now it might no hold up. '

Grind Stormer - Not really into overhead shooters, so I'm not the guy to ask. Twin Cobra was alright though.

Heavy Nova - THis is a robot beat 'em up, I believe. Mostly I remember the voice sample from the title screen. Avoid!

Hellfire - Mediocre

Midnight Resistance - The Poor man's Contra 3. Really, you should just spring for that instead.

Raiden Trad - This is a bit like Xevious, I guess. It really had quite the following back in the day, but I found it a bit too drab to get into.

Subterrania - Pretty neat... Kinda like this one Rare-published game on the NES (Solar Jetman, I thikn the name was). It's a free-roaming exploration game as much as it's a shooter.

Forgotten Worlds (Genesis version any good?) - It was a launch title. It is missing a lot of the arcade stuff (plus the controls were compromised), but it was okay. I guess it would appear bad to most people today. The cool thing about it was that you could shop at the store (I remember Zenny were the currency for all those Capcom games, like UN Squadron).

Layer Section (Genesis?) - I forget what this is...

Also of interest: Phelios - a kinda hard / mediocre game that has a neat setting (Greek mythology... you ride a pegasus & fight Gods).

Herzog Zwei - A godly game, that's credited with inventing the RTS genre, but it's more of a shooter than some of the games on this list and a Genesis must-play.

Target Earth / Ranger X - Two similar games released at opposite ends of the Genesis' life cycle. Both are awesome, though Ranger X is the newer and better of them. It's kinda a platformer, I guess, but I really enjoy it.

I forget the name of the thing (Battle Squadron?), but the hardest shooter I can think of on the Genesis was published by EA. I think it might have been an Amiga conversion? I couldn't play that for the life of me, but I rented it 2-3 times, convinced that It was just a matter of trying harder.
 
fatty said:
Thanks for all of the suggestions and also for the pics that you are providing. By the way, could you also put the system for which its for by the game you are referring? Thanks.
Click to expand...
i edited my post above to indicate the platforms for each game.

I've always wanted to get around to trying the Thunderforce series as it looks really fun. I can still remember the old Genesis ads where it showed screenshots of many of its games and I think it was Thunderforce (can't remember which one but think it was 3), Strider, and Super Monaco GP that stood out because the graphics were so nice. I saw Thunderforce V (PS1) at Gamestop the other day and was really tempted to pick it up but for some reason I didn't. Maybe I need to.
Click to expand...
yeah, cant go wrong with Thunderforce. Personally i didnt like TF4, but TF3 is godly. havent played TF5. also check out TF2 for the genny.

Also, please tell me more about some of the ones available for the Genesis. The only three games that I have for it are Gunstar Heros, Batman and Robin, and a Madden game and I would like to try to pick up some more shooters (like some that Unison mentioned) for the system if I can find them.
Click to expand...

commenting on the ones i have played

Thunder Force III - very good
Hellfire - good but hellishly difficult
Midnight Resistance - meh, better off with a contra game
Raiden Trad - any raiden is good
Forgotten Worlds (Genesis version any good?) - arcade is the best, this game hasnt aged well IMO.
Layer Section - "galactic attack" for the saturn, excellent game. nice locking mechanism.

Battle Garegga - arcade version is the best imo. manic shooter. very good. import.
Do Donpachi - dodonpachi. available for psx and saturn, but released only in japan as far as i know, so either you have to mod your system or buy a japanese system to play it. you can get it off ebay. if dodonpachi is too rare, i'd suggest going with donpachi (the first game), which is just as good. there is also a sequel dodonpachi daioujou for the japanese ps2.

I forget the name of the thing (Battle Squadron?), but the hardest shooter I can think of on the Genesis was published by EA. I think it might have been an Amiga conversion? I couldn't play that for the life of me, but I rented it 2-3 times, convinced that It was just a matter of trying harder.
Click to expand...
i think it was "fatal rewind". i for the life in me never quite figured out what the hell one was supposed to be doing in that game. hard and pointless.

also recommened:

panorama cotton (genesis) - wacky, space harrier-eque shooter. quirky shooters are just about the best thing, really. might wanna check out the sequels for the saturn and dreamcast as well. which reminds me, i have to hunt down a DC version myself.

warning forever and the other free shooters that tain linked to. they are really, really good.

ABUSE - for the PC, one of the best shooters, nay, game i have ever played. fantastic mouse/keyboard controls that was ahead of its time for a 2d game. it was the first game that introduced me to scripted sequences. its just really really good.

darius gaiden - check out the psx version.

rayforce/gunlock - prequel to layer section/galactic attack, arcade only.

fantasy zone - another wacky genny shooter. really trippy shit.
 
Not sure if it was mentioned, but Sky Shark makes me warm inside.

wSky_Shark.png
 
My favorites:

Turbografx-16/PC-Engine
Galaga 88
Necxr (CD)
Super Darius II (CD)
Aero Blasters
1941 (Supergrafx)
Monster Lair (CD)
Spriggan (CD)
Super Raiden (CD)
Tatsujin
R-Type Complete (CD)
Gate of Thunder (CD)
Lords of Thunder (CD)
Side Arms Special (CD)
Blazing Lazers
Super Star Soldier
Soldier Blade

Genesis
Target Earth
Arrow Flash

Super NES
Axelay
Cybernator
Space Megaforce
R-Type 3

Saturn
Battle Garegga
Thunder Force V
Macross DYRL
Cotton 2
Assault Suit Leynos 2
Galactic Attack
Do Don Pachi

Dreamcast
Gunbird 2

About Forgotten Worlds: both the Turbo and Genesis conversions were poor. I don't think any home conversion would be worthwhile since it's not possible to duplicate the arcade version's rotary controller for firing (using buttons to rotate your gun is just awkward). For a similar style of game I think Side Arms is much better for a home port since you only fire horizontally, with the buttons changing the direction you face. The Turbografx port is excellent.

About Galaxy Force II: there was also a port to the Saturn. Avoid it. It was slower and the sprite scaling was chunkier than I remember the arcade game being. I haven't seen a GFII machine in a long time though, so my memory may be faulty.

Raiden Trad: the Genesis port is okay, but it's lacking in intensity, and I thought the Turbo port played much closer to the arcade. The Turbo HuCard has weak sound, but the CD version fixes this. I can't get Raiden to work properly in MAME for some reason, I always lose sound shortly after starting the game. Don't bother with the SNES Raiden if you ever see it. It plays very, very slowly with no intensity at all.
 
Ecrofirt said:
Anyone know how good Psyvariar 2 is?
Click to expand...

I like it more than Shikigami no Shiro 2. It has more ... personality.

That said, it's a decent game albeit really short. It adjusts its difficulty depending on how well you're doing, which is a good or bad thing depending. But it's also a buzzing game meaning you want to graze by bullets as much as possible.

Border Down and Ikaruga are the best Dreamcast/next gen shooters though.

Slap in Axelay, my personal favorite. And add Thunderforce series and Radiant Silvergun and you've got all my favorite shooters named.
 
dai said:
Battle Garegga...

battlegaregga015ui.jpg


... and everything nitewulf mentioned, except gradius v, considering I have not played it...yet.
Click to expand...

Is Battle Garegga the same as 19XX? I use to play this shooter at a greasy spoon restaraunt, but it was tucked away in a dark corner and I never noticed the name. They both have multiple ships to choose from that look similiar. I remember the game having to do with some sort of time travel or going through time and you had a decked out ship that you could choose your bomb type for.
 
Tyrian
~LWF0293.jpg

For PC
I liked it because in the campaign mode you had to collect money to upgrade your shields, armour, power generator and weapons, so you picked your load out for each mission..by the end your ship was just a mass of weapons...

tyrscreench.jpg


tyrian.jpg



Did it ever come out for GBA?
 
I usually prefer shooters with 2 player modes:

Raystorm
Dodonpachi
Gradius V

One exception would be Einhander though.


Oh, and I nearly forgot about X-out for C64 (also Amiga, but I never played that version)!!!
For a C64 game, it was very impressive, and the music was lovely (Chris Hülsbeck).
Also, the game was kind of unique. You didn't have any "lives"...
Instead, you had to buy and equip every ship you wanted to use in the game. You could go for the crappy, low-armor ship and buy 3 of those, or just buy one high quality ship equipped with great weapons and attacks. There were loads of different weapons and combinations to try out. Very fun game.

I also remember playing the sequel Z-Out for Amiga, which was good as well.

X-Out-t.jpg


xout.gif


xout_weapon.gif
 
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