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Shmups |OT| DoDonMuchihimetruxton Arrange v1.5

Hudo

Member
Darius is its own thing. Darius games are much bigger than your average shmup due to branching paths.

sagaia-u-b1001.jpg

Each of those letters represents a unique stage.

Darius is made by Taito and Gradius is by Konami. Their gameplay is fairly similar, though.
Oh wow. That kinda gives me Outrun vibes! (In a good way).
 

pramod

Banned
Shmups seem to have died off this gen. Are there any good ones left? Last gen X360 had a ton of amazing shmups, it was my defacto Shmup console.
 
Shmups seem to have died off this gen. Are there any good ones left? Last gen X360 had a ton of amazing shmups, it was my defacto Shmup console.
There are some in the OT and throughout the thread (I try to post news here instead of cluttering the FP with shmup posts :messenger_halo: )

This gen we've gotten a lot of ports of old classics, which is always appreciated:
PSiKYO Collection Vol 1 and 2
Darius Cozmic Collection
Battle Garegga, Dangun Feveron, Mahou Daisakusen, Thunder Force IV, and Ketsui all done by M2 ShotTriggers
Psyvariar Delta
Game Paradise Cruisin' Mix
Zero Gunner 2
Twinkle Star Sprites
Fast Strikers
Strikers 1999

And some new shmups that come to mind from the past few years:
Dariusburst Chronicles Savior
Danmaku Unlimited 3
Ghost Blade HD
Shikhondo
Devil's Engine
ZeroRanger
Rolling Gunner
Black Bird
 

Hudo

Member
Best shmup news in a long while! ESP rade is such a gem. Fingers crossed for a physical release.

A physical release would be on a similar level of awesomeness as the recently announced remastered versions of Command & Conquer and Red Alert. But in any case, I'm just happy that ESP Ra.De. is getting the M2 treatment. One of my favourite Shmups!
 
A physical release would be on a similar level of awesomeness as the recently announced remastered versions of Command & Conquer and Red Alert. But in any case, I'm just happy that ESP Ra.De. is getting the M2 treatment. One of my favourite Shmups!
I played it for the first time this past summer and I thought it was really cool. It definitely has an "old school CAVE" feel, as compared to their glossier releases like ESP Galuda 2 or DDP DFK. The sprite art is super unique. Definitely a gem.

Do you have any recommendations for scoring? It seems like you have a normal shot and a homing shot, and then some kind of absorb shield (??). Admittedly, I haven't played it beyond the third stage which is where my 1 credit runs out.

---

On a different note, M2 also discussed their new modes for Ketsui Deathtiny via Siliconera

M2 revealed that in Super Easy mode, you’ll be able to meet the true final boss, DOOM, no matter what. This makes some of the hidden features of the game more accessible for players.
Speaking of extra modes, the crew have brought in the ‘IKD 2007 Special’ version of Ketsui, which was only available in limited amounts at a Cave event back then. They asked Ikeda-san for the program data, and brought it into the release. This was also quite troublesome, because some of the features function differently compared to the arcade release.
Next is Custom Mode, which offers various options to change up the gameplay. For example, M2 have included a custom option to turn on the Ketsui Bomb, which was a bug in the original arcade release that was stamped out in later versions. You can also show your hurtbox, as well as make the point bosses change forms visible on their health bar. The aim was to bring the game closer to Cave’s more recent releases.
The final new mode is the Bond Develop mode, which is supposed to help players out with practicing segments they aren’t good at. When you die in Arcade Mode, your record will be noted down, and you can find Bond Fragments in Bond Develop mode that are based on your last 25 records. Choosing one will bring you into 5 seconds before you died, and you must survive for ten seconds. By doing so, you earn points that can even be compared against with other players on online leaderboards. That said, you can’t just abuse this by dying early in Arcade Mode, because the harder the stages cleared before dying, the more points you receive. So it creates a feedback loop of getting better at those stages, then doing better in Arcade Mode to get more points in Bond Develop mode.

This "Bond Develop Mode" is particularly cool.

It sounds like they're trying to encourage high-level shmup play. Practicing and overcoming a difficult stretch is the bread and butter of shmup practice, and that's exactly what your rewards are in that mode. Seems like a fun way to "gamify" the drudgery of practice.

Being able to play the IKD 2007 Special will also be really sweet.

I think it'll be neat. I'm excited to get my PS4 copy whenever that finally comes out this year.
 

Hudo

Member
I played it for the first time this past summer and I thought it was really cool. It definitely has an "old school CAVE" feel, as compared to their glossier releases like ESP Galuda 2 or DDP DFK. The sprite art is super unique. Definitely a gem.

Do you have any recommendations for scoring? It seems like you have a normal shot and a homing shot, and then some kind of absorb shield (??). Admittedly, I haven't played it beyond the third stage which is where my 1 credit runs out.

---

On a different note, M2 also discussed their new modes for Ketsui Deathtiny via Siliconera

M2 revealed that in Super Easy mode, you’ll be able to meet the true final boss, DOOM, no matter what. This makes some of the hidden features of the game more accessible for players.
Speaking of extra modes, the crew have brought in the ‘IKD 2007 Special’ version of Ketsui, which was only available in limited amounts at a Cave event back then. They asked Ikeda-san for the program data, and brought it into the release. This was also quite troublesome, because some of the features function differently compared to the arcade release.
Next is Custom Mode, which offers various options to change up the gameplay. For example, M2 have included a custom option to turn on the Ketsui Bomb, which was a bug in the original arcade release that was stamped out in later versions. You can also show your hurtbox, as well as make the point bosses change forms visible on their health bar. The aim was to bring the game closer to Cave’s more recent releases.
The final new mode is the Bond Develop mode, which is supposed to help players out with practicing segments they aren’t good at. When you die in Arcade Mode, your record will be noted down, and you can find Bond Fragments in Bond Develop mode that are based on your last 25 records. Choosing one will bring you into 5 seconds before you died, and you must survive for ten seconds. By doing so, you earn points that can even be compared against with other players on online leaderboards. That said, you can’t just abuse this by dying early in Arcade Mode, because the harder the stages cleared before dying, the more points you receive. So it creates a feedback loop of getting better at those stages, then doing better in Arcade Mode to get more points in Bond Develop mode.

This "Bond Develop Mode" is particularly cool.

It sounds like they're trying to encourage high-level shmup play. Practicing and overcoming a difficult stretch is the bread and butter of shmup practice, and that's exactly what your rewards are in that mode. Seems like a fun way to "gamify" the drudgery of practice.

Being able to play the IKD 2007 Special will also be really sweet.

I think it'll be neat. I'm excited to get my PS4 copy whenever that finally comes out this year.

I basically follow the wisdom of the ancients (especially the first post) as recorded here:

https://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=2139

That forum in general is a treasure trove of wisdom. :D
 
Aleste franchise (most people know either M.U.S.H.A or Space Megaforce) is getting a new entry from M2 as well as a re-release of the first title, according to Siliconera.

aleste2_thumb.jpg

[M2] also announced that Aleste, which M2 owns the license to, is also getting a re-release.
The Aleste series is also seeing a revival with a new game, something that M2 mentioned has been in the works officially since April. This is because 2018 marks the 30th anniversary of the series, and M2 wanted to do something with the series, which they own the IP of. A trailer for the game will be revealed in the near future.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Aleste series, the first game was developed for the Sega Master System, followed by sequels like Aleste Gaiden, Aleste 2, MUSHA, Super Aleste, and more. Some of the staff would go on to leave Compile and make Sorcer Striker at Raizing.

The new Aleste game will get more info in Summer 2019. This marks the first new game in the series since GG Aleste II: Lance Bird, which released for Game Gear in 1993.
Aleste is a bit antiquated for my tastes, but a new Aleste game?!?

Eager to see what M2 does.
 

cireza

Member
A new Aleste game would be fantastic. In case it was not obvious with my avatar, it is my favorite shmups series. I particularly love Power Strike 2 on Game Gear and Robo Aleste on Sega CD.
 
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I can hardly believe it: PSiKYO Collection Vol. 3 was confirmed by Arc System Works!!

This package includes four titles.

Strikers 1945 III - never before ported to consoles.
s1999bullethoard2.jpg


Gunbarich - more like Arkanoid than a shmup, but it's fun
B35t.gif


Sengoku Cannon - a PSP-exclusive until now
afjLU1fm.png


Zero Gunner 2 - a "remake" of the Arcade/Dreamcast shmup (there were some initial complaints that have since been patched)
zero-gunner-2-1.jpg


No release date yet, but with the quick turnaround between the announcement of Vol.2 and the release, I expect we'll see Vol.3 within the next 6 months.


Source at Siliconera
 
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alienator

Member
I hope M2 games come to europe PSN. one day. i feel pretty left out, and i even bought Battle Garegga on the usa psn, but its not tied to my real psn account (just a fake usa one) and it just feels wrong ;/
 
I hope M2 games come to europe PSN. one day. i feel pretty left out, and i even bought Battle Garegga on the usa psn, but its not tied to my real psn account (just a fake usa one) and it just feels wrong ;/
There is a physical version of Garegga on PS4. It has Korean menus but it would be playable on your default account.

But yeah, I hear you. I wonder if there are licensing conflicts standing in the way of M2 bringing them to Europe. The shmup scenes in Europe (especially in France) are vibrant compared to the USA and I'm sure the games would sell decently.
 

Tarin02543

Member
Any info on what Cave has in the pipeline? I've discovered the wonderful world of shmups through mushihemisama and it has become my new favourite game.
 
Any info on what Cave has in the pipeline? I've discovered the wonderful world of shmups through mushihemisama and it has become my new favourite game.
CAVE has pretty much vanished from the shmup scene, unfortunately.

Some of the CAVE developers have gone on to work for eXA-Arcadia, Qute, and Moss, but for the most part M2 (via M2 ShotTriggers) has picked up the torch and has been porting various CAVE games to modern hardware. So far, they've ported Dangun Feveron and Ketsui (as well as several other non-CAVE shmups).

Keep exploring the genre! Ask questions if you have them.
 

shoryusatsu999

Neo Member
Any info on what Cave has in the pipeline? I've discovered the wonderful world of shmups through mushihemisama and it has become my new favourite game.
Don't expect a whole lot. They're mainly being kept afloat by their mobile game, Gothic wa Mahou Otome. While it is a shmup, it's still a mobile gacha game that's unlikely to get any sort of release outside Asia, so I wouldn't keep my hopes up.
 

alienator

Member
Heres 5 minutes of me failing at Deathtiny mode of Ketsui. Great release.!!!! bought on jap psn, will never see the light of day in europe most likely. and ive accepted that. sorta.

 
I wouldn't mind physical ports of both Ikaruga and Radiant Silvergun just to get those "done" so that we don't need ports for a while (or ever). Both games are highly sought after.

I haven't been able to play the new Ketsui version 'cause I'm waiting for my physical copy to arrive. DOJ has been sufficient in the meanwhile.
 


Jets'n'Guns 2 trailer is pretty hype.

Coming to Steam Early Access.



Scarlet Gazers also shown off.

Appears to be a CAVE-like vertical on a GameBoy :messenger_hushed:
 
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dan76

Member
I've been playing Ketsui for the past few days. It was never one of my favourite Cave games but I could appreciate how well designed it was. However, this port is fantastic. The missions mode is very addictive and it's a brilliant way to practise. I've made more progress in the past 48 hours than in the last 10 years. I'll by all M2's ports if they have this mode.

The arrange mode is fairly complicated and it's pretty easy if your not playing for score. Ikeda' 2007 version isn't as tough as I had feared, but then I haven't seen past stage 3 yet. All in all it's an almost perfect package, I just wish there was an English translation patch as there are a ton of different options and the game manual that you can flick through during the initial loading screen seems very comprehensive.
 
Hey what are you guys opinion of Super Hydorah for Switch? Looks just like Gradius.
Never got a chance to play it, sadly.

DARIUSBURST Chronicle Saviours is on sale (65% Off) for $20.99 on the NA-PSN! This game NEVER goes on sale, so if anyone has yet to play it, jump on this one!
Seconded. It has been at ~$60 since launch.

Also one of the most feature-complete shmups on the market. Packed with stuff to do.

And... ahem...

FOUR PLAYER LOCAL MULTIPLAYER.

C'mon_son.gif

Thanks for the heads up!

---

Other shmups (and shmup-likes) on sale are: Mamorokun Curse,
Soldner-X,
Solder-X 2,
Gradius V,
Project Root,
Prismatic Solid,
Stardust Galaxy Warriors,
Xenoraid,
Zotrix,
Blacksea Odyssey,
Rogue Aces,
Shikhondo,
Android Assault Cactus,
Earth Atlantis,
Enter the Gungeon,
Pixeljunk Shooter,
Raiden IV: Overkill,
Raiden V: Director's Cut,
Alienation,
Astebreed,
Metal Slug Anthology,
Metal Slug XX,
Ruiner,
X-Morph Defense,
Caladrius Blaze,
and Senko no Ronde 2.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Never got a chance to play it, sadly.


Seconded. It has been at ~$60 since launch.

Also one of the most feature-complete shmups on the market. Packed with stuff to do.

And... ahem...

FOUR PLAYER LOCAL MULTIPLAYER.

C'mon_son.gif

Thanks for the heads up!

---

Other shmups (and shmup-likes) on sale are: Mamorokun Curse,
Soldner-X,
Solder-X 2,
Gradius V,
Project Root,
Prismatic Solid,
Stardust Galaxy Warriors,
Xenoraid,
Zotrix,
Blacksea Odyssey,
Rogue Aces,
Shikhondo,
Android Assault Cactus,
Earth Atlantis,
Enter the Gungeon,
Pixeljunk Shooter,
Raiden IV: Overkill,
Raiden V: Director's Cut,
Alienation,
Astebreed,
Metal Slug Anthology,
Metal Slug XX,
Ruiner,
X-Morph Defense,
Caladrius Blaze,
and Senko no Ronde 2.

I just noticed that it is $13.99 on the Vita as well!
 
SHMUP MAN ANGRY! :messenger_pouting:

Psyvariar Delta delayed until February. In fact, it's only "likely" to come out February. This is the third or fourth delay for the Western physical release. I was really excited to buzz some bullets over the holidays.

Oh well. Ketsui Deathtiny is really fun, at least.
 
Kinda nifty:



For those unfamiliar, this contest was held leading up to the launch of M2's Ketsui Deathtiny PS4 port (an excellent port, for those who are interested).
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Oh wow. That kinda gives me Outrun vibes! (In a good way).
I played Darius on Genesis. Lots of branching levels. But those games were pure shit. Since games had such limited ROM sizes, that 8 meg cart had to be spread across 20+ levels.

While awesome games like Contra III or Thunderforce III had 6-8 levels but were jammed packed awesomeness.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Speaking of freebies if you can find Amanagi anywhere it's a pretty sweet homebrew game. Ancient so not graphically intense but it's got a nice clean style that somehow holds up all these years later.


Really cool weapons system in this, you could use 3 at once, combined in any number of ways, 2x or 3x the same would increase its potency or all different ones for varied shots, you could also choose to burn them off in a special discharge and/or rotate to your next ones or pick up more etc and the whole game felt so complete and retail-like with all kinds of bonus unlockables and even an endless mode that after finishing the campaign had you replay it with every killed enemy discharging a shot towards you, then in the next loop two shots, then three, until it became impossible, like a survival mode!

Dan da Dan was a cool freebie puzzle shmup by the guy who later worked with Rez creator to bring Every Extend Extra out on various systems.


Every Extend was a cool not-shmup that also started out as free homebrew but it only had one level iirc but the better you did the longer it was with different bosses iirc.


Dude had other great stuff, experimenting with all kinds of styles, tunnel shooters, whatever, some more successful than others but all worth checking out.

The videos make these look bad but it's pretty impossible to find hd/60fps footage of these oldies. They're well worth tracking down.

And then there's the classic Warning Forever which is a survival boss rush with ever evolving bosses based on your own strategies.


All free, all great! There are plenty more, I wish there was a good repository because some of these will be lost in time soon if not already outside weird obscure "downlaod free gamez here guyz" sites.

There are so many great free games on PC it's not even funny, people only hear of the odd super-classic-that-goes-retail like La-Mulana or Cave Story but there's an endless amount of goodies out there.

Oh, I can't not mention Cho Ren Sha 68k. 60fps video too, yay!


Back in the dial up days I was so into finding this stuff, google searching obscure fields was my jam and I often found gems, and on top of the awesome freebies there's an also endless amount of great stuff you could only buy from Japanese devs but they often had trial versions to download in all kinds of genres, including some really really nice quality fighting games that let you play vs mode in the trials, I'll leave those for another thread if I can remember the actual names but they were also quality 2D or even SF EX style 3D etc... And I don't mean random mugen crap :)
 
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I sunk quite a lot of time into Warning Forever many years ago. Never tried the other ones you mentioned Alexios Alexios

Thanks for posting, and definitely make a thread about those fighting games. Sounds interesting.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Yeah if I can remember them ahaha, it's been like 10-15 years... I can recall their graphics and style for sure but not their names atm sadly... Other than I think one called Metal Gun 3 (edit: yep, that's the name) which was unique in how everyone mostly had ranged attacks. But yeah everyone somehow seemed to think back then that Japanese indies weren't a thing, only Western PC indies, but they totally were, just confined to their region and impossible to find without navigating obscure Japanese sites and then also next to impossible to actually buy for us but yeah, we've missed out on tons of great things sadly and more get lost all the time as sites go down or the software gets too outdated to run properly on modern OS and of course nobody cares or knows about them to make fan fixes. Well, hopefully Japanese folks will try to archive it all at some point and then also give us an easy place to get to them as well, who knows... I'm old and forget about them too, somehow this thread brought back some memories :p
 
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Yeah if I can remember them ahaha, it's been like 10-15 years... I can recall their graphics and style for sure but not their names atm sadly... Other than I think one called Metal Gun 3 (edit: yep, that's the name) which was unique in how everyone mostly had ranged attacks. But yeah everyone somehow seemed to think back then that Japanese indies weren't a thing, only Western PC indies, but they totally were, just confined to their region and impossible to find without navigating obscure Japanese sites and then also next to impossible to actually buy for us but yeah, we've missed out on tons of great things sadly and more get lost all the time as sites go down or the software gets too outdated to run properly on modern OS and of course nobody cares or knows about them to make fan fixes. Well, hopefully Japanese folks will try to archive it all at some point and then also give us an easy place to get to them as well, who knows... I'm old and forget about them too, somehow this thread brought back some memories :p
Lots of those doujin shmups have likely been lost to time except in very niche communities.
 

Chittagong

Gold Member
Awesome thread.

Switch is such a perfect console for shoot em ups:

c7846d75-2282-482b-93rjy0.jpeg


One day I’ll learn to be good in these games. Maybe I’ll try the 10 min a day method.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
10 min a day makes me remember that mini WiiWare Star Soldier R thing on Wii with its various modes only lasting a few minutes, that was fun, if limited with just having two levels...
 
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Something similar but more versatile:

SJTluus_d.jpg

7KMvkUY_d.jpg
Oh that's right! Didn't you post this in another thread?

In either case, glad that you have a suitable setup. Let us know if you end up doing the 10m/day challenge and if it pays off.

Do you have a particular game in mind to tackle?
 

Chittagong

Gold Member
Oh that's right! Didn't you post this in another thread?

In either case, glad that you have a suitable setup. Let us know if you end up doing the 10m/day challenge and if it pays off.

Do you have a particular game in mind to tackle?

I’m going to take on Ikauga again. I’ve now triple dipped (GameCube, Xbox 360, Switch) so I really need to get past the third stage...
 
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The Fire Lancer demo released today! What a nice Christmas present.

What is this game and who cares? It is made by trap15, the creator of some very well-received Dodonpachi and Ketsui fan-hacks, a regular fixture in the shmup community, and generally a friendly dude.

Here's a high-scoring ALL-clear play from Icarus:


I’m going to take on Ikauga again. I’ve now triple dipped (GameCube, Xbox 360, Switch) so I really need to get past the third stage...
Once I lay Daioujou to rest, I want to give Ikaruga some attention. I've always enjoyed the game. However, I can't get past stage 2 reliably.
 
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Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
I remembered another great freeware, Genetos. It takes you through the history of shmups, kinda. I think later an official retail game used a similar concept? I'm not sure. I can't find 60fps vid so, usual caveats:


The final stage reminds of Radiant Silvergun stylistically but at that point it's become more of a bullet hell.
 
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