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

G

Gen X

Trust no one. Eat steaks.
Yes Boss! said:
Also, Raystorm for PS1 is very, very good. I think it is up pn US PSN store now (as well as the J-store). Looks and plays ace on your PSP.
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How much is it?

Now all we need is Einhander on the US PSN Store. That's be unreal to have on the PSP.
 
S

Strummerjones

Member
dock said:
Which modern non-bullet hell shooters do people recommend?

I never really warmed to Cave games because of this, and my favourite games remain oldies like Parodius Fantastic Journey and Salamander, but I also love Radiant Silvergun.
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Omega 5 on XBLA is quite good, has a kind of Forgotten Worlds feel to it, but suffers from being a bit too easy.

Also, one of the characters is called Boobie.
 
G

grendelrt

Member
I dont get the rtype final hate. I played the crap out of that game. Collecting ships was a blast, multiple level paths, multiple endings. One of my favorite modern shmups.
 
A

added_time

Member
grendelrt said:
I dont get the rtype final hate. I played the crap out of that game. Collecting ships was a blast, multiple level paths, multiple endings. One of my favorite modern shmups.
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I love it too!

R-Type Delta is still the best of the best though! That is one of my all time favorite games.
 
L

luka

Loves Robotech S1
Finaika said:
Is Harmful Park worth it for like 15,000 yen (180 bucks)?
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No. It's definitely not for everyone. It's really slow and rather simplistic, but it's got fantastic music and wonderful visuals - I'd say a close second to Sexy Parodius for the sheer amount of cute and hilarious details crammed the screen.

I wouldn't pay that much for it, but I personally wouldn't sell it either. Hopefully it pops up on PSN soon.
 
A

A Huge Battleship

Member
grendelrt said:
I dont get the rtype final hate. I played the crap out of that game. Collecting ships was a blast, multiple level paths, multiple endings. One of my favorite modern shmups.
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Would've been the best shmup ever if the stage design was on a par with the ship selection. As it was, it was pretty fun. Ended up sinking about 50 hours into it to unlock everything.
 
A

Anso

Member
_dementia said:
Not bad, but it's like the worst R-Type.
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Surely you jest? Super R-Type was a trainwreck. :(

Also I second Omega 5, good game, amazing soundtrack and when you unlock the no-life-bar-mode it's suddenly decently difficult!
 
T

thetrin

Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
gunstarhero said:
Finally got my copy of Bullet Soul -

Wow - this game is fucking awesome! Not incredibly deep or anything, but it's mad fun - in a "blowing everything to pieces at 1000mph Raiden sort of fun".

Love everything about this game - the music, the stage designs... and maybe it's the ship designs, but i'm definitely getting Outlaw Star vibe from it.

Anyway - just wanted to make sure this game is on most people's radars - it's a REALLY good, no brains required, shooter.

Between this, Strania, Muchi Muchi Pork, Neo Witches and (soon for me) Eschatos, my VLX investment has paid off big time!
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is Eschatos that good? I went to my local import shop today, and had a choice between Eschatos and Bullet Soul. Ended up picking up Bullet Soul, and I'm mad pumped to pop it in. Glad to hear it's really good.
 
D

danmaku

Member
Bought!

I played some credits, and looks like a good game. There's a combo based scoring system, a lot of stuff to unlock, and the pixel art is simply beautiful. I'd really like to try the co-op mode (up to 4 players!).
 
R

Radogol

Member
Please help me do my homework, Gaf! We're in discussions to do some design work on and publish an externally developed shmup, but before the dotted line is signed, I'm supposed to introduce the genre to the management.

I play shmups and am pretty up to speed when it comes to the genre's history up to the late 90s, but what would you say are the best, most influential currently active shmup-focused companies besides Cave?

Thanks a million, Gaf!
 
Alexios

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Alextended said:
New Jamestown trailer. Looks freaking awesome. Can't make thread :(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk7UERiO3t4&hd=1

Jamestown is a neo-classical top-down shooter for up to four players set on 17th-century British Colonial Mars.

- Blast your way through historic Mars with a crack team of up to 4 friends
- Marvel and rejoice at vast expanses of lovingly handcrafted pixels
- Brave the hostile Martian frontier armed with 1619's finest steam-punk weaponry
- Master innovative co-op mechanics paired with classical top-down shooter gameplay
- Climb the online leaderboards in single-player classic arcade mode
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This thing is released now, I haven't played it yet though.

Edit: oh, nevermind, beaten so bad :p
 
D

discoalucard

i am a butthurt babby that can only drool in wonder at shiney objects
Radogol said:
I play shmups and am pretty up to speed when it comes to the genre's history up to the late 90s, but what would you say are the best, most influential currently active shmup-focused companies besides Cave?
Click to expand...

Treasure only sparsely developed straight shooters, but the two they did in the past ten years - Ikaruga and Gradius V - are also two of the best.

I'm not as huge of a fan of G.Rev (Under Defeat, Border Down, Strania) as some, but they're generally still pretty decent, and legions above, say, Milestone.

I'm drawing a blank for any other company that has put out more than a single game. There are some doujin groups that are alright but whose names I can't remember...the guys who did Air Rade and Trouble Witches.
 
A

andymcc

Banned
discoalucard said:
I'm not as huge of a fan of G.Rev (Under Defeat, Border Down, Strania) as some, but they're generally still pretty decent, and legions above, say, Milestone.
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with g.rev, i think it's also worth noting that they have helped treasure with the development of their shmups from the last decade.
 
ULTROS!

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
If anyone is interested, PixelJunk Sidescroller seems to be a hori-shmup based from the clip I saw on the PS3 sizzle reel.
 
gunstarhero

gunstarhero

Member
ULTROS! said:
If anyone is interested, PixelJunk Sidescroller seems to be a hori-shmup based from the clip I saw on the PS3 sizzle reel.
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Saw this one at the show - looks really fun. Carries the PJ Shooter feel (cool physics, lots of water, etc) but is way more action based, with forced side scrolling (gradius, thunderforce). One segment had the scrolling stop, and your ship had to take out guns that continually sprouted up fro the ground.

Overall the game looked fairly easy. Though to be fair, it was a demo. The game plays more like a Gradius less like a bullet hell.

Graphics looked great - they had a cool looking scanline effect over everything, and the enemies looked like they were pulled straight out of the PJ Shooter series, except given a facelift.

Overall, looked very interesting.
 
Baron

Baron

Member
And a month later with still no release date for Radiant Silvergun. My guess is that the whole Summer of Arcade thing kind of shafts the release timing for a number of games that would have otherwise have been released during the summer. I bet RS will be out August to September.

Or it could be held for a holiday release date. I hope not. I also want to re-buy the Saturn version and am hoping for a downgrade in price on that when the XBLA version is released.
 
H

Himself

Member
I've heard that DoDonPachi Resurrection is coming out soon for European XBOX 360s, and that they will be compatible with American 360s. Can anyone confirm this? Or tell me where I could possibly import to the US from?
 
S

Slermy

Member
Himself said:
I've heard that DoDonPachi Resurrection is coming out soon for European XBOX 360s, and that they will be compatible with American 360s. Can anyone confirm this? Or tell me where I could possibly import to the US from?
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Yep. I'm personally using www.ncsx.com to import mine.
 
K

kokujin

Banned
Himself said:
I've heard that DoDonPachi Resurrection is coming out soon for European XBOX 360s, and that they will be compatible with American 360s. Can anyone confirm this? Or tell me where I could possibly import to the US from?
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That's just Dai Fukkatsu right?
 
A

Agent Unknown

Member
Currently I have two 1CC's under my belt, Batsugun (will have to look up the score again) and Gradius 1 (433,200 on the second loop, just got this score a few weeks ago)

My two most prized shmup items are my Progear No Arashi CPS2 board (I had a PCB expert redump the rom chips on it so I don't have to worry about replacing the battery anymore) and my copy of Radiant Silvergun for the Saturn (no spine card though)
 
0

0 HP

Member
Tain said:
Advice to people new to the genre:

1. Don't continue
Most of the shooters worth playing weren't made to be console games. Gradius is not an NES game, Ikaruga is not a Dreamcast game. They were made to be arcade games. And yes, believe it or not, every single Japanese arcade game I've seen is both completely clearable with a single credit and at its most enjoyable when played with a single credit. In fact, they often turn into noninteractive explosion clip shows if you use as many credits as you "need." Not to mention the countless games that wreck your score when continuing, the games that prevent you from playing them to their entirety when continuing, the games that introduced continues only later in the International releases and home ports, or the games that prevent you from continuing at all. Before you scoff at the thought of a game like Raiden being more than some vacuum that tries to unfairly kill you every two seconds to earn more cash while you continue into infinity, realize that...

2. These games aren't as hard as you think they are
Seriously. You can get halfway through Espgaluda, at least. I promise. If you follow rule 1 closely for a while, you'll realize that the fastest way to get anywhere at all when it comes to these games (or any other arcade games, for that matter) is to play without continuing. Getting wrecked in stage 2 means that you aren't good enough to beat stage 2 yet. It does not mean that you'll never be good enough to beat stage 2.

3. Playing for score isn't the only way to play these games
I have way more fun with a game when I play for survival. At least, when I'm new to it. And honestly, I can't see any other way making sense. What's the point in jumping into DoDonPachi and quitting whenever you break your chain in stage 2 when you can't even get halfway through the game? Start simply by surviving, first, then only get cocky and mess with scoring in areas that you eventually get comfortable in.

4. Don't assume that "bullet hell" means "hard"
I've seen friends new to arcade games have more trouble with the original Gradius than with Mushihimesama Futari 1.5. Hell, some of these people get bored of Touhou games at their normal difficulty now and have never even seen R-Type stage 4. This doesn't mean that all old games are hard and all new bullet-pumped games are easy. Just don't be stupid and take it on a case by case basis.

5. fuck treasure
Ikaruga is a great game, but insanely unorthodox. Everybody should play it, but nobody should let it mess with their opinion on the entire genre a whole lot. Radiant Silvergun really fucks with rule 3 by making you play for scoring. And Gradius V is cool, but man is it long, with just a little too many slow sections. They're clearly a talented bunch, but don't believe anybody who claims them to be the unquestionable best in the genre. I've seen people try to get into shooters by doing nothing but playing Radiant Silvergun for score, getting turned off, and walking away from the genre entirely. I just Do Not Get It.
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you can totally play ikaruga and radiant silvergun for survival. i know ymmv, but irl the only time i've been able to get someone into a shmup was with ikaruga. i don't even know if they know that game has a scoring system. plus radiant silvergun has a story mode which totally negates the arcade mode's emphasis on playing for score (ie leveling up weapons permanently).

i haven't played gradius v in ages, but it reminded me of most gradius games for better or worse. either way, treasure is the shit.
 
cj_iwakura

cj_iwakura

Member
Alfa System have to be the most random shmup devs ever. They spend most of their time doing polishing work for other companies(Tales of games for Namco, Phantasy Star Portable for Sega), but when they do their own shmups/shooters, they're works of art.

(Castle Shikigami, Elemental Gearbolt)
 
S

Slermy

Member
Himself said:
Excellent. Thank you! Have you ordered from NCSX before? I just want to make sure everything is cool with them before ordering as I've never heard of them.
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Yep, I order from them maybe 2-3 times a year? Never had a problem with them and stuff is always very well packaged.

My other go-to place is www.play-asia.com; sometimes their prices are cheaper than NCSX, but shipping costs are higher. So I usually only use them if I plan on buying multiple items.
 
H

Himself

Member
Slermy said:
Yep, I order from them maybe 2-3 times a year? Never had a problem with them and stuff is always very well packaged.

My other go-to place is www.play-asia.com; sometimes their prices are cheaper than NCSX, but shipping costs are higher. So I usually only use them if I plan on buying multiple items.
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Thanks. Ordered DDPR.

I'm having a hell of a time locating a region-free Muchi-Muchi Pork/Pink Sweets.
 
T

Tain

Member
0 HP said:
you can totally play ikaruga and radiant silvergun for survival. i know ymmv, but irl the only time i've been able to get someone into a shmup was with ikaruga. i don't even know if they know that game has a scoring system. plus radiant silvergun has a story mode which totally negates the arcade mode's emphasis on playing for score (ie leveling up weapons permanently).

i haven't played gradius v in ages, but it reminded me of most gradius games for better or worse. either way, treasure is the shit.
Click to expand...

I've had way more luck getting people into Espgaluda and Gradius than Ikaruga. It's all anecdotal, but going by a handful of my friends, Ikaruga is straight-up harder to get into for people new to beating (clearing) shooters. And that's what I would have assumed, too, simply by looking at what the games ask you to do.

Radiant Silvergun can be played in the easier RPG-style Saturn mode, sure, but if you want to start clearing shooters, it doesn't make much sense to get started with a game mode that actually makes itself easier the more you play.

Gradius V is pretty different when compared to the others. Different pacing (spread a bit more thin than the focused, 20-minute arcade games), no checkpoint restarts, less of a penalty for death, smaller hitboxes.
 
Y

Yes Boss!

Member
Heads up, there is a really cute little shooter that unlock in Kirby Mass Attack. Use the cool ten-kirby mechanic for scoring and is a ton of fun. Unlocks after about an hour.
 
Y

Yes Boss!

Member
It is cute...all the normal bosses are there. And you tap to collect the kirbys quickly and it is very explicit about your combo. Six-ish levels long but I've gone back to it many times to beat my score. (it is a touch shooter, so no d-pad but it feels good).

Also, the Pinball game is ace...like Pokemon pinball. Both games make the already great game even better.
 
0

0 HP

Member
whats a good pad/stick for 360 shmups?

i've played ~20 hours of radiant silvergun in the past week or two and i think it actually broke my controller, half of the buttons don't respond to light pressing anymore. i love this game lol


Tain said:
I've had way more luck getting people into Espgaluda and Gradius than Ikaruga. It's all anecdotal, but going by a handful of my friends, Ikaruga is straight-up harder to get into for people new to beating (clearing) shooters. And that's what I would have assumed, too, simply by looking at what the games ask you to do.

Radiant Silvergun can be played in the easier RPG-style Saturn mode, sure, but if you want to start clearing shooters, it doesn't make much sense to get started with a game mode that actually makes itself easier the more you play.

Gradius V is pretty different when compared to the others. Different pacing (spread a bit more thin than the focused, 20-minute arcade games), no checkpoint restarts, less of a penalty for death, smaller hitboxes.
Click to expand...
yea as far as ikaruga goes, i think they aesthetics and to a lesser extent the (general) concept might have had a lot to do with it.

radiant silvergun is probably the most addicted i've ever been to a shmup and i am easily below average at these games. i always see people bashing the weapon system, but if you at least try to 100% bosses and chain when you can/see an opportunity, i don't see how you could have a problem with weapon levels. it always seemed kind of irrelevant to me until i started playing for score.

i think you could argue that treasure shmups kinda go into a puzzle-like offshoot of games that most normally dont, which cause the love/hate towards them.
 
B

BOTEC

Member
ULTROS! said:
If anyone is interested in Raiden III, it's coming to PSN as a PS2 classic: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/10/30/the-drop-week-of-october-31st-2011-new-releases/
Click to expand...

While it's easily the worst Raiden game, I'll probably grab it once it hits. Given the alternatives, it's a no-brainer. (Bloodrayne, really?) I was *this* close to picking up Hamster's Raiden 1 port today from PSN, just because, but decided on Zanac x Zanac instead. What a fucking waste of 600 yens.

Also, a heads up for anyone who likes old school shooting game music. Sweep Records is getting ready to drop a $100+ five disc set of Toaplan music in November. I'm seriously thinking of picking it up. The music in those games is the thing that has aged the best. Sadly, I don't think 'All Your Base' will be included. :(
 
S

Slermy

Member
Just saw NCSX had this update today:

NCSX said:
Rising Star Games is localizing Cave's Akai Katana Shin for the European market next Spring. NCS will start preorders and provide more details once distributors in Europe begin their reservation campaigns.
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Did I miss a press release?
 
B

BOTEC

Member
BOTEC said:
While it's easily the worst Raiden game, I'll probably grab it once it hits. Given the alternatives, it's a no-brainer. (Bloodrayne, really?) I was *this* close to picking up Hamster's Raiden 1 port today from PSN, just because, but decided on Zanac x Zanac instead. What a fucking waste of 600 yens.

Also, a heads up for anyone who likes old school shooting game music. Sweep Records is getting ready to drop a $100+ five disc set of Toaplan music in November. I'm seriously thinking of picking it up. The music in those games is the thing that has aged the best. Sadly, I don't think 'All Your Base' will be included. :(
Click to expand...

Replying to my own ignorance. I was stone cold sober when I first tried that game, and it didn't do anything for me while I was thinking and playing at the same time. A few days later I tried it again after a few drinks, and it was like a completely different game. Shit was hectic, things were exploding left and right, it was a light and sound overdose. Despite the crazy, I actually got to like level 3 before even loosing a life, and I had racked up 5 of 'em by that point. Some of my favorite shooters are Compile games, and I was bummed that I didn't get that vibe from Zanac Neo at first, but I "get" it now. Play this game under the influence of your favorite substance
 
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