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What are your favorite shmups?

Konami really needs to port Gradius V to PS4 and Steam/PC.
Yes I'm lazy to play it on PS2/PS3 lol
Maybe one of the most polished, accessible shmups for a long while, until Dariusburst CS showed up.

Seriously, Konami has such a great catalog of shmups it should release, either as retro ports/collections or brand new games.

On the indie/doujin side, what's good? I'm trying to find some cheap gems during the Steam sale...I recently got 'Alltynex Second' and 'OP Shooting - Dangerous!!!,' they alright.
 
I'm terrible at shmups and generally avoid the genre... but I always enjoy a Parodius playthrough once in awhile (on the easiest setting :P)
 
GamePnoy74 said:
Konami really needs to port Gradius V to PS4 and Steam/PC.
Yes I'm lazy to play it on PS2/PS3 lol
Maybe one of the most polished, accessible shmups for a long while, until Dariusburst CS showed up.

Seriously, Konami has such a great catalog of shmups it should release, either as retro ports/collections or brand new games.

On the indie/doujin side, what's good? I'm trying to find some cheap gems during the Steam sale...I recently got 'Alltynex Second' and 'OP Shooting - Dangerous!!!,' they alright.
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Get Blue Revolver and Trouble Witches.
 
Fancy Clown said:
Jamestown is a lot of fun
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It really is, also tough as hell on harder difficulties and actually its one of the shmups that gets more difficult with more people as it gets to be impossible to tell what's going on sometimes with everyone's bullets and beams flying everywhere and filling up the screen.
 
ESP Ra.De.

The first time I played I was charmed by everything. It was the first game where I played a character instead of a ship, for me it was something new at the time.
 
Armed Police Batrider (1998 Raizing)

https://youtu.be/yP8BXVPxlqU

It has 16 ships that you can even pick in teams of 3. Top players intentionally suicide to switch to the appropriate ship for maximum points, and you can have tons of fun with the ship options.

Bosses are large and menacing with tons of destructible parts. The levels arm gorgeous and have lots of little secrets, parts to blow apart, stuff to pick up.

The game oozes style. It is has boss rush, an easy route, normal and extended routes... Scoring isn't tied to a single mechanic but revolves around destroying stuff and picking up successive medals, so you don't have to wrap your head around chaining or whatever.

What I love in particular is that the projectiles are very varied - lasers, bullets, rockets and so on, because as much as I love CAVE games, it's nice to have someone other than pink blobs firing at you.

Love this game to bits. Arcade only, so MAME or PCB are your only options. Oh, and fantastic music!
 
Huh, never thought of Star Fox as a shmup, learned something new today.

Top 3 (4 now including star fox) are:
Einhander
R-Type Delta
Last Resort
...
Star Fox 64 :-)
 
Man this thread has basically covered my favorites already.

My most recent 2 favorites are Gradius Gaiden and Zanac Neo. Both are fun as hell!
 
Not a single mention of Time Pilot '84. What is this?

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Some good stuff already mentioned, I'll add:
Thunder Cross 1+2
Image Fight
Forgotten Worlds
R Type Final (it's no Delta, but still a great package)
G-Darius
 
A lot of good mentions so far.

A series I like quite a lot are the Psyvariar games. Cool bullet patterns, bullet grazing for increased firepower, and dope music.
 
Tain said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTb0FEaqsv4

collect that lard dudes
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I love bbw's and bullet hell. No idea why I don't have this game yet.

Anyways:
ESPGaluda is my #1 pick, love the 'kakusei' system to slow down bullets

Also like:
Life Force - you never forget your first. Soundtrack is stellar and I love the whole 'body wars' type premise

Mushihime-sama Futari - probably the purest essence of bullet hell, everything feels so ridiculously polished

Einhander - fantastic 90's rave inspired soundtrack

Radiant Silvergun - the best production values relative to its time ever for a shmup, everything feels so epic and grandiose

Pop 'n' Twinbee - lately I've been really into the cute em ups, and this is one of the best. Vivid graphics, great aesthetic, and not ridiculously challenging like some of the other games of the era.

rRootage - abstract indie shmup that breaks everything down into minimalist vector graphics. My first experience with pure bullet hell.

ESPRaDe - another one of my formative experiences with bullet hell, while it doesn't have the kakusei system of its spiritual sequel, it still plays great and has a fair difficulty, it seems a bit more grounded and the 80's/90's "Japanese teens with ESP" is a premise I'm into

Air Buster - have some nostalgia for this game as well, it doesn't break any new ground but it's a solid game that got released during the genre's heyday

Gradius V - drags on for a bit too long but probably the best in that particular series. Love the different option customization.

Tetsujin (Truxton) 2 - the go-to game whenever were break out my friend's Marty.
 
My overall favourite is still Touhou 7 - Perfect Cherry Blossom.

I love the aesthetics, the mechanics have an interesting risk/reward pattern, and it's just about 1CCable on normal for me with a lot of effort.
 
Tapejara said:
Lots of good ones already posted, so I'll mention Prismatic Solid. The presentation is awesome.
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Nice soundtrack from Shinji Hosoe, one of the most underrated composers imo (iS: Internal Section / Zero Escape franchise / assorted Namco games)
 
Super Aleste/Space Megaforce in particular, but I like all of the Compile Gun-Nac/Blazing Lazers subset of shmups that are sorta hardcore, but sorta forgiving with a wide array of screen-filling upgradable weapon power-ups available (for whatever reason, MUSHA has just never resonated with me)

Anything Parodius cracks me up

I keep coming back to Life Force/Salamander/Salamander 2

I have a soft spot for the Famicom version of Gradius II

I still like Super R-Type a lot even though I most associate it with it habitually wrecking me as a child

Cosmo Gang The Video (Namco's Parodius version of Galaga)

Straight-up Galaga

Thunder Force IV because I like blasting enemies with lightening

Panzer Dragoon

Star Fox 64

StarBlade even though there's not ultimately all that much strategy there

I kind of get into a zen state with Scramble/Super Cobra, even though they're kinda just like paleolithic versions of Gradius

I keep intending to give Ikaruga, DonPachi, and DoDonPachi a more honest chance than just dabbling for 10-15 minutes at a time, because it seems like there is something fantastic in all three of them

I got kind of into Cactus' indie shooters Minubeat and Burn The Trash! for a while there

So I guess to answer your question, I say Kissma

Edit: Oh my God, how could I forget Gyruss
 
Krejlooc said:
There are so many awsome shmups

Thunder Force III
Fantasy Zone
Gate of Thunder
Lords of Thunder
Panzer Dragoon Zwei
Star Fox 64
Space Manbow
Gradius II
Salamander
Choplifter
Aleste II
Silpheed
Elemental Master
Rayxanber III
Click to expand...

Love me tendeeeer, love me trueeee :D
 
I really can't pick a favorite, but this thread made me realize how much I want TG-16 / PC Engine to make its way to the Switch Virtual Console. I need its library of shooters on the go.
 
Jezan said:
ESP Ra.De.

The first time I played I was charmed by everything. It was the first game where I played a character instead of a ship, for me it was something new at the time.
Click to expand...
Yeah, this is probably my favorite too. I recognize it has serious problems -- later Cave titles are definitely better designed -- but it just has some magic that really works for me.

The ESP sequels are excellent too. Honestly I love almost all of Cave's titles. Their DoDonPachi series is actually probably my least favorite, though I still enjoy them.
 
  • Akai Katana
  • Deathsmiles 2x
  • Pink Sweets
  • Eden's Aegis
  • Castle Shikigami 2

No matter what I always have fun with these 3. I know Pink Sweets should DEFINITELY not be a normal contender given its insane difficulty but the mechanics for some reason along with the music just make me feel happy when I play it. I really do like it a lot.
 
Mega Mania (Atari VCS)
Plaque Attack (Atari VCS)
Battle Squadron (Amiga)
S.W.I.V. (Amiga)
Forgotten Worlds (JAMMA)
Xenon II (Amiga)
Hellfire (Sega MegaDrive / Genesis)
Tatsujin (Sega MegaDrive / Genesis)
Thunderforce III (Sega MegaDrive / Genesis)
R-Type III (SNES)
Gradius V (PS2)
Salamander (JAMMA)
Flying Shark (JAMMA)
Ikaruga (DC)
Viewpoint (Neo Geo)
Pulstar (Neo Geo)
Sexy Paradious (PS1)
Raystorm (PS1)
Layer Section (PS1)
Radiant Silvergun (Saturn)
Resogun (PS4)
Gunhed (PC Engine)
Halley's Comet (JAMMA)
Space Invaders Extreme (NDS)
Geometry Wars Galaxies (NDS)
X Multiply (JAMMA)
 
Ketsui is my favorite overall. I really like Dangun Feveron and Battle Garegga too, and Progear and Mushihimesama aren't too far behind.

Got to play Muchi Muchi Pork one day.
 
Tyrian, Xenon 2, Viewpoint, Xevious, Salamander (gameboy), Apidya

Currently my top shmup is Game Paradise - Master of Shooting. It is an ode to old arcade games. It takes place in a virus infected arcade mall. Characters are from classic 80s arcade games. Difficult as well.

Sega Saturn presentation and stages are of the best. Momoko and nothing else..
 
I probably put the most hours into Defender II between home and the arcade. Currently Resogun gets the most hours of play from me. I was super into Ikaruga for a while. The flipping was just a cool concept and it really shines when you have two coop players working it well.


As a kid I liked the Capcom output (Gun.smoke, Section Z, 1942, etc) on the NES. I also play Gradius and Lifeforce a ton.

I want to try out Summer Carnival'92 - Recca sometime. It looks crazy for an NES game.
 
Pop N Twinbee
Axelay
Parodius
Elemental Master
Ikaruga
Harmful Park
Gradius Gaiden

These are the ones that stand out if I have to make a list really quick. No doubt I'll think of more in a few more minutes.
 
I don't play as much of this genre as I'd like but there are a couple of Stand outs.

Super R-TYPE: I know this isn't exactly the best R-TYPE, it isn't even the best on the SNEs, but it was the first game I ever rented and the first game I ever saved up for and bought myself. It will always be on my list even if it's flawed.

R-TYPE III: It's more R-TYPE, but the graphics are nicer and it runs more smoothly!

Raiden II: A staple of my time in arcades and pizza parlors. I loved the shit out of this game and would pump tons of quarters into it whenever I could. I have a PC copy floating around that I still play every once in a while.

R-TYPE Final: Notice a pattern? I'm not tapped into the community enough to know what people think of Final in general, but this game hit so many hooks for me. Let's put in 101 unlcokable ships, add some lore and story in and just jam it full of R-TYPE goodness. The R-9 is still one of my favorite ships ever and they just went fucking bonkers with all the variants and flavor behind them.

Phalanx: I love this one for all kinds of reasons. I love it for the dumb SNES cover, I like the speed of the game in general, the weapon mechanics are fun and the levels were cool.
 
I'm going to limit my list to only 5 games. In no order:

Mushihime-sama Futari Black Label
Deathsmiles
Trouble Witches Neo
Raiden Fighters Jet
Touhou Imperishable Night
 
WELP, YOU'VE UNLEASHED THE REASON I PLAY GAMES:


Ketsui
Radiant Silvergun
Mushihimesama Futari
Pink Sweets ARRANGE (!)
Guwange
Crimzon Clover
Axelay
Mars Matrix
Raiden Fighters Aces
Gunbird 2
Pulstar
Blazing Star
Muchi Muchi Pork
If Sin & Punishment 2 counts, then yes
Same with Panzer Zwei
Gradius Gaiden
Gradius V
Raystorm
Lords of Thunder
Gates of Thunder
Super Aleste
M.U.S.H.A.
Thunderforce IV
Batsugun
Parodius series
Xexyz (sp?)
Parodius Series
Cotton 2
Soukyugurentai
Hyper Duel
Salamander Series
Zanac X Zanac
ESPGaluda
ESPGaluda 2
ESP Ra. De.
Batsugun
Dodonpachi
Dodonpachi DaiOuJou
Dodonpachi DaiFukkatsu
Dodonpachi SaiDaiOuJou
Akai Katana
Progear no Arashi
Deathsmiles
Deathsmiles II
 
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