[Softdrink 117]

So I figured since there's finally a gaming sub-forum we could get a shoot-em-up thread going. Yay!
 
Basically just a general genre thread, without any particular focus. Favorites, stuff you're playing now, etc.
 
Also, I think it's important to point out that this is for discussion of all shmup styles (horizontal, vertical, bullet hell, etc.), to try to avoid forum clutter. Distinguishing between these sub-genre lines isn't really significant enough to warrant independent threads (in my opinion, feel free to debate this point).
 
 
To begin:
 
My all-time favorite would probably be Ikaruga, for a number of reasons. I'm also a huge fan of the Touhou series, Gradius, R-type, Raiden, anything made by CAVE, and several 'doujin' works.
 
Recently played, in no particular order:
Alltynex Second
Perfect Cherry Blossom
Imperishable Night
DoDonPachi Resurrection (iOS)
Deathsmiles (Xbox 360, iOS)
R-Type Final (PS2, emulated)
Einhander (PS1 via PS3 emulation)
A large portion of the Gradius series (exact titles forgotten at the moment)
A fan game called Break Force made by a Flickr friend
YGS2000
 
Currently playing DoDonPachi DaiOuJou, Mushihime-sama, and Ikaruga.
 
 
EDIT: Figured the Touhou/Vocaloid music thread deserved a link here. Again, this is a point open for debate.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/555595/the-touhou-and-vocaloid-music-thread
 

 

[jgray91]

Recently I tried my hand at this kind of game with Jamestown. It's a western made indie game on Steam. Although hard it is still very rewarding if I managed to make it through a stage. Although I don't play shmup much though. I did tried some touhou once or twice; it was one of the very earlier games. It was LOLhard for me at Normal, whereas I it was quite hard for me at Jamestown in Legendary (second last hardest difficulty).
 
Although I did play a lot back when I was a kid on my PlayStation. Can't remember what it's called though. 

 

[Softdrink 117]

Quote:

Recently I tried my hand at this kind of game with Jamestown. It's a western made indie game on Steam. Although hard it is still very rewarding if I managed to make it through a stage. Although I don't play shmup much though. I did tried some touhou once or twice; it was one of the very earlier games. It was LOLhard for me at Normal, whereas I it was quite hard for me at Jamestown in Legendary (second last hardest difficulty).
 
Although I did play a lot back when I was a kid on my PlayStation. Can't remember what it's called though. 

I think I've heard of that one... It's got four-player coop, right? I've heard some good things about it, if it is the one I'm thinking of.
 
Shmups aren't really popular anymore, even in arcades. I agree that they can be very rewarding when you finally complete a stage or perfect a scoring technique, but a lot of gamers nowadays aren't interested in that kind of painstaking self-motivation.
 
The Touhou series can be quite challenging, even for people who enjoy 'bullet hell' style shooters. I used to be pretty good at a couple of them, but I've lost a lot of my skill due to other games taking precedence.
 

 

[jgray91]

Quote:

I think I've heard of that one... It's got four-player coop, right? I've heard some good things about it, if it is the one I'm thinking of.
 
Shmups aren't really popular anymore, even in arcades. I agree that they can be very rewarding when you finally complete a stage or perfect a scoring technique, but a lot of gamers nowadays aren't interested in that kind of painstaking self-motivation.
 
The Touhou series can be quite challenging, even for people who enjoy 'bullet hell' style shooters. I used to be pretty good at a couple of them, but I've lost a lot of my skill due to other games taking precedence.
 

Yes I think what you're thinking is correct. Although I'm really sad because it only have local multiplayer. Hopefully they can implement online multiplay soon. Heck, I'd be willing to pay for it if it's in an expansion or sequel.
 
Too bad I've never played Touhou sooner though. As the soundtrack in them are awesome.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Do Contra games count? I'm a huge Contra: Hard Corps freak. I'm referring to the Sega Genesis game.

Some of you may know the gimped version called Probotector, release in Europe.

Either way: Best Contra game, ever. People think the SuperNES Contra was, but I'm sure most didn't even try Hard Corps. 4 characters, multiple paths, multiple endings? YES PLEASE.




Hard Corps: Uprising, the newest non-Contra named...Contra game, lol. Was good, but didn't hold a candle to the older ones.

I've always wanted to play Shattered Soldier... never got a chance. Hopefully Sony will release it as a PS2 Classic.


As for other spaceship shooters: I still own an original black label Einhander. LOVE IT.

 

[Phos]

For me it doesn't get any better than Radiant Silvergun.  It's strange to describe a game as being long as a positive, but Radiant Silvergun is about twice as long as most other shmups and keeps throwing new things at you for its entire length. 

 

[Softdrink 117]

Quote:

Yes I think what you're thinking is correct. Although I'm really sad because it only have local multiplayer. Hopefully they can implement online multiplay soon. Heck, I'd be willing to pay for it if it's in an expansion or sequel.
 
Too bad I've never played Touhou sooner though. As the soundtrack in them are awesome.

Local only is weird in this era of gaming, especially for a title distributed through Steam. At the same time though, I've always felt that playing arcade games with friends can be a great social experience, whereas a lot of modern online games miss out on that kind of appeal. Maybe they're trying to tap into that aspect of it?
 
Touhou's music is legend.
 
Quote:

Do Contra games count? I'm a huge Contra: Hard Corps freak. I'm referring to the Sega Genesis game.
Some of you may know the gimped version called Probotector, release in Europe.
Either way: Best Contra game, ever. People think the SuperNES Contra was, but I'm sure most didn't even try Hard Corps. 4 characters, multiple paths, multiple endings? YES PLEASE.
Hard Corps: Uprising, the newest non-Contra named...Contra game, lol. Was good, but didn't hold a candle to the older ones.
I've always wanted to play Shattered Soldier... never got a chance. Hopefully Sony will release it as a PS2 Classic.
As for other spaceship shooters: I still own an original black label Einhander.

LOVE IT.

I've never played Contra (blasphemy, I know), but from what I know of it it's similar to Metal Slug. In that case, sadly, I'd have to say it doesn't. I have no doubt that it sometimes plays similarly, but those are generally considered 'run-and-gun' titles. I really need to try the games sometime, as I've read some very interesting things about the series.
 
As for Einhander-- YES. I too own an original copy, and play it regularly. It's one of my absolute favorite horizontal shmups, alongside R-type (I, III, and Final) and Deathsmiles. But it's really in it's own league, just like Ikaruga; it's a truly innovative shooter that has amazingly well-engineered mechanics.
 
And some of the music and level designs are absurdly cool, as well.
 
I've always found it very ironic that Einhander was so well received both critically and popularly, yet Square has never shown any interest in a sequel or even another entry into the genre. A real shame, in my opinion.
 
Quote:

For me it doesn't get any better than Radiant Silvergun.  It's strange to describe a game as being long as a positive, but Radiant Silvergun is about twice as long as most other shmups and keeps throwing new things at you for its entire length. 

I WANT TO PLAY RSG SO BADLY IT'S PAINFUL. Ikaruga is the spiritual successor, and I love that game to death. I've watched many, many Youtube superplays of RSG, and it looks like an absolute masterpiece. The Xbox live version of Radiant Silvergun was released just after I left home. I'll emulate it someday when the penalties for downloading ISO files aren't so serious (my college has absurdly strict anti-piracy and anti-IP fraud regulations to the point where a single offense could result in expulsion, and my desktop is hardwired into the school network >.<).
 
I have to agree about length. Many shooters are too short, and although they can still be very engaging you're sometimes left wanting more.
 

 

[MorbidToaster]

I'll chime in one for the CAVE team. CAVE hits a home run every single game. They just have that formula nailed. 
 
Touhou of course, and pretty much every other genre out there. The genre takes #2 in my favorite genres. So...reporting in.

 

[Roller]

Great thread Shmups are great game genre.
 
Bullet hell type is interesting but I prefer regular shmups, like Raptor Call of Shadows and Tyrian.

 

[Softdrink 117]

Quote:

I'll chime in one for the CAVE team. CAVE hits a home run every single game. They just have that formula nailed. 
 
Touhou of course, and pretty much every other genre out there. The genre takes #2 in my favorite genres. So...reporting in.

As you know, I very much agree with you ;D
 
CAVE and ZUN (the guy who's behind the Touhou series, for those unfamiliar with the games) are the only two developers I know of that consistently produce awesome shooters. I'm also a fan of Irem, who were in charge of the R-type series, but their titles are much more hit-and-miss.
 
On the topic of CAVE, I *accidentally* beat Deathsmiles a few days ago. I'd been playing Mushihime-sama on Ultra/Hell, and switched over for a few minutes. I decided to see how far I could get on three continues at max difficulty... and then I got to the last boss. Was definitely not expecting that >.<
 

 
Quote:

Great thread Shmups are great game genre.
 
Bullet hell type is interesting but I prefer regular shmups, like Raptor Call of Shadows and Tyrian.

I haven't heard of either of those, actually.
 
Some bullet hells are actually easier than 'normal' shmups-- a great example that comes to mind is Einhander, which is perfectly reasonable in terms of bullet count. But it's an incredibly difficult game, and one I still haven't beaten, let alone 1cc'ed. And I've been trying for years.
 
It's a matter of preference, like anything else.
 

 

[Roller]

Quote:

I haven't heard of either of those, actually.
 
Some bullet hells are actually easier than 'normal' shmups-- a great example that comes to mind is Einhander, which is perfectly reasonable in terms of bullet count. But it's an incredibly difficult game, and one I still haven't beaten, let alone 1cc'ed. And I've been trying for years.
 
It's a matter of preference, like anything else.
 

They're older games but nevertheless very much worth playing. Keep in mind that you will have to use something like DOSBox in order to play them.

 

[leeperry]

My all time fav is Gradius V, too good to be true w/ a full sanwa modded dreamcast arcade stick on a big projection screen

 

[Roller]

Oh, I forgot about a new one I've played! You guys should definitely try Jets'n'Guns, it's very entertaining.
 
Another thing I like on my shmups is the ability to upgrade outside the levels themselves, through shops and whatnot.

 

[Softdrink 117]

Quote:

They're older games but nevertheless very much worth playing. Keep in mind that you will have to use something like DOSBox in order to play them.

O.o
 
That... is old. Yeah. I'll have to look into it sometime though.
 


Quote:

My all time fav is Gradius V, too good to be true w/ a full sanwa modded dreamcast arcade stick on a big projection screen

The only Gradius game I haven't played is V. Sadness.
 
I'm actually going to buy an arcade stick soon, and mod it to use a Seimitsu stick instead of the default JLF. I've heard great things about sticks-- care to share your experiences?
 

 

[Roller]

Quote:

O.o
 
That... is old. Yeah. I'll have to look into it sometime though.
 

 
There are, for instance, plenty of pre-2000 NeoGeo games that aren't any amazing because of their age