Which shmups do you recommend?

I'm just getting into shumps at a serious level. When I was a kid I really liked Life Force for NES, but after that the genre didn't really do much for me. After watching kiken's shmups special my fire for shmups however was lit once again! I dug up R-Type for SNES which I had in my bookshelf but had not really been playing and it was a good game (finished it today actually). I really like the "alone in space" feeling in a shmup, and I don't really care for shumps like Gunbird or Blazing Star with tons of shit flying around the screen. Soon I will pick up Last Resort and I was wondering what other titles within the genre has a similar look and feel to it?

NES/Famicom
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CRISIS FORCE
RECCA SUMMER CARNIVAL '92
SALAMANDER

Mega Drive / Genesis
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ALESTE *FULL METAL FIGHTER ELLINOR
(AKA: MUSHA)

OPERATION CODE: VAPOR TRAIL
Advanced Busterhawk GLEYLANCER
ELIMINATE DOWN
TASK FORCE HARRIER EX
Shark! Shark! Shark! (AKA: Fire Shark)
Kyukyoku Tiger (Twin Cobra)

Super Famicom (SNES)
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AREA 88 (UN Squadron)
Macross Scrambled Valkyrie
Axelay

SEGA SATURN
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Sengoku Blade (Sengoku Ace II)
Layer Section
Layer Section II
Thunder Force V
Blast Wind
Soukyu Gurentai
Battle Garegga
Steam Hearts
Strikers 1945
Strikers 1945 II
Panzer Dragoon Zwei

PC-ENGINE
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Lords of Thunder
Gate of Thunder
Ray Xanber II
Spriggan
Spriggan Mark II
Download
Download 2
Soldier Blade
Macross 2036
Galaxy Policewoman SAPPHIRE

...and that's all that comes to mind. *There aren't too many on the NEO:GEO so you can't be too picky.

GK

Thanks! Are those "good shooters in general" or just some random ones? I recognize some names and from what I've read some of those games isn't very good (Download comes to mind)...

bUs said:

Thanks! Are those "good shooters in general" or just some random ones? I recognize some names and from what I've read some of those games isn't very good (Download comes to mind)...

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Well the Download games are largely dependent on "Personal Tastes" to be honest with you. But most of the games I listed are sought after by most. Stuff like...

ALESTE, Lords of Thunder, Sengoku Ace II, Gleylancer, Crisis Force, Vapor Trail, AREA 88, Soukyu Gurentai, Macross 2036 are all damn good shooters. *I'm actually surprised that you don't like Blazing Star on the NEO:GEO? It's one of the most accomplished not to mention balls out and good looking shooters ever made for any system ever. Grant it's not nuts like PULSTAR, but BS is awesome. But like my penchant for the Download games on PCE, a person liking a shooter or not is largely dependent by personal tastes.

GK

I used to own Blazing Star on MVS. To be honest I only played it like 2 times and I didn't like it at all. Maybe I should have given it some more time, but I sold it instead...

bUs said:

I used to own Blazing Star on MVS. To be honest I only played it like 2 times and I didn't like it at all. Maybe I should have given it some more time, but I sold it instead...

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WOW, just WOW! *Well maybe one day you'll go back to it and find something you like about it. I still can't believe what Yumekobo was able to pull off on an MVS Cart with that game though. To me that was the game (Blazing Star) that all others should have used as an archetype as to what was expected from that point on in pushing the hardware to it's limits. Sadly though it's the only game on the system Shooter wise that takes you to the edge of the cliff and then proceeds to knock you off of it in that viseral manner. Though I will admit it's nowhere near as challenging as PULSTAR or Last Resort... it's got it's own charm indeed.

Well good luck on your "Shooter" hunting.

GK

So you don't like all that stuff on screen?

I really only like those newer "bullet hell" type shooters

Give a cave shooter a chance, even though you said you don't like that kind try to play Guwange for at least a few rounds - It's genius

Lashujin said:

So you don't like all that stuff on screen?

I really only like those newer "bullet hell" type shooters

Give a cave shooter a chance, even though you said you don't like that kind try to play Guwange for at least a few rounds - It's genius

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Don't get me wrong, I like my games hard, but I like my shmups pretty basic and not with a bunch of fancy bonus systems and über flashy effects, I think it kind of takes away some of the feeling... I've done some research and the shmups I will be looking into (on the NG) for starters are Last Resort, Viewpoint, Strikers 1945 Plus and maybe Sonic Wings 2 & 3 and Andro Dunos.

bUs said:

Don't get me wrong, I like my games hard, but I like my shmups pretty basic and not with a bunch of fancy bonus systems and über flashy effects, I think it kind of takes away some of the feeling... I've done some research and the shmups I will be looking into (on the NG) for starters are Last Resort, Viewpoint, Strikers 1945 Plus and maybe Sonic Wings 2 & 3 and Andro Dunos.

Click to expand...

Just curious have you played anything by Cave? Their shooter changed my whole perception of the genre, you should fire up Guwange on Mame, it's the game that made me appreciate new school shmups

Get Mushihimesama for ps2 (or if you can afford it the arcade board.)

It's very good. Very simple. Beautiful graphics and excellent gameplay. (You can adjust the difficulty if the bullet hell is too much.)

My favorite shooter is G Darius for ps1. You can find a used copy for cheap and it's almost identical to the arcade version. Basically you play a jet against robotic fish. Very very satisfying shooter.

Grizzly King- Saturn- Thunder Force V is soooo damn good. I love that game. I'm really into the Strikers series too.

bUs said:

I really like the "alone in space" feeling in a shmup

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Get Cotton 2.

Get Ikaruga, I think it's the best shooter ever made. Will keep you busy for a couple years.
Other than that ESPGaluda and Mushihime-sama are top notch, and
shouldn't be missed.

bUs, Last Resort always is a good choice, and it also is less manic than most of the current horizontal shmups.

If you like R-Type, you should try R-Type Final on PS2. Of course Gradius V (PS2) also would be a good choice. Then there's ProGear, a very cool hori shmup by Cave/Capcom, but sadly there's no home console port for it yet (and probably never will be), so you either have to go cab-hunting or play the rom on mame.

I'm deeply in love with Border Down (DC), but it has a much faster pace than the R-Type games and is slightly trickier (IMO). Give it a test drive if you have the chance, I guess you'll like it.

Are you planning to go into vertical shmups as well? If so, it may be difficult to find games with a more basic approach because at the moment the genre is dominated by manic shmups (like the latest Cave releases), but there also are some ports of older games that may be worth a try. Here, my recommendations are Strikers 1945 II (SAT, PSX, PS2), Psyvariar 2 (DC, PS2), Shienryu (SAT, PSX, PS2), Battle Garegga (SAT) and the upcoming Raiden III (PS2).

Pro-Gear is a joint production by Capcom/Cave,and not Arika,if I remember correctly.

B-

You're right, my mind was on console ports...

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