What was the first shooter you played that got you hooked?

Mike Shagohod

Mike Shagohod

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What particular game got you into shooters. I don't mean stuff like GALAGA (though that spurred me along to) but an actual vertically scrolling or horizontally scrolling shooter game. I'm not asking what you're first shooter experience was, but rather what game changed you in that magical moment to being an avid follower of the genre.

Me the game that got me hooked for life was in 1987 when I walked into a Cajun restaurant in SATX and played...

1943-Arcade.jpg


though I had played 1942 before it, and had played everything from Galaga onto Alpha Mission (ASO) and Defender and what not. CAPCOM's 1943 just got everything right to me. Probably wasted $5.00 in quarters that afternoon. From that point on Shooters were my one of 3 top favorite genres in gaming.

GK
 
Gamefan

Gamefan

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Oh my...for me it was playing R-Type II at the local bowling alley. I played that game at least three times a day for hours. I must have put in like $150.00 into that game learning how to play it. I loved the second level boss!

GAMEFAN
 
BBH

BBH

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I think the first shooter I became obsessed with was Side Arms. I'm not sure why, it hasn't aged as well as some of my other favorites from the 80's :(
 
jro

jro

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Lifeforce. No doubt about it, Lifeforce for the NES was the first shooter that I really got into and made me go out and look for other shooters. Granted, I sucked at it and I couldn't beat it without the Konami Code, but damn was it fun and well-designed. Just a total classic that I revere to this day.
 
subcons

subcons

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When I bought my Saturn from a friend, it came with Galactic Attack. The rest is history. Avid shooter fan ever since.

I have fond memories of playing River Raid on Atari for hours on end when I was in grade school. I played shooters here and there at the arcades and on the 8 and 16-bit Nintendo and Sega platforms, but never really got hooked. Galactic Attack just sent me hunting for anything shooter related. Loved that game and still do.
 
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Lashujin

Lashujin

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Guwange, I love it

I really don't care for the older style shmups
 
Weevus

Weevus

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The Raiden Project on Playstation (Raiden II).
 
td741

td741

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Well, if Gyruss doesn't count... Does Time Pilot count? If not then probably Xevious.
 
Tron

Tron

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Atari 2600 version of Defender

Defender-2.gif


Then the, NES area came afther i played ZANAC and... i was hooked on shooters for life.

zanac1.jpg

zanac2.jpg


I would say, Galaga but i wasn't... into them that much in the begining.
 
Kiel

Kiel

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For me it would be Biometal on the SNES. Still one of my favorites to this day.
 
S

Shibusawa

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Alpha Mission II, most popular shmup when released, much more competition then on Last Resort. It's easier then the latter though and you learn a lot from watching others play.

I still love them on equal terms but Last Resort certainly has that smashing Irem/Nazca design that makes it stand out even (especially?) today.
 
LoneSage

LoneSage

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I had played older shmups before, but when I played Raiden II at the movie theatre when I was just a kid...I was hooked. I sure as hell couldn't last 60 seconds in that game without putting in another quarter, but everything about it was near-perfection: the amazing graphics, the music, how everything destroyed just went shrapnel-crazy (something I'm certain Raizing picked up in their later games), and that wild purple laser...so fucking awesome.

I've typed about my first experience with Raiden II at least ten times now, so I'll stop my gushing right now. Still an amazing game to this day.

You can tell Raiden 1 has aged, but when you play Raiden II...it's just like yesterday. It wouldn't be the summer of 2003 when I finally played Thunder Force III for the first time that the shmup-o in me was reborn.
 
K

Kirk Foiden

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I will agree that Raiden rocked. Loved that game. However, just call me an oldie, but the shooter and the company that got me started on shooters is numero uno.

Space Invaders.

Taito. <-- The grand daddy of all shooter game companies.

Shortly followed by Asteroids.
 
B

barf

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hmm ... either scorpion or Zaxxon , can t remember which one came first ^^ I was a kid though
 
beh3moth

beh3moth

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hmm, Alpha mission 1 (ASO), and time pilot i used to play a lot.
 
terry.330

terry.330

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Lifeforce
Zanac
Sky Shark
Gradius
Image Fight

Got me stated on the NES

But Thunderforce 3 & 4 sealed the deal once I got my Genny.
 
SoloFenris

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I played a lot of Defender and Stargate back in the day but the one that hooked me was when I played Vanguard. The game had four fire buttons so you could shoot in every direction. I remember the first time I activated the little temporary invincibility thing and the music started playing I was like "Whoah! That's the music from Flash Gordon! SWEEEET!" Damn good day that was.....

Jeff
 
K

Kirk Foiden

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Man, I forgot about Vanguard. I used to love that shooter. And yes, I remember that music well. Funny enough, I heard the music in Vanguard before I saw Flash Gordon, and I thought the movie ripped the music from Vanguard. :) :) :)

It was well over a decade and a half later before I even realized (in hindsight) that SNK made that game.
 
Takumaji

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I was crazy for Vanguard when it came out and pumped tons of money into the cab, but the hori shmup that really got me hooked was Delta on C=64, and later on R-Type.

Xevious was my first love in terms of vertical shmups. There was a cab in the entrace hall of a movie theater in a very bad part of the town, so except for an hour or two of shmup action, going there always was a little adventure for itself... got mugged once, but luckily it happened when my Deutschmarks already were in the cab... :D

The game had very cool graphics for its time, I simply loved those rotating metal plates... it was hard as nails tho, that's why I was pumped for days after I managed to beat the lvl 9 boss for the first time on one credit.
 
pixeljunkie

pixeljunkie

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Tron 2.0 said:
Atari 2600 version of Defender
Click to expand...

ditto, as well as River Raid. Then I played Nemesis on my Gameboy...then I think I shit the most in my pants the first time I played Gate of Thunder at a friend's house. Ordered a 3.0 card and game the NEXT DAY.
 
norton9478

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Stinger (Moereo! Twinbee!) for the NES. It's the only Shooter that I can Beat without dying.

Other Shooters that really got me into them were:

Gradius (NES)
Section Z (NES)
Ultimate Stuntman (Nes)- Actualy a Shooter/Platrormer/sniper/puzzle hybred.
 
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