For the last two weeks, I've been playing:
Border Down (dc) - still have no working strat for the "poor man's stage 6" (red), and the level 5 boss makes my hair fall out.
ESPGaluda (ps2) - I'm still far from being able to 1cc it, but it's friggin' awesome.
Strikers 1945 II (psx) - had a good run, but died during the end boss battle (1st loop). I've also up'ed my hiscore, will post a thread with the revised hiscore list from the all about shmups thread. Man, this game is addictive like crack.
Shienryu (ps2) - the later stages are tough as nails... will need some more time with this one I guess.
R-Type Final (ps2) - amazing, simply amazing. 40something ships and counting... being able to switch ships between levels gives the whole thing a really cool strategic tone without actually punishing the player for a wrong choice too harshly, it's mad fun trying out which ship works best in what level. Of course there are "preferred ships" for certain levels/sections, but the powerful unit (and the special attack) makes it possible to master tricky situations even if you have chosen a ship with an wide-area-effect charge shot where a long-range shot would have been more effective.
I'm really in love with Final... that's what I call a worthy swan song for an excellent shmup series, it hardly can get much better than that (r-type-wise).