best horizontal shmup

mjmjr25 · Aug 3, 2014

CaseyTappy said:
I love DeathSmiles but Progear is my nr. 1 Hori !

This.

If you like older stuff, then the Gradius / Salamander / Metal Black / R-Type Leo stuff is going to be the best of the era.

If you like mid 90's, then above mentioned Neo titles are all fine titles with Prehistorice Isle II, Strikers 1945 Plus and Captain Tomaday being my favorites. (the latter 2 are horizontal but play vertically).

For newer stuff, those 2 CAVE offerings are the best I could recommend.

herb · Aug 3, 2014

Blazing Star hands down

Jonmkl · Aug 3, 2014

Tarma said:
E I N H A N D E R

YOU! You're good you! You got a gift!

Seriously that game rules. As far as Hori Shmups my favorite is in the hunt, though it's a pretty dang weird shmup. I like pretty much all the Neo ones too.

I've been wanting to try out progear actually, what's the best way to play it? The boards can be expensive.

CaseyTappy · Aug 3, 2014

Einhander would be tough to find plug and play for a Neo Candy .

Another vote for Progear, fun scoring mechanism, not to hard in the early levels and looks totally awesome courtesy of Joker Jun .

Neodogg · Aug 3, 2014

Tell me about this Deathsmiles. Only read about it on the forums. Is it just on arcade & j-xbox 360?

Kid Panda · Aug 3, 2014

Neodogg said:
Tell me about this Deathsmiles. Only read about it on the forums. Is it just on arcade & j-xbox 360?

It's also available on US 360. It's only like 10 bucks too. Best 10 bucks you'll spend in awhile.

Chempop · Aug 3, 2014

Kid Panda said:
It's also available on US 360. It's only like 10 bucks too. Best 10 bucks you'll spend in awhile.

Same could be said about Akai Katana (also by Cave). It has a more complicated system but if the aesthetic of Deathsmiles isn't your style, Akai is worth checking out!

I've really enjoyed Gradius II lately, even if some of the stages are a bit BS. Gradius Gaiden is still probably the best in the series though.

I've recently softened up a bit to Darius Gaiden as well.

Always been a fan of the Thunderforce series, particularly 3, 4, and 5. I didn't bother with TF6 on PS2 (have heard mixed things about it).

Those being the 4 flagship horizontal series, don't overlook what the PCE and Megadrive have to offer. I've heard the n-g also has a couple worth checking out too

GohanX · Aug 3, 2014

Another vote for Deathsmiles, I love that game.

wataru330 · Aug 3, 2014

2D--Area 88
3D--G•Darius
Music--ZedBlade

_rm_ · Aug 3, 2014

Kid Panda said:
It's also available on US 360. It's only like 10 bucks too. Best 10 bucks you'll spend in awhile.

QFT! You can't beat that for the money it is worth.

But as other folks said, don't fotget Akai Katana too, great game and a different mechanic from your regular shmups. Just give it a try.

JohnnyFever · Aug 3, 2014

I'm with the guys on the naomi setup. Also, you could talk to Lemony and get a padhack made for a Dreamcast. I'm running a DC in my blast city with his padhack and I'm having a blast...for real.

I just like firing up the DC and Border Down to hear the soundtrack. If you aren't in to rotating Ikaruga doesn't look so bad on the narrow screen.

Big John

MySoberCompanion · Aug 3, 2014

I'd like to mention Sengoku Blade, has a great atmosphere and plays great.
Of course Blazing Star and Progear are the top in terms of scoring and battle systems, but give it a try if you are looking for something different from spaceship and pedo-Cave-shmups...

wataru330 · Aug 3, 2014

Forgotten Worlds w/ dem spinner buttons makes a good game, great. Cab only, pls.

Kid Panda · Aug 3, 2014

wataru330 said:
Forgotten Worlds w/ dem spinner buttons makes a good game, great. Cab only, pls.

PCE version is top shelf too brotha, don't hate on it

terry.330 · Aug 3, 2014

Tyrandom said:
I'd like to mention Sengoku Blade

Severely overlooked game one of Psikyos best.

wataru330 · Aug 3, 2014

Kid Panda said:
PCE version is top shelf too brotha, don't hate on it

Oh, snap. Dat avenue pad trés! You are right, fam. I won't hate...I'll participate. ;^)

*starts scouring interwebs for FW PCE pack*

mjmjr25 · Aug 3, 2014

Neodogg said:
Tell me about this Deathsmiles. Only read about it on the forums. Is it just on arcade & j-xbox 360?

Oh my. I don't think chaining / hyper is any more fun than in this game.

It is the easiest CAVE game by quite a bit. The last stage can give you fits, but once you put in half a dozen runs you'll make the last stage almost every run.

The last stage is about 3x longer than the other stages and includes a boss fight followed by a mega boss fight.

The hit box is super easy to see - it's literally the loli's heart and is forgiving.

I know a lot of hardcore shmup fans don't care for this game (too easy?) but I haven't enjoyed a single game more than this the past 5 years.

I just sold a copy for $5 or id'a gladly shipped you it. The game is very plentiful as it was mass produced in the US with a Deathsmiles faceplate - many collectors bought it just for the faceplate as they already had the JP version.

You can STILL get this LE w/faceplate and soundtrack for $23 shipped.

http://www.amazon.com/Deathsmiles-L...id=1407113620&sr=8-2&keywords=deathsmiles+360

dakingofzumunda · Aug 3, 2014

My picks growing up:

Gate of Thunder
Thunder Force III/IV

Those soundtracks cant be beat.

indierocklocks · Aug 3, 2014

Tyrandom said:
I'd like to mention Sengoku Blade...

terry.330 said:
Severely overlooked game one of Psikyos best.

Agreed. It's also not very expensive relatively speaking for a PCB. Tengai has been in constant rotation in my Blast and it starts to get pretty hard on the 2nd loop.

Neorebel · Aug 3, 2014

I had no idea Lords of Thunder had an arcade release, thought it was console only. That being said I love playing it at home, would love to see it at some retro arcade someday. I guess I'm in the minority for liking vertical shmups better than horizontal. Not as far as the Neo library is concerned though ;-)

Teddy KGB · Aug 3, 2014

Kid Panda said:
PCE version is top shelf too brotha, don't hate on it

Pls. Nothing gets closer to the cab's spinner control experience than the PSX analogue sticks. I give that port the edge over the PCE port.

I think I'm getting old. I think we just had this conversation recently too.

andsuchisdeath · Aug 3, 2014

Neorebel said:
I had no idea Lords of Thunder had an arcade release, thought it was console only. That being said I love playing it at home, would love to see it at some retro arcade someday.

Where'd you hear that?

Neorebel said:
I guess I'm in the minority for liking vertical shmups better than horizontal.

You're not in the minority.

Frenetic · Aug 4, 2014

My vote is in for Progear. What a satisfying 1-ALL, plus there is an insane 2nd loop if you want more. I'm really proud of my #1 score in last year's SOtM tournament. STGWeekly did an episode of it which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1gvCJXDC44

K-2 · Aug 4, 2014

I would argue too that Deathsmiles is the most important shooting game of the past decade. It brought more people to the genre than any other stg except for maybe Icarauga, which is vertically scrolling

Going back further, and Lightening Force gets my vote. Followed closely by Gate/Lords of Thunder. Gradius 2 on the PCE is dope.

Shivan128 · Aug 4, 2014

Progear gets my vote. It was the first hori-shmup I played (other than lifeforce on the NES) as an arcade PCB. It's damn hard after lever 4 and 1 cc'ing the game is near impossible (for me).

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