What are your favorite shoot em ups?

-SD-

Camel Slug
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May 10, 2016
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Pop n’ Twinbee
Winds/Lords of Thunder
Gate of Thunder
Thunder Force IV
Harmful Park
Under Defeat
 

thermaltreasure

Ninja Combat Warrior
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Apr 6, 2013
Posts
529
Raiden DX
Slap Fight
Omega Fighter
Dragon Spirit
Super R Type
Darius Gaiden
Moon Cresta
 
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andsuchisdeath

General Morden's Aide
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aids if you and I team up go for a double attack spin-by-the-rosary I think we can take Razo. We are Men of Honor who don't like outside-SNK filth in General Discussion and will fight to the swollen eye to protect that subforum's sanctity.

yeah brother. See, respect and honor are concepts some people simply don't have the capability to understand.

EDIT:
I feel a little bad for RAZO. Sorry post whatever favorites you like :).

Noob posts favorite "Neo-Geo fighters" thread in news and rumors? Do what he says and list your favorites. :) you're listening to your heart.
 
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mjmjr25

went home to be a family man
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Man, I really dislike threads where people just list games. WHY do you like this game. Encourage others to try it out or defend it from it's otherwise poor or unknown reputation.

I personally gravitate toward Psikyo and CAVE stuff - not unpopular, but they simply resonate with me.

Psikyo for the randomn start of the first 4 stages - it helps to make each run feel unique. I also really appreciate the steady and noticeable increase in difficulty. Lastly, the stage length feels appropriate. Some shmups have painfully long stages (*cough* Bullet Soul, or occasionally oddly short. Psikyo has the timing down really well.

Gunbird 2 is a favorite. I like the chaining system with medals. Super easy, yet leads to so many avoidable deaths waiting that extra 1/10 second for it to continue turning to keep the chain running. I also like games that use a power up shot. Oh, and truly unique characters with actual strengths and weaknesses.

Dragon Blaze I adore. The dragon launch mechanic is super fun and strategic. Great pacing and music in this game. Hitting tech bonuses has a very rewarding feeling.

Zero Gunner 2 has the Psikyo trademarks, but also the Under Defeat mechanic of stages sort of "floating" horizontal, pausing, vertical and your ship can go in all directions. I think that's cool. A favorite for sure and feels like it should be easier, but i've never seen stage 6.

CAVE stuff - there's nothing I dislike, though I was underwhelmed with DDP Saidaijou AND Akai Katana. I really need to try AK again. I only played maybe a dozen rounds - I was expecting a Pro Gear / Deathsmiles feel given the horizontal nature, and there is some Pro Gear feel, but I can't put my finger on it, just left me wanting more. I really need to get at it again.

Pro Gear I simply love. I think it is a perfect game. The scoring, the flow, the music, the sprites, the boss fights, that vertical stage - the distinct color palette changes. Just a flawless game for me and my most rewarding 1CC.

Deathsmile I also love for many of the same reasons. Certainly an easier game and really only has 5 minutes of difficulty, but there are few better experiences than the orange 10K bonuses flying in. Activating your hyper on a level 3 board filled with bullets and enemies is just fantastic.

DDP DFK 1.5. This is one I love the scoring in, really great chaining, brilliant colors, great music again and wonderful boss fights. Stage 5 is super long and those spinning turrets just are something I can't master. I've had amazing runs ruined many times by those dudes.

I really enjoy the Esp series, with Esprade probably my favorite, though Galuda II looks the best. I have cleared Galuda I and II, but not RaDe.

The Mushi series is also wonderful, but I don't enjoy the scoring as much.

Muchi Muchi Pork is fun, but it feels "cluttered", which is odd in bullet hell, but it just does. It's too distracting. I say this about I game I really like. I find myself being overly critical to differentiate CAVE stuff.

Ibara...I don't get. I like it. It's hard. I remember chempop one time told me I need to use the cannon or something. I can't figure it out.

NON-CAVE/Psikyo stuff I like, well, a lot.

Top of my head go to favorites:
Under Defeat - another near perfect game
Dimahoo - uses the Ikaruga hot/cold bullet mechanic, but does it better, AND has the coolest inventory system in any shooting game ever, which is amplified by the power of your power shot, which you build up as you need. Such a cool game.

I also enjoy odd shooters, that are more than just odd for oddity's sake:
Parodius Series
Captain Tomaday
Twinkle Star Sprites

I find these games are fun for people who may not love bullet hell, want something a little funner and more quirky.
 
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opt2not

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^glad to see someone who actually wants a discussion.
I’m not going to list all my fav’s, but here are a few that I tend to always come back to:

1942 (arcade) - this was my first shmup ive ever played. When I was a kid my parents and I would eat at restaurant in Chinatown owned by their friend. After eating we’d all go to one of the hidden back rooms so they could play mahjong. there were a couple arcade cabinets there, so I kept busy playing 1942. Some people don’t like the repetitiveness of the game, or the whistling soundtrack, but not me. It reflects the style of games of that time. Now I find the game relaxing, and kinda brainless to play, it’s go-to when I just want to unwind and play a game I’m actually good at.

Gradius 2 (famicom) - i never got to play any Gradius game in the arcades, only on the NES. I liked the first Gradius well enough, but when I played Gradius 2 on the famicom I was hooked. Great visuals, great soundtrack, solid difficulty and I really liked customizing your build.

UN Squadron (SNES) - on the topic of ship customization, I loved this feature more in the snes version. Also the “choose your path” aspect was unique and made you think about your ship build and the choice of level order you attempted.

Under Defeat (Dreamcast) - my favourite of the heli shmups. Love the rotate mechanic, the different weapon pods, and the level design. The pods were cool for their usage at certain parts of each level, knowing which are most efficient at what points was part of the action-strategy portion of this game.

Raiden DX (arcade)- I loved the first Raiden, it was one of the shmups I got into as a kid. But DX was miles ahead of the curve. The difficulty was tough, yet rewarding. Bosses and weapons were outrageous. And the medal scoring mechanic added a good risk-reward element to the gameplay.

Super Mario Land (Gameboy) - not entirely a shmup, but the shoot-em-up levels in this game were some of my favourites. I wished Nintendo would put out a full game of a Mario shmup. It had fun themes, space, underwater, etc., and the levels consisted of not only enemies but obstacles to avoid/navigate through. I don’t know if these levels borrowed from ZAS, or the other way around, but I do enjoy both these games for the same gameplay elements.
 

TWE

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My fave is Muchi Muchi Pork. I could play that game forever. It is basically perfect, in my eyes. I like most of the other Cave games as well as some by other companies, like Ikaruga.
 
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oliverclaude

General Morden's Aide
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Viewpoint (R-Type heritage)
Hellfire (Toaplan hori eccentricity)
Thunder Force III & IV (Can't decide, never could, never will...)
Musha Aleste (Compile Co., Ltd. 〜Est. 1982〜)
Gekirindan (Zuntata melancholy)
R-Type Delta (2.5D at its best)
Harmful Park (I prefer it to Parodius)
Gaia Seed (Low production values work for the better here)
Darius II (Atmosphere as gameplay)
Border Down (Swan song for the whole genre)
 

Ip Man

BBLLOOOO__HHAARRDDDDDD!!!!,
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sengoku blade
musha
soukyugurentai
battle mania 2
truxton
 

sylvie

NG.COM TEMPTRESS
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i wouldn't know bc i don't jerk off over saturn grails all day
 

andsuchisdeath

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Radiant Silvergun is nowhere near that. You’re talking about Hyper Duel :P

and yes, saturn > neogeo


Especially for shooters:vik:

Also been getting into Raiden DX, at a local arcade

You namedrop Hyper Duel a lot. Can you actually play Hyper Duel?
 

Massive Urethra Chode

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Lisa is the easiest ship to use, learn when to "bomb".

Yeah i have to agree with that. Also i prefer saturn mode because of the weapon-position lock function of the R button.

Also the music in arcade mode is hard to hear sometimes because of how quiet it is

Are light gun games “shooters”? :p so far on the house of the dead i’ve made it halfway through level 3 on normal mode 5 lives 1 credit.
 
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Gaston

Mature's Make-up Artist
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Gradius V; easy to learn but truly hard to master. It's still gradius but more bullet-hell type patterns to master on greater difficulties. A very underrated gem of a game.

Nemesis 3 on MSX. Again, typical gradius gameplay but with some added depth due to having to collect hidden weapons. Memorization is key if you're going to complete it. Msx adds a choppiness to the scrolling that adds another (unintended) layer of difficulty to it. A favorite for nostalgic reasons.

Salamander on MSX. Hate to love it. It is way harder than any other version I have played, partly due to the issue mentioned before. But the music is stellar and graphics are nice and colorful. Never reached the end of this version whereas most other versions are doable (for me). Another personal favorite for nostalgic reasons.

R-type on PCB and on PCE, R-type delta. Love this franchise and one of the few I had down to a tee when I was younger. The artstyle really spoke to me unlike any other game in the genre. Owned the PCB and got rid of it which I still regret.

Anything made by Cave. Love these games yet I really suck at them. Even when you suck, it still gives you the feeling like you're good at shmups somehow. I never take the time to understand all the little nuances of the scoring mechanisms so I just credit feed my way through. Love em, wish I weren't as shitty playing them.

Gunhed (+sequels) on PCE. A stellar game with plenty of challenge, fast gameplay, great music and the best you'll probable find on the regular PCE. I played Aleste and Aleste 2 on msx a lot and this is pretty similar. Plenty of powerups to choose from and you'll soon feel overpowered but some hard parts require memorization which could lead to some frustration.
 
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Hasuki-san

Igniz's Servent
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Ikaruga & Under Defeat DC/NAOMI
DDP DOJ PGM
Battle Garegga & Thunderforce V Saturn
Dimahoo CPS2
 

awbacon

Kyokughen Trainee
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R-Type Final has been one of my favorites recently, along with Pulstar.

Tobe! Polystars is my current favorite, but that's because it took me ten years to find and I am working on a 1cc run.

R-Type on the PC-Engine is an old school favorite. Darius Gaiden a close second

Hands down though the most impressive shmup I've been enjoying is Darius Burst CS on PC with my ultrawide monitor. Love the aspect ratio
 

Spycee

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Twinkle Star Sprites : A unique combination of shmups and "versus" game. A great game to play during gaming nights.

Cave shmups in general : I don't know what exactly, but there's something magical with them. Some have beaufiful soundtracks, especially Mushihimesama Futari. The graphics are gorgeous, and my poor old eyes love the big bullets that are easy to see.

Mars Matrix. A bullet hell close to perfection. The soundtrack fits particularly well with the game. I love the scoring mechanic. The only thing that bothers me is the score display, I find it a bit hard to read when playing. I have the CPS2 version, but I kinda regret my Dreamcast version, I loved to buy the things in the in-game shop. I may have to hunt it down someday ...

Blazing Star : I'm not fond of horizontal shmups, but it's one of those. A lot of things to collect for score, good graphics, not too fast to play.
 
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