best shooters on the Megadrive...

[twilight]

What shooters should I buy for the Megadrive (I have a Japanese and European one)?

thanks

 

[FuriousT]

I'm a noob when it comes to the Neo, but here I can help :-)

Depends what type you like, but for me:

HORIZONTAL:
Thunder Force 3 & 4 - 3 has such awesome music
Bio Hazard Battle
Hellfire - Toaplan

VERTICAL:
Raiden Trad - Good conversion
Twin Cobra - Prefer this to the PC Engine version
Fire Shark - Another toaplan classic, well converted

PLATFORM:
Gunstar Heroes - Treasure...ahhh :-)
Rolling Thunder 2 & 3
Midnight Resistance

These should cost $5 - $25 for a complete copy

There are plenty of other good ones, and some expensive ones (like M.U.S.H.A / Aleste and Border Down) the MD is a great console for shooters.

Oh, and don't forget to mod your MD for 60hz :-)

 

[Alc]

If we're including run and gun then Contra HAS to be mentioned. Ranger X deserves a shout too.

I'd add Empire of Steel to the horizontal list too. Nice little steampunk shmup. Also Zero Wing - internet memes and Engrish aside, it's a competent side scrolling shmup.

I don't own M.U.S.H.A. but have played a mate's copy (he got his dirt cheap as the cart had been drawn on by the previous owner), I wasn't actually that impressed. Seem to remember getting irritated by the size of the player sprite, but it was a while ago now.

 

[FuriousT]

Yeah,
Contra, yeah...or Probotector as we get it over here.
Pretty much anything by Toaplan is a good shooter, there were so many I forgot about Zero Wing.
I've just remembered Gynoug now.

M.U.S.H.A. for $25 I'd recommend, but not at the price it is. If you want an Aleste game, Super Aleste on the SNES was a great shooter...but we're talking MD here :-)

 

[Alc]

I thought about mentioning Gynoug, I bought it recently... it's kind of forgettable, though.

Contra, yeah...or Probotector as we get it over here.

Probotector and the American Contra HC are both nails hard, though. Better to go for the Asian release if you can (you get three hits per life instead of just one).

(I think this was mentioned elsewhere here recently, sorry if I'm repeating it.)

M.U.S.H.A. for $25 I'd recommend, but not at the price it is. If you want an Aleste game, Super Aleste on the SNES was a great shooter...but we're talking MD here :-)

Agreed, one of my favourite shooters of all time. Absolutely stunning graphics as well, by SNES standards.

 

[bradtemple87]

Truxton, Zero Wing, Atomic Robo Kid, Gaiares, Thunder Force 2-4

 

[bradtemple87]

I forgot to add Wings of Wor, awesome game

Also, Sagaia is another title

 

[The_Chosen_One]

Most have been mentioned but to chime in on what I thought were the best, M.U.S.H.A. was awesome in my opinion as are both Thunder Force 3 & 4. Steel Empire and Fire Shark are probably my two favorites on the system though.

 

[Anselm]

Gaiares if you enjoy inventing new ways to yell at your screen.

~Anselm~

 

[shadows]

Eliminate Down, Gley Lancer.
Best way is to go with bootlegs as they are kind of expensive JP release only..

 

[Chempop]

Most of my faves have been mentioned but I'll add some that might be worth consideration

Trouble Shooter/Battle Mania (haven't played the sequel, but it's supposed to be good as well)

Elemental Master

Undead Line

Battle Squadron (not sure if it was Eu or Jp release)

Grind Stormer (I can't remember the Jp name for this)

Whip Rush

 

[twilight]

thanks a lot dudes, I'm going to check these out on you tube then hopefully buy some

 

[The_Chosen_One]

Most of my faves have been mentioned but I'll add some that might be worth consideration

Trouble Shooter/Battle Mania (haven't played the sequel, but it's supposed to be good as well)

Elemental Master

Undead Line

Battle Squadron (not sure if it was Eu or Jp release)

Grind Stormer (I can't remember the Jp name for this)

Whip Rush

I forgot about Grindstormer (Jp version is V-V), that game was fantastic.

 

[NEO-GEO man]

Im quite a big fan of Bio Hazard Battle, its a great game in my opinion. Rolling thunder 2 is also great, im not a fan of Rolling Thunder 3 due to the lack of the 2 player mode, which i think is an extremely important part of the game....

 

[FuriousT]

Im quite a big fan of Bio Hazard Battle, its a great game in my opinion. Rolling thunder 2 is also great, im not a fan of Rolling Thunder 3 due to the lack of the 2 player mode, which i think is an extremely important part of the game....

Agreed, but although being able to finally shoot vertically broke the original Rolling Thunder game mechanic, I thought it enhanced it.

Battle Squadron (not sure if it was Eu or Jp release)

It definately came out in the EU, one of EA's 1st wave in a squishy box.

Oh yeah, Tatsujin / Truxton. Yet another Toaplan classic. Did they do a bad shooter?

 

[NEO-GEO man]

Has anyone played Cursed? Its a Japan cart, i have it here, but havent opened it up to fit in a euro megadrive, im pretty sure its a shooter simular to Bio Hazard Battle.

 

[rcantor77]

Mos tof the best shooters have already been mentioned... of those in my opinion you should definitely have the following in your colleciton:

Elemental Master
Fire Shark
GleyLancer
Gynoug
Thunderforce III and IV

Of ones not mentioned and you also should take a look at...

Forgotten Worlds
Granada
Tatsujin
Verytex
Zero Wing

And for something with a platform element too... Wonderboy III - Monster Lair

Get all of them and you will be playing for years. Enjoy your MD.

Has anyone played Cursed? Its a Japan cart, i have it here, but havent opened it up to fit in a euro megadrive

Curse is ok, not one I would recommend until you have exhausted alot of other shooters first though.

Did I read you right that you are opening up your carts to play Jap carts... ??? Why don't you just snip the lugs of the MD case, so much easier.

 

[SuperDeadite]

Undeadline
Battle Mania Daiginjou
Twinkle Tale
Divine Sealing (only for lulz)

 

[FuriousT]

Has anyone played Cursed? Its a Japan cart, i have it here, but havent opened it up to fit in a euro megadrive, im pretty sure its a shooter simular to Bio Hazard Battle.

If you have a Dremel and a soldering iron, convert your MD so that you have Jap / Eng & 50hz / 60hz switches. Google it. I'm crap with a soldering iron but I managed :-)

If you're playing the games on a 50hz Euro MD, then you're missing out.

 

[Alc]

If you have a Dremel and a soldering iron, convert your MD so that you have Jap / Eng & 50hz / 60hz switches. Google it. I'm crap with a soldering iron but I managed :-)

If you're playing the games on a 50hz Euro MD, then you're missing out.

This. It's a really easy mod.

 

[twilight]

thanks guys

 

[christoph]

Gley Lancer.

Such a badass soundtrack.

 

[NEO-GEO man]

Did I read you right that you are opening up your carts to play Jap carts... ??? Why don't you just snip the lugs of the MD case, so much easier.

Yep, you read right, and i dont wish to do that cause i have a whole 2 Japan carts out of 170 plus carts i have for the system. I know it can be done, but i dont want to do that.

If you have a Dremel and a soldering iron, convert your MD so that you have Jap / Eng & 50hz / 60hz switches. Google it. I'm crap with a soldering iron but I managed :-)

If you're playing the games on a 50hz Euro MD, then you're missing out.

I know about it all yep, ive modded alot of them and sold them on, and modded a few for friends as well. Im an electrician so soldering is something i do almost every day at work, so its dead easy and really quick for me to do these really simple ones.

Totally agree with you about 50Hz, ive never bothered flicking the switch back to 50 unless its to show someone the difference.

 

[Tarma]

Thunder Force 4 and Atomic Robo Kid are two that spring instantly to mind for a good shmup on the MD

I wasn't really into shmups that much back then, so can't really recommend much else off experience

 

[Chempop]

Has anyone mentioned Dangerous Seed or Vapor Trail yet? Probably not top tier, but still pretty good from what I have researched.

The megadrive is so damn good for shmups!