Shoot 'em up - your favourite?

hamster

What is your favourite shoot em up?

I used to like Armalyte (c64), IO (c64) and Project X (Amiga). I like Blood Money abd SWIV too (Amiga)
I just came across apidya and Enforcer. Everyone seems to rave about it. Some believe Armalyte was over hyped.

BLITZ_Molloy

For run n' gun shooters I think you can't beat Gunstar Heroes. Always felt alot better to me than Metal Slug, or the later Contra games. Great weapon system as well. I'm really looking forward to the sequel on the GBA.

I play quite alot of shmups. I'm currently enjoying Strikers 1945 II (been playing it for 6 months and can almost 1 credit it. The last boss is an absolute bastard though) and R-Type Delta.

My TV is too big to TATE it easily though. I've been meaning to get stuck into Gunbird 1 and 2, and maybe import a few Cave shooters but the way it's designed it doesn't really sit on its side. Should buy a 2nd cheap one I suppose.

super_furry

Weird, just been talking about this with a guy I work with and it's definitely Apidya on the Amiga – THE definative wasp based shoot-em-up.

Radiant Silvergun, Rez, Gradius IV and 1945 all get honourable mentions.

Mr E

Loved IO (I could finish it without cheating!). Its pretty much a 'learn the level off by heart' kind of game, though - reactions won't help you most of the time.

Armalyte was excellent, but Delta was better.

Uridium+ was a bit of a classic.

Arcade-wise, I loved Flying Shark, Raiden Fighters, Exerion, and Terraforce.

Deadwing

Shmups...eh?
R-type, SWIV, metal slug, Alien hominid

monkeyfudge

I'd have to go with the original R-Type in the arcades...

oh.. I just loved the theme tune on the first level... it's probably my favourite in-game music of all time.

K.O.Kiki

Mmmm... still chasing that elusive Jap in Every Extend...

My memory has gone. What good schmups are available on PS2? (not import; I can't afford to ATM -_- )

BLITZ_Molloy

Deadwing wrote:

Shmups...eh?
R-type, SWIV, metal slug, Alien hominid

90% of the games in the late 80's were shooters so Zzap64 magazine coined the term shmup (shootemup) to describe a certain type. Shmup is a subset of the shooter genre: gameplay has to take place in 2 dimensions (the graphics can be 3D) and there must be forced scrolling. Raiden and Gradius are shmups. Metal Slug, Quake, Time Crisis and Bangai-O are not.

www.shmups.com is a great site. There's a review of Blood Money on there I think.

Sarky

I have a special place in my heart for Disposable Hero (or D-Hero) on the Amiga. I found it more fun than any other shmup I recall playing. Particularly the second level, with all the gross organic enemies (OMG the teeth are rupturing through TEH WALLS!)

johnny_ultimate

My favourite shoot em up is Half Life (2) but that's not really counted is it?

In that case i must admit im a bit short on side scrolling experience. I have Astro Boy and Metroid Fusion though - and they both kick ass. I know it's hardly hardcore, but hey! I'm just getting into this whole side scrolling business!

BlitzKrieg

gunstar heroes and contra hard corps both rock beyond belief!

how long till retrogamer gets in here listing of the *defitnite* list.

i_am_dogboy

I think dynamite heddy deserves a mention, if it counts. Metal slug and gunstar heroes also rock.

TheAlmightyArse

BLITZ_Molloy wrote:

My TV is too big to TATE it easily though. I've been meaning to get stuck into Gunbird 1 and 2, and maybe import a few Cave shooters but the way it's designed it doesn't really sit on its side. Should buy a 2nd cheap one I suppose.

A heads-up: Gunbird Special Edition (1 & 2 on one disc) for the PS2 doesn't save your progress, or indeed, your high scores. Which renders it as bad as Square rendered Bowser in Super Mario RPG.

Malafus

Dynamite Heddy = Platformer.
I was under the impression that a shoot-em-up was, as BLITZ_molloy said, a game played in 2 dimensions, with forced scrolling.
IMHO, Metal Slug is a platformer(albeit a platformer with shooting), Quake and Time Crisis are FPSs.

Now, as for good shmups, Gradius games are always good, Disposable Heroes is seconded. Ah, and R-Type...

TerrorFirmer

Gunstar Heroes

R-Type Delta was okay..

...was never a big fan of side scrollers though.

Contra was another good one.

Retr0gamer

I love shmups!

1. Radiant Silvergun: THE best shmup ever created. An absolutely amazing game. It's extremely difficult but also because of it's excellent scoring system there is tons of replayablity
2. Dodonpachi: Absolutely insane shmup with insane weaponry. Excellent scoring system as well
3. Einhander: Fantastic shmup from, shock horror, Squaresoft. Beautiful graphics and soundtrack and imaginative level design. It even has a decent story.
4. Gradius V: Fantastic game from the makers of radiant silvergun. Classic Gradius gameplay with elements of Salamander 1+2
5. Axelay: The best shmup of the 16-bit era. plays a bit like salamander
6. Salamander: Great game that switches from horizontal and vertical scrolling. Still amazing depite it's age. Salamander 2 is a bit of a letdown.
7. R-type: Probably the best designed game ever. Very tight level design. Let down by an almost impossible level 7 and the horror of a final boss.
8. Soukyugurentai: Brilliant 'frantic' shmup. An unbelievable amount of bullets and enemies on screen means it is one of the hardest shmups ever made.
9. Battle Garegga: Another excellent Eighting/Raizing game. Saturn game is let down by bullets that are hard to see in anything other than tate mode.
10: Layer Section: Excellent shmup with some of the best 2D graphics ever. Lock-on laser system is ingenious
11: Gradius Gaiden: Japanese only game but well worth hunting down. Almost as good as Gradius V but the restarting at checkpoints is annoying.
12: Donpachi: Excellent game but not as good as the amazing sequel
13: Hyperduel: Forget Thunderforce IV. This game is Technosofts best. Excellent craft with macross type abilities
14: R-type Delta: Fantastic update of R-type. R-type 3 also deserves a mention
15: Ikaruga: I'm not as fond of the strict path for getting a perfect score as most people. Still an amazing game that is beautifully designed and requires an amazing amount of skill to perfect.

Run and gun games:

1. Gunstar Heroes: Bloody amazing. When i saw it first I thought it was running on a SNES being pushed very hard but it is actually a Mega drive game. You owe it to yourself to play this game. Great beat'em up elements in there.
2. Metal Slug 2: The best of the metal slug games. Absolutely stunning 2D graphics, great fun and a touch of humour.
3. Contra Hard Corps or the mega drive Probotector in europe: Absolutely brilliant game. Looks a bit naff but my god is it good. Will take a long time to beat due to lots of levels, very high difficulty and 5 endings.
3. Metal Slug: Almost as good as the sequel but just doesn't have as much variety.
4. Psychic Killer Taraomaru (sp?): Hard to find and hidieously expensive. But it is worth it.
5. Revenge of Shinobi: Shinobi at it's best
6. Super Contra: The pinnacle of the contra series on the arcade.
7. Contra shattered soldier: underrated classic. Very hard but very satisfying. The over the top cutscenes are hilarious.
8. Contra 3: 3 great traditional contra levels and 2 pretty naff overhead levels that are only there to show of the mode 7 effects. Still the side scrolling levels are pure gaming bliss.
Can't think of anymore other than Metal Slug X which is just a remix of MS2

I could go on forever but I think 15 is enough. Everybody who loves shmups should trackdown and at most kill to play these games. Anyone who doesn't should play them anyway and find out how misguided they are. A good shmup is the closest any game will get to the purest form of gameplay.

I love my japanese sega saturn

edit: despite having 15 choices I'm bound to have left a classic out.

johnny_ultimate

BlitzKrieg wrote:

gunstar heroes and contra hard corps both rock beyond belief!

how long till retrogamer gets in here listing of the *defitnite* list.

The answer : 22 minutes

Retr0gamer

With 15 of them spent looking through my games collection

Retr0gamer

Just realised i left loads out!

Giga wing should be placed quite high because of the reflective shield system. The god like robotron. I always had a fondness for 19XX and Area 88/Snes UN squardron. Jikkyo Oshaberi Prodius: Forever with me, the funniest shmup ever and also a dam fine game (just like the rest of the parodius games). Saphire for the PC-engine. I think I should stop now.

hamster

Gawd!!! Keep this up Retr0gamer! You really know your shmups! Being a heavy Zzap 64 fan I am amazed that I never really got into these that much. Oh yea while I did play Armalyte, IO, Dropzone, Hawkeye, Bloodmoney, SWIV and Project X.... I never complete any of these! Although I did come close in IO (learned the damn thing!)

But ha! I'm back and I'm organized. Watch out! I got a USB Competition Pro Joystick now! I'm in God Mode.. Bahhahaha!

I'm amazed I never heard the word "Gradius".

Where should I (re)start?

Ok here's some thoughts...

i) A Mame game? (ooooh maybe R-Type?) or a nicer Mame game to try?
ii) C64? Maybe IO or Armalyte?
iii) Amiga? I guess it should be Apidya
iv) Spectrum? what you kidding me? Just joking... maybe Zynaps?
v) Snes (nes) ? I need help here... I didnt have one but what shmup defined the snes?

More suggestions!!! Let keep this going!

One thing about some shmups is that when you die you lost all your power ups! Bah! In Apidya you only lose your most recent which is fair.

monkeyfudge

Nemesis and it's sequel Salamander were great Shoot 'em ups on the C64.

Retr0gamer

i) I'd try Gigawing, Mars Matrix or Dodonpachi. You should definitely play R-type. That game is just godly. Gradius 2 and gradius 3 are also fantastic. 19XX is decent enough and has a great soundtrack. Layer Section is bloody fantastic. It's unfortunate that Radiant Silvergun and the other STV games aren't emulated properly yet.
ii) Armalyte is probably considered the best
iii) Apidya definitely
iv) Hmm... Not sure about that one
v) This one is easy. Axelay. By far the best shmup on the Snes and the best shmup ever until Radiant Silvergun. Still looks gorgeous to this day. Still just as much of a riot to play. May be a bit easy. If you want a challenge ramp it up to hard. Stay well away from easy. Super Aleste is worth a gander as is Area 88/U.N. Squadron and the parodius games. R-type 3 is very good, far superior to the mockery of a GBA port.

I'd like to recommend Gradius Advance/Galaxies to GBA owns. A criminally underrated game in some magazines/websites.

I always wanted an amiga but never had one. Always wanted to try some of the shmups on it especially Project X to see if it is as hard as the Amiga users always moaned it was. Have yet to play Armalyte, for shame. Have to try out some of the msx and PC-Engine only shooters although they are hard to come by. Some great games there such as Sapphire, Gate of Thunder and Lords of Thunder.

Retr0gamer

monkeyfudge wrote:

Nemesis and it's sequel Salamander were great Shoot 'em ups on the C64.

Surprisingly great conversions especially salamander. Pity a few levels had to be left out of the C64 conversion. The arcade games are classics. Nemesis is considered the grandaddy of shmups and yet it is still a great game to play.

Rhyme

R-Type, one of my first gaming memories too... Dublin airport when they had the arcade machines lined up in fron of the book shop

monkeyfudge

Oh.. don't forget the Turrican games on the C64 and the Amiga.

Turrican 2 on the Amiga had some amazing spaceship based shoot 'em up levels. You never knew which way the screen was going to scroll in...

And who remembers the Shoot 'em up Construction Kit? God.... I would spend so many hours making my own games on that thing...

hamster

monkeyfudge wrote:

Oh.. don't forget the Turrican games on the C64 and the Amiga.

Turrican 2 on the Amiga had some amazing spaceship based shoot 'em up levels. You never knew which way the screen was going to scroll in...

And who remembers the Shoot 'em up Construction Kit? God.... I would spend so many hours making my own games on that thing...

Monkeyfudge... can't agree more on Turrican. I never played the original but I played Turrican 2 on the Amiga and it was absolutely fab. So fab infact I hung around and completed. There is a Remake (Turrican 4 the funeral around).

SEUCK on the C64? Yep, I created 3 games with that. Rip offs of course... I preferred creating the push scroll variants to enjoy my creations that bit longer. I remember I made one like a gauntlet prison style push 'em up. Would I play my monsterous creation now? Nada!

hamster

I think I use Mame for this...

It's a roll between salamander, Nemesis and rtype....

d22ontour

The original r-type,turrican,salamander,swiv*.

Swiv being probably one of the 1st multi-player games that really needed the two players to play and not being added for effect.

CiDeRmAn

Loved the following shootemups,
ThunderForce III
ThunderForce IV
Galaga
StarBlade
Greylancer
Rtype III and V
Gradius III
Sidearms
Hellfire
Einhander
Raiden
Raiden 2
Uridium
Sanxion

BLITZ_Molloy

TheAlmightyArse wrote:

A heads-up: Gunbird Special Edition (1 & 2 on one disc) for the PS2 doesn't save your progress, or indeed, your high scores. Which renders it as bad as Square rendered Bowser in Super Mario RPG.

It's a shmup. It isn't meant to save your progress. It's meant to be played in one sitting. Preferably on one credit.

Loads of arcade machines don't save your score. I just write it down or remember it. Would seem a bit of a waste of a memory block really.

TheAlmightyArse

To be fair, PS2 memory cards have 8MB to play around with. Remembering ten numbers and ten rude three-letter words isn't going to be a huge burden. Personally, I can't stand high score games that don't save your high score. What on earth are you supposed to impress the ladies with?

I was just giving you fair warning. Writing down high scores? I hear password saves are where it's at, too.