Best Shoot em up Ports on consoles

[KimagureMachibuse]

Ports of Shoot em ups you consider to be very well done on systems in general

Gokujou Parodius Da Deluxe Pack for the Sega Saturn both games are presented as near arcade perfect conversions The PS1 Version has somewhat frequent load times with Gokujou Parodius


Sexy Parodius for SS/PS1 just like with Parodius Da and Gokujou Parodius are Near Arcade perfect ports for both systems aside from slightly different sound effects in the Sega Saturn version

[subcons]

Obvious answer, but anything M2 ShotTriggers puts out.

[Vexorg]

Technically a computer instead of a console, but it seems like the best non-emulated ports out there of just about anything that was made for it would be the X68000 versions.

[Sengoku Strider]

Technically a computer instead of a console, but it seems like the best non-emulated ports out there of just about anything that was made for it would be the X68000 versions.

This is generally the case, though the X68000 wasn't anything like a console, it was a crazy expensive home computer which sold for the equivalent of $3500 USD today (closer to $4000 before the yen recently tanked). If we're looking at concurrent consoles, the PC Engine in 1988 then the Mega Drive in 1989 (when those platforms respectively started getting their first shooters) were the standard bearers.

The PC Engine's fortunes were famously set sail with a staggeringly excellent port of R-Type, which promptly made it the de facto home for Japanese STGs. I believe it still has the largest shmup library, with over 100 titles.

The Mega Drive being based on the 68000 + Z80 meant it was using the same chips as a lot of arcade hardware, making it very port friendly. It also just had more raw horsepower than the PCE, and was far better at rendering multiple sprites at once without slowing down than the Super Famicom. It's home to some fairly definitive ports, but its lack of popularity in Japan meant its library topped out at around ~50 titles or so.

The Saturn started getting shooters in Japan in 1995, and it more than picked up the slack. While the X68000 was often able to produce "arcade perfect" ports (a term which was a bit more loosely defined back then, as people didn't have emulators or cabs at home to compare), the Saturn is home to a ton of arcade perfect ports, with extra features to boot. There are just a few instances I can think of where it loses out to the PlayStation version: Strikers 1945 II, Kaitei Dasensou/In the Hunt, Dodonpachi (though I would argue this is more debatable than some make it out to be) and Layer Section II. The Saturn absolutely tanking in the West meant its fate was sealed after about 4 years though, so its library just topped 60 odd titles in the end. But it probably has the best concentration of high quality, low latency ports and a fantastic controller. The Virtua Stick is arcade quality too.

The Dreamcast had a moment as a home for small-time publisher shmups, owing to its compatibility with arcade NAOMI hardware, being capable and easy to program for, and Sega not charging much in licensing fees in the system's post-2002 afterlife. But by & large that gen belonged to the PlayStation 2 on all fronts. I'm not sure how many of its ports are fondly remembered though, it seems I'm always reading about latency issues with PS2 ports.

The Xbox 360 tried to corner the Japanese shmup market in the next gen, presumably thinking 1) those were hardcore players who would evangelize, and 2) nobody wanted Xboxes in Japan so they had to take what they could get, and shmups weren't territory Sony or Nintendo cared about fighting for. The 360 saw ports for a number of titles which still have yet to appear elsewhere.

After that, well, PS4 or Switch. 1 less frame of input latency and sometimes a performance edge, vs. portability and a broader library. Take your pick.

[Vexorg]

During the late 90s it seemed that there were derivatives of most of the home consoles in the arcades:

Super Nintendo: Nintendo Super System (not sure I'd count this though since it was basically an SNES in a cabinet with a timed play system like the Playchoice 10)
Genesis: Mega Play (basically the same thing, but at least the games are designed to function as arcade games)
Saturn: ST-V
Playstation: Namco System 11 / 12
Dreamcast: Naomi / Atomiswave
Gamecube: Triforce
Playstation 2: Namco System 236

In most cases, home ports of games from the arcade hardware to the home console are pretty much dead on. The most notable shmup examples of this would probably be games like Soukyuugurentai and Radiant Silvergun on ST-V, and Ikaruga, Giga Wing 2, and Zero Gunner 2 on Dreamcast. A notable non-shmup example would be SoulCalibur, which was released in the arcades on Namco System 12 hardware and then as a Dreamcast launch title with huge graphical improvements.

And then there's the Neo Geo which has basically the same hardware running in the arcades and home consoles, so you can't really call those ports. Neo Geo was significantly more expensive than most home consoles though, and prices for games have gone even more bonkers over the years (I don't even want to know what an AES copy of Metal Slug goes for these days, but I know it's well into five figures.)

In terms of games ported to consoles that weren't their native hardware in the arcade, I've found that ports of CPS2 games to Dreamcast hardware (Mars Matrix and Giga Wing) are pretty good, although CPS2 seems to have been a pretty easy system to port games from.

[To Far Away Times]

^^^
Soul Calibur was probably the biggest possible generation leap after Mario 64. I bought a Dreamcast for that game, and I was not disappointed. Metacritic's 4th highest rated game of all time, and for good reason. Soul Calibur still kinda limps around today after a series of questionable "1 step forward 2 steps back" sequels, but at its peak, Soul Calibur was fucking incredible.

As far as shmups go, Futari was the first one I really did a deep dive into, and it was my introduction to M2, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. Futari has it all. All those screen filters, a good practice mode, replays, and you can even reduce the input lag to be less than the already snappy arcade version... all that paired with a game of that caliber and you've got something really special. Also one of the first region free 360 games, just to sweeten the deal a little more.

[Sengoku Strider]

Soul Calibur was probably the biggest possible generation leap after Mario 64.

This is just me, but I think that while Mario's camera was the best of its time and the controls made excellent use of the analog stick, we had already had Jumping Flash by the time it came out. Not that the two games are on the same level, but it had given us a solid interpretation of the 3D platforming experience.

But to me, personally, Soul Calibur has always felt like the biggest generational leap I've ever seen. Seeing the in-store demo in motion ahead of launch was the biggest 'holy $#!+' moment I can think of out of new hardware. The fluidity the characters moved with was unlike anything we'd ever seen out of previous digital animation, even martial arts movies rarely showed off moves that well. The detail on their clothing & weapons was just mind boggling compared to what we'd seen on PSX. The stages were so alive, animated and spacious. The orchestral soundtrack was ahead of most anything we'd heard out of a video game at that point. The single player mode I'm not sure has ever been equalled to this day in a fighter. And the combat and movement absolutely felt like a paradigmatic leap just as Mario 64 had, it was like, "Why weren't these games doing this from the beginning?"

It just checked every imaginable box you could want.

I think some of the stuff of the current new gen looks absolutely jaw-dropping, but recent generational shifts have kind of been spoiled by the overlap of consoles & PCs. Long gone are the days when a new console would be more powerful than any PC gaming rig out there for a while.

[Steven]

I don't even want to know what an AES copy of Metal Slug goes for these days, but I know it's well into five figures.

The last one was sold for I believe $59,500 USD in April of last year. Or maybe it was April 2 years ago. I don't remember, but it was one of those.

[Rastan78]

RF Aces

[Sima Tuna]

The Live Wire port of Mushihimesama for Switch should get a shout-out. It has the same input latency and performance as on PC/Xbox 360, on a portable console. It is feature-complete in every way.

[Starfighter]

Ports of Shoot em ups you consider to be very well done on systems in general

From a newbie's (I've been away for so long I kind of have to start from the beginning again ) perspective, without knowing anything about accuracy and the small technical details I've been very pleased with the following console ports:

Espgaluda (PS2)
R-Type (PC Engine)
Battle Garegga (Saturn)
Strikers 1945 II (PS1)

To an untrained joystick they feel like the real thing!

[Sengoku Strider]

The Live Wire port of Mushihimesama for Switch should get a shout-out. It has the same input latency and performance as on PC/Xbox 360, on a portable console. It is feature-complete in every way.

I keep waiting for them to announce another wave of titles (and for someone to pick DFK & ESPGaluda II up for physical release :/ ).

Ratalaika is another one. Their two Mega Drive Masaya ports, Gley Lancer & Gynoug, were absolutely top notch. I keep hoping they'll put more out there, maybe even score the Battle Mania license.

[EmperorIng]

It is feature-complete in every way.

Except for online leaderboards?

The way I approach this question is:

-Is the port accurate?
-Does it offer more than just playing the game on mame?

Thus from my experience I'd say, console-wise

-Darius Cozmic Collection/Revelations (Switch/PC) - M2, thinking of just about every feature you could possibly want in a port. Route maps that highlight the number of power-ups per stage were something I would have never thought about but are life-savers
-ESPRaDe Psi (Switch) see above, the new Plus Mode and new character also make for a nice way to play the game

-Under Defeat/Border Down/Strania/Mamorukun - thanks to the different modes and/or abundance of practice options, these g.rev games offer a lot of value, especially given that no one here will EVER play them on their original arcade cabs. G.Rev probably has some of the all-time best practice modes I have seen in shmup ports.

-Psyvariar Delta (Switch/PC) - God-like practice options, touched up visuals, and an all new arrange. This is one of the greatest shmup ports ever created, and it's a shame that CityConnection has never reached this level of quality again. Only one of the genre's most legendarily good games can deserve such a fine effort. You have no idea how critical it is to granularly set up every practice parameter that matters and practice bosses and stages until you master the game.

-Mars Matrix (Dreamcast) - Another legendary game gets a suitably good port. Shops for scrubs like me, multiple arranges, score attacks, options, control configurations... Not to mention changing the scoring and removing the counterstop to improve competitive play. It feels unusual in how good this port was, given the time period. It feels like shmup ports wouldn't really start being something notable on their own for another 7+ years.

-RayStorm/RayCrisis (PS1) - these two ports do some nice things, in Storm's case, a brand new arrange that's pretty fun, and in Crisis, removing the aggravating map system and replacing it with a more intuitive "choose your route" system. Some may balk at the removal of the arcade's strict TLB requirements for a more breezy "1cc" gate.

-Cotton Rock n' Roll (Switch)
This one is kind of a freebie since the game is new, but the training mode options, which let you adjust rank and a bunch of other options shows that the developers actually like and play these games too.

There's plenty of games I like and ports I like that are nonetheless not what I'd call the "best" ports - e.g. Giga Wing 2 is an awesome game I'll never stop recommending, but lack of true stage practice is a drag. Game Tengoku Cruisin' is another good and fun port but rebalanced from the arcade original which may upset people... and it lacks a proper training mode.

[Sengoku Strider]

Game Tengoku Cruisin' is another good and fun port but rebalanced from the arcade original which may upset people... and it lacks a proper training mode.

The port is almost worth getting for the caravan modes alone; I don't have the Saturn release so I'm not sure if/how they're different, but they might be even more fun than the main game. The ships they added to the arcade + mode are cool too, giving Yuki the arcade attendant the Tatsujin ship was wonderful. The Bases Loaded guy is a fun changeup to the game as well, his attack is just swinging his bat to hit the enemies' bullets back at them.

[Vexorg]

Another category to think about here: Games that were made for a console or PC but then got ported to arcade hardware later on. The original version of Dariusburst was made for PSP, and that got ported to Arcade hardware (Dariusburst Another Chronicle,) then that got ported to PS4, Vita and Steam as Dariusburst Chronicle Saviors. And then somewhere in all of that the original PSP version got ported to iOS and Android.

Trouble Witches seems to be a rather odd example of this, where it was originally a Doujin game for PC that later got turned into an arcade release on Taito Type X (and eventually NESICAxLIVE) hardware, which then later got ported to Xbox 360 (Trouble Witches NEO) and back to PC (the Steam version of Trouble Witches Origin) with enhancements over the arcade version. Crimzon Clover appears to be a similar case where the original PC version got released in an arcade version on NESICAxLIVE, then an enhanced version of that got ported back to Steam (and later remastered into a new version for PC and Switch).

That said, it's hard to really call those ports because Taito Type X and NESICAxLIVE are mostly off-the-shelf PC hardware running Windows, so any existing PC code would be running natively anyway.

[BrianC]

The Bases Loaded guy is a fun changeup to the game as well, his attack is just swinging his bat to hit the enemies' bullets back at them.

I like that his name, Homura Banto, is just a pun on an infamous glitch (Home Run Bunt) in the JP version of Bases Loaded.

During the late 90s it seemed that there were derivatives of most of the home consoles in the arcades:

Super Nintendo: Nintendo Super System (not sure I'd count this though since it was basically an SNES in a cabinet with a timed play system like the Playchoice 10)
Genesis: Mega Play (basically the same thing, but at least the games are designed to function as arcade games)
Saturn: ST-V
Playstation: Namco System 11 / 12
Dreamcast: Naomi / Atomiswave
Gamecube: Triforce
Playstation 2: Namco System 236

system 16 has a more complete list. There was actually arcade hardware based off the Jaguar, of all things.

[Sengoku Strider]

There was actually arcade hardware based off the Jaguar, of all things.

Wow, that was the hardware that ran Area 51 & Maximum Force. It might have been more successful than the console.

[davyK]

As far as shmups go, Futari was the first one I really did a deep dive into, and it was my introduction to M2, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. Futari has it all. All those screen filters, a good practice mode, replays, and you can even reduce the input lag to be less than the already snappy arcade version... all that paired with a game of that caliber and you've got something really special. Also one of the first region free 360 games, just to sweeten the deal a little more.

This applies to me too. Futari on 360 got me into bullet hell. Hell of a package. Pity v1.01 is so hard to get hold of though. But with the BL DLC there's plenty to get on with.

[Steven]

There was actually arcade hardware based off the Jaguar, of all things.

And, perhaps more interestingly, dental equipment.

[Super Joe]

Smash TV for the SFC. Superb, more run n gun ?

[Steven]

I just remembered one that is worth mentioning: 1941 Counter Attack on the SuperGrafx is very good.

[John4300]

It is rather controversial topic, but early Konami arcade game ports (From Gradius 1 era) on consoles are usually better than the arcade games themselves.

There are some more arcade close ports on computer systems like X68k, but honestly the "ports", which I would call more like remixed games on NES (For example Gradius, Life Force, Contra and Jackal, there are some exceptions) were rather good for their time gameplay and music wise. Only really graphical detail was worse on those ports.

Some of the early games are interesting and good on their own way on arcade, but for example even if Contra and Super C look pretty interesting on the arcade, I'll rather play the NES ports.

[OmegaFlareX]

Slap Fight MD

[Sengoku Strider]

It is rather controversial topic, but early Konami arcade game ports (From Gradius 1 era) on consoles are usually better than the arcade games themselves.

There are some more arcade close ports on computer systems like X68k, but honestly the "ports", which I would call more like remixed games on NES (For example Gradius, Life Force, Contra and Jackal, there are some exceptions) were rather good for their time gameplay and music wise. Only really graphical detail was worse on those ports.

Some of the early games are interesting and good on their own way on arcade, but for example even if Contra and Super C look pretty interesting on the arcade, I'll rather play the NES ports.

I think most people would agree that the NES versions of Contra & Super C are the definitive ones. I'd wager most fans of those games have never even seen, or possibly even heard of the arcade versions. They just weren't quite as seamlessly designed, and ended up forgotten in the NES games' shadows.

The Gradius clan might get more of an argument out of some people, but I'd cosign that I think the PC Engine versions of those games feel & sound the best. I even prefer the proportions on the ship sprite. Life Force's NES port is another one which completely overshadows its arcade counterpart with its tangled version history. It's not better than the PC Engine version, but they did get the design elements right compared to the arcade.

Gradius III on SNES is another one which has become something of the default version over the arcade, despite its technical faults. It's just a better balanced, more playable game.

[davyK]

Smash TV for the SFC. Superb, more run n gun ?

Great shout. UN Squadron on SNES/SFC is well regarded too.

[EmperorIng]

Life Force's NES port is another one which completely overshadows its arcade counterpart

Only with people who love having two options instead of four.

[BrianC]

Life Force's NES port is another one which completely overshadows its arcade counterpart

Only with people who love having two options instead of four.

FC version has 3 options, IIRC.