BulletMagnet wrote:I figured that he meant "exclusive" in the sense that it wasn't ported to any other home system, seeing, as Tomtom said, the other 2 games mentioned originated in the arcades as well, but were only ported to the Saturn. Perhaps I oughta add an entry for "exclusive" into the Glossary just to clear it up, heh heh.
I figured out that too, I just wanted to be picky
By the way, what are Saturn's real exclusives? I mean, shmups coded expressely for it that don't come from arcades?
Oh, I love the DC. Well, let's say platonic love. I would take Ikaruga DC over the Cube port any day.
It was an impressive hardware years ahead of its times. So much ahead in fact, that many great titles on current systems are born on DC. Skies of Arcadia, to name one.
And, despite not being a shmup, the Dreamcast gave birth to Rez, which easily ranks among my PS2 top five! (right there with MGS2, Ico, Silent Hill 2... and probably MGS3 soon)
It really depends, IMO, on what kind of shmups you like the best. If you like shmups from the 8-bit and 16-bit eras the best, then a NES or SMS, or Genesis may be the best.
For me, the Japanese (or Asian) PS2 is the best out there right now. Why, well because you can play games from 1942, all the way up to ESPgaluda; the PS2 has the best mixture of shmup styles, IMO.
"Farewell to false pretension
Farewell to hollow words
Farewell to fake affection
Farewell, tomorrow burns"
I don't think that this was a bad question to post by any means, but Rob's post and my post just prove more to me that there is no definitive answer to this question. Not that none of us have the same fav. console for shmups, but it's still very much a matter of individual taste.
Still, I do hope that our own descriptions of which console we think is the best and why, help you in your game and console purchasing decisions.
"Farewell to false pretension
Farewell to hollow words
Farewell to fake affection
Farewell, tomorrow burns"
- Sega Genesis (Don't have one, but do have the emulator...)
- Super Nintendo
- Sega Saturn (Played it, but I really need to get one of these...)
- PlayStation 2 (Don't need to list PS1 since PS2 can play PS1 games.)
CMoon wrote:I don't think it is possible to talk about a single console being best for shmups anymore than it is possible to talk about what single food you'd like to eat for the rest of your life.
Word.
However, being a fan of home-made shmups, I'll have to say a Windows machine is my personal favourite as a shmup gaming machine. With Zun's 3 Shrine Maiden shmups, Kenta Cho's fabulous Parsec 47, rRootage and the hilarious Tumiki Fighters, for me a PC with Windows easily beats any console on the shmup field.
As far as I'm concerned of course. There are probably a lot of people vastly preferring commercial shmups before Zun's pieces of work.
Okay, here's how I'd rate shmupping systems. For each one I'm including import as well as US games.
1: NEC Turbo Duo
When you include cartridge and CD games, this one has the largest library of fantastic shmups. I find myself playing more Turbo Duo shmups than for any other systems. Classics like Blazing Lazers, Galaga '88, Super Star Soldier, Final Soldier, Gate of Thunder, Lords of Thunder,and Spriggan make this system a must-have. Beyond those, there's tons of other good, playable shmups.
2: Sega Saturn
Yet another huge shmup library. Soukyugurentai, Thunderforce V, Strikers 1945, Battle Garegga, etc. Lots of collections of older arcade ports, too.
3: Sony Playstation 1/2
When you combine Playstation 1 games like Einhander, Gradius Gaiden, and G Darius with Playstation 2 ones like Espgaluda, Gradius V and R-Type Final, you've got a must-have system. If they keep cranking out Playstation 2 shmups, this one might climb up higher on the list.
4: MSX 1/2
As a Compile fan, this one is a must-have too. Lots of Compile goodness like Aleste 1 and 2 as well as Zanac. Konami made a bunch of games for the system, too, and often added extras that the arcade originals didn't have.
5: Sega Genesis/Sega CD
More Compile excellence with MUSHA and Robo Aleste, plus must-haves like Thunderforce 2-4. Also stuff like Gaiares, Hellfire, Steel Empire, etc.
6: Sega Dreamcast
Too bad the latest games for this guy have been weak, but it still has a decent library. Ikaruga, Border Down, Mars Matrix, Shikigami no shiro 2, Gunbird 2, all classics.
7: X68000
I might rate this one higher after I have more experience with it. The main selling point is a bunch of arcade perfect Konami shmups. There's a bunch of other shmups for the thing, but I'll have to play them before I know if they're any good, of course.
8: NES
I think this guy is under rated by a lot of people, possibly because it's totally eclipsed by the TG-16. But you've got Compile shmups like Zanac and Gun Nac, a few Konami shooters like Gradius and Life Force, and a bunch of older shmups as well.
9: Neo Geo
Sonic Wings 2, Blazing Star, Pulstar, Last Resort. 'Nuff said.
10: SNES
I've never liked the SNES much. But it does have Super Aleste, Gradius III, R-Type III, Sagaia, and Axelay.
11: Sega Master System/Game Gear
Good port of R-Type with some extras, as well as Aleste 1 and 2. That's pretty much all this guy has going for it. Worth it for a Compile fan, though.
I would say a modded PS2 since then you can play all your PSX shmups and all current PS2 Shmups and upcoming games. Right now the only games i'm hoping for is Raiden Fighter,Raiden Fighter 2 and Raiden Fighter Jet Combo pack for PS2 or DC, i'm kind of getting tired of bullet crazy games like Espagulda, and Musishima, but Ibara looks fine to me. ALso i really like Vipher Phase 1 that was a good shmup game, damn you Seibu Kaihatsou
Blue Lander wrote:
8: NES
I think this guy is under rated by a lot of people, possibly because it's totally eclipsed by the TG-16. But you've got Compile shmups like Zanac and Gun Nac, a few Konami shooters like Gradius and Life Force, and a bunch of older shmups as well.
^This! Stinger in the early 90's messed me up. The NES did have an amazing library for better(GunNac) or worse (Silver Surfer). If your stateside it's still a great place to start console wise. Not to mention it's the home of the first Yagawa shump(Recca, not counting Laserfight), Birthplace of caravan shooting(Star Soldier?),and the amazing rank system of Zanac. Easy to overlook, but impossible to deny the pedigree of the NES/Famicom. Surely there are a few people in the forums whose first arcade stick was the NES Advantage?
Food for thought: before the necrobump, the last time this thread had been posted in was before the Xbox 360 was released.
NTSC-J:You know STGs are in trouble when you have threads on how to introduce them to a wider audience and get more people playing followed by threads on how to get its hardcore fan base to play them, too. 1CCs | Twitch | YouTube
And in those 13 years, quite a few things have happened.
PC, for example, has regained its rightful throne of gaming in all categories and all styles...
I'd choose Windows PC above any other console or system today, as a beefy system can play basically any console games well up to at least Dreamcast/PS2 gen, with many, many native titles to boot...
Shepardus wrote:Food for thought: before the necrobump, the last time this thread had been posted in was before the Xbox 360 was released.
I noticed that yesterday, and it's an interesting observation. Here's the thing, though: it's a very subjective perspective. If, by "best" console, one means the console or platform with the most shmups, that can be objectively measured. But "best" is always going to be in the eye of the player, as it pertains to the game selection itself. One might feel a console is best with fewer games in the genre, because they prefer those games to others. Or one might like the 360 most because they're a big CAVE fan. I tend to lean toward the 16 and 32-bit eras, because that gives me the best combination of classic shooters, then-modern games, and the up-coming trend of danmaku, so I can dip my toe in the water, but not have to go completely in that direction. I just think "best" is a moving target, both from the standpoint that the landscape is always changing, but also because we don't all have identical taste in our STGs.
Saturn , Dreamcast , PSX , PS2 , PS4 , Switch , and Xbox 360 are the ones I play the most. If I was to pick one it would be the Xbox 360 with the amount of ports and Cave shmups you can play.
A Hardcore gamers reaction to the Lack of Kinect games.Apparently i could of played Dodonpachi with it if i beat a entirely in Japanese Visional Novel piece of shit game called Instant Brain
Nowadays, assuming you can hook it up a CRT via proper lead, a soft-modded Wii quite contests that (been my most used stationary console of late, out of sheer convenience rather than all those emulated shmups on it, but its "borrowed" shmups alone make for one beefy library of games).
The rear gate is closed down
The way out is cut off
Japanese PS2 is the best, considering its own library and also backward compatibility with PS1/PSX shmups, allowing to play through the PS2 hardware several PS1/PSX shmups with improvements (use of component video cable, smoothed textures).
In second position Saturn and PS1/PSX;
In third position Dreamcast, PC Engine/TG-16 and Xbox 360;
