results: Top 25 Shmups of All Time (through 2004)

MovingTarget · Post by **MovingTarget** » Mon May 02, 2005 1:32 am

Its not like this top 25 IS fact, its a poll... It shows the top 25 most popular games of the shmups forum members.

Sounds obvious but I just thought some people might need a lil reminder

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Mon May 02, 2005 1:43 am

I don't see anything wrong with preferring R-Type I & Delta over II and esp. over Leo and Final.

Or DX over 1, 2, and the Fighters.

It'd be boring if everyone felt the same way. I agree with less than half the games on there yet you don't see me questioning other people's tastes.

WarpZone · Post by **WarpZone** » Mon May 02, 2005 2:13 am

I'm not surprised to see DoDonPachi lead the list once again. It's not my favorite shooter (or even favorite Cave shooter), but I've spent more time with it in the last year and can understand its popularity more than I used to. It's also Cave's most accessible game (in terms of platforms its been released on) and really set a benchmark for future titles, so that probably explains some of it too.

However, I was surprised to see Gradius V take the third slot, despite that it would have some built-in popularity being a fairly new game that made it to North America and Europe. Even years after release, Treasure's other shooters typically land very highly on the charts- it'll be interesting to see if Gradius V does the same.

alpha5099 · Post by **alpha5099** » Mon May 02, 2005 2:17 am

It's interesting to see how similar and how different these results are to shmup.com's Hall of Fame.

http://shmup.com/?page=stat

That site just has people vote on each of the games, I think a lot of those results are just fanboys giving the games they love 10s over and over again. It's odd to see how that list is constantly changing. It used to be DoDonPachi and Radiant Silvergun as the undisputed kings of that list. Sometime last year, Rayforce got some amazing momentum and got to number 1. Now, the ThunderForce series controls the top 3.

Considering how subjective that list is, I actually think I prefer the results of the Hall of Fame to our Top 25. It contains a broader range of shmups from different eras, with far more old games on the list than what we're seeing. If only they wouldn't include rail shooters on the list.

LoneSage · Post by **LoneSage** » Mon May 02, 2005 2:48 am

alpha5099 wrote:
What do you mean "not on the list"? It's number 6.

I didn't see it up there before

I'm satisfied.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Mon May 02, 2005 2:50 am

I'm not satisfied that a game with a level as awful as Cerberus gets the number 6 spot.

LoneSage · Post by **LoneSage** » Mon May 02, 2005 3:01 am

I played through it last night, along with TF4, and hot damn TF4 is eye candy...but I just hate how in TF4 you have such a wide vertical stretch. It's annoying.

TF3 4 lyfe.

Dartagnan1083 · Post by **Dartagnan1083** » Mon May 02, 2005 3:16 am

I was annoyed by how short, simple, and easy TF3 was. I beat it without any real problems to speak of.

Sure, the vertical range in TF4 is annoying, but it ruins nothing IMO.

And besides, this thread is little more than mass consensus.
So it won't matter if you hate treasure or if I don't Love Irem.

Post by **Ghegs** » Mon May 02, 2005 5:28 am

MovingTarget wrote:Its not like this top 25 IS fact, its a poll... It shows the top 25 most popular games of the shmups forum members.

Sounds obvious but I just thought some people might need a lil reminder

Aye, this be true. "Blahblah, whinewhine, why isn't my favourite game up there, that game doesn't deserve to be listed, there isn't enough DC/Saturn/Amiga-shmups in it"

SheSaidDutch · Post by **SheSaidDutch** » Mon May 02, 2005 11:09 am

Ghegs wrote:
MovingTarget wrote:Its not like this top 25 IS fact, its a poll... It shows the top 25 most popular games of the shmups forum members.

Sounds obvious but I just thought some people might need a lil reminder
Aye, this be true. "Blahblah, whinewhine, why isn't my favourite game up there, that game doesn't deserve to be listed, there isn't enough DC/Saturn/Amiga-shmups in it"

I agree also. sure I'm not a fan of some of the games listed, but everyone has a different opinion

shmup-o · Post by **shmup-o** » Mon May 02, 2005 3:46 pm

This just goes to show how out of touch I am with the Shmups community. Seems to me that a lot of people are voting popularity over game play.

Guardians Knight · Post by **Guardians Knight** » Mon May 02, 2005 4:03 pm

nice work on the whole thing Nullstar, you have been very thorough.

Disappointed that Ikaruga is so high - not a good exemplar of the shoot em up genre in terms of gameplay mechanics imho. more like puzzeller than shooter, but i guess we've had this debate plenty so i'll let it lie.

SheSaidDutch · Post by **SheSaidDutch** » Mon May 02, 2005 4:04 pm

shmup-o wrote:This just goes to show how out of touch I am with the Shmups community. Seems to me that a lot of people are voting popularity over game play.

I dont really think so myself, just what some people prefer in those particular games.

MadSteelDarkness · Post by **MadSteelDarkness** » Mon May 02, 2005 4:09 pm

Ghegs wrote:
MovingTarget wrote:Its not like this top 25 IS fact, its a poll... It shows the top 25 most popular games of the shmups forum members.

Sounds obvious but I just thought some people might need a lil reminder
Aye, this be true. "Blahblah, whinewhine, why isn't my favourite game up there, that game doesn't deserve to be listed, there isn't enough DC/Saturn/Amiga-shmups in it"

Exactly. Guys, this is democracy. No two people, much less the 55 that voted, will ever agree 100% on the same list. Relax...

Besides, isn't it cooler to like a game/record/movie that isn't considered popular with the mainstream? Ya know, that great little gem that only you and a handful of others can appreciate? Mebbe it's just me...

This just goes to show how out of touch I am with the Shmups community. Seems to me that a lot of people are voting popularity over game play.

I don't think that's accurate at all. All the games on the list, honorable mentions included, have really good gameplay, IMO.

EDIT: A prediction for next year: Dragon Blaze will be in the top 25. I know a lot of guys, including myself, got their copy of Psikyo Shooting Collection vol. 3 after the voting was finished. This is a fantastic game and deserves to be up there with Gunbird 2. But hey, who knows.

If Mushihime Sama gets a decent port, I'm guessing that'll be on the list as well.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Mon May 02, 2005 4:34 pm

Hey Nullstar, any chances of you showing us the whole list, with the score of all games voted?

I am just curious too see how many points each game got, what position Space Manbow ended up, etc...

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Mon May 02, 2005 4:55 pm

I'll hop on the "aww, there aren't enough old games on the list" boat. Yeah, I guess I should have voted.

One other random comment: out of 55 or so people, that many of them actually have Radiant Silvergun? I didn't think that many people here had it.

shmup-o · Post by **shmup-o** » Mon May 02, 2005 5:58 pm

Old school vs new school: only one top 25 game (R-Type) was released on an 8-bit console. Only two were released for 16-bit consoles. (Compare with nine 16-bitters on the 2002 list. Every one of them is still on the Honorable Mention list, however.)

This is what I'm talking about. A drop of 7 16-bit games from the Top 25 and I can't name 7 games that have come out since then that should take these out.

shmup-o · Post by **shmup-o** » Mon May 02, 2005 6:01 pm

bloodflowers wrote:I think year on year, the older home computer and console titles are going to vanish from the voting. New people to the genre won't remember them, plain and simple - and will most likely get their older game exposure through MAME.

Exactly.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Mon May 02, 2005 6:11 pm

Consider that maybe 16-bit games aren't good enough to mentioned alongside modern games. Can you really say 16-bit console games are deeper, more challenging, have more finely honed design and more replay value than modern games?

Nuke · Post by **Nuke** » Mon May 02, 2005 6:37 pm

Yes

SPACE HARRIER · Post by **SPACE HARRIER** » Mon May 02, 2005 6:57 pm

In the "honorable mention" list I see BLAZING STAR!!
Where the HELL is PULSTAR!! It's much better than blazing star.
There is always the year 2006!!!

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Mon May 02, 2005 7:09 pm

Nuke wrote:Yes

Like what?

raiden · Post by **raiden** » Mon May 02, 2005 7:40 pm

SPACE HARRIER wrote:In the "honorable mention" list I see BLAZING STAR!!
Where the HELL is PULSTAR!! It's much better than blazing star.

no, it´s not.

MadSteelDarkness · Post by **MadSteelDarkness** » Mon May 02, 2005 10:46 pm

Rob wrote:
Nuke wrote:Yes
Like what?

Soldier Blade

. And that one's technically an 8-bit shmup.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Mon May 02, 2005 10:53 pm

Like Super Aleste, MUSHA, Soldier Blade, Gynoug, Apidya, Space Manbow, Battle Squadron, Gynoug, Gokujyou Parodius, Zanac, Aleste 2, R-Type 3, Axelay, Recca, Thunder Force 3 & 4, Truxton 1 & 2 ...

I think that's enough. Even throw some EIGHT bits games there.

I think the case is that the older games just get less and less exposition over time.

How many people who voted actually played FOR MORE THAN FIVE minutes (That's one reason why emulation sucks) most of the titles I've mentioned above?

Of course, not all of them are top 25 material, but most of them are, and they are all great games (All of them are better than Radiant Silvergun at least, IMO

)

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Mon May 02, 2005 11:27 pm

Soldier Blade, any Compile game, TF3, Gynoug, etc.? Are you kidding me??? I used words like challenging and finely honed.

Do you think the developers of Gynoug fretted over how many waves of 5 generic enemies before moving onto the next set of generic waves? Anyone can design levels like those!

Compile's games are about as challenging as the average ship select screen in a modern shooter.

Nuke · Post by **Nuke** » Mon May 02, 2005 11:51 pm

You like Gigawing Generations. Nuff said.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Mon May 02, 2005 11:55 pm

Damn right I do! Gameplay is rock solid.

Nuke · Post by **Nuke** » Tue May 03, 2005 12:00 am

Yup, and I would play Gaiaries, ThunderForce III and IV, MUSHA, Gradius I and II, Darius I and II, Air Buster, Parodius.... etc, etc, over that pile of crap any day. And they were all deeper, more challenging, have more finely honed design and more replay value than GWG.

Note, I'm being sarcastic. Just because you like the modern stuff more it doesnt mean it's necisarily better.
Aside from Graphics and sound obviusly but that does not matter that much to some of us oldies

alpha5099 · Post by **alpha5099** » Tue May 03, 2005 12:20 am

This isn't a matter of "fine tuned gameplay" or "challenge". It all boils down to personal tastes. Some of us prefer old games. Rob obviously doesn't. But it has nothing to do with, as you seem to be insistent upon, the "fact" that the games of the 16-bit era were poorly designed. You're just looking for different things from your shmup experience than we are.

Incidentally, challenging: Image Fight and Undead Line come to mind.

shmups.system11.org

results: Top 25 Shmups of All Time (through 2004)

Re: Older console representation