9th Annual Top 25 Shmups of All Time - Results

[Bee Cool]

One is a quote from an imaginary man.

But it is the essence of the argument presented by people who want to have rules restricting votes are making. Saying a list that does not fit their criteria implies too little experience (and who knows what sufficient experience) is a huge leap in logic. Why would we want a list where people are forced to pick some games from the 80's that they hate? It makes no sense. It would be just as bad if we forced somebody to have a least one Takumi and one Raizing game in their list, if they absolutely hated modern style shmups. All we are doing is creating a poll that will produce results that make the rule creators happy. Deciding who is worthy of voting or enforcing rules change how someone can vote fundamentally alters what the poll was ostensibly designed for, to take a snap shot of the board's taste each year.

[Rob]

But it is the essence of the argument

No, it's really not.

[Bee Cool]

Care to explain your reasoning then? Writing one line responses that don't contribute or that are just flippant doesn't make a good case.

[Zombisaurus]

Out of the games on this list, which are good for a relative newcomer to play? (That person being me.

Im thinking Gradius V, Mushihimesama Futari, and maybe one or two more to get a better broad taste of the genre.

Any thoughts? (360/PS3/PS2 preferred)

[Mortificator]

Batsugun Special and the original Espgaluda are great introductions to bullet hell games. R-Type is one of the finest terrain-based horizontal shooters, and Gradius V is one of the fanciest. Raiden DX is an excellent example of the Toaplan/Raiden style of old-school vertical shooters. And of the Psikyo games listed, Strikers 1945 II is probably the easiest to get into.

[Jeneki]

I'd also suggest Raiden Fighters and Deathsmiles from that list as learning tools. Both have highly adjustable difficulty, and are reasonably cheap on 360.

In the Raiden Fighters games, you can independently adjust bullet density, speed, etc. Start low and work your way up. It will also give you a taste of a several scoring systems found in other games (quick kills, medal chaining, simultaneous kills, secrets, etc).

In Deathsmiles, you can adjust the difficulty of each level. Start them all on level 1, then when one particular stage seems too easy, turn up the difficulty on just that one stage. Repeat until you can clear them all at level 3. Only add in the extra stage when you feel more confident (it has a serious difficulty spike).

[trap15]

Oh, for the record, I do think Bee Cool is right. Limits on a list of your favorites, aside from how many in total there are, is completely absurd. However, I do agree with the idea that if your top 25 is almost entirely CAVE, you're probably Doing It Wrong (tm).

[Drum]

I remember making a personal rule last year to not put a single Cave game on my list. I remember this making Bee Cool very, very, very angry. I don't know why - if I'd put some Cave games on I would've just picked the bad ones!

[To Far Away Times]

Out of the games on this list, which are good for a relative newcoming to play? (That person being me.

Im thinking Gradius V, Mushihimesama Futari, and maybe one or two more to get a better broad taste of the genre.

Any thoughts? (360/PS3/PS2 preferred)

IMO, Deathsmiles is the ultimate beginner game. It has adjustable difficulty levels per stage, and its pretty much designed with shmup newbies in mind. It should be pretty cheap these days, probably around $15 new.

[Bee Cool]

I remember making a personal rule last year to not put a single Cave game on my list. I remember this making Bee Cool very, very, very angry. I don't know why - if I'd put some Cave games on I would've just picked the bad ones!

You have a poor memory. I wasn't mad about the list, I was disturbed by you just yelling out of the blue that you wanted to vote simply because you don't want to choose Cave games (which is a strange reason, regardless of developer) and then acting like I'm a bully because I wanted to know why. It eventually ended up with you saying: 'because I'm a trolling dick' and then blabbering on about how I'm mad at you and that you dislike Quake III and how I must be upset by it.

Most of your responses are just calling me mad.

[Drum]

oh, ok

[Rob]

fundamentally alters what the poll was ostensibly designed for, to take a snap shot of the board's taste each year.

No one wants to take this snapshot anymore, so maybe altering it a bit is a good idea.

[chempop]

I say we remove Batrider, maybe the price will go down a bit.

[chum]

I for one am excited to see a top list by the current members of this community. Who knows, maybe there will be 12 Cave games this time around, rather than 11?

[Jeneki]

I say we remove Batrider, maybe the price will go down a bit.

Hmm ... That's not a bad idea. Next time we have one of these, I'm voting straight Soldner-X.