10th Annual Top 25 Shmups of All Time - Results

[Herr Schatten]

Frankly, I'm horrified to see that Dangun Feveron almost made the top 25.

[louisg]

Frankly, I'm horrified to see that Dangun Feveron almost made the top 25.

It's probably not one of Cave's best, but with 2 players it's bliss. And it's the one and only disco-themed shooter. Personally, I really like the pacing of it. It feels pretty Toaplan.

But yeah, I don't think it's top-25 material.

[EmperorIng]

Frankly, I'm horrified to see that Dangun Feveron almost made the top 25.

Possible proof that shmups forum only plays cave games and can't compare them to other shooters?

[Tyranix95]

WoW! More people voted for Mars Matix, Giga Wing, and Dimahoo than Progear.

You know what it is: It's the Dreamcast. Shmupers dig the Dreamcast.

I bet if either of those two games got a DC port then the'd be on the T25 right now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dreamcast_games

.....
010. Mars Matrix (DC/AC) : 3.430243 31 1.552401
.....
019. Giga Wing (DC) : 2.961078 28 1.252567
.....
044. Progear no Arashi : 1.780470 18 0.671022
045. Dimahoo / Great Mahou Daisakusen : 1.777383 19 0.597083
.....

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

Frankly, I'm horrified to see that Dangun Feveron almost made the top 25.

Possible proof that shmups forum only plays cave games and can't compare them to other shooters?

You've been here 8 months. You should know the drill by now.

[Rob]

I bet if either of those two games got a DC port then the'd be on the T25 right now.

MAME. It's 2013.

[ST Dragon]

By the way, I couldn’t help but notice from the list...

Robot Dinosaurs That Shoot Beams When They Roar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbgOBNHoT48

Space Phallus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrJUYCEFo5Q

Ahahahha!! And I thought I had seen / played everything! It even has multi-layered parallax scrolling!

It only makes you wonder what kind of sick psychopathic chaps create, title, play & vote such games! I love em!!

And one vote for Sky Kid shmup, I could bet money on who voted for this…

[Jeneki]

Gratz to Gradius Gaiden for being the only top-25 game that doesn't have an arcade release.

[louisg]

I bet if either of those two games got a DC port then the'd be on the T25 right now.

MAME. It's 2013.

Yeah, they're MAMEd. Home ports do increase the likelihood of someone voting though. I personally don't vote for games I don't own.

I was hoping Dimahoo would get a home port. I would've rather had that than GigaWing 2!

[EmperorIng]

Nonsense. According to the list, Giga Wing 2 is [rightly] one of the best shmups ever made!

@SlyCherry:

A stranger in a strange land, indeed.

[louisg]

Nonsense. According to the list, Giga Wing 2 is [rightly] one of the best shmups ever made!

No way! It's like if you took GigaWing 1, added tons of slowdown, and then ran out of budget halfway through designing the last levels. Of course, Dimahoo is like if you took Sorcer Striker and added lots of super-cheap/memorizey bullet patterns in the last levels and a collection mechanic that's a huge PITA I still love it though.

[Mortificator]

The original Mahou's definitely the strong one. The third game just sticks in collection and co-op elements, neither of which are very interesting. Oh, and Great has an announcer and fancier graphics (though sometimes at the expense of backgrounds.... you fly through a lot of clouds).

[Tyranix95]

I bet if either of those two games got a DC port then the'd be on the T25 right now.

MAME. It's 2013.

Ugh... mame... America's new arcade.

The original Mahou's definitely the strong one. The third game just sticks in collection and co-op elements, neither of which are very interesting. Oh, and Great has an announcer and fancier graphics (though sometimes at the expense of backgrounds.... you fly through a lot of clouds).

I love the announcer and the fancy graphics.

Hey, all the clouds are on Lv2. Get past Lv2. Then you'll be great. /

[MrOldSchoolCool]

I think it's pretty impressive that the original R-Type continues to make a list that mostly includes games from the current and previous gen. There's a lot of awesome games from the 16-bit gen that should be here instead of some of the Dreamcast games that made it. Look at me with a straight face and tell me that Gunbird 2 is better than MUSHA, Thunder Force IV, Gate of Thunder, and Lords of Thunder.

[Rob]

Look at me with a straight face and tell me that Gunbird 2 is better than MUSHA,

A straight face would indeed be impossible to maintain due to uncontrollable urge to belly laugh at the implication that it isn't. I have a ridiculous love for Mega Drive games just for being Mega Drive games, but still - the game is little but a graphics/music showcase. While Gunbird 2 is a fast and brutal game that can keep a person coming back for years just to complete it (short as it is). It's also not too shabby looking. Thunder Force IV stands above the other games mentioned, but I can still see why it wouldn't rank above 25+ arcade releases.

[Kollision]

MUSHA is overrated.
Especially that grinding music.

[EmperorIng]

Musha has the same problem that Space Megaforce had for me - really long levels with not a lot going on.
It's decent, but it's hard to get an urge to play it more than once a blue moon.

(still smoldering that DG and Rayforce didn't make the cut)

[louisg]

MUSHA is overrated.
Especially that grinding music.

Yeah, I'm a huge fan of oldschool shooters, even easy ones, but MUSHA just doesn't do it for me. It's much too easy, even compared to most other Compile shooters or games like Thunderforce III, and even on "hard" difficulty. My biggest issue with it is that it's a top view game where you can shoot down almost all of the shots, IIRC. I think all it really has going for it are cool graphics and atmosphere.

I do like the soundtrack, though.

But then again, I don't care for GunBird 2, either I may even have to go for MUSHA over that.

On the subject of console-exclusive shooters, I still think Nexzr doesn't get the attention it deserves.

(still smoldering that DG and Rayforce didn't make the cut)

Seriously! We get Souky but not RayForce? That's like a best-platformers list where you get Bubsy but not Sonic.

[MrOldSchoolCool]

Look at me with a straight face and tell me that Gunbird 2 is better than MUSHA,

A straight face would indeed be impossible to maintain due to uncontrollable urge to belly laugh at the implication that it isn't. I have a ridiculous love for Mega Drive games just for being Mega Drive games, but still - the game is little but a graphics/music showcase. While Gunbird 2 is a fast and brutal game that can keep a person coming back for years just to complete it (short as it is). It's also not too shabby looking. Thunder Force IV stands above the other games mentioned, but I can still see why it wouldn't rank above 25+ arcade releases.

You know, I get really conflicting opinions on which era and which shmups people consider the best. I've heard that the 16-bit era (even arcade games to come out around then) are the best, then I hear it's all about Cave. Then I hear it's all about Raizing and Battle Garegga is God. Then I hear Battle Garegga is a visual mess and the rank system is stupid because it punishes you for doing well.

So what is it? I get the impression that the shmup genre is just really subjective with what people's favorites are.

[Squire Grooktook]

I agree MUSHA is over-rated. It's still a fantastic game though. I like the sense of simplicity. It's got a big hitbox, but it's not super memorization heavy, you mostly just try to keep focused and not let anything slip by and hit you. In fact it's more like a Gradius game where most of your game overs come from ending up in a brutal recovery.

Musha has the same problem that Space Megaforce had for me - really long levels with not a lot going on.

What.

Space Megaforce has some of the most intense, diverse, and epic stages in any shmup. I can't even fathom anyone saying that.

Unless you were playing on Normal difficulty, in which case the game is a ghost town where everything dies way too fast.

You gotta play it on Wild or Tricky. Space Megaforce becomes THE hypest shit on higher difficulties. Just playing the first stage alone on those difficulties immediately hooked me. And playing further did not disappoint.

So what is it? I get the impression that the shmup genre is just really subjective with what people's favorites are.

Just like every genre ever amirite.

[Mortificator]

You know, I get really conflicting opinions on which era and which shmups people consider the best. I've heard that the 16-bit era (even arcade games to come out around then) are the best, then I hear it's all about Cave. Then I hear it's all about Raizing and Battle Garegga is God. Then I hear Battle Garegga is a visual mess and the rank system is stupid because it punishes you for doing well.

The broad quality of game design isn't really subjective. R-Type is better designed than R-Type Final. Gradius Gaiden is better designed than Gradius III. Those aren't opinions.

Where subjectivity comes in is when you ask if R-Type is better than Gradius Gaiden. They take very different approaches, so a person's answer is going to be influenced by which style he likes more. In fact, there are people who love Gradius-style horis yet don't enjoy R-Type games at all, and vice versa.

Since horis and verts are some of the most developed genres, at least a dozen distinct styles of shooter have take form. I would encourage you to try some of the best games in various styles and see which ones click with you.

[dannnnn]

The broad quality of game design isn't really subjective. R-Type is better designed than R-Type Final. Gradius Gaiden is better designed than Gradius III. Those aren't opinions.

I think you'll find they are, the latter of which I couldn't disagree with more.

[Squire Grooktook]

SNES Gradius III is hot stuff.

[Kollision]

And while we're on MUSHA, am I the only who thinks that mecha looks like a beetle?

(one of the reasons I much prefer the design in Robo Aleste )

[BIL]

Then I hear Battle Garegga is a visual mess and the rank system is stupid because it punishes you for doing well.

Whoever you heard that from is retarded. If the rank is punishing you, you're not doing well at all.

So what is it? I get the impression that the shmup genre is just really subjective with what people's favorites are.

One of this genre's biggest strengths is its housing a wealth of diverse game styles and systems within the same no-nonsense framework. It's better to observe the various fan followings and decide which you fit in with best.

[Herr Schatten]

The broad quality of game design isn't really subjective. R-Type is better designed than R-Type Final. Gradius Gaiden is better designed than Gradius III. Those aren't opinions.

I think you'll find they are, the latter of which I couldn't disagree with more.

Care to elaborate what makes you think that G3 is better than GG? I'm with Mortificator all the way on this one. Please don't mistake my post as a trolling attempt. I'm really curious to hear your arguments.

[Eaglet]

Then I hear Battle Garegga is a visual mess and the rank system is stupid because it punishes you for doing well.

Whoever you heard that from is retarded. If the rank is punishing you, you're not doing well at all.

Yeah, this is probably the biggest misconception about Garegga.
The rank system is part of the game system and doing well at the game includes managing rank in the way that you want.
If you're just flailing about aimlessly and refusing to acknowledge rank and doing all the retarded things most newbs do (picking up every single power-up, mashing buttons, bombing everything, powering up through small shot power-ups and continually losing your medal chain) then yes, the game will kick you in the balls.
In the same way that GB2 will kick you in the balls if you don't point-blank and C-hit the big bastard enemies.
All part of playin' da game~

[Muchi Muchi Spork]

WoW! More people voted for Mars Matix, Giga Wing, and Dimahoo than Progear.

Because it's trendy right now to hate on Cave and say some other obscure shooters are better in an attempt to act like you're the elite shumpper knowing something other people don't when in reality just about everyone has tried everything else and just prefer Cave games because they are more fun.

[ChainsawGuitarSP]

>Mars Matix
>Giga Wing
>Dimahoo
>Obscure

Man, you're a freaking idiot loling so hard over here.

[EmperorIng]

I've played Giga Wing and I've played Progear, and Progear is no Giga Wing.