shmups.system11.org

Well, I love Demon Attack, so you finally got me!

Haha, yeah, I saw that you jumped in! Thanks for coming over and participating. I hope to see some good scores this month

Spider Fighter, brings back some memories Super fast game

Never did anything like this but Im liking the concept. Im much more of a console shmupper than arcade , so this is up my alley.

Is that your patch? I didn't know about the Activision patches until just a few years ago, but it was kind of a cool idea that, unfortunately, followed with the decline of the US gaming industry in 1983.

@Gamer707b - You're welcome to jump in and join us - plenty of December left

Am afraid not ( shamelessly stolen from interweb ) Brilliant idea IMO, reward players who achieved 40K score in the game. I love stuff like this .

I do too! I actually thought about buying one of those last night, because I managed to almost hit 100K on the "expert" difficulty switch level, but those patches aren't cheap.

Nostalgia don't come cheap! great score btw, you just need another 800k to freeze the scorecard

Thanks! I managed to squeeze out a little over 141K a couple days ago. I know it's possible to score a lot higher, but I'm pretty happy with that at the moment, given how quickly I progressed.

Bump to announce the January 2019 game - Lightening Force, aka Thunder Force IV! Yes, I finally get to gush about my favorite shooter of all time, and spend an entire month focusing on it, then podcast about it later

Sign-up/discussion thread:
http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index ... ic=18881.0

I totally forgot to update this thread, but the game of the month for February is Zanac! All versions are available, and we'll even be discussing Zanac NEO, so any fans should stop over and take a look!

http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index ... ic=18934.0

I watched your stream on Zanac the other day, man that game is relentless.

Thanks for watching! Yes, it definitely has frenetic pacing for much of the game. One interesting thing is that it has a level of adaptive difficulty, to where your sub-weapon choice affects what enemies you'll encounter, to a certain degree. It can drastically change the way the game plays.

yes, I noticed that. it's almost like a strategy game where power ups can actually be your downfall .

Do you play these game on the original hardware ?

I remember the game getting super angry whenever I picked the frontal shield (which should be weapon 2).
However, Weapon 7 doesn't drastically boost the enemy agressiveness even though it can cancel bullets and it very useful overall.

Have you tried the SPECIAL mode in Zanac X Zanac, by the way? It is Zanac, but harder. if you haven't had your fill of the game after clearing its regular version, you may want to try this one!

Also, there's Zanac Neo which is a fantastic game, and definitely worth checking out. If you like the Compile style, you'll enjoy it. But what's really great is that you can have fun with it even if you don't actually like other Compile shmups.

Yes, i'm playing Zanac on my original NES, and piping that through a RetroTINK 2X, so I can get it to my capture card, and into OBS Studio for streaming. And I'm using my NES Advantage, of course



I will be exploring Zanac NEO this month as well, and probably streaming a little of that later in the month. I know that Zanac X Zanac also includes the FDS and MSX versions of the game, so I'll probably mess around with those a bit, to see if there are any drastic differences between them, so I can speak to those more directly on the resulting podcast as well. Also: Zanac but harder? Yikes.

That's pretty cool, nice set up.It's great to see these games in their original form

Get ready for insane bullet hell action, with the March selection for the RF Generation Shmup Club! We'll be taking a look at our very first "danmaku" game, otherwise known as the "bullet hell" variety of shoot-em-ups. Often considered to be the hardest segment of shooting games out there, danmaku shmups were initially kicked off with the final Toaplan title, Batsugun, and popularized by now-legendary Japanese developers, CAVE. With many indie developers having been influenced by Japan's masters of bullet hell style, it was only a matter of time before we began to see independent games take on the CAVE juggernaut with new takes on the formulas laid out by DoDonPachi, Ketsui, and Mushihimesama. Enter indie developer Yotsubane, and their highly lauded title, Crimzon Clover.

Initially released in 2011 on PC, the game later received a version for the NESiCAxLive arcade platform just 2 years later. The game saw a worldwide release on Steam and GOG toward the end of 2014, with the updated PC version having been re-titled Crimzon Clover: World Ignition. Taking a page from not only the CAVE school of design, but also calling upon earlier titles with lock-on mechanics, such as RayForce or Soukyugurentai Otokuyo, aka Terra Diver, the game employs a lock-on system, where you can create a field around your ship, and target enemies that come into proximity with you. This factors into the scoring multiplier system, and is a key mechanic in the game. The other key mechanic is the "Break" system. As you play the game, the Break gauge fills up. When activated via a bomb, your ship has temporary invincibility, your firepower is increased, and your score multiplier is higher. It also means your Break meter will fill back up faster, giving you the ability to stack up for a Double Break. It all adds up to an interesting scoring system, and game mechanics that give this vertical scrolling shooter a unique flair. Come join us in March, as we set the world ablaze!

To join in for the month, sign up here:
http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=18959.0

April 2019 brings a unique event for the RF Generation Shmup Club - the only shoot-em-up from developer and publisher Squaresoft! Known far more for their role-playing games, particularly the mammoth Final Fantasy series, Squaresoft ventured into a few new genres during the early-mid PlayStation era. In the fighting game genre, they released Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring, and they also published Brave Fencer Musashi, an action game. Despite still being an RPG, they also dipped their toe in the "survival horror" genre waters with the excellent Parasite Eve as well. However, one genre they hadn't explored up to that point was shooting games. They finally dove in, and ended up making one of the more highly lauded genre pieces on the system, the mighty Einhänder!

Strap into the cockpit of the Einhänder, an advanced spaceship, to take on the Earth regime, as you fight for the survival of the moon colony. After the events of the First Moon War, much of the Earth was left destroyed. Now, in the Second Moon War, you're sent to Earth in a single fighter craft to destroy as many defense resources as you can, so that residents of the Moon can get back to Earth to gather valuable resources. Do you have what it takes to fight off hordes of Earth drones and military fighters? Join the RF Generation Shmup Club in April, and test your mettle against Earth, in this horizontal scrolling, PlayStation shooting game classic.

Here's the thread where you can sign up to participate:
http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index ... ic=18974.0

great game, sill looks lovely in today's time

Yeah, I think it has aged reasonably well, compared to games that aimed for more realism, since facial modeling and texture mapping were so low-poly at that point. A game with smaller on-screen objects and faster movement/action doesn't seem to suffer as much by comparison.

We started the RF Generation Shmup Club in June of 2018, hoping to expand the site's appeal, and broaden the Community Playthrough section of the forum. We have seen new members join, a podcast develop, and a lot of enthusiasm as a result of this. We started with the classic R-Type, from Irem, because it's a well regarded, iconic shooter, that has stood the test of time, and is still loved today. We followed that up immediately in July of 2018 with a classic that partially served as an inspiration, the original Gradius, by Konami. Now, in the final month of the 1st full 12-month period of the Shmup Club, we bring it full circle.

For May, 2019, we'll be playing Gradius III. Not only will we be looking at the SNES and Super Famicom home conversions of the game, but we'll also be examining the arcade game. As of now, there are 2 solid, affordable ports of the arcade original. One is in the form of Gradius III & IV on the PlayStation 2, and the other is the solid inclusion of the game in the Gradius Collection for PSP. Regardless of which iteration you play, this shoot-em-up will challenge you, with its legendary difficulty. Do you think you're ready to jump in the Vic Viper, and take on the Bacterion Empire once again? Test your mettle with us, in May 2019, and join in for Gradius III!

Here's the thread for Gradius III, if you'd like to sign up to participate!
http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=18999.0