Trying to find shmups with lots of playable characters

[Knightmare]

Hello, everyone. Longtime lurker here. I've always loved shmups that have large casts of playable characters/ships, and I was hoping to get some suggestions from you all on shmups that fit the bill.

Here's what I can come up with:

Battle Garegga
Armed Police Batrider
Battle Bakraid
Shippu Mahou Daisakusen: Kingdom Grand Prix and Dimahoo
Aero Fighters/Sonic Wings 3
Parodius series
R-Type Final
Raiden Fighters 1, 2, and Jet

and for something really recent, Kyogeki Quartet Fighters (AKA Quad Fighter K) has a lot of playable and unlockable ships.

I'm particularly impressed by Raizing's Bat trilogy because not only do they have large rosters, but each ship has four different versions which each change their colors and stats. For the purposes of this thread I'm also interested in games that have this sort of customization feature where you can play as different versions of the same ship.

Most of Psikyo's shmups seem to hover around 5-6 playable characters which is definitely more than your average shmup but still doesn't quite feel big enough to qualify here.

What games am I missing? What are some other shmups with large and varied rosters? Thank you very much for your input!

As a bonus, what are some multiplayer shmups where the 2P ship actually looks and behaves differently? Like the classic case with the Vic Viper and the Lord British and various Parodius games.

[dunpeal2064]

Shikigami no Shiro/Castle Shikigami (specifically 2) comes to mind, 8 characters with two different playstyles for each character that are pretty different.

[Shepardus]

Dariusburst Chronicle Saviours
Gradius III (if you try to count all the different Edit mode combinations)
Twinkle Star Sprites and inspired games (Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream, Phantasmagoria of Flower View)
Hellsinker (not sure if this qualifies but you listed Dimahoo so I figure Hellsinker's got enough too; bonus points for each character being wildly different from the others)
Hitogata Happa
Mecha Ritz: Steel Rondo

For the purposes of this thread I'm also interested in games that have this sort of customization feature where you can play as different versions of the same ship.

Cosmetic or gameplay customization? For the latter, QP Shooting - Dangerous!! and Xmas Shooting - Scramble!! share a loadout system that lets you pick up to three weapons for your character out of a selection of 28.

As a bonus, what are some multiplayer shmups where the 2P ship actually looks and behaves differently? Like the classic case with the Vic Viper and the Lord British and various Parodius games.

Ibara, Thunder Dragon 2

[llaoyllakcuf]

Eight Forces - 4 playable for both 1P and 2P sides, 8 total.

Info on characters in the strategy thread (all images down, unfortunately).

[Kollision]

Strike Witches

[shoryusatsu999]

Some games I can think of/look up that match your interests:

[*] Imperishable Night: This game has 4 teams of two characters each who are normally played together, but each of the 8 characters can be unlocked for individual play for a total of 12 different "characters".

[*] Stardust Galaxy Warriors: Advertises itself as being highly customizable in terms of gameplay, though there are only 5 playable characters.

[*] Graze Counter: 8 playable characters, though only a couple are unlocked at the start.

[*] Bullet Heaven 2: Same deal as Graze Counter.

[*] Twinkle Star Sprites: VS shmup, has 13 playable characters, four of which are secret. The sequel has 15.

[*] Pink Sweets: Only four ships, but like the other Yagawa games barring Muchi Muchi Pork, each has 4 variations.

[*] Phantasmagoria of Flower View: VS shmup, has 16 playable characters.

[*] Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream: As above, but only 9 characters.

[*] Trouble Witches Origin: 9 playable characters, but like Dariusburst, 5 of them are DLC.

[*] Hidden Star in Four Seasons: Only 4 playable characters, but each can be paired with one of four sub-shots.

[*] EDF4.1 WINGDIVER THE SHOOTER: Touts 60 weapons you can unlock and utilize in a loadout system.

[*] Hydorah: You can choose from up to 15 weapons in three categories (primary, secondary, and miscellaneous) between each stage.

[*] Suguri and SORA: Both have multiple unlockable weapons you can select from before a run.

[*] Mecha Ritz Steel Rondo: 12 playable ships, some of which must be unlocked.

[*] Wish Project: 8 playable characters.

[*] Diadra Empty: Only one character, but has an RPG-inspired upgrade system and lots of weapons available.

[*] Super Galaxy Squadron EX Turbo: 17 playable ships (up from 14 in SGS EX and vanilla).

[*] Gothic wa Mahou Otome: Yes, it's a mobile gacha game, but it has a lot of different shot types, and more are added all the time, and that's discounting all the different "familiars" associated with them.

[Shepardus]

Where do games with upgrade options (where you can choose between different upgrades in the middle of the game) stand in this thread? That includes games like Fantasy Zone, GR3, and ZeroRanger (formerly known as FINALBOSS).

[Knightmare]

Shikigami no Shiro/Castle Shikigami (specifically 2) comes to mind, 8 characters with two different playstyles for each character that are pretty different.

Cool, thank you. I haven't explored that series yet but here's another reason to do so.

Dariusburst Chronicle Saviours
Gradius III (if you try to count all the different Edit mode combinations)
Twinkle Star Sprites and inspired games (Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream, Phantasmagoria of Flower View)
Hellsinker (not sure if this qualifies but you listed Dimahoo so I figure Hellsinker's got enough too; bonus points for each character being wildly different from the others)
Hitogata Happa
Mecha Ritz: Steel Rondo

For the purposes of this thread I'm also interested in games that have this sort of customization feature where you can play as different versions of the same ship.

Cosmetic or gameplay customization? For the latter, QP Shooting - Dangerous!! and Xmas Shooting - Scramble!! share a loadout system that lets you pick up to three weapons for your character out of a selection of 28.

As a bonus, what are some multiplayer shmups where the 2P ship actually looks and behaves differently? Like the classic case with the Vic Viper and the Lord British and various Parodius games.

Ibara, Thunder Dragon 2

Thanks for very much for your suggestions. Mecha Ritz and Dariusburst are games I should have included but slipped my mind. I considered including the Gradius games thanks to the different "loadouts" you can play. I think Gradius fits the spirit of the thread. I have never heard of Hitogata Happa so I'll definitely check it out., same with the games Twinkle Star Sprites inspired. I have yet to play TSS so I'm hoping it'll come out on the Switch soon. As for Hellsinker, I only recently learned about this game but now I'm dying to play it after hearing how crazy it is. I really regret missing out on the groupees bundle it was in. I'll try to buy a physical copy soon.

I know I just focused on games with lots of ships, but I'm also interested in games that maybe don't have a ton of ships but each ship plays very differently. It sounds like Hellsinker fits the bill, so that's great.

Eight Forces - 4 playable for both 1P and 2P sides, 8 total.

Info on characters in the strategy thread (all images down, unfortunately).

Thank you! I've never heard of this game so I'll definitely check it out.

Strike Witches

Thank you. I've heard good things about this one. Is the PSP port worth getting? I don't have an XBOX.

Some games I can think of/look up that match your interests:

[*] Imperishable Night: This game has 4 teams of two characters each who are normally played together, but each of the 8 characters can be unlocked for individual play for a total of 12 different "characters".

[*] Stardust Galaxy Warriors: Advertises itself as being highly customizable in terms of gameplay, though there are only 5 playable characters.

[*] Graze Counter: 8 playable characters, though only a couple are unlocked at the start.

[*] Bullet Heaven 2: Same deal as Graze Counter.

[*] Twinkle Star Sprites: VS shmup, has 13 playable characters, four of which are secret. The sequel has 15.

[*] Pink Sweets: Only four ships, but like the other Yagawa games barring Muchi Muchi Pork, each has 4 variations.

[*] Phantasmagoria of Flower View: VS shmup, has 16 playable characters.

[*] Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream: As above, but only 9 characters.

[*] Trouble Witches Origin: 9 playable characters, but like Dariusburst, 5 of them are DLC.

[*] Hidden Star in Four Seasons: Only 4 playable characters, but each can be paired with one of four sub-shots.

[*] EDF4.1 WINGDIVER THE SHOOTER: Touts 60 weapons you can unlock and utilize in a loadout system.

[*] Hydorah: You can choose from up to 15 weapons in three categories (primary, secondary, and miscellaneous) between each stage.

[*] Suguri and SORA: Both have multiple unlockable weapons you can select from before a run.

[*] Mecha Ritz Steel Rondo: 12 playable ships, some of which must be unlocked.

[*] Wish Project: 8 playable characters.

[*] Diadra Empty: Only one character, but has an RPG-inspired upgrade system and lots of weapons available.

[*] Super Galaxy Squadron EX Turbo: 17 playable ships (up from 14 in SGS EX and vanilla).

[*] Gothic wa Mahou Otome: Yes, it's a mobile gacha game, but it has a lot of different shot types, and more are added all the time, and that's discounting all the different "familiars" associated with them.

Thank you very much for your extensive list. I really appreciate it! I've played Mecha Ritz and Hydorah. Hydorah is kinda like Gradius where I should have probably included it here, since you can change your loadouts which really change up how you play.

Where do games with upgrade options (where you can choose between different upgrades in the middle of the game) stand in this thread? That includes games like Fantasy Zone, GR3, and ZeroRanger (formerly known as FINALBOSS).

I would definitely take suggestions on games with upgrades. I love Fantasy Zone (what's GR3?), and I'm so excited for ZeroRanger to finally come out. While it's a twinstick shooter, Monolith has a great roguelite upgrade system. Tyrian also probably applies since it has lots of ships and upgrades, but I couldn't really get into the game, personally.

[Shepardus]

(what's GR3?)

Glad you asked.

[Kollision]

Strike Witches

Thank you. I've heard good things about this one. Is the PSP port worth getting? I don't have an XBOX.

I think it's worth it, yeah.
It suits the PSP format better than it does the 360.

[Shepardus]

Another one: MinishoterRS ⊿ has a bunch of characters. You start with a couple spaceships and can unlock a bunch of weird characters that would feel right at home in a Parodius game.

[Knightmare]

(what's GR3?)

Glad you asked.

Ah, right! I forgot the name of this one I guess. La-Mulana is my favorite game of all time so I discovered this when learning more about the team. I adore the MSX (hence my name) and the MSX Gradius stye is right up my alley so I really need to get around to playing this.
Edit: I remember now why I never played it. The Java stuff. I'll take the time to figure it out finally.

Another one: MinishoterRS ⊿ has a bunch of characters. You start with a couple spaceships and can unlock a bunch of weird characters that would feel right at home in a Parodius game.

I've never heard of this one, so I'll check it out. Thanks for your continued contributions. This one sounds right up my alley too.

Strike Witches

Thank you. I've heard good things about this one. Is the PSP port worth getting? I don't have an XBOX.

I think it's worth it, yeah.
It suits the PSP format better than it does the 360.

Good to know, thanks!

[Despatche]

Touhou, Touhou derivatives, etc.

Saviors. Interesting little PC title. Looks like a euroshmup, but really isn't under the surface.

Probably fair to throw HellSinker in here. Four characters with totally different playstyles, and that fourth character has four different versions.

Eight Forces is a very silly game. Fixeight is not a silly game, however.

[Knightmare]

Touhou, Touhou derivatives, etc.

Saviors. Interesting little PC title. Looks like a euroshmup, but really isn't under the surface.

Probably fair to throw HellSinker in here. Four characters with totally different playstyles, and that fourth character has four different versions.

Eight Forces is a very silly game. Fixeight is not a silly game, however.

Awesome, thank you. I've played a bit of Touhou but I should probably spend more time with it. Saviors too is one I'll definitely check out -- I believe it's on Steam which is convenient. And Hellsinker looks great.