Vertical shmups only?

[shmupsrocks]

I started off wanting to be a well-rounded shmuper but I have a hard time getting into the horizontal ones and I'm thinking about not forcing it any more and going vertical only. Has anyone else narrowed it down like that or does everyone play all shmups?

[BulletMagnet]

I don't see much reason to draw super-strict lines in the sand; whatever genre/subgenre it happens to be, if you don't think it'll appeal to you skip it, if it looks possibly interesting try it, if you like it keep playing, if not try something else. You'll find trends, as you have with horizontal/vertical shooters, but you'll also find exceptions, you just kind of have to feel your way around; in the end, after all, what else can you really do?

[jedinat]

I think horizontal shmups like Gradius and R-Type are almost in a separate genre from most vertical shmups, but then there's also horizontal shmups that are pretty much just like their vertical counter parts (Rolling Gunner, Gundemonium, etc.). I like the latter and haven't found any of the former that I enjoy.

[ACSeraph]

I love everything personally. Don't restrict yourself, just play whatever you like. If it looks interesting, be it yoko or tate, just go for it. There's not really any need to be "well rounded" in the first place.

[WarpedByTheNHK]

I think that there is objectively very little difference between the two perspectives, and that it is only design traditions that typically make most of them feel so different. You can sort of see this in the examples jedinat brought up. Rolling Gunner is actually more similar to the traditional vertical bullet hell than something like Salamander's vertical stages or even Ikaruga, so I think it is silly to dislike all games of a particular orientation.

[ShotOfSelf]

Got into horizontals with R-Type, Gradius and my favorite of all, GYNOUG. Try it, for some reason it spoke to me and kept me focused on the genre while just starting out all those years ago. In fact, once I got the 2-ALL there was a break from shmups since it felt like a grand achievement.(It wasn't)

Important note:When first starting out I hated bullet-hells and preferred verticals, forcing in my case helped a lot. Progear would be a good one to try, it feels just like a Cave game only horizontal. Very good but extremely difficult.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS_fmstvJG0

[Restart_Point]

I agree that vert and horiz shmups do feel very different, generally speaking. (there are always some exceptions of course - Progear for instance seems to me to be a typical vertical shmup turned side-ways)

One major difference I could mention is that horizontal gameplay is usually much more based on negotiating scenery, as much or more than dealing with enemies.

I do not prefer one more than the other any more, I'm 43 years old so well-accustomed to both styles since the '80s, I used to think I preferred horizontal but have been making effort to play more verts and i'm starting to 'get' them more. Just recently I have been playing more classic verticals from the likes of Toaplan and Seibu and I really enjoy them too.

Many of the Gradius games are sheer works of art and excellent in my opinion, I can't imagine a shmupper disliking all Gradius games for instance, or UN Squadron on SNES, but each to their own of course.

Very broadly speaking, good horizontal shmups have perfected interesting terrain, obstacle and set piece design, while good vertical shmups have perfected enemy behaviour / interaction and attack patterns. So they have both gone off in their own directions, which is not say that one orientation cannot do the same as the other, the differences just seem to have become traditional. Maybe it goes all the way back to the differences between two 1981 games which were still around in arcades when I was a kid: Scramble (negotiating undulating terrain and tunnels) and Galaga (learning how best to deal with waves of varying enemy types)

[heli]

Depends if background-level collision or not.
Gradius and R-type you crash into things, not cool.

[AZA]

Sengoku Blade is one of my favorites because its a hori that plays like a vert. Best of both worlds! Great if you want that verticalesque gameplay but dont want to bother flipping a monitor on its side. It may actually be my all time fav.

[stacks183]

I only play vertical shmups right now.

I can tolerate bullet-hell horizontals, since like many people mentioned, they are really similar to their vertical counterparts, but I haven't dove deep into any of them yet. I do plan to play more of the Cave's horizontal games in the future and maybe some other games. But I absolutely can't stand traditional horizontal games like Gradius and R-Type.

One design element I hate in any shmup regardless of orientation, is static indestructible obstacles like walls and such, that you need to navigate around. There are some vertical shmups that do it and I don't like those either (Ikaruga, for example). I feel like that just changes dynamic of the game so much, it feels very restrictive and kind of grinds the pace of the game to a halt.

Overall I think it's totally fine to skip on games with certain orientation entirely. They are different sub-genres that require different skillsets. You need to learn to look at the screen in a completely different way and it will feel pretty foreign until you adjust. If you don't want to do it, you don't have to. Can always go back to them later.

[dark]

I basically prefer vertical shmups to typical horizontal shmups. I do like the cave stuff that is horizontal with gameplay like bullet hell style games, such as Progear. I recently launched a thread that made me realize that Radiant Silvergun is basically the opposite, it is a vertical game, but the gameplay is more akin to typical horizontal shmups like R Type. I didn't automatically enjoy Radiant Silvergun and I was very bad at it compared to other vertical shmups.

On a personal note, 19 year ago I played Ikaruga extensively and I played it horizontally so it could fill up my entire TV screen. Even now when I play it, it feels more normal to me and I'm a better player when I play it horizontal due to spending all that time playing it horizontal when it first came out.

[To Far Away Times]

I started with almost all verticals and then branched out to where I really have no preference these days. Where horizontals excel is when they add in environmental obstacles. For something like a bullet hell or a game with fast bullets I prefer vertical orientation since I think its easier to track the bullets.

[endali]

ProGear, rolling gunner, deathsmiles, sengoku blade, neko navy.

I love these games, and i absolutely hate gradius and r-type and any other game that kills you if you touch a wall and gives you puny wimpy baby guns.

[trap15]

*taps mic*
Ｐ－４７　ＡＣＥＳ

[BareKnuckleRoo]

To anyone who hates shmups that have "touch the wall and die" elements but want to play a satisfying hori shmup, I strongly recommend SideLine: http://sideline.ghegs.com/

The hitbox is very small relative to the sprite size and squeezes through things easily, and there's a 3-hit shield as well as bombs, both of which nullify all damage including wall collision damage (unlike Gradius or Darius shields).

[stacks183]

That's some good graphics for an indie game from an inexperienced team. Definitely first time I'm hearing about this game.

[endali]

[Bawa]

Spoiler

Gawds. This.
I thought I wasn't a big fan of Horis due to playing some classic ones like Gradius, R-type and Darius (ironically, I love Darius games) and the environmental hazards being the biggest hurdle.
But I kept playing them in a casual manner and found some really amazing games such as: Neko Navy, Parodius series, Deathsmiles, Progear and Tengai.

I still prefer the Vertical ones but there are good shmups everywhere.

To anyone who hates shmups that have "touch the wall and die" elements but want to play a satisfying hori shmup, I strongly recommend SideLine: http://sideline.ghegs.com/

The hitbox is very small relative to the sprite size and squeezes through things easily, and there's a 3-hit shield as well as bombs, both of which nullify all damage including wall collision damage (unlike Gradius or Darius shields).

Thank you for recommending this. I'll give it a try.

[endali]

after messing around with trying a bunch of random horis because of this topic, i have discovered battle traverse, and holy crap i love battle traverse