Good Shmups on the Snes and Gamecube?

[BrianC]

Thinking on: avoid the SNES' entry in the Thunder Force series : Thunder Spirits - it's not very good.

Too bad that Thunder Spirits port of Thunder Force AC didn't turn out so well. At least there are better versions available on Saturn and Switch. I also like Pop 'n Twinbee quite a bit.

[MintyTheCat]

Thinking on: avoid the SNES' entry in the Thunder Force series : Thunder Spirits - it's not very good.

Too bad that Thunder Spirits port of Thunder Force AC didn't turn out so well. At least there are better versions available on Saturn and Switch. I also like Pop 'n Twinbee quite a bit.

I first got to play when a mate of mine had been to New York and he brought it over to my house. We'd played TFIII and TFIV at that point and wondered what was going on with Spiritis. It kind of looks like a remix of TFIII but just didn't play too well as i recall. Really a missed opportunity and came across as a bit of a quick cash-in on the developer's part.

[BrianC]

Thinking on: avoid the SNES' entry in the Thunder Force series : Thunder Spirits - it's not very good.

Too bad that Thunder Spirits port of Thunder Force AC didn't turn out so well. At least there are better versions available on Saturn and Switch. I also like Pop 'n Twinbee quite a bit.

I first got to play when a mate of mine had been to New York and he brought it over to my house. We'd played TFIII and TFIV at that point and wondered what was going on with Spiritis. It kind of looks like a remix of TFIII but just didn't play too well as i recall. Really a missed opportunity and came across as a bit of a quick cash-in on the developer's part.

Thunder Spirits is a port of Thunder Force AC, which is a remix of TFIII with a couple stages from TF2. The AC version is much better than the SNES port and it's now available on Switch.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I've had some enjoyment playing Phalanx on GBA, there's more decent GB(C/A)*, including freeware, 2D shooty games technically playable on 'Cube via Game Boy Player. Pretty good emulators for the thing (judging from their Wii versions anyway) of consoles up to 16-bit, also.
That being said, jailbroken Wii has the immediate advantage over 'Cube, that of a Classic Controller Pro support, also in GameCube games, which in a number of 2D games is... advantageous (just imagine playing Super Metroid with four snappy shoulder buttons and a no-joke d-pad).

*) Should you ever get hold of a Konami Collector's Series: Arcade Advanced (a.k.a. Arcade Classics) cart, check out what Konami Code does in each game. Still the only version of Arcade Green Beret/Rush'n Attack with a jump button separate from up! And co-op! With a single cart! I digress now, but Game & Watch Gallery Advance is another compilation of utter classics and a fantastic value for the price I payed.

[To Far Away Times]

Thunder Spirits blows.

I prefer the Genesis version of III over AC, so Thunder Spirits is like a lesser version of a lesser version.

[davyK]

Slim pickings on both consoles but there's fun to be had..

SNES
Space Megaforce aka Super Aleste. Some of the levels go on too long (first 2 are examples of it) but it's enjoyable because of the sheer amount of weapon options. Plenty of levels and it gets better later on. A handful of difficulty levels too with arrange and suicide bullet modes on offer. Looks and sounds great too.

Super Swiv aka Firepower 2000 - a fairly formulaic shooter but it's rock solid and I like the look of it. Helicopter and jeep play entirely differently so that adds to the replay. The last level is a bit of an anti-climax but the rest of the levels are fun.

UN Squadron - excellent arcade port which actually seems to be the better game.

Pop n Twinbee - solid game with pretty pastel cute graphics.

RType 3 : first level goes on for too long but this is a classy RType game. Great design and soundtrack.

Parodius series - the SNES got 3 of these and they are reasonable ports . They look terrific though the old hardware chugs. I traded mine in for Saturn versions in the end.

SNES also got a superb port of Smash TV - well worth checking out.


Gamecube has been covered - Ikaruga, Star Soldier, Radirgy Generic and Castle Shikigami 2 are all solid ports. Get a classic linker adaptor which will allow you to use a PS1/2 stick or the Wii classic controllers inc. the Tatsunoko v Capcom stick if you can find one.

[BrianC]

Thunder Spirits blows.

I prefer the Genesis version of III over AC, so Thunder Spirits is like a lesser version of a lesser version.

I'm not sure if I prefer AC over III, but so far it's actually easier in some ways on defaults, especially in the earlier levels, and especially compared to the original on a JP (or jp switched) MD system, which has faster bullets and more resilient enemies compared to the game on a US Genesis. No sure if the difficulties work different in AC or if the difficulty increases the same way as the original MD version.

[Austin]

Definitely have to cast another vote for UN Squadron, Bio Metal and Firepower 2000. UN Squadron is more of a remix like Gradius III and Super R-Type, and so it stands on its own pretty well compared to the arcade game. Bio Metal is a short-and-sweet kind of shmup with a fun gimmick. The US version is hurt severely by the soundtrack, but the Japanese version is solid overall. Firepower 2000 isn't complex, but it moves at a slick pace with pretty much no slowdown and the two vehicle types require different strategies. It's less "Euro shmup" than the previous games it's based on and it's better for it.

Regarding the Darius Force (Super Nova) chat earlier, I want to love this game but struggle to get into it. I've made it near the end of one route and I do enjoy the challenge, but some of the earlier stages have lots of dead air and are snooze-fests overall. The fire rate is abysmal as well and takes a lot of the fun out of the game. Both SNES games are the weakest in the series if you ask me (not counting some other poor conversion of the arcade titles), but they are still playable and can be enjoyable at points.

Gradius III and Super R-Type are personal favorites of mine. Both are derided for one reason or another, slowdown being a big one, but they've always been fun, good looking and good sounding games to me. Super R-Type's stage design is far more straightforward overall compared to R-Type III, more akin to the original R-Type. R-Type III on the other hand is much less consistent in its execution, with weird difficulty spikes and more puzzle-like design akin to R-Type II (Stage 4 and Stage 6 specifically). R-Type III's highlight is the different pod types and adding unique, more difficult touches to Loop 2, but as far as I'm aware there's no way to warp straight to it. I go back to Super way more often because I can rip right through it and it's just fun. The checkpoint system will be frustrating for newcomers, but it's got difficulty settings to mitigate that, and you'll at least always be fully powered up when you get back to a boss.

I've never been a huge fan of Space Megaforce, but I need to try these *slightly* higher difficulty modes some of you talked about. I have only cranked it up to the highest and the enemies became so tanky that my firepower seemed borderline useless on Stage 2. Maybe I should push it up just a step past Normal and see if the game is more engaging. This is one of those shooters where I felt some fat could have been trimmed. It's about an hour long and I would have been perfectly OK with a stage or two being cut (or some of the stages being shortened in length).

[BrianC]

The difficulty selection in Super Aleste is a bit odd. If I remember correctly, one of the harder ones is rated something like -3 and is listed to the left of easy. I think it's named something like "wild" and has suicide bullets.

[BulletMagnet]

The difficulty selection in Super Aleste is a bit odd. If I remember correctly, one of the harder ones is rated something like -3 and is listed to the left of easy. I think it's named something like "wild" and has suicide bullets.

IIRC, at least in the US version, if you scroll to the right of Normal you get "Hard" and "Hyper" (basically "very hard"), while if you scroll to the left you get "Tricky" and "Wild" ("suicide bullets" and "more suicide bullets"). Basically, "Normal" is the easiest available difficulty, everything else ups the challenge to some degree.

[BrianC]

The difficulty selection in Super Aleste is a bit odd. If I remember correctly, one of the harder ones is rated something like -3 and is listed to the left of easy. I think it's named something like "wild" and has suicide bullets.

IIRC, at least in the US version, if you scroll to the right of Normal you get "Hard" and "Hyper" (basically "very hard"), while if you scroll to the left you get "Tricky" and "Wild" ("suicide bullets" and "more suicide bullets"). Basically, "Normal" is the easiest available difficulty, everything else ups the challenge to some degree.

That's what I wanted to say, though I was foggy on the details since I haven't played for awhile.

[MintyTheCat]

I agree with a few of Austin's points on Super Aleste: it is too long.
It's kind of feels like the sequel to GunHed on the PCE, and yes, that was a bit too long too. However, both are decent Shmups worth playing.

Oddly enough, I was very late to play any of the Gradius Shmups and I didn't get around to playing any of them until many years after their release. I played Darius, Thunderforce and R-Types series but Gradius I never did which is odd as Gradius ended up being on most platforms.

I do own Gradius III SFC but have not had a chance to play it yet.

Indeed, Super R-Type has lots of slowdown and to me feels pretty poor play wise when compared to R-Type 2 Arcade.
R-Type III was interesting in that it offered up different types of level experience with some being rather claustraphobic (level 2) and then including a change in scrolling in the mining level whereby the action becomes vertical as a gigantic robot spider hops up the screen as you dodge it and fire.

[To Far Away Times]

Thunder Spirits blows.

I prefer the Genesis version of III over AC, so Thunder Spirits is like a lesser version of a lesser version.

I'm not sure if I prefer AC over III, but so far it's actually easier in some ways on defaults, especially in the earlier levels, and especially compared to the original on a JP (or jp switched) MD system, which has faster bullets and more resilient enemies compared to the game on a US Genesis. No sure if the difficulties work different in AC or if the difficulty increases the same way as the original MD version.

There are some things that should make AC harder on paper, like having less extra lives and the faster bullets, but overall it's actually quite a bit easier since it cuts out the hardest level from III.

[BrianC]

There are some things that should make AC harder on paper, like having less extra lives and the faster bullets, but overall it's actually quite a bit easier since it cuts out the hardest level from III.

I have to check again, but I'm under the impression that the bullets are actually faster than AC when III is played on a JP system.

[To Far Away Times]

It very well could be. I've only played the U.S. versions of each.

[davyK]

There's a little NES shooter compilation on SNES called Caravan Shooting Collection. Has 3 of the games used by Hudson in their Japanese scoring competitions. They don't appear to have had much (if any) touch up to the SNES but they feel solid enough. Only one of the games Hector '87 actually has a caravan mode so the naming of the collection is a trifle misleading. Star Force and Star Soldier are the other two games. Probably more a collector's game but I find it enjoyable in small doses.

[BrianC]

There's a little NES shooter compilation on SNES called Caravan Shooting Collection. Has 3 of the games used by Hudson in their Japanese scoring competitions. They don't appear to have had much (if any) touch up to the SNES but they feel solid enough. Only one of the games Hector '87 actually has a caravan mode so the naming of the collection is a trifle misleading. Star Force and Star Soldier are the other two games. Probably more a collector's game but I find it enjoyable in small doses.

It's worth mentioning that Star Force is the FC version, which has some differences from the US NES version. The other two are pretty much the same, though Star Soldier has a code that is only accessible via microphone on the second controller of the original FC with hardwired controllers (not sure if the SNES port has a work around). It's interesting how the US Starship Hector used artwork from the JP Star Soldier.

[AZA]

Yeah the Genesis version of Raiden smokes the SNES one and it's not particuarly close. They almost feel a generation apart. Probably one of the reasons the SNES has the (somewhat undeserved) reputation it has with shmups.

I'd rather play Raiden on TurboGrafx-16 than SNES or MD however...

[Josh128]

SNES - UN Squadron, Gradius 3, Axelay, Contra 3, Super Rtype, Space Megaforce/ Super Aleste, Starfox (yes, its a great game). Super Turrican is cool too. Ill mention another I consider a shmup though many people might not. Super Ghouls N Ghosts. Ive been playing the reworked one on my SD2SNES and with less slowdown its the frickin BOMB. Tonight I got to the end of the last level on the second quest on PROFESSIONAL difficulty, and the twin bosses are just kicking my ass. SO CLOSE to killing them then BAM-- you lose your armor and the Goddess Bracelet isnt worth a SHIT.

But I love it. One of the finest games ever made in my opinion. Graphics, sound, control, challenge. It has it all.

GC-- HOW in the world has no one yet mentioned Rogue Squadron and Rogue Leader-- absolutely INCREDIBLE, fantastic shmups. Ikaruga for sure, but yes. Star Wars baby.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Here's my recommendation of SNES Shmups
1.- Axelay
2.- Super Aleste / Space Megaforce
3.- U.N. Squadron
4.- StarFox
5.- Phalanx
6.- Super E.D.F.
7.- Thunder Spirits
8.- Gradius III
9.- R-Type III: The Third Lightning
10.- Super R-Type

As for Gamecube, I only know Ikaruga.

[Special World]

The Midway Arcade Treasures collections for Gamecube have a bunch of shmup-adjacent games. Defender, Robotron 2084, Smash TV, Total Carnage, and others. They're surprisingly fun collections.

Only get MAT 1 and 2, number 3 is all racing games, I think.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Only get MAT 1 and 2, number 3 is all racing games, I think.

Of which San Francisco Rush 2049 and Hydro Thunder are pretty good ports of pretty fun games. I prefer the PC version slightly (PATCHED; not the original print with some features missing), due to more configurable controls there.
Not sure if already mentioned, but Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike not only features the majority of Rogue Squadron II missions playable in split-screen 2 player, but also about the first official home versions of the vector Star Wars trilogy (as unlockable extras).

[BrianC]

Only get MAT 1 and 2, number 3 is all racing games, I think.

Not sure if already mentioned, but Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike not only features the majority of Rogue Squadron II missions playable in split-screen 2 player, but also about the first official home versions of the vector Star Wars trilogy (as unlockable extras).

There were official ports of Star Wars arcade to various consoles and home computers, including c64 and Atari 2600. C64 has a port of RoTJ. RoTJ is a raster game, not vector, though.