The Top 25 WORST shmups

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Just as we have the 25 best ones, I think we should mention which ones are the 25 worst shmups.

Here's a few candidates to start building a list, if you know more trash shooters that deserves to be included, please let the forum know.

Aircraft Evolution
Star99
Super Star Blast
FullBlast
Xenoraid
Null Drifter
Stagger I
Red Death
Xenoraptor
Pollux
1945k III
Air Attack

[dmk1198]

Just as we have the 25 best ones, I think we should mention which ones are the 25 worst shmups.

Here's a few candidates to start building a list, if you know more trash shooters that deserves to be included, please let the forum know.

Aircraft Evolution
Star99
Super Star Blast
FullBlast
Xenoraid
Null Drifter
Stagger I
Red Death
Xenoraptor
Pollux
1945k III
Air Attack

Red death....there's summit about it I liked , spit n sawdust, bare bones but nice bassy soundtrack,shooting and movement felt good...

Sent from my Redmi Note 8T using Tapatalk

[buggle]

Deep Blue is not allowed to escape the ignominy of being one of the worst shmups ever.

[BulletMagnet]

Heh, the Top 25 gets folks riled up enough, taking an intentionally negative route will really get some ganders up.

That being said, we could probably make several lists just from the constant flow of fly-by-night garbage on Steam these days.

[CStarFlare]

Red Death was terrible. Seconding it.

[To Far Away Times]

Shita Mora

[Rastan78]

Doodoonpachi


JK

[Buffi]

Captain Tomaday
Mission Craft
Master System Aleste

[dmk1198]

Sky force reloaded/anniversary

Hate the grind

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[leodash]

Bullet Soul Infinite Burst
Pawarumi
Q-YO Blaster
Sine Mora EX
Super Galaxy Squadron EX Turbo

[Samildanach]

This is a tricky one as do we take into account the age of the hardware the game was released on? My first shmup experience was a rather obscure game called Nevryon on the BBCmicro, (http://bbcmicro.co.uk/game.php?id=1183).

I enjoyed it at the time as I hadn't experienced anything like it before, however if it was released as some weird retro release on a modern machine, it would be rightfully called almost unplayable due to its choppy scrolling and pain-in-the-arse gameplay elements.

A couple of games that I think are bad for their time of release are:
Darius+ for Amiga, Atari and Spectrum
Broken Thunder (unfinished attempt at Thunder Force 6 before the official release)

But I think the crown for worst shmups surely must go to the host of gacha grindy bollocks that we probably all avoid which gets endlessly released on Android. Has anyone here plumbed the depths of this shmup gaming pit of despair?

[Loom1es]

I'm getting comfy with a bowl of popcorn for this one!

[Sengoku Strider]

Cybernoid on NES is not only the worst shmup I can think of, it's probably the worst game I've ever owned. There's absolutely nothing I can think of that I've had over the years that's even in the same category. It's a port of what I believe started at a C64 game, but they made this version way more busted and difficult.

The music is incredibly repetitive. The visuals mostly suck. The enemies are utterly devoid of personality. No bosses, no backgrounds, no plot to speak of.



But that describes a lot of early 8-bit games. Why this game is WOAT-tier: it is fucking hard, and not "master this area to advance" hard, it's "everything spawns randomly and is faster than you" hard. It's "collision detection is not consistent even among the same objects" hard.

When you die, you instantly reappear - like, as in the very next frame. Except there is no invincibility cycle when you respawn. And since enemy spawns tend to be random, they can and will appear on top of you as you respawn. It typically happens so fast you don't even realize you died a second time. Or a third.

The game world scrolls in all 4 directions. You will have to do things like descend through a screen where waves of enemies are flying up at you. Since they spawn randomly, past a certain point you're too close to the bottom where they appear to dodge if they spawn in front of you. You just die, reappear at the top of the screen, and hope you're not in the path of another enemy.

The game doesn't have scrolling screens, meaning that the above applies to moving to a new screen as well. You can and will appear on top of randomly placed enemies and instantly die when you move to a new screen.

You will frequently be tasked with squeezing through tight spaces with indestructible moving objects. As they are faster than you, your movements need to be pixel-perfect. Except as the collision detection was just kind of made up as they went along, you can easily snag on a pillar or something through no fault of your own.

The game gives you 9 lives and no continues. You have multiple different weapons you can choose from, but ammo is finite. Certain weapons are needed to clear certain areas, so if you run out and hit a wall, you need to die to refill your weapons and advance.

There are only 3 stages, but no sane person will ever finish it. It has no redeeming qualities. I can't imagine a worst-ever list without it.

[Jonpachi]

Rym 9000 Sloppy, lazy trash hiding behind its visual "glitch" gimmick.

Sengoku Cannon - For sullying the legacy of Psikyo with a cheap cash-grab cobbled together with reused sprites and some of the ugliest 3D (even for PSP) I've ever seen.

[Samildanach]

Cybernoid on NES is not only the worst shmup I can think of, it's probably the worst game I've ever owned. There's absolutely nothing I can think of that I've had over the years that's even in the same category. It's a port of what I believe started at a C64 game, but they made this version way more busted and difficult.
...
There are only 3 stages, but no sane person will ever finish it. It has no redeeming qualities. I can't imagine a worst-ever list without it.

I haven't played this game, but it sounds like an excellent contender for one of the worst. While some of the recent budget shmups like Red Death may be barebones, Cybernoid surely is a whole new level of terrible.

[OmegaFlareX]

Gulf War II

I simply can't believe that BGM wasn't the result of a disgruntled employee intentionally sabotaging the data that was sent to the chip factory. A lot of Korean shmups have really bad music, but this one was by far the worst. FWIW, I didn't think Pollux was that bad, actually Dooyong's library has some OK stuff in it. They did some impressive work with Z80 hardware and most of their games at least control snappily (at least, as snappy as it can be in MAME). I believe they were Toaplan's distributor in KR, that might've had an effect on their output.

KR/CN games are easy targets here, but how about some bad JP ones? These immediately come to mind:

Arbalester
Meta Fox
Sand Scorpion

e: almost forgot Micronics. They were responsible for some truly horrifying NES/FC ports, among the worst is probably 1942.
e2: SNES Raiden Trad :barf:

e3:

Deep Blue is not allowed to escape the ignominy of being one of the worst shmups ever.

Certainly not, it is quite bad. Another really horrible PCE shmup is Rock-On.

[EmperorIng]

[25] [R-Type (ZX Spectrum)]
[24] [Shmups Skill Test]
[23] [Deep Blue]
[22] [Tyrian]
[21] [Sine Mora]
[20] [Ginga Force]
[19] [Hurricane of Varstray]
[18] [Browning]
[17] [Skull Fang]
[16] [Raptor: Call of the Shadows]
[15] [Planet JOKER]
[14] [G-Vector]
[13] [Legion]
[12] [Twin Eagle: Revenge Joe's Brother]
[11] [War of Aero]
[10] [Xevious: Fardraut Densetsu]
[09] [Mystic Formula]
[08] [Zing Zing Zip]
[07] [Darius Twin]
[06] [RXN Raijin]
[05] [Aero Blasters]
[04] [Sand Scorpion]
[03] [DoDonPachi: DaiFukkatsu]
[02] [Turbo Force]
[01] [Ketsui]

[Rastan78]

It's a twin stick shooter and not a straight ahead shmup, but I think for a lot of people Contra Rogue Corps was one of the most disappointing releases of recent times. Especially given that the game was handled by a guy who did Contra Spirits, Hard Corps, etc.

I only played the demo and it maybe wasn't quite as bad as some people say. There was potential there if only the developers had given 2 fucks. Definitely enough unpolished jank in the controls to qualify for epic bad game territory when you factor in the series' epic legacy and high fan expectations.

Emperorlng, I'm not a huge Cave fan either. Putting Ketsui and Daifukkatsu among the worst games ever is pretty harsh though. But I respect that lol. Gotta keep those Cave fanboys in check.

[schleichfahrt]

If Trevor McFur in the Crescent Galaxy doesn't make #1, this list is null and void

[BrianC]

Does D-Force (not to be confused with Darius Force) have any redeeming qualities? Aerial Assault GG? I may be jumping the gun here, but the game has a low fire rate and boring enemy patterns and doesn't seem to be get better in later levels.

[MathU]

Worst Games Ever lists are always easy to fill up with garbage most people have never even heard of and in the end can't amount to much interesting discussion. The old Shoot The Core website had a list of something like two thousand shooters made for the PC platform alone. Can you name even 5% of those? This is one of the easiest types of games to make such that it is often a new game developer's very first programming challenge. And with such quantities comes massive numbers of bad games nobody remembers precisely because there was never a reason to care about them.

Far more interesting is perhaps assembling a list of the 25 Most Overrated Shooters.

[Rastan78]

Yeah pure shovelware isn't even really worth mentioning. Most overrated could make for some discussion like you said.

Also you could do most disappointing. What were games that had some level of budget pedigree and expectations that fell apart and why. Or games that are so bad they're good. Over the top campiness, bad translations, hilarious glitches etc. Sometimes it's worth checking out some of these games for a laugh.

i've never laughed so hard as when back in the 90s my family picked up a super low budget ice skating PC game in a bargain bin at Walmart. It let you import a jpeg of your own face onto a figure skater. Also there was no limit to how obese you could make your character in the creation menu. Of course your weight had no bearing on the physics model so you could watch a glitchy low polygon 500 pound version of yourself in a tutu land a perfect triple axel.

If there's a shmup equivalent to this then its definitely worth talking about.

[DMC]

Or games that are so bad they're good. Over the top campiness, bad translations, hilarious glitches etc. Sometimes it's worth checking out some of these games for a laugh.

Yes, that is what such list would be for me. Hilariously bad games that are worth checking for that reason. And it would include games that are particularly bad in comparison to the system baseline.

One such example, that Dragoforce showed me, is Strike Force Hydra (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBndgsH68Ts). If I got it right it was first released as a GBA game then converted to PSX, so it looks particularly bad for a PSX game. Impressingly lazy conversion. Everything from story to stage design to end of stage screen looks so hilariously uninspiring. It also has some extremely weird elements like the awkward jump mechanism. Those things make it a perfect top 25 worst game--worth checking out. Just listen to the poor lazer beam sound effects in this game and compare them to other playstations games, like the excellent laser effects in Soukyugurentai (Namiki).

Maybe Planet Joker qualifies too? Long time ago I played it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIQa4rv5QcI&t

I would also include this game by SoraCross, but was it ever finished?
This was from the shmup chat many years ago, and a somewhat naive indie developer kindly asked for advice but was maybe not the best at incorporating them or responding to criticism. After a while, people in the chat got bored and started giving him bad advice instead, like just adding more and more bullets. Shoesama tested the game and found a 5-min safe spot, uploaded a replay, and it's one of my favorite shmup gameplay videos on Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxTGXGuyA2Q
Just the sheer number of bullets added, but not a single one aimed towards you makes for a pretty ill-designed shooter apparently.
I hope the guy finished his game and had some success though!

Another thing that could make a top 25 worst game is if the designer stole a concept or gameplay mechanic but completely missed the point or messed it up somehow. Some really poor clone.

[BrianC]

Strike Force Hydra looks like a game programmed in Shoot 'em up construction kit for Amiga and then ported to GBA and PSX.

[Sengoku Strider]

Strike Force Hydra looks like a game programmed in Shoot 'em up construction kit for Amiga and then ported to GBA and PSX.

It looks like somebody used the MySpace style guide to make a shooter.

[Ixmucane2]

There should be a place in the list for Sky Force, next to Sine Mora.

[Marc]

[25] [R-Type (ZX Spectrum)]

Absolutely one of the greatest technical achievements on any piece of hardware ever, and a damn playable conversion to boot.

Surely Xenon 2 has to be somewhere in the top ten... not only is it crap, but the entire gaming world seemed to have some sort of mass hallucination when it was released, as it garner consistently decent review scores.

[XoPachi]

Oh god. I thought I was just doing something wrong. Red Death is TERRIBLE.

Far more interesting is perhaps assembling a list of the 25 Most Overrated Shooters.

Threads like these usually just get filled up with cool kids posting hot takes that deep down they themselves dont really fully agree with and the conversation goes nowhere.
I think the only one anyone would agree with unanimously is Sine Mora. Since it is widely considered fuming trash but got super high scores for "gud gwafix" and story....in a shmup. And being Grasshopper.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Any list without Eight Forces is invalid.

Absolutely one of the greatest technical achievements on any piece of hardware ever, and a damn playable conversion to boot.

I honestly can't attest to any experience with ZX Spectrum hardware, but that R-Type port certainly looks playable. I'm more inclined to rate a game as deserving the title of "worst" if it had been made for a system with processing power, had a proper budget, etc, and still managed to not be a complete playable game, whereas some early shmups for really old consoles it's easier to give them a gentle "you tried" pass.

Oh god. I thought I was just doing something wrong. Red Death is TERRIBLE.

Red Death looks like it's got a slick art style that tries to emulate the look of ZeroRanger's limited colour palette. It just seems to have very poor enemy and bullet pattern design.

I think the only one anyone would agree with unanimously is Sine Mora. Since it is widely considered fuming trash but got super high scores for "gud gwafix" and story....in a shmup. And being Grasshopper.

As much as I love to see Sine Mora shit on (not without mixed feelings, I was hugely hyped for it and how it turned out still stings), I'm hesitant to put it on a worst game ever. It's bad because it's dreadfully mediocre in spite of having an actual budget and an otherwise apparently competent programming team. The game design itself is just... blegh. But it is, to its credit, at least playable, sort of. Maybe its level of mediocrity does merit it being put on a worst shmup of all time list though.

Pawarumi

[Rastan78]

Anyone remember 1942: Joint Strike? This game is like a soggy saltine cracker and oatmeal sandwich. With a cup of cold watered down coffee on the side.

https://youtu.be/GtEYjuaOzSY

There are worse games out there, but the whole thing is just so mediocre and uninspired. And its an official sequel in the 19xx series which is a damn shame.

You've got 16:9 vertical scrolling which is a bad idea right off the bat. It feels like you're bartending at a 40 foot long bar. Hold on, a guy needs a pint waaaaay over there. Ill be right back.

Game is packed full of the same few enemies over and over. Gameplay is slow paced and way too easy. Beatable on first or second credit on default difficulty even for people who are not hardcore skilled.

The scoring system is proximity based and just feels tacked on with the game not really designed around the score system. Its like they made the entire game then said what if the closer you are to enemies when you shoot them the higher the multiplier? Sure we can slap that in before lunch.

Compare that to the excellent Shikigami series where the proximity based multiplier is fully integrated into the game design and the unique character shot types are balanced around it.

Oh, and check that loooong boring chase sequence you have to do after the first boss. The only challenge if you could even call it that comes from the fact that ships are coming at you from the bottom of the screen and you can't see them until they are close to hitting you. If you were to actually want to play this game for score you would have to repeat this section every single credit.

And to pour salt in the wound this game got some pretty good reviews at the time.

From a UK mag called gamesTM:
"A game that's just as enjoyable as any other in the series but with a wow factor that far exceeds the vast majority of them. [July 2008, p.123]"