Best non-Cave shmups on Xbox 360?

[Jonpachi]

My 360 collection is sadly in storage in a foreign country, and damn if I don't miss that thing. I have most of the Cave shmups in my collection, but little else besides Raiden Fighters Aces.

I stumbled onto a really good deal on an import console and a fight stick, and a I'm thinking of starting up a little sub-set of non-Cave shmups to validate this redundant-as-hell purchase. What are some of the gems I've missed out on? I often hear that Eschatos is good. What's up with those Shooting Love collections? Is Shiki 3 an improvement over 2? So many games!

[Fudoh]

The second shooting love release which includes Deltazeal (G-Stream G2020 in the arcades) was a great (and late) release for the 360. Deltazeal is great, especially if you like the Raiden Fighters games. (but then again I think it's also on Steam for next to nothing.....)

[Starfighter]

Under Defeat HD is probably the non-Cave 360 shmup I've had the most fun with.

[subcons]

Under Defeat HD is probably the non-Cave 360 shmup I've had the most fun with.

Recently discovered this was released on Xbox Live years ago. Was missing playing my DC copy with no good way to hook it up currently, so I went through the trouble of getting my 360 onine so I could download it. It's a really nice port and a steal at $20!

[To Far Away Times]

Eschatos is super good.

I was initially turned off by the basic flying saucer ufo designs, but once you play it, the presentation is joyous and infectious. The game has plenty of ideas and tricks up its sleeve, its great.

Great difficulty balancing too. Not too hard, not too easy. Repeat playthroughs tended to yield more progress almost every time I played it. Very player friendly design too.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

In no particular order:

• Judgement Silversword / Cardinal Sins (included with Eschatos) - even better than Eschatos IMO.

• Triggerheart Exelica

• Under Defeat HD

• Score Rush (Xbox Indie)

• Raiden IV

• Shooting Love 20XX (Trizeal is good fun)

• Ge-Sen Love Plus Pengo (both the shmups and Pengo are great fun for multiplayer)

• Strania

[Tarma]

Raiden Fighters Aces is well worth a look for the 360.

[BrianC]

Does Gen-san Love plus Pengo have a Bandai Namco copyright on it? I know My Hero/Seishun Scandal on the Astro City mini does. Both games were designed by Coreland, which later became Banpresto.

[Jonpachi]

Raiden Fighters Aces is well worth a look for the 360.

ME: "but little else besides Raiden Fighters Aces"

Yep! It's an amazing classic collection

[Rastan78]

One of my biggest recommendations on 360 would be Omega Five. Very underrated sidescroller by Tengo Project/Natsume. Same team from Wild Guns, Ninja Warriors etc. Also a very unerappreciated OST that let you play with regular or retro remixes:

https://youtu.be/1TcssUCew08

Unfortunately it was delisted when Konami bought the publisher Hudson so playing it today might take a bit of doing.

[Mero]

Does Gen-san Love plus Pengo have a Bandai Namco copyright on it? I know My Hero/Seishun Scandal on the Astro City mini does. Both games were designed by Coreland, which later became Banpresto.

Just dug out my copy and there's none on the box at least, Pengo is copyright of Sega/Triangle Service.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

- Triggerheart Exelica
- Ginga Force
- Eschatos
- Raiden IV
- Ikaruga

[blazinglazers69]

Eschatos/JSS, Raiden Fighters Aces, Raiden IV.

[davyK]

I have Caladrius (digital), Shooting Love (digital) and Under Defeat HD (physical). All splendid.

[Jonpachi]

Can someone break down the differences between all these Shooting Love collections?

https://www.nin-nin-game.com/en/search? ... rch=Search

[MachineAres 1CC]

Can someone break down the differences between all these Shooting Love collections?

https://www.nin-nin-game.com/en/search? ... rch=Search

Shooting Love 200X has:
Shmups Skill Test
Exzeal
Trizeal Remix
Minus Zero

Shooting Love 10-Shuunen has:
XIIZeal
DeltaZeal

Gessen Love Plus Pengo has:
Pengo!
CombatZeal
Shooting Skills Test
Action Skills Test

Also, as far as other games, Radiant Silvergun, Trouble Witches Neo, Space Invaders Extreme & Infinity Gene, Shikigami 3, Otomedius G, Radirgy Massive and Mamoru-kun are quite fun IMO. KOF Sky Stage is OK. Prismatic Solid, qrth-phyl, Platypus and Leave Home are all decent indie shooters.

I think all the other stuff was already mentioned

[Special World]

Eschatos is god tier. Under Defeat is excellent. Ginga Force is very good.

[Jonpachi]

Can someone break down the differences between all these Shooting Love collections?

https://www.nin-nin-game.com/en/search? ... rch=Search

Shooting Love 200X has:
Shmups Skill Test
Exzeal
Trizeal
Minus Zero

Shooting Love 10-Shuunen has:
XIIZeal
DeltaZeal

Gessen Love Plus Pengo has:
Pengo!
CombatZeal
Shooting Skills Test
Action Skills Test

Also, as far as other games, Radiant Silvergun, Trouble Witches Neo, Space Invaders Extreme & Infinity Gene, Shikigami 3, Otomedius G, Radirgy Massive and Mamoru-kun are quite fun IMO. KOF Sky Stage is OK. Prismatic Solid, qrth-phyl, Platypus and Leave Home are all decent indie shooters.

I think all the other stuff was already mentioned

Thanks! There seems to be an alternate version of Shooting Love that has extra games on it too. This one has Trizeal Remix and others: https://www.play-asia.com/shooting-love ... /13/707ad1

[MachineAres 1CC]

Thanks! There seems to be an alternate version of Shooting Love that has extra games on it too. This one has Trizeal Remix and others: https://www.play-asia.com/shooting-love ... /13/707ad1

Nah, that's just the normal version of Shooting Love 200X, Trizeal Remix is on there. I should've clarified it more.

[Jonpachi]

Oh nice! Thanks!

[Elixir]

I like Space Invaders: Infinity Gene.

[prophetic]

Under Defeat HD is probably the non-Cave 360 shmup I've had the most fun with.

This reminds me (though it was a long time ago, and my memory may be off): there were complaints that the US PS3 version of Under Defeat HD never got patched the way the JP version did. What exactly did the patch fix?

Is the US Games on Demand version patched like the original JP game? If not, maybe I'll try to figure out how to buy the JP digital version on my J360.

[drunkninja24]

It's been some time since I booted it up, but I do recall the JP 360 version also getting an extra mode via update which was essentially the Nesica version of Under Defeat HD that the US versions never got. It's kind of an interesting thing where it stops stage scrolling on occasions to destroy waves of enemies, but never figured out much about it beyond that.

[poodude]

My favorite non-Cave game has to be Bullet Soul Infinite Burst. It's an absolute blast to play. You can also get it cheap on the xbox store digitally.

Honorable mentions:

Mamoru kun wa Norowarete Shimatta
Eschatos

[prophetic]

It's been some time since I booted it up, but I do recall the JP 360 version also getting an extra mode via update which was essentially the Nesica version of Under Defeat HD that the US versions never got. It's kind of an interesting thing where it stops stage scrolling on occasions to destroy waves of enemies, but never figured out much about it beyond that.

Bummer to hear that. So as far as you know, the US 360 Games on Demand version is identical to the US PS3 version?

Now comes the hassle of trying to buy the JP Games on Demand.

[Obiwanshinobi]

One of my biggest recommendations on 360 would be Omega Five. Very underrated sidescroller by Tengo Project/Natsume. Same team from Wild Guns, Ninja Warriors etc. Also a very unerappreciated OST that let you play with regular or retro remixes:

https://youtu.be/1TcssUCew08

Unfortunately it was delisted when Konami bought the publisher Hudson so playing it today might take a bit of doing.

I've only started to differentiate it from Omega Fighter (Special) recently, when the news of cancellation came along. Darn handsome screenshots of that one.

[Rastan78]

Yeah, I think the graphics in Omega Five have held up very well, especially for a budget 2.5D title from a dev known for their 2D sprite work. Just compare it to Deathsmiles II X (although in a way I did love that game's funky rough around the edges charm). A couple caveats are that it is a twinstick shooter and it's on the casual side in the difficulty dept. The default arcade mode could be considered like novice mode and arcade ++ is like normal. Maybe there's a way outside chance it'll get a re-release since Tengo Project has been remastering all their old games.

This guy gives a nice rundown of the game here:

https://youtu.be/6ca8lgaIksQ

[Austin]

This guy gives a nice rundown of the game here:

https://youtu.be/6ca8lgaIksQ

Haha, that's mine.

Omega Five is great. One of my favorites on the 360. Looks great, plays smoothly, feels good and flows well. It's a damn shame it got delisted. Great value for the money too, as I think it was still $8 before it was taken down.

Those with hacked 360s should be able to grab it but that's a rabbit hole I haven't gone down yet.

[StudioMudprints]

I'll chime in, for whatever my opinion is worth these days:

-Some disagree on these, but I liked Bullet Soul and Bullet Soul Infinite Burst and so did Dae (which is a big deal as she doesn't particularly like too many shmups.)
-Eschatos (and by extension Judgment Silversword/Cardinal Sins) and Ginga Force are must-haves.
-I'll second (or third or what have you) the Shooting/Gesen Love series. 10-Shuunen and Plus Pengo are a good time.
-I'm a sucker for Senko no Ronde Rev.X. It's an acquired taste, but has an incredible soundtrack.
-Raiden IV obviously, but Overkill on Steam/PS3 (and presumably switch, we hope) is a better package.

Also, aren't some of the XBLA games delisted now? I thought for sure Trouble Witches Neo and Omega Five were axed some time ago.

[Hornet]

Classic
- Under Defeat HD

Bullet Hell
- Shikigami 3 (although, I've only played the Wii version)

Idiosyncratic Treasure awesomeness
- Radiant Silvergun