most innovative shmups

[Marc]

Yea it did, by about a year if I'm not mistaken.

[Shatterhand]

Yeah the arcade version of Mag Max has a SPEED UP button.

This button didn't just speed up your ship, it speed up the WHOLE game, it was like pressing f10 on mame.

I can't remember if there was some use for it (Like gaining more points by playing the game at higher speed), or if it was there just to get past quicker of empty areas (I remember you could speed-up the take off sequence)

[Neo Rasa]

I know, it was crazy.

The main use for it was if you got suck in a "layer" you didn't like, so you could get to an exit faster. If I remember right it didn't alter your scoring at all.

[extrarice]

Where would Compile/Irem's forgotten The Guardian Legend go? That's the only combination of shmup and Zelda-style puzzle/maze I've ever seen. But then again, my shmup knowledge is nowhere near as extensive others here.

Dang fun game too.

[Neo Rasa]

The only game I know of even remotely like it is Sigma Star Saga on the GBA, and that only because the designers were like "we wanted to make a new Guardian Legend but we couldn't get the rights, so we made this."

[raiden]

On the other hand I'm surprised Ikaruga hasn't been mentioned yet. I'd like to see the dual-colors system implemented by a shmup developer

it´s there in Dimahoo, too. Not as radical as in Ikaruga, but combined with a slew of other special features (like collecting items to gain beneficial effects)

[chtimi-CLA]

What new innovations did Raiden 1&2 (not DX) introduce, by definition?

Stupidly slow, not-screen-clearing bombs ^_-

huh? the raiden bomb is ripped straight from twin cobra. raiden's red weapon is a mix of tc's red and blue, and raiden's blue weapon is tc's green laser. even the power-up carriers have the same shape (twin rotors helis)
the tanks, the rotating turrets, everything in raiden is "inspired" from twin cobra.

On a similar note, what was the first game to introduce the bomb? Not the air-ground weapon seen in old games, but limited stock, screen clearing bombs? (I'm sure Stargate had a sort of limited stock bomb, at least the A2600 version did with the 2P controller's fire button.)

tiger heli has a "real" bomb, and also an interesting auto-bomb feature.

[sffan]

I wonder what shmup was the first to release more than a single shot per button push.

Was it Time Pilot? Time pilot releases 3 bullets per button push.