Arcade war shmups ?

[Rob79]

I wanna buy all these games so Im making list of war shmups.
Am I missing any ?

- Raiden DX,
- Raiden II
- Raiden Fighters
- Strikers 1945, 2, 3, 1999
- AeroFighters, 2, 3
- Twin Cobra
- Tiger Heli
- Mercs
- 1941, 1942, 1943
- 1941 Counter Attack
- Flying Shark
- Fire Shark (Same Same Same)
- Ghost Pilots
- Pulstar
- Skyshark
- Armed Police Batrider
- Battle Bakraid
- Battle Garegga
- Lighting Fighters aka Trigon
- Konami Ajax

What other war shooter games am I missing here ?

[Yukemi-ZWY]

Considering your list features Armed Police Batrider I'm not sure what you mean by "war shmups", however I immediately thought about Progear.

[DMC]

1994: The loop master
19XX
P-47
P-47 Aces
Desert War
USAAF Mustang
Thunder Dragon 1 & 2
Gun Frontier
Under Defeat
Zero Gunner 2

Gonna be a long list, OP!

RF series is debatable, but if you include 1 you have 2 and Jet too.

[Rob79]

Thanks
So what is best.
Buy a Supergun and Sony PVM or NEC XM29 monitor
or Try and find an Egret II Cab ?

Should I start buying games beforehand ?

[DMC]

If you really will go for all these games, a cabinet would make more sense than a supergun.

[Some-Mist]

Considering your list features Armed Police Batrider I'm not sure what you mean by "war shmups", however I immediately thought about Progear.

I thought of this and ketsui (I think both are military themed?)

[Rob79]

If you really will go for all these games, a cabinet would make more sense than a supergun.

Why ?

[mnneurope]

Fighting Hawk (ファイティングホーク) - Taito - 1988

[320x240]

Cobra Command and Breakthru (Data East)

[Capintec]

If you really will go for all these games, a cabinet would make more sense than a supergun.

Why ?

Because it´s going to be so expensive, that a cab makes no difference. Do you know Mame?

[Furry Fox Jet Pilot]

Add Storm Blade, Ashura Blaster, and Fire Barrel to your list.

[rancor]

I'm not sure I follow the "theme" here. Pulstar is on your list, so ....Blazing Star? Tatsujin? Would Viper Phase 1 be on there? Kaitei Daisensou (In the Hunt)? Akai Katana? Mad Shark?

I feel like we're just naming games that aren't cute 'em ups, or feature you riding some kind of bug / animal.

Either way, this is gonna be expensive...

[Captain]

A rephrase of what Rancor said.

Do you mean realistic war, or just war as a concept, that can apply to futuristic or fantastic (or both) settings?

If it is the second, I'd say Outzone fits.

PS:Blazing star is set after a war, not during a war.

[Jonst]

The dodonpachi games are war themed.

[Ikazu-san]

Isn't like 90% of shmups are made of war? I mean... bullets. And EXPLOSIONS.
Even those that aren't dark and serious are probably some conflict of "Who is cooking tonight" level.

[BIL]

I can tell you some that don't qualify!

Gun.Smoke = bustin' caps 4 madd ca$h, comin up like a muhfucka
Metal Black = illegal mission solo jaunt. fuck "a compromise called peace" imma get u cthulhus
V-V = if the game is not cleared, there is no return

[Captain]

I doubt that any game where you're controlling a single (OK, to be fair, lets say less than 6) or prototype unit qualifies as a war. I do think that there are some exceptions however, but generally, nope.

[mnneurope]

I believe he meant "war - military - realistic/mechanical ships/planes" = Flying Shark

and not, girls killing bugs = Mushihimesama

but then again, there is too much of "war - military - realistic ships/planes" shmups, so it would be pretty much impsobiiru to collect them all, because almost all shmups till mid 90s were war/conflict games with realistic/mechanical ships/planes

[spadgy]

Yeah - the theme is wildly broad considering most shmups are about conflict.

Give us some more details on what you mean by 'war' rob79... then I'm sure you can get a more concise and meaningful list. Even a straight up 'recent and contemporary reality based war shmups' list could run dozen long... possibly into three figures if you include some of the lower quality specimens.

[supergrafx77]

I'd like to add MMP to the list.

[Rob79]

Give us some more details on what you mean by 'war' rob79...

Military Themed, planes, helicopters, tanks etc

[BIL]

I could see Batrider working under that distinction; more about what you shoot, than the ship you shoot it in. APB has my favourite midboss helicopters in the genre.



Daisenpu is definitely under this umbrella. Must-play for shooter tank enthusiasts even by Toaplan's usual standards.

But yeah, you're still gonna end up with fousands of picks.

Bit OT, but I like the distinction between nominally "war" themed shooters like Gradius, and ones that really do portray a larger theatre of conflict in which you play a component, vital role supported by allies. Rayforce, Under Defeat and Koutetsu Teikoku (MD) all excel at this. RF might be largely solitary, but the end of stage 2 establishes in one unforgettably brutal stroke the human cost of getting your pilot behind enemy lines.

[chempop]

I’d like to add VARTH.

Any peace themed shmups?

[Captain]

War is an organized and often prolonged conflict that is carried out by states or non-state actors. It is generally characterised by extreme violence, social disruption and an attempt at economic destruction. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political communities, and therefore is defined as a form of (collective) political violence or intervention.

So basically, for a game to truly be based on war, you must be fighting for a "political community". So any game where you're part of some "super mega ultra team" or on a solo mission does not count. Any game where you are fighting for personal motives also doesn't count. In fact, any game with bizzare plot twists and reveals also doesn't count, read the first words of the quote. Even though you're fighting, it isn't be a war unless organized. The sole exception seems to be a humans(or whatever) vs aliens scenario, where the entire race is a "political community", and it is considered a war even without organization as long as both sides are fighting each other. Then again, this has yet to happen, so there are no rules.

The term you are actually looking for is warfare. (basically stuff blowing up)

[dink]

Ajax/Typhoon
Zing Zing Zip
Cyvern (if you discount the dragons)
Ashura Blaster
Asuka & Asuka
Kotetsu Yousai Strahl
Carrier Air Wing
Twin Hawk/Daisenpu
Hammer Away
Tokio/Scramble Formation
Task Force Harrier
Red Hawk/Stagger I
Spectrum 2000/Fire Hawk
Sonic Boom
Sky Smasher
S.S. Mission
Meta Fox
Mad Shark

- dink

[Obiwanshinobi]

Seconding Varth and Task Force Harrier, intestinally. Most other shmups seem like a theme park in comparison. (Great Tank gets a nod, but I don't think it ever was coin-op).

[BIL]

GT has an arcade forerunner in SNK's earlier T.A.N.K, but I've not looked into it much.

[spadgy]

So many of my favourites in this thread, and particularly in dink's post... all that stuff on Seta 1st gen boards.

Twin Eagle hasn't been mentioned yet (nor its sequel). The first contains the best lyrics written for a 'traditional war game' after Cannon Fodder.

[mice]

Thundercade!