Polls will close February 14th at 9:59am GMT.
It it acceptable to both post new lists and edit current ones up to this point.
Voting rules:
00. If you haven't participated before, read the Background section in the following post, noting the requirements, before proceeding any further. Even if you have it's probably a good idea anyway because it changes slightly every year.
01. Use the following vote format, including brackets:
- [integer score 1 to 25] [first game title]
[integer score 1 to 25] [second game title]- etc.
- [25] [Favorite]
[24] [Second Favorite]
... etc ...
[2] [24th Favorite]
[1] [25th Favorite]
The highest weighting any one game is allowed to have is 0.25. This means that the total sum must add up to at least 4 times the value of the highest number present (so a list starting in 25 must add up to at least 100, etc.). Note that lists do not need to start with 25, end with 1, or be totally linear - beyond this ruling, you are free to adjust them as you see fit. A more detailed explanation of the scoring calculation can be found here.
02. You must vote for exactly 25 games. Your list can contain the games you think are the best overall, the most influential, most personally enjoyable, most underrated, etc. If you are eligible to vote under rule 00 but still can't come up with 25 games, you have a month to try and fill in the gaps if you so desire.
03. Shmups released in calendar year 2015 are not eligible for consideration.
04. Don't vote for games you haven't played.
05. Please be specific when voting for ports, or when different games share the same title. Some versions are similar enough to count as the same game, but others are counted separately due to significant differences (e.g. Gradius III or UN Squadron). In some cases, both region and platform may be important. Votes that do not specify platform will be assumed to be for the arcade/other original release, or in isolated cases the most well-known version (e.g. [Zanac] will be considered a vote for Zanac NES). Be careful with notation too, as [Slap Fight MD] is not considered the same thing as [Slap Fight (MD)]. If in doubt, it's always better to specify (or ask/check a previous years' results; last years' are here). Also note that you are still free to include more than one game version on a ballot if you so desire.
Due to reevaluation of certain game groupings, this year votes for Akai Katana and Akai Katana Shin, as well as Pink Sweets and Pink Sweets Arrange, are going to be counted separately, so please make sure to specify which one(s) you wish to give credit to. This ruling isn't 100% percent set in stone and I remain open for discussion about how to handle it. Other Cave modes not listed last year will also be checked if they appear, while all releases of Caladrius shall be combined.
06. Vote for games, not compilations that include them. You can't vote for Raiden Fighters Aces but you can vote for each of the three games it contains. Games that never got an independent release are also permitted, such as Xevious Arrangement. If someone wishes to vote for a part of a game that qualifies as a shmup, but is not the entire game, I believe this should also be permitted, as long as the voter is capable of judging the quality of that section on its own shooting merits.
07. Vote for games, not their different modes of play. Exceptions are granted for revisions of games that are sufficiently different from the original (see rule 05).
08. No off-limits games! Please consult the chart below to see if your game is eligible for consideration:
No voting for:
- First-person perspective shooters (Doom, Solvalou)
- including Lightgun Shooters (House of the Dead, Rail Chase)
Platform Shooters (Contra, Metal Slug)
Rail Shooters (Rez, Panzer Dragoon)
Gallery/Carnival Shooters (NAM-1975, Cabal)
Action-Adventure Games (Alien Breed, Gauntlet, Legend of Zelda) - including Lightgun Shooters (House of the Dead, Rail Chase)
You may vote for games in any of the following categories:
- Non-scrolling playfield
- Fixed Shooters (Space Invaders, Galaga)
Maze Shooters (Berserk, Tank Battalion)
Field Shooters (Robotron 2084, Smash TV, Geometry Wars)- including those set on a cylinder or torus (Asteroids, Star Castle)
- Automatically scrolling shooters
- Vertically scrolling shooters (Xevious, Cybattler)
- including those set on a cylinder (Scion)
- including those set on a cylinder (Fantasy Zone)
- Vertically scrolling shooters (Xevious, Cybattler)
- Manually advancing horizontally scrolling shooters (In The Hunt, Mr. Heli no Daibouken)
- including those set on a cylinder (Defender)
Manually advancing multi-directional shooters (Granada, KiKi KaiKai, Bangai-O)- including those set on a torus or infinite plane (Sinistar)
- Every Extend series
Gyruss and clones
Tempest, clones, and sequels
- Fixed Shooters (Space Invaders, Galaga)
09. You may not vote for games that you do not believe are shmups. If you do not think that Granada is a shmup, you may not vote for it. However, as long as the votes of others respect the categories outlined in rule 08, your opinion shall have no bearing on the eligibility of other votes.
Anything by the end of voting that either remains unfixed or looks like someone's idea of a joke will potentially be either changed or discounted.
