Recommendations for a shmup noob?

[creamygarlicdip]

Hi Guys,

I recently got a sega saturn with the all in on pro action replay cart, i also have a ps1 and dreamcast.

Can you guys recommend the best shmups for these systems? I don't have much experience with these type of games.

[z0mbie90]

Dreamcast have Milestone!

[stoneroses]

just ones off the top of my head:

SAT: Batsugun, Battle Garegga

PS: Raiden Project, R-Types

DC: Gunbird 2

[Immryr]

While batsugun and battle garegga are great, they're both expensive. Layer section and darius gaiden are both great and cheap too. There are a bunch more mid priced type shooters on the saturn too. Don pachi, dodonpachi and soukyugurentai for starters!

[broken harbour]

G-Darius on PS1 is pretty noob friendly and inexpensive.

I don't generally reccomend Darius Gaiden for beginners, it's difficulty and rank, which can never be lowered by dying, makes the game feel cheap in my opinion. Having said that it's not expensive to acquire.

[JBC]

RayStorm, Super Aleste/Space Megaforce, G-Darius. All incredible games but rookie-friendly.

[mamboFoxtrot]

RayForce (look for "Galactic Attack" for US Saturn, "Layer Section" for JP Saturn) I think is a good pick for Saturn. It's cheap, has a horizontal play option if you can't tate (and also isn't a perspective mindfuck when you do this compared to most other verts), and has a much simpler system than most other Saturn STGs I know of. Not sure if the difficulty is good for beginners - I mean, it certainly kicks my n00b ass - but I doubt any worthwhile Saturn STGs are going to be easy.

[HydrogLox]

Peruse BulletMagnet's articles and find something that appeals to you:
Shmups 101: A Beginner’s Guide to 2D Shooters
The Sega Saturn’s Explosive Shmups Library
The Phenomenal Playstation (PS1) Shmups Library
DRAFT: Shmups for Beginners.

There is also the racketboy article: The Sega Dreamcast Shmups Library.

[creamygarlicdip]

cool thanks guys! ill check some of these out!

[mehguy]

Gigawing and Gigawing 2 on Dreamcast.

[ACSeraph]

G-Darius on PS1 is pretty noob friendly and inexpensive.

I don't generally reccomend Darius Gaiden for beginners, it's difficulty and rank, which can never be lowered by dying, makes the game feel cheap in my opinion. Having said that it's not expensive to acquire.

Opposite opinion here, unless you are planning to go for Beginner mode G is a total bitch to play. I've never been able to get into it, and it's the only main series Darius game I've yet to 1cc.

I don't really understand the super hard rep Gaiden has. It gets crazy on certain high level courses for sure, but I was able to get the basic 1cc within 2 weeks of a couple credits a day. Didn't even use autofire. I think it's for sure one of the best beginner friendly games on Sat, and it will suck you in with it's beautiful graphics and easy to grasp mechanics.

Also Rayforce, definitely get Rayforce.

[trap15]

Would also agree that Darius Gaiden is not too hard. It's one of my earliest 1ccs, and it's a ton of fun and basically a masterpiece.

[KAI]

Dreamcast have Milestone!

[Bananamatic]

Pink Sweets

[pandoraXhunter]

What about Border Down?

[Squire Grooktook]

Also Rayforce, definitely get Rayforce.

Would also agree that Darius Gaiden is not too hard. It's one of my earliest 1ccs, and it's a ton of fun and basically a masterpiece.

[Skykid]

What about Border Down?

For a beginner?

Pink Sweets

[BIL]

Strikers 1945 II

Strikers II is better on PS1 (and very cheap+obtainable via the Superlite 500 reprint). Much less slowdown, though it's still not quite as fast as the PCB. It's the opposite for Strikers I, that's better on Saturn.

Strikers II is definitely a good beginner's arcade (as opposed to console) shooter, speaking from direct experience. Brisk, compulsive and instantly accessible; won't whack newbies with the arcade toughness until they've gotten a few stages under their belts and hopefully a little confidence.

[neorichieb1971]

Any of the Parodius series.

Tengoku : The game paradise

[HydrogLox]

Strikers II is better on PS1 (and very cheap+obtainable via the Superlite 500 reprint).

The original post doesn't identify region for the PS1 (or the Dreamcast) - and the SuperLite 1500 reprint is specific to the NTSC-J PS1 console. The unfortunate fact is that the NTSC-U/C version does not support TATE (Arcade) play (3:4 showing the entire play area on the screen) - it only supports 4:3 "cramped" (Original 1) and "wobble" (Original 2) play which significantly impacts the experience. So really the NTSC-U/C PS1 release of Strikers 1945 II (confusingly named "Strikers 1945") does not do the original game justice (unlike the NTSC-J version; apparently the PAL version does support TATE despite some reports to the contrary).

That being said I still play Strikers 1945 Plus Portable on the PS Vita warts and all - but it would be unfortunate if someone rejected Strikers 1945 II because they were only exposed to a gimped version of it. Most people seem to report that the Saturn version has slowdown in places while the PS1 version runs (and looks) somewhat smoother.

http://www.shmups.com/reviews/strikers1945_ps1/

In the absense of a NTSC-J PS1 (or NTSC-J PS2) it may make more sense to stick with the Saturn port of the first game "Strikers 1945" (which is better than the PS1 port) and putting off "Strikers 1945 II" 'til later.

[Evilmaxwar]

Zanac X Zanac on the PS1 import is pretty expensive but it is also easy to beat on one credit. Can be motivational to rack you first 1cc. It is not necessarily that easy in itself but you get so many extends through score that you just stack lives.

[chempop]

Saturn
Gradius Deluxe Pack
Strikers 1945
Layer Section
Darius Gaiden
Dodonpachi

Dreamcast
Gigawing
Under Defeat
Gunbird 2 (if you like strikers 1945)
Mars Matrix (if you like Gigawing)
Bangai-o (non-traditional)
Rez (non-traditional)

[leadwing85]

Hi Guys,

I recently got a sega saturn with the all in on pro action replay cart, i also have a ps1 and dreamcast.

Can you guys recommend the best shmups for these systems? I don't have much experience with these type of games.

hey, always good to see people getting into STGs!

My recommendations would have to be:
'Cheap End' - Layer Section for Saturn, Shienryu/Gekioh for PS1 (also on Saturn, but at 6x the price), Strikers 1945 (also on both systems, but usually cheaper on the PS1)

'Not as Cheap' - Dodonpachi for Saturn, Donpachi for Saturn, Battle Garegga for Saturn (with garegga, its not actually a easy game, but id still recommend it to a new to genre player as with the Saturn port you can turn on redball. and though its a hard game, its something that you can grow with as your skills improve, id say theres a lot of replay value in it)

with the dreamcast, id say get every single STG you can and try them all as the games cost as much as a pack of cdrs, if you catch my drift

[Obiwanshinobi]

Sonic Wings Special (either version is fine, excluding the PAL PSX one).

[westquote]

Mars Matrix for Dreamcast was not super expensive when I picked it up in 09, and its score attack mode is quite accessible.

[JBC]

Mars Matrix is a good pick for beginners. I was able to 1cc it back in the DC heyday but don't remember it being extremely hard.

I'll have to disagree with the RayForce Saturn suggestions though. That game is excellent but stomps me hard. It's sequels for PS1 are totally doable though & RayStorm in particular is a great game. The soundtrack especially gets my approval.

Storm Blade & Viper: Phase 1 are some pretty good arcsde picks for the uninitiated.

[LordHypnos]

I also cleared Mars Matrix with pretty much no prior shmup experience (and still suck at everything else), but most people seem to think it's one of the hardest games ever, so keep that in mind. Also, when I bought it in early 2014 it was still under $50, but nowadays it's usually like $70

Definitely (one of) the best game(s) on the Dreamcast, though, and the whole library is at least competent from what I've played.

[trap15]

I'll have to disagree with the RayForce Saturn suggestions though. That game is excellent but stomps me hard. It's sequels for PS1 are totally doable though & RayStorm in particular is a great game. The soundtrack especially gets my approval.

Storm Blade & Viper: Phase 1 are some pretty good arcsde picks for the uninitiated.

You think VP1 is a good pick but RayForce is too hard? What?

[JBC]

I find VP1 easy & RayForce hard. I think some people just shmup differently.

RayForce really stomps my ass. I'm terrible at it & always have been, but I fly right through Viper.

[G-Darius]

G-Darius is my favourite shooter of all time but also on PS1 Raiden Project and R-types aside you can also get Xevious 3dG which also contains the previous three versions of the arcade Xevious,and Capcom Generations contains the arcade games 1942,1943,1943 kai,Vulgus and Exed Exes.
I also own Namco Museum 1-5 which are difficult to obtain but do have some more arcade titles like Galaga,Bosconian,Xevious,Gaplus,Galaxian,Ordyne and Dragon Spirit.