breaking out of a shmup slump

[professor ganson]

I'm sure a lot of you are like me and the rest of life takes over, pushing gaming to the side. And after a break like that, other genres can be calling out for attention as much as shmups.

Do you have any go-to shmups after serious neglect? Ones that are likely to revive your interest after a slump? Are you more inclined to return to favorites or play some new-to-you shmups you haven't gotten around to? Do you prefer to start out with something easier or jump right into the punishment?

[Heavy Viper]

Xevious always gets me in the mood for shmups; that opening fanfare works like a charm. Tatsujin works just as well.

[trap15]

I just play my favorite game, Thunder Dragon 2, which gets me really goin' to play a bunch.

[Emuser]

After almost a 3 month hiatus, I'm just easing my way back into it with easier things and what I'm more familiar with already.

[Doctor Butler]

I just did a casual run of Muchi-Muchi Pork, after not playing any shooters for months.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Usually Raiden III, last time having just purhased a mechanical keyboard and wanting to see how it's like to play a shmup with it.

[CStarFlare]

I cut my teeth on Touhou 7 and 8, so they're usually my go-to when I'm in a slump or don't want to play anything specific.

[beatsgo]

Gradius Gaiden is my bread and butter when it comes to picking back up my game just because

[drboom]

Anything from ol' Toaplan gets me going again. Especially Sky Shark and Out Zone.

[Kollision]

For me it's either Mushi or Gradius V.
When I play them my eyes glow to supernova status.

[Squire Grooktook]

Cho Ren Sha 68k on hard. Nothing like some good ol fast dodging when you need some adrenaline.

[professor ganson]

Xevious always gets me in the mood for shmups; that opening fanfare works like a charm.

Right, that sounds very tempting. Or Xevious Arrangement, which is my favorite in the series. Faster pace and more enemies, but same great art style and risk-reward scoring.

[Strikers1945guy]

When I'm playing constantly I love to rock out Ibara ut if I've taken a week or more off I usually can't jump into Ibara for some reason. I always seem to love to fire up DDP DOJ to get back into the groove of things. Probably because I know that Game inside and out so even with weeks without any shmup play at all I can jump in and just about 1CC white label on the first go or two. It's always nice to get back into playing with a Game you know, keep your confidence up.

[Mr12Inches]

I've been trying to get back into shmups after a 9-month hiatus of not playing them. The games I've been playing to get back into the groove are Touhou 7 and 8. They are the first shmups that got me interested in the genre, and I get excited when I accomplish stuff in those games.

[Mero]

Just play whatever game you want, whether it's STG or not. You don't want to be going into your gaming sessions thinking "oh, I've GOT to play STG now" if you don't really fancy it.

[ratikal]

Eschatos and Dodonpachi Daioujou.

The reason being that I've played them enough (and to an extent chained them) to the point where its down to muscle memory now. If I ever took a hiatus, I'm pretty sure those would be the two games I would fall back on.

[Gamer707b]

I enjoy too many other genres to just play shmups. RPGS and adventure are my favorite. With that said when Im in the shooter mood, pretty much anything from Treasure is my thing. Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga can get me going for sure .Love em. Also been playing a bunch of R type Final lately.

[Captain]

Go play League of legends until you get an urge to smash your keyboard.

Only then will you realize how awesome shmups are.

[LSU]

Although it's not a shmup, I always find that playing a few credits of my current flavour of the month Metal Slug game gives me plenty of enthusiasm to shoot up lots and lots more stuff.

[professor ganson]

Just play whatever game you want, whether it's STG or not. You don't want to be going into your gaming sessions thinking "oh, I've GOT to play STG now" if you don't really fancy it.

Yes, I'm very tempted to get back to some strategy role playing games and only mildly tempted to play shmups at the moment. But I've invested quite a bit recently acquiring PCE shmups, so it seems like I should be playing them. And I know I'll enjoy them once I get started. I just need to get some grading done first.

[CaptainBadAss]

Just play whatever game you want, whether it's STG or not. You don't want to be going into your gaming sessions thinking "oh, I've GOT to play STG now" if you don't really fancy it.

Agreed with this. Enjoy the games you want to play right now and the STGs will be around when you'r e ready for them . I kind of feel guilty when I buy games and then play something else. The "new" games are just laying around for a while but...they're video games! They're meant to be fun