What is your favourite shooter and why?

[keeyaa]

I recently just 1cc Mushi in Taitohey Akihabara so this is mine!

Also like:
Espgaluda II
Guwange
Deathsmiles
Ketsui

[dink]

Cyvern, Donpachi, Guwange, Mahou Daisakusen. They suit me!

[Cee]

Ketsui and Gradius iv are the top of my lists.

[Squire Grooktook]

Favorite for me would be a tie between Cho Ren Sha 68k (on hard mode) and Rayforce.

Cho Ren Sha (on hard) basically takes almost (only thing it's missing is environmental hazards) everything I love about oldschool shmups with everything I love about bullet hell. It's chaotic, random, manic, but forces you to move at high speed, frantically and hyper-actively to survive rather then hunker down in focus and micro dodge like most bullet hell shmups. There's not much to it beyond this special style of dodging, but CRS (on hard) does it better then any other shmup and just feels great every time I play it.

Rayforce likewise blends that hard hitting, visceral style of large hitbox shmups with some pretty difficult sight reading and amazing boss and level designs. It's got a scoring system as deep as any modern shmup, and a jaw dropping cinematic presentation and beautiful atmosphere like no other game. It's a totally unique experience that's fun and moving to return to every time.

[BIL]

Gun.Smoke or as I affectionately call it MURDER.YOUR.MFCKN.FACE

[Kollision]

Star Force NES
Raystorm
After Burner Climax

EDIT: forgot the why

because these games royally piss me off

[Strikers1945guy]

Ibara for sure. The best parts of Raizing games, closest sequel we will ever get to battle garegga, designed by god himself (Yagawa), and run on a Cave pcb with cave graphics. Pure bliss.

[LordHypnos]

Not that I haven't said this and explained it in pretty much every other thread on the forum, but most def Mars Matrix.
In short: really original and well designed game mechanics; simple yet deep scoring system; no enemy contact damage; excellent level design; fast bullets with large gaps between them; probably more things that I'm forgetting.

EDIT: Also the pacing. Was just playing it (for over an hour) after posting this, and there really is not a dull moment. break neck pacing for sure. Not that that's unique to MM, but it's one of its many merits

[chum]

Great fairy wars for its bosses and mechanics mainly

Boss patterns:
-Wicked creative
-Heavy RNG in the bullet sprays
-Really fast bullets now and then but not all the time, have to react instead of memorize
-Well suited for exploiting the mechanics towards the optimum (if you don't mind the heavy RNG dictating score potential)

Mechanics:
-Freezing is in a world of its own in videogames
-Constant multitasking in the form of balancing graze with shooting for charge with timing and positioning altered depending on your charge and other factors developed on the fly, managing of health through shooting only the sides and proper amount, knowledge of how your freeze will pan out before you use it to exploit further, knowledge of how many full or lesser ice hits a boss can take and how much leftover health is there for side-shot for charge, all while you may have to avoid difficult bullets
-Enforces deep knowledge to be applied practically to sustain a route, how much PF% does one ice give, so how much does all ice in one section give roughly, what if you mess up, is the route dead or can you use backup route, what if the RNG does this or that, dead run or backups, etc. What effect does dying in a certain spot have and what is the most consistent suicide and bomb route you can attempt with your ice patterns. Every action branches into new actions in a way that is totally unique which makes it cohesive, and thanks to RNG and 25 categories, extra replayable

Branching paths and multiple difficulties and I enjoy playing them all, best extra stage in the series by far, great music, cute fairies. The stage design is also good, particularly for scoring although I sometimes wish the maingame stages would be a bit more complex (kinda more like the insanely difficult to optimize Extra stage portion but perhaps even crazier, or certain CAVE stages) as it would fit well with the mechanics, but still way better than most shooters

In addition I already thought it was the best game when I was just starting out by clearing the lunatic routes and going for low scores, it was evident

Fun and intense gameplay on a totally other level, it's hard to play other shooters more than just a little occasionally after experiencing this

[Furry Fox Jet Pilot]

Raiden DX because it's the best Raiden game, and it's the pinnacle of old school shooters before bullet hell infected the genre. It's the best shmup from the 90s, nothing else comes close. Music, visual details, multiple courses, a perfect scoring system that isn't too complex nor too simple, and gameplay are honed to perfection, and just like the devs stated, it is the "true" form of Raiden II, expanding on II's rather bland formula.

[emphatic]

The CAVE games on PGM hardware are magical. I also love Battle Garegga.

[TransatlanticFoe]

Power Strike/Aleste for the Master System.

One of the first games I bought, so it has a special place for being a game that owned me growing up but was enough fun that I kept coming back for more.

The graphics and music are incredible for the system, but the rank system is what really caught my attention. Not only different waves for how long you've been alive, but also which weapon you have.

It's easy now though - I came back to it as a student after playing a lot of Giga Wing on the Dreamcast and I completed it on my first go, then one-lifed it on my second!

[harveybirdman]

I'm no genre expert, so take it for what it's worth from an enthusiast...


Final Star Force: While some dismiss it for its lack of difficulty and a departure from it's critically acclaimed predecessor, this is still one of my favorite arcade SHUMPS for the pure fact that I love the unique weapon power up and the music changes as you pick up different options. Sure the graphics aren't that inspired and there's not much if any story but I find myself going back to this one quite often.

Rayforce: For every reason already mentioned, love that game. So satisfying to lock on to enemies and blast them with missiles.

[Aleksei]

The upcoming Darius Burst game because I know it will be played for many years to come.

[KAI]

Radirgy, because people hate it, and I love games that people hate. Also Ibara and Karous.

[The Armchair General]

Dodonpachi Daioujou ~ White label

Reasons:
- Fun boss patterns with a good mixture of RNG patterns and static patterns.
- medium speed bullets with medium bullet density (1st loop)
- Hypers make chaining more interesting without taking over the game like they do in Daifukatsu.
- Difficulty: 1st loop is very hard without being too ridicules and the second loop is a contender for the hardest thing in a shmup
- I like how hyper rank works
- I like how the levels are designed
- Leinyan is best waifu

[Xyga]

My favourite is going to be one of the many arrange/matsuri around, but I can't really pick one.
- MMP Arrange
- Mushi 1.5
- PS Arrange
- Ketsuipachi
Because they're fun and sometimes completely fucked-up/OTT, and kind of beautiful, a bit like fireworks.
Good alternatives to fapping.

NB: my favourite shmup isn't necessarily the one I consider the best or admire the most (that would be Garegga).

[Firehawke]

In no particular order:
Gradius Gaiden, Alcon, Life Force, Gradius 3 SNES, Ajax, Lightning Fighters, Mushihimesama, Dodonpachi, Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu, Gradius 5, R-Type Delta, Darius 2, G-Darius, Area 88 SNES.

Probably others, can't think of them at the moment.

Gradius Gaiden is likely my all-time favorite, though. Great level design-- better than Gradius 5 in most cases, good use of the PSX's 3D capabilities without getting too crazy, and great music.

Alcon would be a close second because of the sheer amount of money I threw at the machine on my way home from school when I was a kid. It became the second arcade board I bought once I got my cab.

[Necronopticous]

Futari 1.5 Maniac by a pretty long shot.

[pokemon123]

ketsui- don't know how to explain it but it feels like a CAVE game but without the CAVEY feeling to it. It makes pretty much no sense but maybe a better way to describe it is that when I play a CAVE game I feel like I played them all except for ketsui.

Mushi 1.5 for the MAX modes which also don't remind me of CAVE much IMO.

Rayforce- thought shoot em ups with big hitboxes weren't really my thing until this game. Got me into looking into older shoot em ups and I really like them.

oh and ibara

[benadiz]

Hellsinker.
Characters are fun to play, Beginner-friendly mechanics, autobomb, awesome music, mesmerizing TLB, what's not to like other than the crypticness of the interface and some of the the mechanics?

[juonryu2nd]

Sora.

I love the gunplay, the music and the bosses. The Ex stage in particular is the best thing ever.

[Shepardus]

OP may be interested in this annual poll.

For me, my favorite is Cho Ren Sha 68k. I'm still not sure exactly why but the movement in it feels better than anything else I've played - some games feel just right and I wouldn't change anything about them, but Cho Ren Sha somehow manages to feel better than that. It's very simple, some would say to a fault, but it's incredibly effective and Hard mode is random enough that it feels fresh every time, while being forgiving enough that that randomness doesn't feel unfair. Not to mention that soundtrack. This was one of the first shmups I played and every moment still feels exciting.

[drunkninja24]

Ketsui by far

Hard to pin down a specific reason, but I guess just the general flow of the game clicks with me in a way no other game does. I also love all the windy patterns the game has, which was never quite replicated with any other Cave game (closest thing they've come to doing that again was the TLB of DFKBL Arrange, which was just a variation of the Ketsui TLB).

[Stevens]

OP may be interested in this annual poll.

In a moment of boredom at work the other day I was thinking about the annual poll and placed my shooters into tiers from God Tier to Ghost Blade Tier.

I would happily share if anyone gives a shit:D

Mars Matrix.
In short: really original and well designed game mechanics; simple yet deep scoring system; no enemy contact damage; excellent level design; fast bullets with large gaps between them; probably more things that I'm forgetting.

EDIT: Also the pacing. Was just playing it (for over an hour) after posting this, and there really is not a dull moment. break neck pacing for sure. Not that that's unique to MM, but it's one of its many merits

I love that it is 18 minutes from start to finish. It looks great on a crt or through a scan line generator. I wouldn't play it any other way.

Even though it isn't my favorite I think it is the best shooter on the DC. I would actually take it to a desert island before Under Defeat because of all the content. Check your PM's.

My favorite was, is, and shall remain Under Defeat.

I love the slow, methodical pacing. That the first boss reminds me of Airwolf. The stage 2 BGM. The radio chatter. The smoke escaping from a battleship turret after firing. The smouldering wreckage of whatever your rocket just rendered to trash. Watching the stage 3 boss crash into the canyon. Assaulting the enemies fortress in stage 4. The tower boss.

Stage 5. The somber music plays. The Allied forces are invading what I presume is Berlin. You are fighting a losing battle yet you soldier on. The Arsenal, the Neofelds, the Browning - A tank fortress so large it births regular sized tanks.

And the explosions. G Rev just fucking rules at explosions.

[iconoclast]

Sand Scorpion, because it made me remember how fun shooting game tournaments can be.

[Lord Satori]

I'm fond of Tyrian and Hellsinker. I'm not sure which one I'd choose as my favorite, though.

[LordHypnos]

I love that it is 18 minutes from start to finish. It looks great on a crt or through a scan line generator. I wouldn't play it any other way.

Even though it isn't my favorite I think it is the best shooter on the DC. I would actually take it to a desert island before Under Defeat because of all the content. Check your PM's.

My favorite was, is, and shall remain Under Defeat.

I love the slow, methodical pacing. That the first boss reminds me of Airwolf. The stage 2 BGM. The radio chatter. The smoke escaping from a battleship turret after firing. The smouldering wreckage of whatever your rocket just rendered to trash. Watching the stage 3 boss crash into the canyon. Assaulting the enemies fortress in stage 4. The tower boss.

Stage 5. The somber music plays. The Allied forces are invading what I presume is Berlin. You are fighting a losing battle yet you soldier on. The Arsenal, the Neofelds, the Browning - A tank fortress so large it births regular sized tanks.

And the explosions. G Rev just fucking rules at explosions.

Pretty sure I saw and responded to your PM. maybe you should check your PMs!
Hard to beat Under Defeat for presentation. There really aren't any better explosions out there, and other stuff too.

I definitely play MM without a scanline generator, but there are technically 480p scanlines, because I'm using a PC monitor. I'm sure that smooths out the visuals a bit.

[mamboFoxtrot]

Off the top of my head right now:

Akai Katana, because of its flexible scoring system, great soundtrack, and because I get to shoot swords at things.

Rayforce, for reasons people have already mentioned.

G-Darius, for its stage variety, Capture Ball mechanic, amazing boss fights that change completely depending on what sub-route you take in the stage, and fantastic art direction, including its visuals and backgrounds, cinematography, soundtrack, etc.

And R-Type games in general, almost purely because of personal bias, as Super R-Type was my first and only shooter for a while.

[copy-paster]

Dodonpachi Daioujou ~ Black label

Reasons:
- Fun boss patterns with a good mixture of RNG patterns and static patterns.
- medium speed bullets with medium bullet density (1st loop)
- Hypers make chaining more interesting without taking over the game like they do in Daifukatsu.
- Difficulty: 1st loop is very hard without being too ridicules and the second loop is a contender for the hardest thing in a shmup
- I like how hyper rank works
- I like how the levels are designed
- Leinyan is best waifu

Corrected.

G-Darius, for its stage variety, Capture Ball mechanic, amazing boss fights that change completely depending on what sub-route you take in the stage, and fantastic art direction, including its visuals and backgrounds, cinematography, soundtrack, etc.

+1

Your thoughts is same as mine, the game is truly a perfection.