Do you play any endless "shooting gallery" shmups?

[Pixel_Outlaw]

Just curious.

Are there games you are content to play even if they just get faster and harder with no real ending?

Mostly talking about single screen "shooting gallery" style shmups from the earliest days.

I've never enjoyed Space Invaders but do like Galaga.
Will you play a shmup with endless waves or do you need your 6-8 levels with an ending?

I can see that some regard it as an endless chance to improve upon their last score while others regard them as an exercise in futility since you can't win.

[CloudyMusic]

Probably not, because I like the idea of the length of a run having a finite upper bound. Playing a single credit for 5+ hours in, say, Gradius sounds like the most draining thing imaginable.

[Perikles]

I grew to love games with infinite loops (for as long as I like the game itself, of course), it's great to return to a beloved title some time later and squeeze out another loop or two. I've had my fair share of 5-6 hour long marathon sessions (6 loops of FC Gradius, 4 loops of FDS Gyruss, 6 loops of Hellfire MD, 13 loops of Slap Fight Special, 5 loops of SFC Gradius III etc.) - yes, it becomes draining after a while, but it is great fun while it lasts. I don't really consider these to be "inherently" endless, so to speak, since each and every loop is clearly separated from the next. Xevious for example is a lot more seamless in that regard (it also doesn't have an ending sequence), yet you can still proudly clear the first/second/third/fourth... loop of that game, too. I definitely want some sort of a clear cut, however, otherwise I'm not interested in the game. Clear or bust!

[Pixel_Outlaw]

I guess Looping counts.

I was considering the less complex shooting gallery style shmups though initially.

[KAI]

An infinite monkey theorem shmup sounds like a bad idea.

[Doctor Butler]

I think OP means like a Caravan-Shooter, right?

[Pixel_Outlaw]

More like single screen games.
Stuff we saw in the 80's.

We used to call them "shooting gallery" shmups a few years back.

No real "levels" just waves of enemies that got more difficult and faster.
There were quite a few of these kinds of games.

Not necessarily 1D movement though.
I'd count Titanion even though it has 2D movement.

[MathU]

I don't really know anymore. Although I have indeed always loved Galaga, I generally loath when other shooters loop and have you play the same stages over again where only the enemies are mildly different. Kingdom Grandprix and Gradius Rebirth are just about the only games that do looping right. I have very rarely bothered with these "retro" arcade games with endless waves that we've been deluged with the last several years. The extra challenge to entice returning champions should not reside at the end of 30 minutes of going through the motions every time but within different difficulties or game modes.

If you're going to play for score I much prefer that the metric of competition falls squarely on player skill, rather than whoever has the most patience or the biggest block of free time or the largest bladder.

[pegboy]

Pretty much those only one's I'd play seriously would be the Gradius games. The first 3 games are technically 80's games

[Shepardus]

I would have fun with it for a little while, but I doubt I would ever seriously pursue high scores in an endless game, since when there's no limit to the length it tends to last a lot longer than I'm comfortable with. 40 minutes is already stretching it, and the 5-6 hours or even more that some people last on infinitely looping games is absurd to me. Even if I had the endurance for that I wouldn't want to commit half my day to a single run. And that's assuming it doesn't get repetitive and boring sometime during those hours.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

I find Space Invaders Extreme totally boring honestly.

Space Invaders in any form always feels like shooting bees through a picket fence with a black powder musket.

[Strikers1945guy]

With something like Sky skark which just loops until like loop 7 then every loop is the same? No

If you had a game Ibara Harder mode and started on stage 7 and just repeated it sure.

I would only play a mode so hard it's basically impossible to get so good to repeat forever. AKA Yagawa Game.

Something where there is no random and it's all so predictable like Dodonpachi would be boring.

[Cagar]

I'd have no problem with that, but only if

-It's balanced well, so that the runs are approximately consistent in results
-It's not too long (10-20 minutes) or even better, you can make it harder fast by playing better

[Austin]

I enjoy the Galaga games quite a bit, but asides from them I don't revisit the single screen shooters much anymore.

[BIL]

or the largest bladder.

Or failing that, the least dignity.

[uzernaem]

I like Galaga. Would be really nice getting Galaga' 88 PCB but it costs much more than I am willing to pay for it. Is PC Engine version any good?

[BIL]

I've only played the PCE port on its own terms (casual Galaga fan at best, never played arcade '88). I do love it though. Seems totally solid, and usually goes for peanuts. Looks/sounds frickin adorable too. Probably the best bang/buck ratio of my shooter collection. For the older games, the Namco Museums (PS1) have good ports of Galaxian, Galaga and Gaplus.

I'm also quite fond of Space Invaders '90 on the MD. These aren't my favourite style of shooter, but I like a varied collection and their emphasis on high-accuracy sniping + economical movement is always a good change of pace.

[uzernaem]

I've only played the PCE port on its own terms (casual Galaga fan at best, never played arcade '88). I do love it though. Seems totally solid, and usually goes for peanuts. Looks/sounds frickin adorable too. Probably the best bang/buck ratio of my shooter collection.

Ah, gotta get it then!

[Perikles]

And that's assuming it doesn't get repetitive and boring sometime during those hours.

There are some console games that have immensely boring loops (my favourite example would be Toy Shop Boys on the PCE; every loop is exactly the same, but for some reason the final stage is omitted from loop 2 onwards even though that's the only stage in the game that even resembles a challenge ), most shooters will get successively harder and harder, however.

I'm also a bit suspicious regarding some of the comments here. You could almost get the feeling that it is merely a question of a sturdy constitution to loop, say, one of the arcade Gradius games for hours on end. I seriously doubt that more than a handful of people here would be able to do that even after some serious practice, those games get tremendously more difficult with each loop. It's theoretically possible to play them forever, yes, but it takes a lot more than just longanimity to do that.

Is PC Engine version any good?

Oh yes! It's quite a bit easier than the arcade version and it also only has four instead of five dimensions, but it is certainly a great conversion. I usually hate this type of game yet I really like this game.

[copy-paster]

I played NES Galaxian (It's a bonus game) when I first buy the NES.

Not a single screen, but NES Tiger-Heli doesn't have a ending, just loop endlessly.

[TerraCottaFrog]

I've played slightly more Galaga than I'd really like to admit...

I don't really have a problem with the repetition, but, then again, I played golden age arcade games for quite a while before I stumbled upon shmups, so I'm used to that.

[PooshhMao]

Screw Galaga, Gaplus is where it's at

I dip into it every now and then to play for score, it's basically just a better, more interesting Galaga.

[TerraCottaFrog]

The only thing really preventing me from playing it is the input lag in mame. I can't stand it.

Galaga has it too, but since there are more (non-emulated) console ports I can play it without the lag.

Playing Gaplus in an arcade is a transcendent experience, though (atrocious bonus stages notwithstanding )

[BrianC]

Gaplus was one of the reasons I got Namco Museum vol. 2 for PS1. I knew the game as "Galaga 3" growing up, though.

[TerraCottaFrog]

I just looked it up and this collection isn't emulated, but still seems pretty faithful...

Does this mean it doesn't have any input lag?

If so I have to pick it up for the PS2 I just got.

[BIL]

I've never noticed any lag in the PS1 Namco Museums - though it should be noted the sixth and final, Encore, is one of those PS1 games with issues running on PS2 (Rolling Thunder will be in perpetual slowdown).

Not sure if any of the earlier discs are similarly affected, though FWIW I've never seen any reports suggesting they are.

[TerraCottaFrog]

I think I'll take the risk, it looks like it's only a few dollars on ebay anyway. Thanks for the info.

[gameoverDude]

Like Keres said, it's good to have a cap on the length of a run. That means anyone can have a shot at the top score without needing an obscene load of time.

This is why I'd take Galaga '88/Galaga Arrangement over Galaga, or Majestic 12/SI Extreme over Space Invaders. Once you reach the end of the newer versions, you can try to replay for a better score in just about the same length of time.

For one example, Galaga '88 does a good job of injecting some variety into the game. Making it to later stages results in new enemies showing up.

[BrianC]

I've never noticed any lag in the PS1 Namco Museums - though it should be noted the sixth and final, Encore, is one of those PS1 games with issues running on PS2 (Rolling Thunder will be in perpetual slowdown).

Not sure if any of the earlier discs are similarly affected, though FWIW I've never seen any reports suggesting they are.

Actually, a few of the other discs have issues on PS2. Xevious runs slow in Namco Museum v. 2 when played on PS2, for example. It's not that big of an issue since the version in Xevious 3D+G has no issues on PS2.

[Domino]

Lets play a 80s Toaplan STG and lets get to the point that the bullet sprites are flickering on the screen.