What was the first shump you ever played?

MASTER SATAN · Post by **MASTER SATAN** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 1:36 pm

For me it was RIVER RAID on the ATARI 2600 when i was 4 years old ( which was 1 year after the game's release) and at the time it was great fun. Little did I know the scrolling shooter genre would eventually become my gaming genre of choice. Now i'm heavily addicted (especially to the new japanese PC shooters being released like Angeraze 2, Valstar, etc) and have become quite the involved shump enthuisiast. Anyone else want to share their first introduction shumps?

Skyline · Post by **Skyline** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 1:44 pm

MASTER SATAN wrote:For me it was RIVER RAID on the ATARI 2600

Same here. Hell yeah.

Lifeforce also took up heavy residence in my NES..

Sly Cherry Chunks · Post by **Sly Cherry Chunks** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 1:54 pm

I'm pretty sure it was Moon Cresta.

Fenrir · Post by **Fenrir** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 2:02 pm

Ahhhh I really don't know. I think it was something at a local arcade, something very old. But I don't remember, so I think I'll say the first one I played on a home computer, and that was IO on the C16.
It's a freakin' GREAT shmup and I still remeber the boss music(s) [bipbibibip zap bibibip zap] after almost 20 years

D · Post by D » Mon Feb 06, 2006 2:17 pm

Some spectrum side scroller, you could even make your own levels.

oNyx · Post by **oNyx** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 2:20 pm

Hmm... I think it was Nemesis (some kind of Gradius) on a Schneider CPC featuring life-like greenscale graphics. Heh what a pain

After that it was most likely R-Type on a Gameboy.

Post by **system11** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 2:31 pm

http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Grandstand/Invader.htm

Yes, from new - in the box and everything. I wish I still had it.

Post by **nZero** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 2:36 pm

Gridrunner for the C64, if that counts. If not, probably Galaga in the arcade.

SteevTee · Post by **SteevTee** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 2:47 pm

Spider fighter on the Atari 2600

Edge · Post by **Edge** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 2:49 pm

I don't remember....

Maybe it was Gradius on NES(?)

But it was probably something I tried at my uncle's... and he had a lot of games...

I remember playing R-Type a lot on my Amiga, also I liked Solaris pretty much on the vcs (If you consider it as a shmup)

Back then no arcades for me.

In Germany to enter an arcade you have to be an adult. What a stupid law.

Randorama · Post by **Randorama** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 2:50 pm

I can't remember if it was Vulture, Gyruss, Space invaders part 2 or Galaga

Marc · Post by **Marc** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 2:57 pm

Super Cobra on Intellivision. Damn I loved that game. And after that R-Type on Speccy.

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 3:12 pm

I am not 100% sure. I remember the first space shooter themed game I ever played was Space Battle on the Intellivision. I also was quite into Uridiuim on the C64 and Galaga in the arcade sucked away a lot of money and time.

The first of the more modern shmups I got into was Tiger Heli on the NES.

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 3:20 pm

first one i clearly remember playing is dodonpachi on my saturn (around 3.5-4 years ago).

however, i have vague memories from childhood of 194x games, r-type, and the like. however, back then i had no specific interest in the games, it was strictly a "we're out to eat, and i ask for quarters" kind of thing.

**oh shit** i just remembered something. a pizza hut, when i was 8-9 years old (early 90's), had a vert shooter. WWII themed, but with identifiable characters (not that they were popular, they just weren't anonymous like psikyo tended to keep their striker's pilots). i remember some of the art on the cab. surrounding the screen were boxes with pilot information (sporting a picture of each). the game was completely in english as well, only worth mentioning because even in this hole, we've got some japanese pcbs floating around in the few machines there are.

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 3:26 pm

- Tiger Heli
- Life Force

Both on NES.

Don't remember exactly which one came first. They certainly both did a good job of getting me hooked though. ^^

Post by **Icarus** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 3:38 pm

Stargate - Atari 2600

Edge · Post by **Edge** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 3:41 pm

I now remember what my first shmup was.

Man, I have almost forgotten this game, it was on C64.
In this game you where flying a helicopter from above (like Asteroids) the setting looked a bit like River Raid, something over water with ships. It was a bit like dessert strike.
I also remember you had to collect fuel and that I died a lot this game, it was way too hard for me.

Man, I had totally forgotton about this game... and I have no idea what it's name was...

TWITCHDOCTOR · Post by **TWITCHDOCTOR** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 4:15 pm

It was either Asteroids or Space Invaders...at a local store that had a small gamming section.

Not unless you could include Air Sea Battle(arcade cab)

Ord · Post by **Ord** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 4:40 pm

It was Space Invaders for me. My first ever "shmups" game that I owned was this though.

Ord · Post by **Ord** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 4:45 pm

bloodflowers wrote:http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Grandstand/Invader.htm

Yes, from new - in the box and everything. I wish I still had it.

Have you seen this BF -
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GRANDSTAND-INVADE ... dZViewItem

Zweihander · Post by **Zweihander** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 4:45 pm

I think for me it was R-Type on Game Boy.

Alpolio · Post by **Alpolio** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 5:03 pm

Sea Wolf. I can remember my dad holding me up, so I could reach the periscope.

dark penguin · Post by **dark penguin** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 5:10 pm

Fantasy Zone on the Sega Master system.
First "real" shmup I guess was NES Gradius.

Bishamon · Post by **Bishamon** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 5:24 pm

Probably 'Sea Wolf' in the arcade, though not really a true shmup, followed by Space Invaders.

Post by **system11** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 5:38 pm

Sea Wolf -still- looks awesome, I know someone with one in his arcade collection.

Ord - yeah thanks for the heads up - I do look for them from time to time, trying to find a -really mint- one, including box and manual.

Alpolio · Post by **Alpolio** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 5:51 pm

If you guys want to get technical: Space Invanders, Asteroids, ect. ect. aren't true shmups either because they don't scroll. The first "true" shmup ever made was Scramble in 1981. Or was it Vanguard? Hmmm..... I kind of think that Scramble beat Vanguard to the arcades by a few months.

it290 · Post by **it290** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 6:05 pm

Probably Asteroids on the 2600, if you wanna count that. I can still remember when my friend got a 2600- I came over and his dad was like 'ok kid, we've got the arcade games at home now, so it's 25c a play!' - heheh. The other shmup-like game I remember him having was Astroblast. That was a fun game, actually I prefer it to Asteroids on the 2600.

Post by **system11** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 6:11 pm

Alpolio wrote:If you guys want to get technical: Space Invanders, Asteroids, ect. ect. aren't true shmups either because they don't scroll.

Not to start a holy war or anything, but...

Oh well whatever - here's the grenade

Space Invaders is a shmup. We've been through the argument a thousand times now, trying to categorise them with details, do they scroll, push-scroll, how many axis of movement are there, and so on. It's utterly pointless, because there are some facts that cannot be denied.

When it comes down to it, common sense says that as the founding stones of our entire genre, these are clearly shmups. Space Invaders leads to Galaxian. Galaxian to Galaga. Galaga to Halleys Comet. If you reject these as part of the genre, you're being very, very short sighted. This is why games such as Metal Slug obviously /don't/ count, as they don't fit in the logical progression or evolution, when looking at the whole.

If I see people claiming Space Invaders is not a shmup again, I'm going to force them to play Barbie Horse Adventures for an ENTIRE MONTH. No Ibara for you!

Bloodreign · Post by **Bloodreign** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 6:11 pm

Space Invaders, Spider Fighter for Atari 2600, Galaga for arcade back when I couldn't even finish one level ( didn't take long to figure out exactly how to dodge things though). I'd usually score around 20,000 to 30,000 on Spider Fighter, before the spiders got too fast for me.

LSU · Post by **LSU** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 6:12 pm

Arcade Space Invaders for me too.

shmups.system11.org

What was the first shump you ever played?

What was the first shump you ever played?

Re: What was the first shump you ever played?