Polls will close February 10th at 5:59am GMT.
It it acceptable to both post new lists and edit current ones up to this point.
Voting rules:
Yearly rule changes (not minor wording changes) will be highlighted in green.
00. If you haven't participated before, read the Background section in the following post, noting the requirements, before proceeding any further. Even if you have it's probably a good idea anyway because it changes slightly every year.
01. Use the following vote format, including brackets:
- [integer score 1 to 25] [first game title]
[integer score 1 to 25] [second game title]- etc.
- [25] [Favorite]
[24] [Second Favorite]
... etc ...
[2] [24th Favorite]
[1] [25th Favorite]
The highest weighting any one game is allowed to have is 0.2. This means that the total sum must add up to at least 5 times the value of the highest number present (so a list starting in 25 must add up to at least 125, etc.). Note that lists do not need to start with 25, end with 1, or be totally linear - beyond this ruling, you are free to adjust them as you see fit.
This year, the scoring system is being tweaked slightly to give game weight more power. It will now be split evenly with total votes, making the new calculation (max weight proportion + vote proportion) * 5. As to what each of those mean, a more detailed explanation of the old scoring method can be found here (where they are described as weighted score and popular score respectively).
02. Your main ballot must contain exactly 25 games. Your list can contain the games you think are the best overall, the most influential, most personally enjoyable, most underrated, etc. If you are eligible to vote under rule 00 but still can't come up with 25 games, you have a month to try and fill in the gaps if you so desire.
If 25 still isn't enough to curb your enthusiasm, you may also include a list of Honourable Mentions. This will be placed below the main voting and must contain exactly 10 games. As these are a list of 'bonus extras', they will contain no score weight and give only half vote weight. In keeping with the usual ranking method, each game will therefore be denoted by the score [0], like so:
- [0] [1st HM]
...
[0] [10th HM]
For an illustration of this in practice, an example will be given in the very first vote of this thread. Again, this is entirely optional and you don't have to make one if you don't want to.
03. Shmups released in calendar year 2016 are not eligible for consideration.
04. Don't vote for games you haven't played.
05. Please be specific when voting for ports, or when different games share the same title. Some versions are similar enough to count as the same game, but others are counted separately due to significant differences (e.g. Gradius III or UN Squadron). In some cases, both region and platform may be important. Votes that do not specify platform will be assumed to be for the arcade/other original release, or in isolated cases the most well-known version (e.g. [Zanac] will be considered a vote for Zanac NES). Be careful with notation too, as [Slap Fight MD] is not considered the same thing as [Slap Fight (MD)]. If in doubt, it's always better to specify (or ask/check a previous years' results; last years' are here). Also note that you are still free to include more than one game version on a ballot if you so desire. More obscure releases/arranges/etc may not yet be covered and will be evaluated when and if they crop up.
A couple of minor changes to games with questionable previous grouping: Psyvariar Medium Unit and Psyvariar Revision will no longer be counted as the same game, nor will eXceed 3rd - Jade Penetrate and Black Package. Please specify these separately from now on.
To clear up a little uncertainty from last year, all releases of Crimzon Clover will be counted as the same, as will Darius Burst: Another Chronicle / ACEX / Chronicle Saviours this year.
06. Vote for games, not compilations that include them. You can't vote for Raiden Fighters Aces but you can vote for each of the three games it contains. Games that never got an independent release are also permitted, such as Xevious Arrangement. If someone wishes to vote for a part of a game that qualifies as a shmup, but is not the entire game, I believe this should also be permitted, as long as the voter is capable of judging the quality of that section on its own shooting merits.
07. Vote for games, not their different modes of play. Exceptions are granted for revisions of games that are sufficiently different from the original (see rule 05).
08. No off-limits games! Please consult the chart below to see if your game is eligible for consideration:
No voting for:
- First-person perspective shooters (Doom, Solvalou)
- including Lightgun Shooters (House of the Dead, Rail Chase)
Platform Shooters (Contra, Metal Slug)
Rail Shooters (Rez, Panzer Dragoon)
Gallery/Carnival Shooters (NAM-1975, Cabal)
Action-Adventure Games (Alien Breed, Gauntlet, Legend of Zelda)
You may vote for games in any of the following categories:
- Non-scrolling playfield
- Fixed Shooters (Space Invaders, Galaga)
Maze Shooters (Berserk, Tank Battalion)
Field Shooters (Robotron 2084, Smash TV, Geometry Wars)- including those set on a cylinder or torus (Asteroids, Star Castle)
- Automatically scrolling shooters
- Vertically scrolling shooters (Xevious, Cybattler)
- including those set on a cylinder (Scion)
- including those set on a cylinder (Fantasy Zone)
- Vertically scrolling shooters (Xevious, Cybattler)
- Manually advancing horizontally scrolling shooters (In The Hunt, Mr. Heli no Daibouken)
- including those set on a cylinder (Defender)
Manually advancing multi-directional shooters (Granada, KiKi KaiKai, Bangai-O)- including those set on a torus or infinite plane (Sinistar)
- Every Extend series
Gyruss and clones
Tempest, clones, and sequels
- Fixed Shooters (Space Invaders, Galaga)
09. You may not vote for games that you do not believe are shmups. If you do not think that Granada is a shmup, you may not vote for it. However, as long as the votes of others respect the categories outlined in rule 08, your opinion shall have no bearing on the eligibility of other votes.
Anything by the end of voting that either remains unfixed or looks like someone's idea of a joke will potentially be either changed or discounted.
