Trying to make a complete list of PocketPC shooters...

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Vexorg
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Trying to make a complete list of PocketPC shooters...

Post by Vexorg »

Since I have been using my PocketPC for a fair bit of shmupping lately, I thought I'd put together a list of known shmups which have been released for the PocketPC. I'm sure I'll miss one or two, so feel free to fill in the blanks if there are others you know of. As far as I knw, all of these (except 1942) are shareware releases, and have downloadable demos.

1942
Capcom (http://www.capcom.com/)
Included in Capcom Arcade Hits Volume 2 for PC
Perfectly emulated arcade version of 1942. The Capcom Arcade Hits pack which this comes in (which includes 1942 and 1943 for PC) can occasionally be found as a budget release in stores. May not run on newer PPCs.
(Section Z, GunSmoke, Legendary Wings, Commando and Vulgus are also apparently available in emulated PPC versions, but may be difficult to find. Capcom has apparently discontinued this product, but the PPC versions included with the Arcade Hits releases can still be found on occasion. Vulgus can be downloaded (see link below in thread).

KyuKyokuSenki Gikadiver
CCLUB(http://cclub-flying.dsl.gr.jp/products/gd/ )
Freeware
Vertical/Score Attack
A small freeware shmup that was apparently ported from the X68000. No stylus control or autofire, but still reasonably playable nonetheless.

Turjah/Turjah II
Jimmy Software (http://www.jimmysoftware.com/)
$34.99 (when purchased together)
Vertical/Space themed:
These are some of the older shmups for the platform, but hold up surprisingly well in comparison to more recent efforts.

Siberian Strike/Siberian Strike X
Gameloft (http://www.gameloft.com)
Apparently discontinued
Vertical/Military hemed
Another early effort which now appears to have been discontinued, although various mobile phone versions are still available. Not a big loss, as even on modern PPC hardware this game still runs far slower than it should. A typical WW2 themed shooter with an especially cheesy plot involving efforts to stop a robotic Stalin from taking over the world.

FirePower- Onrush
ManaSoft (http://www.manaisoft.com/)
$9.95
Horizontal/Miitary themed:
One of the first horizontal shmups for the PocketPC, which is interesting in the fact that given the fact that the platform has a vertically oriented screen normally, this is played with screen rotation. Some of the graphics look suspiciously like they might have been ripped out of a Metal Slug game. A Windows Mobile Smartphone version of this game is also available (FirePower-Onrush EX).


Odyssey: Battle of the Universe
AIM Productions (http://www.aimproductions.be/ppc_catalo ... uct_ID=103)
$9.99
Vertical/Space
Not yet tried this one. Appears to have canned euroshmup graphics.

Sky Force
Infinte Dreams (http://www.idreams.pl/skyforce/skyforce.html)
$9.98
Vertical/Military Themed:
A more recent effort, also available on a number of mobile phone platforms. Pretty typical gameplay, but some nice graphical efects make up for it.

Darklaga: Cannonball Symphony
Int13 Productions (http://www.int13.net/darklaga.htm)
$9.95
Vertical/Manic:
This one bills itself as the first manic shooter for the PocketPC, and it delivers on the promise. Clearly influenced by Cave games, there isn't a whole lot of scenery to this one, but that's OK, it'll be covered up in bulletspam most of the time anyway. If there's one game on the PPC that's a must have for hardcore shmuppers, this one's it.

Blazar
Elements Interactive (http://games.elements.nl/blazar/)
$6.95
Horizontal
This one's a recent release, and may be the first PPC shmup with VGA screen support and randomly generated levels. Generic too-shiny Euroshmup graphics, and slow and tedious gameplay. Even these might be forgiveable, if not for the fact that in spite of being a horizontal shooter, it is played with the screen in vertical orientation (think TATE mode gone wrong.) There is a PC demo to try out though if you don't have a PPC.

Foo Fighter
Elements Interactive (http://games.elements.nl/foofighter/)
$14.95
Vertical/Space
This appears to be an earlier effort from the team that did Blazar. I've not tried this one yet either.

Guardians
Resco (http://www.resco.net/games/guardians_features.asp)
$24.95 for the full version including all missions
Vertical/Military
This one is along the lines of Raptor:Call of the Shadows and Tyrian, with money collecting and purchasable weapons. Tends to play slowly, however.

Burning Armor
MAX (http://www.burningarmor.com)
$19.99
Vertical/Space
I've not tried this one yet, but it appears to be a fairly story-heavy shooter, with weapon buying and shields. More info when I get a chance to try it.

Clay Gun
Eurosoft (http://www.claygun.com)
Under Development (playable demo available)
Vertical/Character
The style of this game seems to be somewhere between Sengoku Ace and Vasara. Probably the most arcade like of the recent PPC shmups. I should probably say nice things about this one as there's a good chance the developer is reading this.


Windows Mobile Smartphone only:
Eclipse: First Wave
Alien Invention (http://www.alieninvention.com/eclipse.php)
$12.95
Horizontal/Space Themed
Gameplay seems to be similar to Darius, but without the fish.

Those are the ones I know of currently. Anyone know of any that I missed?
Last edited by Vexorg on Thu Mar 31, 2005 7:28 pm, edited 8 times in total.
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Post by Ganelon »

Well, I've seen the PC version of Capcom's 1942 & 1943, which includes iPaq copies of the games, for $5.
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Post by Vexorg »

Actually, it has 1942 only for the PPC. I'll add it to the list though.
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Post by serge »

I should probably say nice things about this one as there's a good chance the developer is reading this.
Heh, yes, we do read this...

Anyway, there is one more shmup to add to the list:
Guardians
http://www.resco.net/games/guardians_features.asp

Definitely a shmup, but from the demo it seems to me it tries to be a flight sim (Ace Combat style). I think it's dull.

Also, now when I see the list, it looks like there are not too many shmups on PPC, somehow I always thought there are more of them.
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Post by Vexorg »

Added that one to the list as well. It seems to play a lot like Tyrian and Raptor: Call of the Shadows on the PC. Kind of light on the shmupping though.
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Post by Vexorg »

Added a few more that I found to the list. Still looking for more of these to add.
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Post by serge »

Here is another one:
KyuKyokuSenki Gikadiver

This is a freeware game, and while there is no dedicated page for it, the full version is available here:
http://cclub-flying.dsl.gr.jp/products/gd/

Apparently this game was originally written for X68k, then ported to older PocketPCs. It seems there is no stylus support in this one, moreover I have noticed some problems with d-pad on Dell X50v (sometimes it's stuck, need to reset the device), works fine on older iPaq though.
You don't have lives in this game, or more precisely you have infinite number of them and it counts your lost lives.
Purely score-based game, "old school" type (and if not for the control issues, I'd say I like it more than Darklaga).
Scoring is based on proximity like e.g. in Silpheed on PS2.
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Post by serge »

Vulgus is also available for PPC:
http://www.capcom.com/vulgus.xpml

It's freeware, installs both PC and PocketPC versions (I think it runs under emulation).
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Post by Vexorg »

The download link to Vulgus is 404 when I go there, as do the rest of the PPC releases Capcom had on their site. I added notes to that effect, plus Gikadiver to the list.
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Post by serge »

Found another copy of vulgus install:
http://caesar.logiqx.com/zips/emus/winc ... vulgus.zip
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Post by Vexorg »

OK, Downloaded and installed it, and it does not appear to run on my X50v. I'll try it out on my older PPCs to see if it works there. I suspect if this doesn't run, then none of the other Capcom emulated games will.
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Post by MDY »

Sorry to dredge this old topic back up - but we've just got some Dell Axim X51v's in the office - so I've been checking out some of the shmups available....

Really rather impressed...
Claygun is really VERY impressive:
http://www.claygun.com/downloads/claygun_trailer.avi

Darklaga is fantastic fun and Skyforce is pretty good too.
FirePower OnRush is lovely too - but extremely hard (lovely Metal Slug-esque visuals though).
Controls are a pain - though we're getting some little bluetooth keyboards in also - have to see if the response time is good enough..

Anyway - reason for asking - does anyone with a PPC have/know where I can download a demo of Siberian Strike X - it seems to have vanished from all the sites that were hosting it - can find lots of links to gameloft etc for it - but none seem to work :(
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Post by serge »

Re: ClayGun
I'm one of the developers, so I'm glad to hear you liked our game.

About SiberianStrikeX: I think they don't sell it anymore, that's why it was taken off all the sites. I believe the demo version is actually the full game that you unlock by purchasing a reg-key.
I still have the demo file downloaded from Gameloft, so I guess I can e-mail it to you (send me a PM). In any case you can't buy it anymore.
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Re: Trying to make a complete list of PocketPC shooters...

Post by FRO »

Sorry to resurrect this extremely necro thread, but I'm wondering now that the ClayGun website is long dead, and only available via the Wayback Machine to view, does anyone have an archive of this game kicking around? My old Dell Axim X5 handheld died years ago, and I lost the download I had of it multiple computers ago. I'd like to get a copy of the final release. I was on the original beta team back in the day, and would like to see about making sure I can maintain a copy of this for later. Thanks.
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