Chronology of Famicom shmups

[Turrican]

Strictly consumer, shmups-oriented. Work in progress! Pitifully the first original game on Famicom seems to be Volguard II.

pink = a certified Famicom original
gold = Famicom Disk System releases
grey = reprints of already published games.

1984
-Galaxian NGX-4500, 01 09/07/1984 Namco / Namco
-Xevious NXV-4900, 03 11/08/1984 Namco

1985
-Exerion JF-01 02/11/1985 Jaleco
-Galaga NGG-4500, 05 02/15/1985 Namco
-Raid on Bungeling Bay HFC-RB 02/22/1985 Hudson Soft
-Formation Z JF-02 04/04/1985 Jaleco
-Space Invaders 1 04/17/1985 Taito
-Star Force HFC-SF 06/25/1985 Hudson Soft / Tehkan
-Geimos HSP-02 08/28/1985 ASCII / Wixel
-Sky Destroyer 5 11/14/1985 Taito / Home Data
-Exed Exes GTS-EE 11/21/1985 Tokuma Shoten / Capcom / Micronics
-Volguard II dBF-VL 12/07/1985 dB-Soft
-Choujikuu Yousai Macross NAM-NMR-4500 12/10/1985 Namco
-1942 CAP-19, 01 12/11/1985 Capcom / Micronics
-Zunou Senkan Galg DBF-GA 12/14/1985 dB-Soft

1986
-TwinBee RC807 01/04/1986 Konami
-Gyrodine TFC-GD, 06 03/13/1986 Taito
-Baltron TDF-BT 03/19/1986 Toei Animation
-MagMax NBF-MM, 01 03/19/1986 Nichibutsu
-Argus JF-07 04/17/1986 Jaleco
-Gradius RC810 04/25/1986 Konami
-Seicross NBF-SE 05/15/1986 Nichibutsu
-B-Wings DFC-BW 06/03/1986 Data East
-Star Soldier HFC-SO 06/13/1986 Hudson Soft / Momo
-Sqoon IF-04 06/26/1986 Irem / Home Data
-Sky Kid NSK-3900, 18 08/22/1986 Namco
-ASO: Armored Scrum Object SFX-AO 09/03/1986 SNK Electronics
-King's Knight SQF-KG 09/18/1986 Square Soft / Workss
-Super Xevious: Gamp no Nazo NAM-SX-4900 09/19/1986 Namco
-Terra Cresta NBF-TC 09/27/1986 Nichibutsu
-Super Star Force: Jikūreki no Himitsu TCF-ST 11/11/1986 Tecmo
-Gall Force: Eternal Story HAL-GAL 11/19/1986 HAL Laboratory
-Moero Twin Bee: Cinnamon Hakase wo Sukue! KDS-TIN 11/21/1986 Konami
-Zanac AI PNF-ZAN 11/28/1986 Pony Canyon / Compile
-Tiger-Heli PNF-TH 12/05/1986 Pony Canyon / Micronics

1987
-Guardic Gaiden IF-08 02/05/1987 Irem / Compile
-Shin Jinrui RES-SG 02/10/1987 Rix Soft
-Tobidase Daisakusen SQF-TDS 03/12/1987 DOG / Square Soft
-Otocky ASC-OTO 03/27/1987 ASCII / ASCII
-Section Z CAP-SCZ 05/25/1987 Capcom
-Hector '87 HFC-HH 07/16/1987 Hudson Soft
-Fantasy Zone SUN-FZ-5300 07/20/1987 Sunsoft
-Air Fortress HAL-AI 08/17/1987 HAL Laboratory
-Star Gate HAL-SB 09/24/1987 Atari / HAL Laboratory
-Salamander KON-RC821 09/25/1987 Konami
-Millipede 10/01/1987 HAL Laboratory / Atari
-Topple Zip ??? 10/09/1987 Bothtec / Pixel
-Falsion KDS-FAL 10/21/1987 Konami
-JJ Tobidase Daisakusen Part 2 SQF-JJ 12/07/1987 Square Soft
-Attack Animal Gakuen PNF-AA (R55V5913) 12/26/1987 Pony Canyon

1988
-Akuu Senki Raijin SQF-RJN 1988 Square Soft / Microcabin
-Gun.Smoke CAP-GUN 01/27/1988 Capcom
-TwinBee KDS-TWN 03/11/1988 Konami [FDS reprint]
-Final Commando Akai Yousai KDS-AKA 05/02/1988 Konami
-1943: The Battle of Valhalla CAP-43 06/20/1988 Capcom
-Gyruss KDS-GRS 11/18/1988 Konami
-Gradius II RC832 12/16/1988 Konami / Konami
-Fantasy Zone II: Opa-Opa no Namida SUN-FZII-5500 12/20/1988 Sunsoft
-Airwolf KYG-AX 12/24/1988 Kyugo

1989
-Space Harrier TFC-S0 01/06/1989 Sega / Takara
-Halley Wars TFD-HAL 01/14/1989 Taito
-Dragon Spirit: Aratanaru Densetsu NAM-DS-5200 04/14/1989 Namco
-Kyuukyoku Tiger CBS-QT 08/04/1989 CBS/Sony / Taito (Toaplan)
-Chuuka Taisen DTF-CW, 27 09/22/1989 Taito
-Thunderbirds PAC-T5 09/29/1989 Pack-In-Video
-TwinBee 3: Poko Poko Dai Maou RC841 09/29/1989 Konami
-Cosmic Epsilon ASM-EO 11/24/1989 Asmik
-Abadox: Jigoku no Inner Wars 12/15/1989 Natsume

1990
-Image Fight IF-14 03/16/1990 Irem
-Quarth KDS-H7 04/13/1990 Konami
-Xevious 05/18/1990 Namco [FDS reprint]
-Final Mission NAT-FV 06/22/1990 Natsume
-Galaga 06/22/1990 Namco [clamshell reprint]
-Burai Fighter DTF-5F 07/20/1990 Taito / Taxan U.S.A.
-Galaxian 07/20/1990 Namco [clamshell reprint]
-Uchuu Keibitai SDF HAL-UI 09/07/1990 HAL Laboratory
-Insector X TFC-IS 09/21/1990 Taito
-Gun Nac TKS-XG 10/05/1990 Tonkin House / Compile
-Parodius Da! KON-RC849 11/30/1990 Konami
-Abarenbou Tengu MDC-51 12/14/1990 Meldac

1991
-Max Warrior: Wakusei Kaigenrei VAP-ZN 02/15/1991 Vap / KID
-Twin Eagle VIS-2E 04/12/1991 Visco
-Over Horizon GAM-Z6 04/26/1991 Hot-B
-Fuzzical Fighter SEI-1E 05/17/1991 Sigma
-Tetra Star: The Fighter DTF-YE, 37 05/24/1991 Taito / Home Data
-Robocco Wars 08/02/1991 IGS
-Crisis Force RC856 08/27/1991 Konami
-Dezaemon: Designer Yousei Soft 09/13/1991 Athena
-Battle Formula TEC-5U 09/27/1991 Sunsoft / Tokai Engineering

1992
-Taiyou no Yuusha Firebird IF-26, TIX-6Q 01/11/1992 Irem
-Recca NAX-RE 07/17/1992 Naxat Soft / KID

1993
-Moero Twin Bee: Cinnamon Hakase wo Sukue! 03/26/1993 Konami [FC reprint]


NES Addendum (what Japan didn't get):

-Bee 52 - Codemasters
-Captain Skyhawk - Milton Bradly / Rare
-Dropzone - Mindscape / Arena Graphics
-Fantasy Zone - Tengen / Pixel
-Legendary Wings - Capcom
-Silkworm - Sammy / Tecmo
-Silver Surfer - Software Creations
-Sky Shark - Taito (Toaplan) / Software Creations
-Star Force 1989 Tecmo version
-Thundercade - Seta / Micronics

===
useful links:

http://famicomworld.com/game-list/
http://npu3.free.fr/ListeJeuxFamicom/Index.htm
http://nesartifacts.blogspot.it/p/nes-shmup-guide.html
http://www.videogameden.com/fc.htm

[gusmoney]

This is a really cool list. What do the titles in red indicate?

I always forget about Captain Skyhawk but I loved that game as a kid. Not sure in what esteem shmup fans regard that title.

[fakeXsound]

Good idea. Maybe add an indication of which shmups you recommend playing?

[Obiwanshinobi]

NES Star Force is a different game from the one on Famicom. Different devs (Famicom - Hudson Soft, NES - Tecmo), different presentation.

I believe Blade Buster deserves an honourable mention on the first page.

How was Recca originally distributed? English Wikipedia states "only a few copies were sold", but how?

[Turrican]

This is a really cool list. What do the titles in red indicate?

pink color denotes a Famicom original (that is, not a port from arcades, or if its's a port, it must have enough new content to be considered basically a new game (only Dragon Spirit would fit that category, I'd say). Zanac is not in pink because it was developed also on MSX at the same time: I put Star Soldier in pink but I'm not sure about that one. Gold color is for the Famicom Disk System releases, and grey is for reprints of titles which were already published.

Maybe add an indication of which shmups you recommend playing?

Definitely, the idea is to basically evaluate them. It's a work in progress, stay tuned. The last time these were considered as a whole was quite some years ago on Rob's famous countdown.

NES Star Force is a different game from the one on Famicom. Different devs (Famicom - Hudson Soft, NES - Tecmo), different presentation.

http://nesartifacts.blogspot.it/p/nes-shmup-guide.html already has a detailed section with JPN/US/EU differences. If Star Force's case is similar to Terra Cresta (i.e. sound differences, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dEhAUbWs-A) I'd say they're still mostly the same.

[Obiwanshinobi]

You just might wanna play both back to back.

[OmKol]

http://nesartifacts.blogspot.it/p/nes-shmup-guide.html already has a detailed section with JPN/US/EU differences. If Star Force's case is similar to Terra Cresta (i.e. sound differences, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dEhAUbWs-A) I'd say they're still mostly the same.

Star Force US has a lot of minor changes. Different initial speed, different powered-up speed, in US version you can tap fire by alternating A and B (makes turbofire less important), different graphics, maybe different hitboxes, enemies fly and fire in slightly other way, chasing enemies never change speed in JP version and will be faster than your ship in US version. Also US version has an ending screen after stage 24 and PAL version has continues (but no ending screen).

[Turrican]

Whoa, sounds convincing enough. Added as a separate entry then
That makes two arcade shmups (Star Force and Fantasy Zone) which got two different ports on the same system. Funny how things turn up sometimes.

[BrianC]

Whoa, sounds convincing enough. Added as a separate entry then
That makes two arcade shmups (Star Force and Fantasy Zone) which got two different ports on the same system. Funny how things turn up sometimes.

Star Force US still uses a lot of assets from the JP version, though (more like an extensive hack than a game programmed from the ground up like FZ). The US Star Force has message saying Super Star Force is coming soon, though that never came here.

[Sumez]

Strange, I never knew that. I just have both the Famicom games. I actually like them quite a bit. Is the NES one worth investing in as well?

[Obiwanshinobi]

Is there any single NES game worth buying a kosher cart of without trying first anymore? Depends on one's backlog I guess, and other such personal circumstances.

[Sumez]

All the NES/FC games I'm buying at this point are obscure enough that I'm around 99% sure to have never tried them beforehand.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I was thinking about prices to be fair. Not so long ago, I'd extensively buy cheap GB(C/A) carts without sampling them emulated first, finding many a gem this way, but even then I was under impression Famicom/NES carts, be it loose, were typically more expensive.

[necrosonic]

Great list! I was just looking at one for the Master System, no idea how accurate it is but it is very short.

[Despatche]

This list could use Donkey Kong 3.

[Turrican]

This list could use Donkey Kong 3.

The jumping / platform element is a bit too strong in that one in my opinion; se also: SonSon. I know there are several shmups where you're not always fighting enemies on the same plane (Aerostar's jumping comes to mind), but here you basically have to constantly factor a plan switching, so I'm not sure they'd fit.