A bit out of touch with modern Shumps, need guidance!

[Zaxdar]

I just discovered the existence of this fourm, and upon a bit of lurking, I realized that I am very out-of-touch with the modern Shmup community and the games you guys play.

I have put many, many hours into games such as Sin & Punishment 1 (and to a lesser extent its sequel), Starfox 64, Geometry Wars 1 & 2, any game developed by Treasure (not sure if Gunstar Heroes or Super Heroes can be counted as a Shmup), but that is about the horizon of my Shump knowledge.

Does anybody know of the existence of any games similar to the ones I mentioned? I tried Astebreed recently, and although i found it mildly entertaining, I did not enjoy nearly as much as my listed games. I recall getting to the final boss but never beating it, I did not have the motivation

I wouldnt say im too big on bullet-hell type games where the player is constantly moving vertically upward, but I wouldnt say I am apposed to them either.

[eebrozgi]

For the PC, Steam got a pretty good library semi-recently. Personally I give my biggest recommendation to ESCHATOS, Mecha Ritz: Steel Rondo and Crimzon Clover WORLD IGNITION. The latter two are more bullet-hellish than the first one.

Cho Ren Sha 68k is an essential to check out, it's free 'n' all: http://www2.tky.3web.ne.jp/~yosshin/my_ ... nload.html

Extra recommendation from Steam: Bleed 2, since you mentioned Gunstar Heroes.

[Zaxdar]

I added all the games you listed to my steam wishlist with the exception of the first one, as I wasnt completely sold on the concept. it looked confusing, does it change perspectives during gameplay?

I just downloaded cho ren sha 68k and will play it asap, thanks for the reccomendations!

I should also mention I played a ton of Hard Corps Uprising on 360, although i am not sure if 2d side scrolling shooters such as that & gunstar series are considered shumps or not

[Squire Grooktook]

Cho Ren Sha 68k is one of my favorites, and I second all of Eebrozgi's recommendations. Only thing I might throw in would be the Tales of Alltynex trilogy (Kamui, RefleX, Alltynex Second), which should be particularly pleasing to fans of 90's shmups.

Also about Cho Ren Sha: you may have to set the games compatability mode to avoid some minor audio issues. Nothing big.

I should also mention I played a ton of Hard Corps Uprising on 360, although i am not sure if 2d side scrolling shooters such as that & gunstar series are considered shumps or not

Generally they aren't considered true shmups around here, the aspect of gravity being a major enough difference, but a thread mentioning them won't kill nobody ^_^

We have a wonderful thread in off topic dedicated to talking about side scrollers like that though. Take a look if interested!

[davyK]

Those games you refer to aren't pure shmups and you won't find large numbers of new quality games like them. If you aren't against trying a truly great introduction to vertical scrolling shooters then try MAME + DoDonPachi. I doubt there's a better place to start.

[Zaxdar]

Ill be sure to take a look at that side scrollers topic! I also noticed a lot of people here seem to love Radiant Silvergun, which is a Treasure-developed game that ive yet to play! I cant imagine myself enjoying it more than Sin & Punishment, as that is my all-time favorite, but i am likely to give that game a try as well

[boagman]

Ill be sure to take a look at that side scrollers topic! I also noticed a lot of people here seem to love Radiant Silvergun, which is a Treasure-developed game that ive yet to play! I cant imagine myself enjoying it more than Sin & Punishment, as that is my all-time favorite, but i am likely to give that game a try as well

Radiant Silvergun is glorious, as is Treasure's pseudo-sequel to it: Ikaruga. I'm far more into horis (horizontals) than verticals, but I do like a well-made vertical shmup, and those two are certainly great examples of verticals, even though the later levels of Ikaruga (and possibly both games) are too difficult for me. They're still awesome.

Full disclosure: I greatly dislike bullet-hell shooters. Just can't get into them.

[5pectre]

I see you mention Geometry Wars 1+2. On Steam, there's Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions Evolved and Waves that are really good games in the same style.

Waves
http://store.steampowered.com/app/107600/Waves/

Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions Evolved
http://store.steampowered.com/app/31079 ... s_Evolved/

[Stevens]

You seem to like Run n Guns. I suggest Metal Slug 1-5 and Shock Troopers.

As far as the Metal Slugs - IMO

Top Tier
X and 3

Almost top
1

Mid Tier
4 and 5

Wouldn't bother playing any passed 5.

[wizkid]

Check out games by Astro port, they make quality old-school inspired shmups and run and guns, like Gigantic army and Satazius.
Fantasy zone II, not master system original, but 2008 "remake" that you can play on mame, ps2 or 3ds, it's really good.
Raiden III plays like an old-school vertical, it's tough, but fair.
Strania is fairly orthodox too and seems like a great game, i haven't played much yet.
Battle traverse, horizontal bullethell, great pixel art, music and gameplay.

[Legendary Hoamaru]

I added all the games you listed to my steam wishlist with the exception of the first one, as I wasnt completely sold on the concept. it looked confusing, does it change perspectives during gameplay?

It has the simplest scoring system out of the three. Kill every single enemy and grab wonder witches. There are only 3 or 4 perspective changes in the game.

I recommend the original Mecha Ritz, it's also free: http://www.freem.ne.jp/win/game/8513

It's quite a different game from Steel Rondo, which has already been mentioned and I also recommend.

I thought Super Cyborg was a great homage to Super C: http://store.steampowered.com/app/341550/Super_Cyborg/

[davyK]

If you really liked Sin and Punishment then it might be worthwhile getting S&P 2 for Wii. I suspect you will be able to pick up the console and game for the price of a new game. It is highly regarded.

Radiant Silvergun is a magnificent game but it doesn't suffer fools (aka casuals). It's a pretty stiff challenge though it's going for a reasonable price on XBL (as is Ikaruga but that is just as tough).

You may find that you will enjoy a game called Rez which is available on XBL - a very stylish looking on rails shooter that divides opinion but is a very solid game with lots of replay value if you like chasing high scores.

[OmegaFlareX]

I have put many, many hours into games such as Sin & Punishment 1 (and to a lesser extent its sequel), Starfox 64, Geometry Wars 1 & 2, any game developed by Treasure (not sure if Gunstar Heroes or Super Heroes can be counted as a Shmup), but that is about the horizon of my Shump knowledge.

I should also mention I played a ton of Hard Corps Uprising on 360, although i am not sure if 2d side scrolling shooters such as that & gunstar series are considered shumps or not

None of these that you listed are shmups. They are railshooters, run-n-guns, twin-stick, etc. Different sub-genres entirely.

I posted this same thing for someone else a while back and I think it might be helpful to you as well:

Set up MAME, start with the classics.

Space Invaders
Galaga
Xevious
1942 (as you already know)
Gradius
Salamander
Darius
Fantasy Zone
Flying Shark
R-Type
Twin Cobra
Raiden

As far as Steam goes, I also recommend Mushihimesama, Crimzon Clover, and Raiden IV. All have novice modes and/or adjustable difficulty to get you started.

I would recommend torrenting a full current MAME romset and something like ARCADE to hide all the mechanical/gambling garbage. PM me if you want links.

Mushi, CCWI, and Raiden 4 are modern and pretty wild, but if you want some games on Steam with a pre-bullet-hell feel, try Satazius (Gradius), Battle Crust (Irem), and Wolflame (Toaplan).

[Sumez]

It doesn't really matter than the games you mentioned don't really classify as classic "shmups", they are still of a style that's generally appreciated around this forum.

If you do want to get into modern shmups (as in: actual shmups) there's of course the whole "bullet hell" subgenre, that is already a little past its prime, but is a good indication of how the genre evolved, when done well. I always recommend DeathSmiles as a good starter, as it's a fairly easy game, very light on the whole "bullet hell" aspect, and has a nice scoring system that's somewhat easy to grasp once you start looking into it. Also, it's vertical which makes it easier to get into when you're used to sidescrollers and such, and it's very cheap to pick up on both Steam or Xbox360. It's also one of the best games of the genre IMO.

In general, what happened to the genre in the "modern age" (ie. past the mid 90s) is a much higher focus on adding depth to the scoring of the game, so it is no longer just about getting through the game, but adding aspects that allow you to challenge yourself throughout in order to push your points to much higher levels. If done well, the game will have so much depth that even people who have been playing it for years are still able to push their score further,

[donluca]

Battle traverse, horizontal bullethell, great pixel art, music and gameplay.

Didn't know about this one! Watched a 1CC run on normal and looks fantastic, I'll have to give it a try one of these days.

[Special World]

Eschatos is pretty much the greatest scrolling shooter of all time so, uh... don't skip it. I almost didn't buy it because I thought it looked like low-rent garbage. Big mistake. So good. Really a game that just keeps giving and giving and giving.