aesthetically superior shmups

MSZ · Post by **MSZ** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:09 am

I may be the only guy here who think Zanac Neo is a beautiful game.

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:17 am

what about Nebulasray, every person i've spoken to says it made them cum in their pants.

zinger · Post by **zinger** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 7:17 am

Ko.oS wrote:gynoug's last stage is truly gorgous(sp?) - too bad it takes so long to get there.

Cool. Haven't gotten there yet, but stage 5 looks pretty sweet too.

Great game.

Marc · Post by **Marc** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 9:54 am

GateofThunderforceIII wrote:Something a little different here: Gynoug/Wings of Wor. For me, at least. I'd love it if somehow the core development members from NCS got together and made a sequel for current machines. Of course, preferably all done in sprites with the same serious yet monstrously gruesome style and atmosphere as the original (and not gay like Cho Aniki) complete with hyper detail and insane animation. I can only wish.

This game wowed me with the huge bosses, so much sprites displayed onscreen, and the second level with all the bubbles in the background. Beautiful game.

Another vote here. The intro, first and third (Castlevania 'inspired') level music tracks are the best I ever heard on a MD game, the graphics on the second, fourth and fifth levels stunning, and it just all hangs together really well.

sjewkestheloon · Post by **sjewkestheloon** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 12:23 pm

yeah i just picked up gynoug after having parted with it many many years ago (boxed with instructions for £3.97 which was f'in great) and i love it as much as a i remembered. only played it once or twice so far but it doesn't seem paticularly hard so i'm sure a 1cc is very possible. very strange art style really.. i mane a train with a man's head that falls from the sky is just bizarre.

oh and OT has anyone else noticed that the in game default difficulty is listed as easy, with normal and hard as options, and yet in the instructions it lists them as normal, hard and very hard. so for a 1cc attempt should it be on easy/normal (default) or normal/hard (cranked)?

and i think ikaruga is beautiful with superb, if basic, enemy design.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 1:07 pm

MSZ wrote:I may be the only guy here who think Zanac Neo is a beautiful game.

Nope, I absolutely love the look of this game-- easily my favorite Compile. The cloud level is truly gorgeous, one of my favorites.

I'm glad to see a few votes for Strikers 1945 and Battle Garegga. I love the dehumanized, mechanical feel of the former. Subtle, but my appreciation grows each time I go back to it.

zinger · Post by **zinger** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 2:00 pm

Another impressive thing about Gynoug is the japanese manual. I've never seen so much work and detail put into a manual. Huge pixel by pixel drawn images of enemies and bosses, wonderful art that never appears in-game (as far as I know). NCS Masaya really, really rock.

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 2:39 pm

Imperishable Night - the enemy and player sprites are small but attractive (in their way), but the patterns are what really sell this for me. Zun knows his shit, and this game proves it.

Raiden 2 - played this at an arcade, and i was knocked back by the walkers. as the Fighters series would go on to prove, seibu mastered giving their shmups a 3d look in the animation department.

Dogyuun - just very tightly presented. toaplan never looked better.

Harmful Park - this game gets a ten. it is just beyond adorable, and very well drawn.

Battle garrega - just gritty as hell, and just the way a war shmup should be. also incredibly detailed. like wow.

plenty more, i can't think of.

Randorama · Post by **Randorama** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:07 pm

roker wrote: the anime?

I still don't think that takes away from it's graphical style

but whatever

They pay some homages here and there, i was just being ironic (i.e. i don't mind at all, too). The first stage is the valley where pazu comes from, which is some location in Wales, in turn. the giant carrier ship on stage 5 is taken from 'Conan boy of the future', also by Miyazaki, and that's the whole of the homages, to my memory. Well, they also take a lot of inspiration from Gun Frontier, which is inspired to Laputa and so on... Easily the coolest steampunk game ever, though.

FRO · Post by **FRO** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:10 pm

The shmups that are most pleasing to me in terms of look/sound or the ones that impressed me most (wow factor) upon first playing them (by system):

Lightening Force (Genesis)
Raystorm (Playstation)
Ikaruga (Gamecube)
Gradius V (PS2)
Darius Gaiden (Saturn)
Axelay (SNES)
Zanac (NES)
Blazing Lazers (TG16)
Gradius: Interstellar Assault (GB)
Project S-11 (GBC)
Iridion 2 (GBA)
Android Assault (Sega CD)
Gigawing (DC)

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:11 pm

MSZ wrote:I may be the only guy here who think Zanac Neo is a beautiful game.

you're not alone... too bad i didn't like it...

drohne · Post by **drohne** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:48 pm

i think donpachi and dodonpachi have the most beautiful 2d graphics in the genre. a natural evolution of the toaplan style. i don't think cave's later prerendered games look as good...in fact i find the four that were ported to ps2 visually bland.

others:
r type 1, 2, leo
raiden 2/dx
layer section
battle garegga
harmful park

roker · Post by **roker** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:21 pm

Randorama wrote: They pay some homages here and there, i was just being ironic (i.e. i don't mind at all, too). The first stage is the valley where pazu comes from, which is some location in Wales, in turn. the giant carrier ship on stage 5 is taken from 'Conan boy of the future', also by Miyazaki, and that's the whole of the homages, to my memory. Well, they also take a lot of inspiration from Gun Frontier, which is inspired to Laputa and so on... Easily the coolest steampunk game ever, though.

I thought you were being serious

I'm sure Akira is responsible for influencing a lot of games (i.e. last resort)

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 5:38 pm

But then again, Akira itself and every other cyberpunk anime is influenced by Blade Runner.

PlasmaDancer · Post by **PlasmaDancer** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 12:17 am

I was unmoved by Strikers 1945 at first, but then it struck me how brilliant the bosses are, in that the whole WW2 atmosphere isn't shattered when a tank suddenly transforms into a bleedin' great mech. It's incredible and credible at the same time, and now it makes me smile with admiration every time I see one.

The others that immediately spring to mind are Mushihimesama for the way that the insect theme is so well exploited all the way through, R Type, for the stupendous enemy/ship design, and my old favourite, Super Aleste, for all its show-stopping SNES-specific tricks (rotating space stations, wobbly backgrounds etc).

Oh, and I find Kingdom Grand Prix quite appealing in a wacky, alien kind of way.

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 1:06 pm

it290 wrote:I'm gonna say some of the later Toaplan games like Outzone and Tatsujin 2 -- I dunno why, I just love the intricately detailed pixelling in those games. The art style is just so tight and concise.

Raiden 2 deserves a mention as well, for the beautiful explosions and craters and the awesome animation on the walker bosses, for example.

A man after my own heart. Yeah, later Toaplan had a very unique look that no one else has really done.

...and yeah, Raiden II is still a 2D masterpiece. Cows, shot down planes spiraling to the ground and exploding. Shrapnel scattering across the ocean. The Raidens aren't my favorite shmups, but what was put into the graphics remains monumental! (never mind the great music!)

I also agree with all the Garegga sentiments here; it has a great look and feel (very much due to Gun Frontier.)

Ko.oS · Post by **Ko.oS** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 2:05 am

oh and OT has anyone else noticed that the in game default difficulty is listed as easy, with normal and hard as options, and yet in the instructions it lists them as normal, hard and very hard. so for a 1cc attempt should it be on easy/normal (default) or normal/hard (cranked)?

well, I'd say start out on default, and once you find yourself not dying for twenty minutes straight, bump up the diff a bit.

the levels are quite long (they are actually two stages in one), so they'll get a little tedious and repetitive even on the harder settings, altho as the saying goes, the bosses make it worth sitting through

IIRC, one of the guys on the mushi dvd (YMN) released an all clear no mistake tape back in the day (full run on hyper), so yeah, the game provides a challenge for everyone

oh, and another tangent - some ppl may know better, but in slapfight there's this trick that if you dont fire a single shot for a very long time, when you get killed, you'll come back with a fully powered up ship. so yeah, it's GAREGGA in a nutshell - dont shoot, get killed, and be happy. and yeah, I know good ole slappy has DDP's flowers as well

in the hunt has tons of details and lovely explosions too. hmm-hmm.

thanks for reading...

llaoyllakcuf · Post by **llaoyllakcuf** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 4:01 pm

in slapfight there's this trick that if you dont fire a single shot for a very long time, when you get killed, you'll come back with a fully powered up ship.

you don't need to wait. if you get killed by the first enemy you see without firing, it still gives you full-powered wings with the homing shot.

by surviving for a while, you get a bigger score bonus and can warp ahead a few areas due to the "checkpoints".

kemical · Post by **kemical** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 8:41 pm

neorichieb1971 wrote:what about Nebulasray, every person i've spoken to says it made them cum in their pants.

haha

Nebulasray did that back when I played it in 1994, nowadays it looks a bit dated graphically compared to Cave's 2d offerings, mainly because of how Namco used 3d sprites and stuff when it was "cutting edge", looks more trashy than artistic now. Still good overall though with excellent music and sound, experiencing the first level in the arcade with all the radio yelling sound effects and crazy rotating backgrounds was awesome.

Rayforce is probably my favorite graphically,
Raiden 2,
hmm. Ranger X ?
Esprade !

Dragon Blaze also stands out as looking excellent, but I'm more into the mechanical/industrialized stuff, or mechanical mixed with old fantasy / knight'ish stuff like Ranger X. ..but ranger X is a run'n gun. best looking/sounding genesis game ever!

ST Dragon · Post by **ST Dragon** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 10:03 pm

Aesthetically, you can't really go wrong with these shooters.
The audio/visual wow factor is set very high in all of them:

1945 Strikers II – Best pre-rendered animated Mechs in any shooter and some of the most memorable Boss fights ever.
Agony – Awesome soundtrack and beautiful gothic/Scandinavian landscapes.
Air Gallet – Gloze your socks off!
Axelay (Every aesthetical aspect of this game is awesome. The 2nd level ED-209
Mech is the coolest fully articulated Boss ever)
Blazing Star
Border Down
Carrier Airwing
Chariot - I love the purple / blue sky palette
Cotton II & Boomerang -
Dragon Blaze – Psikyo’s Graphical fest with gorgeously animated sprites
Disposable Hero - Porbably the AMIGA's pretiest looking shooter, too bad the shop system ruined it!
Giga Wing 2
Gradius V
Gunbird 2
Guwange
Gynoug / Wings of Wor - The gothic graphics and music are awesome. Huge bizare and grotesque Bosses and I love the second layered background with bubbles at the 2nd stage.
Ikaruga
In The Hunt (Arcade/PSX) – Metal Slug aesthetics in water?
Last Resort
Mushihimesama
Progear No Arashi
Project-X (AMIGA) – “Best graphics money can buy”
Project X-2 (PSX) – Incredible hand-drawn 2D graphics
Pulstar
R-Type II (AMIGA) (One of the reasons I got the A500+ back in 1991!)
R-Type Final (PS-2)
Radiant Silvergun
Raiden II
RayForce (Arcade)
RayStorm (PSX)
RayCrisis (PSX)
Super Spacefortress Macross/Chou-Jikuu Yousai Macross (Arcades)
Xexex

Keranu · Post by **Keranu** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 10:18 pm

Am I the only person who thinks Ikaruga is ass ugly?

Super Laydock · Post by **Super Laydock** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 10:20 pm

Keranu wrote:Am I the only person who thinks Ikaruga is ass ugly?

Yes.

Hell I don't like the game itself, but man is it gorgeous!

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 1:02 am

The very first time I tried out the Armed Police Batrider in Raine emulation, my jaw dropped from the insane 2-D sprite based engine that Raizing/8ing created for the arcade PCB version of Armed Police Batrider. Of course, I have my trusty Gamefan issue that shows some pictures of Armed Police Batrider in action along with an article waxing the awesome virtues of the arcade PCB that is Armed Police Batrider.

Eventually I went on eBay and procured a complete Korean "B" version Armed Police Batrider arcade PCB for $152.50 USD...was worth every penny for it indeed. The insane 60 frames-per-second framerate, the hard-edged futuristic sci-fi overall theme along with a futuristic "cops 'n' robbers" theme wrapped up in a cool-ass anime presentation won me over that makes up the world of Armed Police Batrider.

And plus the fact that you can play with so many different characters, it's really a like playing "an All-Stars Greatest Hits" shmup but presented as an arcade Jamma PCB for your playing pleasure. ^_~

(...and let's not forget the insane amount of hidden Easter eggs for this arcade APB PCB shmup title as well.)

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

elvis · Post by **elvis** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 1:21 am

MSZ wrote:I may be the only guy here who think Zanac Neo is a beautiful game.

I dunno if I'd call it "beautiful". It definitely has lots of "oooh, pretty lights" moments, but I consider beauty an overall artwork-focussed kind of thing. In that respect, Zanac Neo is pretty plain for me.

Not that it has any impact at all on just how damned fun it is, of course. But this is shmups.com and I don't need to point those things out, thank goodness.

RoninBuddha · Post by **RoninBuddha** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 2:38 am

soldier blade is basic clean pixel fun imo. one of the best looking hucards out there

GateofThunderforceIII · Sun Mar 26, 2006 6:03 am

Alright, so I was testing out my recently acquired XMD-3 for the Genesis/Mega Drive with my CDX. This little thing is AWESOME!!! Anyway, tested out Final Fight CD (COMMANDS respect), Android Assault (respectable shooter), and Winds/Lords of Thunder. Then I thought about this thread. So yeah, if no one else has mentioned this great game, shame on all of us who forgot.

Great fantasy themed shooter that set the Turbo Duo ON FIRE!!! And human fantasy themed shooters do better as horizontals just like this and Gynoug/Wings. Too bad neither had (well deserved) sequels made. Damn, where are Masaya and Red of old? We need sequels done pronto!! Cool style, great use of color, weird enemies (kamikaze soldiers on flying turtles) menacing bosses (but could have been a pinch better)...Oh yeah, if there's one word to thoroughly describe the Sega CD version, it's NEUTERED.

Keranu · Post by **Keranu** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 6:18 am

Lords of Thunder was amazing for it's time, all the way back in 1993, no other console shooter looked quite as nice really, plus the game was just badass all around. I'm more of a Gates fan though, and speaking of which, that game had some amazing detail to the backgrounds, really incredible stuff at the time.

Remember folks, don't play video games for good graphics

.

Frogacuda · Post by **Frogacuda** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 6:23 am

It's brand new, but let's throw Under Defeat out there. The attention to detail is really astounding, with reflections and realistic damage, staggeringly beautiful particle effect, and, although it's very down-to-earth, some pretty snazzy desings, as well. It's in many ways the best looking 3D shmup ever.

Ikaruga still looks better in some ways, but it also has the benefit of a surreal fantasy/sci-fi setting, as well as a good deal of abstraction, allowing for looping backgrounds that don't really have to resemble any kind of familiar form or function. It's easier to make a game like that look stylish (though Ikaruga still did it better than any other, so credit where credit is due).

No_not_like_Quake · Post by **No_not_like_Quake** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 5:05 pm

RoninBuddha wrote:soldier blade is basic clean pixel fun imo. one of the best looking hucards out there

Agreed. Magical Chase is also a pretty hucard shmup.

drsmoo · Post by **drsmoo** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 5:33 pm

doesn't under defeat belong on this list?

shmups.system11.org

aesthetically superior shmups

+1

I enjoy the 2-D sprite-fest that is Armed Police Batrider...