Short shmups

[schleichfahrt]

As old age is getting to me and my memory is failing, I'm trying (for a particular reason) to remember the shortest legitimate STGs.

First loop of two/multi loop games counts, doujin counts. Caravan modes and games (obviously) don't count.

The shortest I can remember are:
Storm Blade (first loop clocks in at just below 10mins)
DB:CS with its 3 level routes, where the easier ones are about ~12 mins long.

Anything else? It seems most "full" shmups start at about 18mins plus.

[Bananamatic]

psyvariar if you don't score
the game ends if your level isn't high enough, probably doable in 5 mins?

[Despatche]

Well, most shmups are quite a bit longer than 18 minutes, usually more like 30 plus. As far as "full" games, Psikyo stuff comes to mind, Zero Gunner 2 might be a good pick. Shienryu Explosion is a pretty short game.

[schleichfahrt]

psyvariar if you don't score

Yeah, that counts. (Didn't have that one on the radar). I'm looking for minimum complete time.

[Shepardus]

Macross II takes about ten minutes. It's not quite a caravan game but it's very much in that style, so I'm not sure if you're counting that.

Psikyo games tend to be very short, with one loop taking about 10-15 minutes. Space Bomber has only one loop and takes about 15 minutes total, about 20 if you're milking bosses. Sol Divide is even shorter than the average Psikyo game (probably to save you from the misery of playing it), taking just over 15 minutes for a 2-loop clear.

Fairy Wars takes about 10-15 minutes for a clear, though milking can bring that up to 25-30 minutes. All the Touhou extra stages may fit the bill if you count that.

Samidare also takes about 10 minutes.

[schleichfahrt]

Sol Divide is even shorter than the average Psikyo game

I have never played Sol Divide myself, but judging by a couple of videos I just looked up after seeing your post it seems like a full run is even shorter than 9min. That makes it, as of now, the shortest on the list.

[Shepardus]

Oh, do boss-rush modes count? If so you can count the special course in Battle Bakraid and Armed Police Batrider.

[KAI]

are you gonna speedrun shmups? dude pls don't

[EmperorIng]

psyvariar if you don't score

Speaking of Psyvariar, one of the game's designers, PYX, designed a doujin shootemup for the X68000 computer called Direct-X. It only has two levels and a final boss stage, so the whole experience can clock in at around 10 minutes.

[Shepardus]

Direct-X

Man that's an unfortunate name.

Somehow that reminded me that Cardinal Sins is also a thing - that takes about 10 minutes to clear.

[copy-paster]

Batrider easy course.

[schleichfahrt]

are you gonna speedrun shmups? dude pls don't

Don't worry, nothing of the sort

a doujin shootemup for the X68000 computer called Direct-X. It only has two levels and a final boss stage, so the whole experience can clock in at around 10 minutes.

Had no idea this existed, thank you!

[donluca]

Battle Bakraid Training Course is pretty short as well.

Don't know why, but BB has become one of my favorite shmups as of late.

[MathU]

Cosmic Cop can be beaten in about 10 minutes. Kingdom Grandprix, Gradius, and Lifeforce each take about 15 minutes.

[EmperorIng]

a doujin shootemup for the X68000 computer called Direct-X. It only has two levels and a final boss stage, so the whole experience can clock in at around 10 minutes.

Had no idea this existed, thank you!

Before the forum choked on its posts last night, I even had a helpful link.

[schleichfahrt]

Before the forum choked on its posts last night, I even had a helpful link.

So you were the one who shut it all down Thank you for the clandestine link, much appreciated.

[LordHypnos]

WTF, my suggestions disappeared D:

Basic summary: Direct-X is pretty hard, IIRC, but did seem pretty fun. Also YM2151 dance music if you're into that. Looks like it's composed by PYX. That name seems familiar, though I can't put my finger on where I've heard it.

Samidare: Yes! This is truly a gem of a game. It's even on BIL's top 25 list! Certainly one of my personal favorites. Also has an extra stage that's only slightly shorter than the 10-11 min 3 stage mode. The extra stage also has surprisingly deep scoring. It is harder than the main mode, though, and being only 1 stage doesn't have any way to practice individual parts, IIRC. There's also some kind of unlock requirement. I think it's no miss stages 1 and 2, but it might actually be no miss the whole game (somehow or other I managed to unlock it).

Tumiki Fighters freeware game by ABA Games. No practice mode so I've only managed to make it to stage 4 out of 5 or so. I think it's somewhere in the 11-15 minute range total. I think there's a Wii version, as well that's called Blastworks or some such. It comes with a level editor and a few other of Kenta Cho's games, so I've heard.

Psikyo games: of course. I think Gunbird 2 clocks in at around 13 minutes per loop. I think that's one of their hardest 1-ALL's though, so IDK if it's the best choice. Really excellent game, though.

It's a little on the long end of what you're looking for, but it might be worth playing VASTYNEX, which is freeware. Also it's really easy. Like you'll probably finish it on your first or second try, but it's pretty fun for a blast 'em up. It's like a faster paced version of Thunder Force III or IV. Run time is around 18 minutes, I think, for the current version (0.6), but if you really wanted to, version 0.5 is around 14-15 minutes long only.

[EmperorIng]

According to the Psyvariar Delta topic, PYX was one of the designers, under the moniker MR2151. Seems to have disappeared after that though.

[Square_Air]

Konami's Scramble clocks in at about 3 minutes for a single loop. I don't think you can really get much more compact than that.

Sol Divide, as previously mentioned, is the shortest Psikyo 1cc at just over 8 minutes long. Unfortunately you'll spend about half that time being unwillingly shot around the screen like a pinball as you beg the game to let you play it.

I think Gunbird 2 clocks in at around 13 minutes per loop. I think that's one of their hardest 1-ALL's though, so IDK if it's the best choice. Really excellent game, though.

Gunbird 2 is fantastic, definitely my favourite shmup under 15 minutes to loop. It's deceptively difficult for its length as the last 6 minutes are a relatively massive difficulty spike. A few of the patterns at the end of loop 1 could be loop 2 patterns in any other Psikyo game. Sengoku Blade is also great and only ~10 minutes to loop.

Before the forum choked on its posts last night, I even had a helpful link.

So you were the one who shut it all down

Another incident courtesy of S level master hacker, EmperorIng. Don't be too careless to incur their wrath, or they'll empty every forum member's bank account and gain enough money to buy half a Cave PCB.

[Zaarock]

Ginga Force - ~10min separate stages

doujins:

Murasaki-series - ~8min separate stages
Kirisame Blade - ~5min separate routes
Growth (zero distance attack) - 9min ALL stages
rRootage - separate boss rush stages

Should be tons of doujin shmups to fit the bill, especially anything unfinished.

[xxx1993]

Doesn't Ginga Force's final stage simply consist of the final battle with the main villain?

[Arcatech]

Another short and easy shmup for the DS is "Metal Torrent". It was developed by Arika and published by Nintendo. I was able to 1cc the game in one try so it might be up your alley.

Here is a youtube vid of the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3apXRYUA850

Posted this in the DS thread as well accidentaly, but it fits the question a bit because its a DS game.

[LordHypnos]

Another short and easy shmup for the DS is "Metal Torrent". It was developed by Arika and published by Nintendo. I was able to 1cc the game in one try so it might be up your alley.

Here is a youtube vid of the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3apXRYUA850

Posted this in the DS thread as well accidentaly, but it fits the question a bit because its a DS game.

Yes, Metal torrent is very easy, at least it is on accipiteur mode. I was able to blind 1LC that but not bataleur. SFKhoa actually has a very high scoring run of bataleur up on youtube. It's posted in three parts. I should really try to at least clear that mode one of these days. backlog backlog backlog. Looks like it's about 16-17 minutes long in that run. I can't remember if accipeteur is shorter or just easier, also possible that it's shorter if you aren't scoring (or maybe even longer). I couldn't say for sure.

[Arcatech]

Yes, Metal torrent is very easy, at least it is on accipiteur mode. I was able to blind 1LC that but not bataleur. SFKhoa actually has a very high scoring run of bataleur up on youtube. It's posted in three parts. I should really try to at least clear that mode one of these days. backlog backlog backlog. Looks like it's about 16-17 minutes long in that run. I can't remember if accipeteur is shorter or just easier, also possible that it's shorter if you aren't scoring (or maybe even longer). I couldn't say for sure.

Was trying this on a friends ds at the time so didn't get to try it out for an extended period of time.. Also wasn't going for a high score either so yes, think its time to revisit this one. Looks like it is much more fun when going for a top score. The cubes kind of look like the ones from Mars Matrix.

[LordHypnos]

Yes, Metal torrent is very easy, at least it is on accipiteur mode. I was able to blind 1LC that but not bataleur. SFKhoa actually has a very high scoring run of bataleur up on youtube. It's posted in three parts. I should really try to at least clear that mode one of these days. backlog backlog backlog. Looks like it's about 16-17 minutes long in that run. I can't remember if accipeteur is shorter or just easier, also possible that it's shorter if you aren't scoring (or maybe even longer). I couldn't say for sure.

Was trying this on a friends ds at the time so didn't get to try it out for an extended period of time.. Also wasn't going for a high score either so yes, think its time to revisit this one. Looks like it is much more fun when going for a top score. The cubes kind of look like the ones from Mars Matrix.

I suspect that MM might have been a partial inspiration for it, yeah, which is kinda cool since basically nobody has ever made a game that's inspired by Mars Matrix, and that just seems wrong for such a great game.

EDIT: Mars Matrix 1cc is about 18 minutes, which is probably not quite short enough for this thread, but it's a moderately short game in the scheme of things.

[__SKYe]

Another one is Rude Breaker by Compile for the PC-98, that clocks at about 16~17 minutes. It's one of their easier titles as well.
Net Guardian, also for the PC-98 is somewhat short too (and easy), though I'm not sure exactly how long it takes to clear it.

[mycophobia]

four stages of Tiger Heli is like 15 minutes