Finding unknown IOS Shmups

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malc
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Finding unknown IOS Shmups

Post by malc »

Hello all

For various reasons my shmupping is restricted to 15 mins or so of either Switch or IOS action these days (Real Life, say no more)

One of my current favourite activities is to trawl through various forums or search on the App Store for shmups that nobody really has picked up on, and have no ratings nor reviews at all.

This is great when they are free, but when they cost money, sometimes its an instant 99p/c or whatever down the drain if they are patently crap.

Anyway, looked for a topic on this but there didn't seem to be one. Not your top 20 that keep popping up on everybody's lists, but the unknown

Here are my "gems" I unearthed this week that I see mentioned nowhere else:

Missile Dancer
Image Striker 2
Moon Striker

All by the same chap, pretty basic graphics, but accomplished gameplay, riffing off other classic titles (Rayforce, Image Fight, Soukugerentai amongst others).

Really surprisingly polished and worth picking up.

I also didn't know there was a bunch of what look like Touhou knockoffs available as well - about 7 of them at last count.
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FRO
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Re: Finding unknown IOS Shmups

Post by FRO »

I've been playing one on iOS called Air Strike Pacific War WWII that's sort of a 1943-like, where you can replay stages to get 3 stars (meeting specific criteria), etc. It's decent enough, though a bit grindy.

Also, good to see you around these parts!
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malc
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Re: Finding unknown IOS Shmups

Post by malc »

thank you fro! Just downloading

I generally despise grindiness and walled off abilities. Metroid got it right, rewarding players skilled enough to get to those abilities. Other games just make you wait and wait and wait.

Let give it a go though :)

edit:hmmmm not finding it under that name, a few different air strike named games
Glick
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Re: Finding unknown IOS Shmups

Post by Glick »

Tried to find it as well, and failed. Looks like the name "Air Strike" is loaded with a lot of garbage, so the search doesn't work well.
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Re: Finding unknown IOS Shmups

Post by OmegaFlareX »

Posted this in another thread before. I have no idea if it's on iOS since I am not an Apple person, but the android port of Twin Cobra was not the dumpster fire I was expecting. Sure, there's missing animation frames, the BGM loops are way off, and there don't seem to be any extends at all, but it otherwise moves/scrolls smoothly and is very faithful to AC, touch-controls aside.
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kog3100_edw
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Re: Finding unknown IOS Shmups

Post by kog3100_edw »

Air Strike Pacific Warfare WWII is actually listed as: 1942 Classic Arcade.

It literally has the first title on the game's title screen but the second (after the colon) as the App Store listing title.
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Re: Finding unknown IOS Shmups

Post by malc »

really enoying Twin Cobra on the train

edit: and air strike/1942 on the train back home again
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Master O
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Re: Finding unknown IOS Shmups

Post by Master O »

malc wrote:really enoying Twin Cobra on the train

edit: and air strike/1942 on the train back home again
Glad to see you're still around. I thought you had disappeared, since you post so infrequently on the forum now.
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malc
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Re: Finding unknown IOS Shmups

Post by malc »

hey Master O! Yep, must be the admin with the lowest posts ever. Have got great plans to post more, and actually update website (been 8 years....) but, erm, well at least I still have great plans.
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Re: Finding unknown IOS Shmups

Post by louisg »

Whoa! Malc! It's good to see you back :)

I'm going to have to try some of the shmups you mentioned. I actually really like touch control on shmups when it's closer to 1:1 with movement. In the Cave ports it almost felt like cheating! And anything riffing off RayForce and Souky has got to be pretty rad.
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Re: Finding unknown IOS Shmups

Post by louisg »

What do you think the best of the bunch is, Malc? Missile Dancer looks pretty great.
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Goompaolo9500
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Re: Finding unknown IOS Shmups

Post by Goompaolo9500 »

Blast Rush. I tried that.

And a rRootage iOS port; based on a PC game by ABA Games.
It has 4 modes (NORM-Normal,PSY-Psyvariar Style,IKA-Ikaruga Style, and GW-Giga Wing Style)

Lightning Fighter 2 by Uwan Studio. It’s like Raiden.

Easy to find just by searching “Shmup” on the App Store.
At this rate, I won’t be interested into shmups anymore. I am no longer going to be active in this forum from now on. I am more interested into Kemono Friends, rhythm games, D4DJ, Puzzle Games, Hololive, and Pretty Cure.

Farewell.
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Re: Finding unknown IOS Shmups

Post by louisg »

I grabbed Missile Dancer and 1cc'd the normal mode, which is quite easy compared with its influences (might be a great shmup pick for someone just starting out!). But it's a fun one-- The enemy patterns and level layouts are solid, there's a good sense of adventure, and I like that I can play it one-handed on a crowded bus. I'm going to see if I can conquer hard mode next. Rating: Worth the $2 (cheaper than a cup of coffee :))

EDIT: k, beat Hard mode. But I can always do better, and the levels are entertaining enough. I wish it showed you the # of gems and lives leftover on the ranking screen, not just the score.
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