The Self-Introduction Thread

[BootBoy]

Hi I've been lurking here for some time now and I never introduced myself ... aaaarrghhh
I'm an R-Type addict!
Nice to meet you!

[IncendiaryLemon]

Hello all!

Decided I should finally create an account after years of referring to this forum for shmups news and strategy, and spending far to much time procrastinating practicing shmups by reading about them.

The first shmup I played seriously was Imperishable Night, a little more than a decade ago, and every few years I pick up a game that restarts the obsession, usually after late night MagFest arcade sessions. Currently it has been Dragon Blaze on Switch and Mushihimesama on Steam via a Blast City cab.

In any case, I've found this forum to be a source of lots of awesome information as I refine techniques and have started moving towards using a stick instead of keyboard, but tend to be terrible at actually posting online.

[kv50L1D]

Hi Everyone.

I recently got into the shump genre and got the Raiden 2 arcade. Looking forward to learning more in the community.

[CyberAngel]

Might as well write a few words about myself.

I've lurked around the community and some people here for a few years. Been playing bullet hell games on and off for even longer. Was mostly a Touhou player (which is a good point to start at, despite what some people would say), now feeling like more arcade-y style fits my taste better. Wouldn't say I have any notable achievements yet but I've been picking up on skill lately. Hopefully I'll get a 1-ALL in a CAVE game or something by the end of the year.

As for other stuff, I'm into quite a few other games, but my biggest area of interest are classic FPS titles like Doom. Gotta say bullet hell experience really helps there as well.

[uchuukeibitaisdf]

hey there. shmups have been one of my fav genres ever since i was little, and im pretty sure Galaga is the game ive spent the most time on ever, haha. besides that, my favorites are Recca, R-Type 3, Gradius Gaiden and Cho Ren Sha 68K. also a huge arcade/Neo-Geo fan, got a candy cab on it's way in the mail, which kinda got me back into a shmup mood lately

[Toki_]

Hello everyone,

I have been a long time lurker and finally decided to start contributing!

I'm a veteran gamer and typically enjoy most of the old JRPGs and Shmups from my time.

I have an extensive knowledge of audio and video and enjoy problem solving and troubleshooting in this hobby!

[ERA]

I've been lurking for months now, and I really like this forum. The members here are really knowledgeable about obscure games and have just the right amount of elitism. To echo some others, BIL's sidescroller thread is possibly the greatest product of the internet.

I love shmups for giving me the same avoiding-death-by-millimeters high as my first encounter with Lakitu in SMB1, desperately scrambling for a mushroom before getting pincered by Spinies. My first shmup was Fantasy Zone on the Sega Classics Collection ps2 disk, but I didn't really appreciate the genre until later. I don't remember what won me over. Perhaps Gaiares or (NES) Dragon Spirit. My 1cc list is woefully short, though, being just Guxt and Armed Seven on normal.

My favorite games are Ape Escape, Contra, Eschatos, Gunstar Heroes, Katamari Damacy, Klonoa, Lethal League, Shinobi 3, the Streets of Rage series, and Third Strike. Outside of gaming, my main hobbies are anime/manga/tokusatsu, body improvement/jogging/biking, and reading, with Getter Robo, Gurren Lagann, Kamen Rider and Redwall being big formative factors in what I like in my entertainment. I also have other hobbies I dabble in as the mood takes me, including baking, candymaking, golfing, Lego models, tabletop RPGs, and wargaming.

[Akashic]

Hey all. I'm Akashic. I'm an avid gamer who stumbled on the shmup forums while researching ZeroRanger. My first shmup was Ikaruga, and I've always held the genre in high regard. I'm looking forward to expanding my library with your recommendations!

PS. I'm learning the lingo of shmups currently. Like calling tries credits and such. Be gentle.

[DJ Kevgeez]

Hey wassup
I'm Kevin From Philadelphia. My favorite Shmup is Raiden.
I found this forum tonight while looking for a way to perfect my Sony CRT screen during gaming.
I have a Sony Bravia for the new systems and a separate Sony Trinitron 36" for the old ones all connected by SCART, except the Gamecube which has a component cable.

I found this site thru an interview with a member here (his name might be Fudoh) where it was said this forum is the best running hardware discussion online.

If i'm not here you can catch me at Fightcade in the Super Turbo room.

[Akashic]

Hey wassup
I'm Kevin From Philadelphia. My favorite Shmup is Raiden.
I found this forum tonight while looking for a way to perfect my Sony CRT screen during gaming.
I have a Sony Bravia for the new systems and a separate Sony Trinitron 36" for the old ones all connected by SCART, except the Gamecube which has a component cable.

I found this site thru an interview with a member here (his name might be Fudoh) where it was said this forum is the best running hardware discussion online.

If i'm not here you can catch me at Fightcade in the Super Turbo room.

Ooh. How's the fightcade?

[DJ Kevgeez]

Hey wassup
I'm Kevin From Philadelphia. My favorite Shmup is Raiden.
I found this forum tonight while looking for a way to perfect my Sony CRT screen during gaming.
I have a Sony Bravia for the new systems and a separate Sony Trinitron 36" for the old ones all connected by SCART, except the Gamecube which has a component cable.

I found this site thru an interview with a member here (his name might be Fudoh) where it was said this forum is the best running hardware discussion online.

If i'm not here you can catch me at Fightcade in the Super Turbo room.

Ooh. How's the fightcade?

Amazing as usual.
Stop by sometime.

Btw how the hell do i stop this forum from emailing me when my post is replied to?
It gets annoying when its like 20 emails in a row.

[mahoho]

Hi everyone, I've been playing Touhou for a couple years and am finally getting around to exploring the greater world of shmups as I've wanted to for a long time.

I tried getting a Saturn to start with, but after having two of them in a row crap out on me within a week I decided to buy a joystick and download MAME, and now I'm here.

[Sanguis]

Hello,

I've been mostly an hack'n'slash player for the last 15 years (I'm 30), playing on hardcore modes. It taught me that I like dodging patterns and also, challenge. So here I am, since last week, practicing on dodonpachi (I liked it instantly). I'm hoping to 1-ALL it before the end of the week, then I'll move on to 1-cc something else I guess. I'll be using MAME mostly.

EDIT : Actually, I feel a bit like a fraud just trying to survive and using bombs in dodonpachi (it feels like ignoring the real game). I'll try to have good chains in stages 1 to 5 and then I'll practice survival in 6 (I still die a lot there).

[oso]

Hi,

Long time lurker and semi-casual shmupper, probably ~15 years. Got into Cave shooters because I really liked the music, and it kind of went from there. Played mostly Cave, Psikyo and a whole lot of R-Type. Not great at any of them. I firmly believe the Switch is the messiah of shmups, bringing the genre back to the masses and getting devs to spend money on it. Input lag be damned!

I've composed and arranged video game music for a long time, even had a Cave remix album planned at one time. Trying to get back into that and would love to score a doujin/indie shmup in the future.

Joined the forum because I'm getting back into shmups after a long hiatus and, as a game collector, I'm trying to keep track of releases.

[M.Knight]

Hello and welcome on the shmups forums!

Actually, I feel a bit like a fraud just trying to survive and using bombs in dodonpachi (it feels like ignoring the real game). I'll try to have good chains in stages 1 to 5 and then I'll practice survival in 6 (I still die a lot there).

Don't feel too bad for using bombs in general. They really help, and they are here for that reason exactly.
Once you clear the game and get comfortable enough with it to try to score seriously, that's where you can practice to use as few bombs as necessary. (if the scoring doesn't encourage bombing like in DDP)

I've composed and arranged video game music for a long time, even had a Cave remix album planned at one time.

That EspGaluda remix is great! A shame the album wasn't completed but that track is a fun listen.

[oso]

I've composed and arranged video game music for a long time, even had a Cave remix album planned at one time.

That EspGaluda remix is great! A shame the album wasn't completed but that track is a fun listen.

Thanks! Planning to actually finish that eventually

[Stanshall]

I've lurked for long enough, it's probably about time.

I'm relatively new to the genre, been playing with real interest and focus for about eighteen months. I went to Arcade Club in Bury (England) which is just down the road from me and played Dodonpachi DaiOuJou for the first time and it absolutely blew my mind. Since then, I've been chasing that feeling throughout all the shmup releases on the Switch, especially the exceptional Psyvariar Delta and Rolling Gunner, and I ended up picking up a 360 and ploughing serious gaming time into SDOJ, DFK, Akai Katana, Deathsmiles, Muchi Muchi Pork, Espgaluda 2 and Mushi Futari. I now wish I'd got a Japanese console but that might still be on the cards!

Current rotation is DFK, MMP, Espgaluda 2 BL, Rolling Gunner and getting back into Danmaku Unlimited 3 for something slightly different. Broadly, though, I'm playing about ten or fifteen different shmups in regular rotation.

I love the music, aesthetic, systems, patterns and sense of progression and reward these games bring. Aside from the Souls games and fighting games, I could pretty much play shmups exclusively from now on. DOJ genuinely changed my life and I'm enjoying being part of the community from the periphery. I'd definitely like to get more involved in future, though, when I have something novel to contribute.

[Attreyu]

Hi,

New guy here. On the south coast in the UK. Used to shmup many moons ago and I'm just getting back into it again. Found the forum through a friend of mine and looks like there's a great wealth of info here.

Currently playing Ketsui on PS4 mainly and on the lookout for some new games to play!

[mercuriusfm]

hello everybody, i thought i joined this board a while ago, but maybe i was just lurking for a while. so here i am.

im a dj and music producer, i tend to do a lot of electronic music, but i dont limit myself.
i also dabble in game dev and soundtracking, having created multiple asset packs for unity and unreal engine asset stores.
one of my main projects is remixing music from video games into club music, which sometimes leads to DJ gigs/parties and arcades and conventions.

im a life long gamer, starting on the sega genesis, and i love shmups. im not very good at them, but i appreciate them and find them fun.
some of my fave stg's include galaga, gradius iii, gradius v, thunderforce iv, ikaruga, judgement silversword, zeroranger, and really so many.
i like ones with interesting gameplay or really cool themes/graphics. great music is a must. never been a huge bullet hell fan, but i respect the genre.

yeah so thats me.

[kal20]

Ni,

I’m Joserra from Seville.

I love shmups

[remowilliams]

Long time lurker, I've been gaming since there were video games and have a pretty extensive collection covering classic gaming and computing.

Always been a big fan of shmups, can still finish 1943 on one credit

[Khalbob]

Hi, I am looking for the old-stuffed games and platforms!

[psykom1]

I've really had no reason to be here until I got a couple of arcade cabinets.
After getting addicted to Shmups, habitually buying PCBs, I figured I'd join here for emotional support.
Shmups are a disease.
Glad to be here!

[BareKnuckleRoo]

To echo some others, BIL's sidescroller thread is possibly the greatest product of the internet.

It truly is a work of art. I actually haven't seen him post in a while, worried he's OK.

[Krushal]

Hey all. Been lurking for a while, thanks for the great resources and community.

My first experience with shoot-em-ups was also my first real gaming experience, outside of seeing arcade machines. One trip to my grandparents' at Christmas ('86?), my uncle had a computer (Amstrad maybe) set up on the dining table and was playing Gradius. It was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen, and I played for several hours those few days. In my memory, the game became some majestic, immersive epic: we didn't get any gaming machine until '89.

Was a console gamer in '90s/'00s (NES-SNES-PS1-PS2-360). Didn't really rediscover STGs until I played a little Deathsmiles. Been researching the genre a lot since then, but not actually playing them much. Played a fair bit of Soldier Blade, still can't manage 1cc.

In the last few years, most of what I've played (besides racing games) has been PC turn-based games, like X-Com, roguelikes, Fire Emblem via emulation etc. Pretty much the opposite of shmups!

Been playing recently some PC shmups (I love freeware). Blue Wish Resurrection Plus in particular I find to be a good confidence-building vertical-scroller (managed Original 1cc eventually). Also had a good time with Assault Android Cactus (cool twin-stick-er) and Celeste (platformer, but hard-as-nails) on XboxOne lately.

[Despatche]

Congrats on the Plus Original clear! The world of free shmups on PC is an interesting one. People here should talk more about those.

[kingdomofcarts]

We are a couple of retro video game collectors who love to travel and find video games, would love to find anyone else who has the ame interest?

here is a link to out most recent trip to Germany for anyone else who decides to go there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTj1p1TwbHU&t=5s

[Leander]

Edit: I double-posted.

[Leander]

Hi all, I'm a casual shmup fan from New Zealand. My earliest shmup memories are playing Uridium and Silkworm on the C64 as a kid, and my love for the genre grew when I first played Lifeforce on the NES. For whatever reason I never really played many shmups after the Megadrive/Genesis era, apart from a handful of NeoGeo games in the local arcade.

I'm for the last 6 months or so I have been (very) slowly making my own shmup as a hobby in my spare time (slightly old teaser gif: https://imgur.com/jWSm2Yc), which made me want to try all the different types of shmups that I had missed out on since the early 90s, and have since had the pleasure of playing ZeroRanger, Jamestown, Steredenn and simply trying not to die continuously in others such as Ikaruga, Raiden IV, DoDonPachi Resurrection.

[theypsilon]

Hey,

I'm finally writting here after having been forwarded by Google like a million times during the latest 5 years. I guess, this day had to come at some point.

Cheers to all!