Weird, unique, gimmicky STGs

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nadomodan
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Weird, unique, gimmicky STGs

Post by nadomodan »

I've been looking for some shooting games recently that have some gameplay elements that make them feel and play a bit differently from the tried and true formula, perhaps applying the traditional shmup formula more loosely without losing the appeal. Some that came to mind:

Hellsinker
Even the most vanilla ship in this game has more tools and quirks than your usual main shot, subweapon/alt, bomb, each character has really different playstyle and you have to use all their skills well to get the most of them.

Sora
The way movement works makes it really fun to zip around the screen, I find myself navigating much larger part of the playing field than usual.

Downwell
Quite different and proceduraly generated levels but could work just as well with hand-made ones and still has the dodging, shooting and scrolling level. Here ammo is a resource and affects movement, really makes you plan and aim each shot as opposed to most shmups when there's hardly if ever a reason to release shot button.

Touhou Fairy Wars maybe? Freezing a large chunk of screen feels satisfying but eliminates a lot of dodging and some patterns feel like they are made only to be frozen.

Curious about any others you might know.
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MathU
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Re: Weird, unique, gimmicky STGs

Post by MathU »

I really wish there were more scrolling speed-focused shooters like Cosmic Cop and Kingdom Grandprix. Gotta shoot fast!
Of course, that's just an opinion.
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Lyv
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Re: Weird, unique, gimmicky STGs

Post by Lyv »

Shoot the Bullet and Double Spoiler are pretty unique.

Also, all the VS shmups : Twinkle Star Sprites, PoDD, PoFV, Change Air Blade. Lots of randomness and 2-players.
mainpatr5
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Re: Weird, unique, gimmicky STGs

Post by mainpatr5 »

Engage to Jabberwock and The Binding of Issac

Overhead run-and-gun shooters with heavy shmup elements(bullet hell!)

Tekkaman Blade for SFC

A shmup with no shooting, instead you throw your weapon at the enemies.

Mid-Garts\Operation Neptune

Fantasy Zone style free scrolling shmups with two unique gimmicks(Mid-Garts, fully animated cutscenes and Neptune, math problems)
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mamboFoxtrot
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Re: Weird, unique, gimmicky STGs

Post by mamboFoxtrot »

Cotton 2: Magical Night Dreams
Shooting is the least effective action, and instead its more about sealing enemies into elemental bubbles using fighting-game-motion spell attacks, then grabbing the bubble and throwing it at enemies to cause chain reactions

Triggerheart Excelica
I don't have personal experience with this one, but I know it has a pretty bizarre gimmick of tethering enemies and spinning them around you.

Kirisame Blade
You can only attack using large blades mounted to your ship that move around when you do
Freeware game (find it on Vector.co.jp); Same developer as Graze Counter on Steam

Hitogata Happa
Kamikaze exploding anime doll action -- ramming into enemies after fulfilling certain conditions to explode them is how you deal any real damage to bosses and stronger stage enemies
Platine Dispositif's Gundemonium games are also rather strange. On the surface they are normal shmups but they have a laundry list of minor quirks.

Sol Divide
Heavy focus on using melee attacks, and also a unique "Magic" system instead of the usual screen-nuke bombs

Shoot 1up
When you get an extra life, it gets added to your on-screen fleet, and you expand and contract the formation on the fly


there's also a shmup where you collect weapons into a ball-like mess, vaguely like Katamari Damacy, but I can't remember what its called...
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Shepardus
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Re: Weird, unique, gimmicky STGs

Post by Shepardus »

In Space Bomber you grab enemies and throw them at groups of enemies to get them to explode for a lot of score.

i-20000 focuses on destroying enemies before they appear on the screen by means of a sonar system and long-range torpedoes.

Akashicverse -Malicious Wake- has weapons activated by fighting game-like movements. Aesthetic also somewhat inspired by HellSinker.
mamboFoxtrot wrote:there's also a shmup where you collect weapons into a ball-like mess, vaguely like Katamari Damacy, but I can't remember what its called...
Tumiki Fighters?
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qmish
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Re: Weird, unique, gimmicky STGs

Post by qmish »

Sora is basically "what if Senko no Ronde had proper singleplayer instead of VS duels"
Cotton 2: Magical Night Dreams
Shooting is the least effective action, and instead its more about sealing enemies into elemental bubbles using fighting-game-motion spell attacks, then grabbing the bubble and throwing it at enemies to cause chain reactions
any good video on that? longplays on YT are mostly about shooting at first glance, any dedicated demonstration out there?
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Deadliar
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Re: Weird, unique, gimmicky STGs

Post by Deadliar »

MathU wrote:I really wish there were more scrolling speed-focused shooters like Cosmic Cop and Kingdom Grandprix. Gotta shoot fast!
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mamboFoxtrot
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Re: Weird, unique, gimmicky STGs

Post by mamboFoxtrot »

Shepardus wrote:
mamboFoxtrot wrote:there's also a shmup where you collect weapons into a ball-like mess, vaguely like Katamari Damacy, but I can't remember what its called...
Tumiki Fighters?
That does have a mechanic like that as well
but it turns out the game I was thinking of was Shoot Shoot Nitori
I guess "collect into a ball" isn't an accurate description of how the weapons attach to you and each other...
qmish wrote:
Cotton 2: Magical Night Dreams
any good video on that? longplays on YT are mostly about shooting at first glance, any dedicated demonstration out there?
Kollision has an oldish replay here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7RfBRI36uc
there are most likely more up to date score runs out there but idk myself
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Stevens
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Re: Weird, unique, gimmicky STGs

Post by Stevens »

kane wrote:
Valkyrius Prime: Batshit crazy adrenaline rush warps all over the place.
I'll 2nd this. Haven't played Prime, but spent a lot of time with vanilla.

Pros - The warping is a great mechanic and implemented really well.

A fair amount of ammo based weapons. Machine gun, shotgun, homing rockets, this bazooka type shot (fun to use), and a shock wave screen clearing bomb (underused tbh) compliment your main shot. Main shot is a solid default here.

Music is standard. One or two standout tracks.

Stage two is pretty meh, but three is really good (vertical decent). Stage five has you engaging several battle ships. It's pretty cool.

Stage three and four also have really well designed boss fights.

Worth the $8 it costs on Steam.
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BulletMagnet
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Re: Weird, unique, gimmicky STGs

Post by BulletMagnet »

mamboFoxtrot wrote:Cotton 2: Magical Night Dreams
Cotton Boomerang and Ai Cho Aniki also have the fighting game motions thing going (technically, I suppose, so does Batsugun, though not nearly as centrally). Someone else already mentioned Akashicverse.
Triggerheart Excelica
If memory serves The Great Ragtime Show had a mechanic somewhat similar to that, and also switched back and forth between airbound shooting and run-and-gunning; on that front you could also name stuff like Dragon Breed.
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Shepardus
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Re: Weird, unique, gimmicky STGs

Post by Shepardus »

BulletMagnet wrote:The Great Ragtime Show
Ah yes, The Great Ragtime Show (aka Boogie Wings) has all sorts of strange stuff in it. That would be a good one to check out.
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Despatche
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Re: Weird, unique, gimmicky STGs

Post by Despatche »

Anything that hasn't been copied.

Guess I'll mention IKUSAAAAAAAN!.
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oso
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Re: Weird, unique, gimmicky STGs

Post by oso »

Like was mentioned: Tumiki Fighters / BlastWorks. Kenta Cho's genius at play, combining Katamari Damacy with a shmup. The Wii version is actually really good and robust, it even has a stage editor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRHHMLAsVwA

I also love Space Giraffe because it goes against all shooter sensibility and makes the making out the bullets the real challenge.
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Shepardus
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Re: Weird, unique, gimmicky STGs

Post by Shepardus »

oso wrote:I also love Space Giraffe because it goes against all shooter sensibility and makes the making out the bullets the real challenge.
There's this one doujin shmup Jaimers showed on his channel where everything's in one of three colors and the bullets camouflage with the background: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwPfy2K3ug4

There's also this game where... well, just see for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qgMptzH73k

Murasaki and Murasaki Tsurugi are kind of puzzle shmups: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4r5xseBFm8
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oso
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Re: Weird, unique, gimmicky STGs

Post by oso »

Shepardus wrote:
oso wrote:I also love Space Giraffe because it goes against all shooter sensibility and makes the making out the bullets the real challenge.
There's this one doujin shmup Jaimers showed on his channel where everything's in one of three colors and the bullets camouflage with the background: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwPfy2K3ug4

There's also this game where... well, just see for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qgMptzH73k

Murasaki and Murasaki Tsurugi are kind of puzzle shmups: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4r5xseBFm8
Haha wow that first one! Genius!

Almost forgot Gunbarich, breakout shmup by Psikyo. The bosses are shmup-ish, the rest is breakout: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDuysH2-O3o
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MrJBRPG
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Re: Weird, unique, gimmicky STGs

Post by MrJBRPG »

I actually found a game that you literally use a whip to block enemy shots, destroy enemy units and obstacles, and capture large ones with the tip of the whip for a screen clear.

Found this game online and played it back in 2007-8
Rapture Capture
http://tonakai.aki.gs/interactive/rc1e.html Flash enable to play

You should search for rapture capture and it is found under shoot the core database. Do a cached version for best chance.

Original link (need to cache it):
http://shmups.co.uk/index.php5?title=Sh ... e_Database
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nadomodan
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Re: Weird, unique, gimmicky STGs

Post by nadomodan »

So obvious I forgot about it, Ikaruga and other games that adopted the polarity mechanic.
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