Define euroshmup...

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bcass
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Post by bcass »

Shatterhand wrote:Both Dynablaster and BC Kid are really sweet ports.
They are. I remember the Amiga version of Dynablaster came with a dongle so you could play with 5 players (or was it 4?)! The Amiga version has a unqiue ending theme that is just a brilliant peice of music.
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BrianC
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Post by BrianC »

Factor 5 still has the Amiga roms for BC Kid, R-Type, and Katakis for free download. Getting those games for free legally is very sweet. No kikstart roms required to play them either.
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bcass
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Post by bcass »

Just to provide this topic with a bit of positive spin on the Euroshmup theme, let's not forget the excellent European developed shmups on XBLA: Space Giraffe, Mutant Storm Reloaded, and Mutant Storm Empire. And of course, the original PC Mutant Storm, and Space Tripper (also by PomPom). All highly polished and accomplished games.
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Post by sven666 »

bcass wrote:Just to provide this topic with a bit of positive spin on the Euroshmup theme, let's not forget the excellent European developed shmups on XBLA: Space Giraffe, Mutant Storm Reloaded, and Mutant Storm Empire. And of course, the original PC Mutant Storm, and Space Tripper (also by PomPom). All highly polished and accomplished games.
not shmups.

arena shooters and rail shooters arent they? (never actually played space giraffe)
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bcass
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Post by bcass »

Well, to my mind, they are shmups (although I would classify arena shmup as a sub-section of the general 'shmup' term). Space Giraffe has a similar premise to Tempest, and that game is a shmup.
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Shatterhand
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Post by Shatterhand »

bcass wrote:
Shatterhand wrote:Both Dynablaster and BC Kid are really sweet ports.
They are. I remember the Amiga version of Dynablaster came with a dongle so you could play with 5 players (or was it 4?)! The Amiga version has a unqiue ending theme that is just a brilliant peice of music.
If I remember correctly, it was 4 players only. Some other games also used this adapter (Base Jumpers comes to mind), and the original game refused to work if you didn't had it connected.
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Sly Cherry Chunks
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Post by Sly Cherry Chunks »

Shatterhand wrote:the original game refused to work if you didn't had it connected.
I returned mine because sometimes it didnt work. I never though it might be because of this. Pirate version was fine.
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Shatterhand
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Post by Shatterhand »

Sly Cherry Chunks wrote:
Shatterhand wrote:the original game refused to work if you didn't had it connected.
I returned mine because sometimes it didnt work. I never though it might be because of this. Pirate version was fine.
The cracked version had an option to play it with or without the adapter, before loading the game.

If you choose to run with it, but you don't have the adapter connected, the game doesn't work.
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Kollision
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Re:

Post by Kollision »

Twiddle wrote:two or more of the following:
euroshmups not originating from europe include:

darius entries before g-darius
WHAT ?? :evil:
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6t8k
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Re: Define euroshmup...

Post by 6t8k »

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MintyTheCat
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Re: Define euroshmup...

Post by MintyTheCat »

Euro Shmups tend to:

look pretty and are often 'metallic' art style wise.
aren't much fun to play and haven't been firmed up and produced.

Essentially: not enough substance.
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Master O
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Re: Define euroshmup...

Post by Master O »

rtw wrote:I see this term used all the time, but I can't find
a clear definition anywhere. Maybe this could be
added to the glossary.

However I get the impression that it is
not a positive word...

rtw
Shmups made by Europeans? :D
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BuckoA51
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Re: Define euroshmup...

Post by BuckoA51 »

It's sort of interesting to look at what shmups, and perhaps even other genres I, as an C64/Amiga owning kid, back in the day, thought were actually good at the time. I had no clue my console owning friends at school had access to games that were so much better.

I suppose you can define it as a shmup made in Europe, but I think that European games designers just didn't get how to make really satisfying shmups around the 80s and 90s and that less satisfying style of gameplay seems to have stuck as reminding people of European developed shmups of that era... I mean games I remember thinking were good include...

Cybernoid 2 - Great soundtrack crap gameplay
Project X - F**k right off with your stupid inertia mechanic
IO - Well I suppose this is half decent but hardly anything special like the magazines made out
Delta - Kinda okay if you like simple pattern learning.

That said, some shmups I really enjoy that came from Europe include

Blood Money - Enjoyed this last time I played through on C64 and actually beat it
Banshee - A sort of slow paced 1942/1943 type game with great graphics, sound design and atmosphere
Armalyte - Actually kind of decent especially for C64
Aphidya - Well they basically emulated japanese shmups with this and did it really well and it remains probably the best shooter on the Amiga.


(disclaimer - I'm a casual shmupper and can't 1cc barely anything lol)
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Marc
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Re: Define euroshmup...

Post by Marc »

The Cybernoid game were full as hell, though I'd struggle to call them shmups.
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bcass
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Re: Define euroshmup...

Post by bcass »

Yeah, the Cybernoid games were really good. In fact, I think they're a great example of what the early UK computing scene was all about - innovation. Whenever they tried to copy what the Japanese were doing, it usually fell flat. It's a shame that spirit doesn't still exist as it would be nice to see more significant deviations in the genre, instead of Cave-clone 51002.
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MJR
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Re: Define euroshmup...

Post by MJR »

Did this thread just morph from euroshmup bashing into a list of favourite euroshmups? I'm in.

Best ones for c64 are:

Uridium - Very simple but very well-thought out, slick and playable. Was a big deal back then for being one of the first shoot em ups on home computer that were as slick as fast as arcade games.
Katakis - Manfred Trenz's lovechild could well be the best euro shmup of all time. He basically just distilled all his favourite coin ops (Darius, R-type, Gradius) into a c64 game. It's uneven, it's buggy, and difficulty is halfway there, but there is real sense of progression, lots of variation in levels and it is still fun to play.

Honorable mentions:
Sanxion and Delta
Armalyte - Delta 2
Io

And for Amiga:
Hybris - bit repetitive, but really fun Terra Cresta - clone. Smooth frame rate!
Battle Squadron - from the same developers as Terra Cresta - slick graphics, 2-player mode and lots of destruction, very playable.
Starray - One of the very best Defender clones I've played. Very slick colorful graphics with good palette that avoid going to over detail.
Z-Out - graphics have not dated well (except the HR Giger level), but it has smooth framerate and lots of secrets

Honorable mentions:
Blood Money
Super Stardust

I never got much excited about Apidya, though I really tried to get into it. The difficulty curve is just arse.
Project X can die in the fire! It is the epitome of shitty shmup design. And I bought it and completed it because I am a stubborn idiot and wanted to see if it got any better. It is also the only game that PUNISHES you for getting powerups, by slowing your ship down. Only way to avoid disaster is to max your powerups and then pick the only speedup you can, or grudge with underpowered ship. I hate this game to death. It is especially frustrating since the graphics look so nice.

But in general, once I got Gradius 3 for Snes and Truxton for Sega Megadrive, c64 and Amiga pretty much ceased to exist as shmup platforms for me, back in the day.. and PC-Engine is THE king for me, along with Neo Geo, when talking about shmup consoles so my love for euroshmup is mostly based on nostalgia (and bias).
Last edited by MJR on Mon Jan 13, 2020 7:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
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bcass
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Re: Define euroshmup...

Post by bcass »

Definitely agree with Uridium. That game was as slick and playable as anything that came out of Japan. Again, its main strength is that it wasn't derivative. I think Zynaps on the ZX Spectrum is also a worthy mention too. Very playable, very original, and slickly executed.
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