The best arcade-only hori shmups?

[Rob]

And Darius sucks.

[Skyline]

Third vote for R-Type Leo. I enjoy it more than Progear. Go ahead and shove Prehistoric Isle 2 in there as well, since it's MVS-only (unless you want to run the argument that MVS carts can be played on a home Neo via conversion)

Also, NOT Black Heart. It plays like it was made in fucking RPG Maker.

Rabio Lepus got a PS2 port I think...

Rezon is pretty enjoyable for a horribly blatant R-Type ripoff.

Chimera Beast? Technically wasn't released so does that one count?

[Rob]

Chimera Beast? Technically wasn't released so does that one count?

No, it isn't good.

[boagman]

And Darius sucks.

How *DARE* you?!?!?!?

[boagman]

You can either zoom the screen or choose to have all 3 all together cramp onto your TV. It does look ok on a big enough TV.

Hmm. Haven't seen that, and the key phrase there is "on a big enough TV." I'd have to see the performance for myself to give the old "yea or nay." Still, it's hard to argue that the *experience* of playing said game just isn't the same without that original dedicated setup.

I would be quite intrigued to see the 3 screens squished onto one large (read: wide) enough TV. That'd be something, I would guess.

[yojo!]

Darius sucks so much someone tried to 1cc one time too many in London and ended wacking the screen with his fist...

[boagman]

Darius sucks so much someone tried to 1cc one time too many in London and ended wacking the screen with his fist...

You know, it's not like Darius is my favorite game or anything.

Still, I want to understand the logic, here: because the guy's a masochistic moron, the *game* sucks? That's kind of like putting the gun on trial for murder when it shoots somebody. Not the person, who pulled the trigger, not the gun manufacturer, the gun *itself*. It just fails to make any sense, logically.

[yojo!]

I was joking; did you read the "The retarded infinite-looping Toaplan games thread" thread ?

[boagman]

I was joking; did you read the "The retarded infinite-looping Toaplan games thread" thread ?

I did not. Color me "out of the loop."

Can I still be one of the cool kids? Will you still be my friend?

[BrianC]

Rabio Lepus got a PS2 port I think...

It also got a PCE port under the name Rabio Lepus special.

[Macaw]

Also, NOT Black Heart. It plays like it was made in fucking RPG Maker.

Black Heart is awesome.

[Shatterhand]

You can either zoom the screen or choose to have all 3 all together cramp onto your TV. It does look ok on a big enough TV.

Hmm. Haven't seen that, and the key phrase there is "on a big enough TV." I'd have to see the performance for myself to give the old "yea or nay." Still, it's hard to argue that the *experience* of playing said game just isn't the same without that original dedicated setup.

I would be quite intrigued to see the 3 screens squished onto one large (read: wide) enough TV. That'd be something, I would guess.

The Saturn version of Darius 2 does the same.. it's playable on a 29' TV, but truth to be said, the things look very squished there. It takes a while to get used with it.

Full zommed-in the game looks great, but it's damn unplayable

[Limbrooke]

R Type Leo for sure. I'd say Pulstar too, but NG-CD...

[boagman]

R Type Leo for sure. I'd say Pulstar too, but NG-CD...

Hmm. If that's the case, then, would Prehistoric Isle 2 count then? It never did get an official release on the NG-AES or NG-CD. And that's actually a darned good hori shmup!

[boagman]

The Saturn version of Darius 2 does the same.. it's playable on a 29' TV, but truth to be said, the things look very squished there. It takes a while to get used with it.

Full zommed-in the game looks great, but it's damn unplayable

Yeah, that sounds...like disqualification to me, then. I mean, it's got to be the same experience, within, say, 5% or so. There's always going to be an acceptable difference with playing arcade games at home or on emulation, but at the same time, it has to fall within acceptable parameters (subjective, sure, but that's life).

[worstplayer]

5th-ing R-Type leo. Best part of series IMO (only non-memorizer).

[Shatterhand]

5th-ing R-Type leo. Best part of series IMO (only non-memorizer).

Also the easiest one. It's easier than either Delta or Final (I dunno what's usually regarded as easier). Pretty good nonetheless.

[system11]

Dragon Breed was also pretty cool and never got ported.

Except to the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Atari ST and Commodore Amiga. The Amiga one I owned, it was a really good port.

[dpful]

Black Heart, Gigandes, Hyper Dual, Strahl, Mega Blast, Tera Force, Prehistoric Isle in 1930, Raiga, Rezon, Sauro, Vastar, are some I've noted (or mis-noted) as I'm scrolling through the ol' mame snaps

[tuoma]

Why do people always mentioned games that kinda suck when it was supposed to be the BEST? Or does dpful really love all those games equal, over all the others?

Progear.

[dpful]

ooh, I missed the 'best' part.

Interesting that there aren't too many to choose from, though

[elvis]

Gradius V
Gradius Gaiden

Did I miss something? How did two console games make it into an "arcade-only" thread???

[dmk1198]

Another great arcade shmup thread
Love the off beat hidden gems!!
Keep em coming please

Sent from my Redmi Note 8T using Tapatalk

[NAVVARR]

Can't believe no one has mentioned Scramble.

[dmk1198]

Scramble was great
It's on a collection I bought recently will play again
Konami? Atari? Capcom? So many lol

Sent from my Redmi Note 8T using Tapatalk

[BrianC]

Oddly enough, Scramble had a port to the Tomy Tutor from Konami themselves. There was also an official port on the GCE Vectrex. It also had several clones on various computers, as well as various table top VFD and handheld LCD ports. Not to mention the more recent home versions, including a port on GBA.

[Sengoku Strider]

I'm glad moderators on this site don't insta-lock thread necros. It's interesting seeing what people thought about R-Type in the ancient tymes when the original iPhone launched.

[dmk1198]

Oddly enough, Scramble had a port to the Tomy Tutor from Konami themselves. There was also an official port on the GCE Vectrex. It also had several clones on various computers, as well as various table top VFD and handheld LCD ports. Not to mention the more recent home versions, including a port on GBA.

I remember playing it on commodore 64 via tape cassette loading

Sent from my Redmi Note 8T using Tapatalk

[EmperorIng]

The list of arcade-only horizontals has shrunk over the years, but is still sizable.

For Irem, maybe the coolest I've played was Gun Hohki/Mystic Riders. However, Armed Police Unit Gallop is really interesting and unique as well.
I haven't played it too deeply but Thunder Cross 2 has that unmistakable konami-quality to it.
NMK's Macross II has one of the most unique progressions I've seen in an arcade game (taking a 'caravan' mode and turning it into an arcade game, giving you infinite lives, etc.) and turns out this extremely unique, score-focused, and addicting shmup.
I admit I haven't played it, but until the fabled M2 port-that-technically-wasn't-announced-but-they-want-to-do-it comes out, Boogie Wings/the Great Ragtime Show is probably unique enough to be worth mentioning. Videos make it seem to me like a more chaotic (janky?) Wolf Fang with a grappling hook gimmick.

I'm glad moderators on this site don't insta-lock thread necros. It's interesting seeing what people thought about R-Type in the ancient tymes when the original iPhone launched.

It is indeed fun to read over some old farm posts. Sometimes the perspective is alien to the modern-day 'scene.'

[Stevens]

The answer is Progear:)