How many shmups have you been hooked on? (50h+)

[SPM]

I find it fascinating how many hours we end up putting into these games, as short as they are. So there you have it, another poll!

A bewildered outsider would think we may have a problem

Feel free to name the winners that turned you into an addict

Btw, open poll! So you can change your vote if (when! don't fool yourself) those numbers change (they will)

[heli]

With saturn i had it on all day running the demonstration,
if i play i throw the gamepad away if i cant win, then automaticly the demo will run.
Like it was a arcade cabinet.

I had all the games like garegga, in enjoyed the 9 credit limit.

[mycophobia]

Truxton/TATSUJIN i spent about 170 hours getting 10,000,000, and still going

Truxton II I spent about 200 hours getting the 1-ALL lol, but that includes a lot of derusting due to swearing off the game several times. Across all versions/dips I'm about to hit 300

DDP I've played for almost 60 hours at this point, my pb reached 2-4

I don't savestate practice very much so these numbers are going to be inflated compared to others with similar achievements on the same game

[EmperorIng]

Interesting topic! For some of us, if you truly love a game you'll keep coming back to it, again and again, even if you've cleared it, even if you have your score goal.

It's hard to say for sure because only some versions of MAME record times (gaaah!) and I have to rely on memory/steam times. But games I've played more than 50 hours are, to my knowledge:

Dariusburst - Chronicle Saviours (a lot of this time was in CS Mode, searching for Gigantic Bite)
Psyvariar Delta (Specifically, Revision)
Castle of Shikigami (split between steam's 30+ hours and the time I spent on the PC port with cj_iwakura's fan translation)
Giga Wing 2 (I can't say for sure but I've put dozens and dozens of hours over 8 or so years' worth of having this game)
Sisters Royale, a new contender, and split between 35ish hours on switch and many many hours on PC. Extremely addicting game.

And probably Darius Gaiden/RayForce, since those were my first two shmups I played on sega saturn now 10 years ago when I discovered the genre.

There may be more but this is what I am 80-90% sure of.

[PerishedFraud ឵឵]

HELLSINKER

ZERORANGER

TECHNICALLY CAMBRIA SWORD but only because it takes like 3 hours to beat it once

DON'T FORGET TO PLAY OUT ZONE

[MathU]

I'd estimate I probably put similar amounts of time (40-50hr+) in nearly all the shooters I've beaten, since I always work towards nice scores simultaneously and feverishly try to deconstruct games in the process. Only games with straightforward scoring and survival like Lifeforce have I not really spent time like that.

Some shooters I've put really huge amounts of time into are Darius Gaiden, Hellsinker, Chaos Field, Dimahoo, Shippu Mahou Daisasuken, Armed Police Batrider, Raiden Fighters games, and Image Fight.

[PerishedFraud ឵឵]

Some shooters I've put really huge amounts of time into are Darius Gaiden, Hellsinker-

You mean
HELLSINKER

[Jonpachi]

DDPDOJ - ~1000 hours to get to the second loop. That's easily the most I've spent on any single videogame, let alone a shmup. Literally played it as my main game for almost three years.

[Sengoku Strider]

I'm at 80+ hours in Gunbird 2. And I don't even feel like I'm half way there.

Truxton/TATSUJIN i spent about 170 hours getting 10,000,000, and still going

Truxton II I spent about 200 hours getting the 1-ALL lol, but that includes a lot of derusting due to swearing off the game several times. Across all versions/dips I'm about to hit 300

DDP I've played for almost 60 hours at this point, my pb reached 2-4

I don't savestate practice very much so these numbers are going to be inflated compared to others with similar achievements on the same game

I feel like the genre would fare a lot better if these types of numbers were widely understood. It seems like most people pick these games up, get 3-4 game overs (if that) and decide they're bad at them and that's that.

DDPDOJ - ~1000 hours to get to the second loop. That's easily the most I've spent on any single videogame, let alone a shmup. Literally played it as my main game for almost three years.

This on the other hand might send that same contingent running screaming for the hills, lol. Respect for sticking with it that long though, that's a feat of will.

[ZPScissors]

I have 50+ in almost every Touhou game (the absolute most being 400+ in UFO) but for arcade shmups it's just Sam3, DDP, Mushi, and DFK. Which is probably why I don't have an arcade shmup clear that matches my Touhou skill level.

Also for Sam3 specifically because that's the arcade shmup I've played the most, 94 for 1p and 168 across all versions.

[Eaglet]

Garegga I don't know how many hours I have in. Definitely over 200.
Batrider I'd guess I have something like 100 accumulated over all of the years.
Ketsui should be around 40-50.

[m.sniffles.esq]

That's tough... Like I've played Zero Gunner 2 a shitload, but 50+? No idea. As the Dreamcast doesn't log time played. Add to that, I've noticed that shooters tend to expand time in your mind, probably because you so actively have to engage with them. There's been many times where I've been "Man, I sunk four hours into Dariusburst last night" Only to look at Steam and see that in reality, it wasn't even two. (Not to mention, Steam times can work in the opposite manner, as sometime I'll just let attract mode roll while I get something to eat/take a phone call. There's an extra hour or two where I didn't actually play at all...)

So while I can give a list of titles that got their hooks in good and deep, actual hourage is another tale entirely.

[Sengoku Strider]

That's tough... Like I've played Zero Gunner 2 a shitload, but 50+? No idea. As the Dreamcast doesn't log time played. Add to that, I've noticed that shooters tend to expand time in your mind, probably because you so actively have to engage with them. There's been many times where I've been "Man, I sunk four hours into Dariusburst last night" Only to look at Steam and see that in reality, it wasn't even two. (Not to mention, Steam times can work in the opposite manner, as sometime I'll just let attract mode roll while I get something to eat/take a phone call. There's an extra hour or two where I didn't actually play at all...)

So while I can give a list of titles that got their hooks in good and deep, actual hourage is another tale entirely.

Every game does this to me. I used to think I spent dozens of hours in games, until the age of rpgs logging game time came along and I realized just how long it actually took to hit 20 hours. Even now, games I think I've spent 5 hours in will mock me in the Switch profile page with "played for about an hour." Thinking back, all those 8 & 16-bit rpgs that advertised "hundreds of hours of play" were kind of hilarious. And the fact that I used to demolish most games in that era in a weekend rental must have meant that an average game had 10-15 hours tops in it, and more likely 5-8.

This effect had me addicted to the Wii U's activity log, which showed you your time in every game/app down to the minute, aggregated by month. I'd check it compulsively every night before shutting down. I was pretty bummed the Switch just has this vague guesstimate that doesn't even accumulate across different systems with the same account.

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Triggerheart Exelica
Natsuki Chronicles
Ginga Force

[Austin]

Radiant Silvergun, Raiden, Giga Wing, R-Type Delta, Strikers 1945 II, Darius Gaiden, Layer Section, Mushihimesama, Espgaluda, Raiden Fighters Aces (split among the three games if that counts). Possibly Ikaruga (around when it was new). I've probably logged 50 hours on shmups I've been playing my whole life, like Musha, Life Force and Super R-Type. Probably nearing that with Raiden V.

[davyK]

Darius Gaiden, Gigawing, Futari, Raiden III off the top of my head. I'd say Super Aleste and Super SWIV/Firepower 2000 on SNES too.

I'm not counting old classics like Asteroids, Space Invaders, Galaxian/Galaga - way over 50hrs on those since the early 80s.

[XoPachi]

It's very hard for me to tell for certain. Most of these games don't have in game clocks especially when I was a kid.
My previous memory card with Gradius V data had 200 hours in the game's clock, I remember. That was back in middle school.
And around 2010 I finally got a build of MAME that wasn't a digital migraine. I put ludicrous hours in Cave titles I was dying to play after being mystified by YouTube videos of them in 2007. Ketsui, DDP1, and DOJ especially.
I absolutely was addicted to Raiden Fighters Aces.
And today, there's Monolith. About 200 hours in that.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

This might not be a comprehensive list but here goes in no particular order:

Giga Wing: I've played the hell out of this. I've pretty comfortably learned playing it for survival, but I still suck at scoring. I'm hoping to change that soon and hit at least 100 trillion.

Rolling Gunner: I got a bit obsessed with this when I got my hands on it. Fantastic game, I'm really hooked.

Mushihimesama Futari (1.5 and Black Label): The first CAVE game I ever owned on a console. Love it.

Monolith: I fell in love with the original version and played it obsessively. I still consider the pre-DLC version as close to perfection as is possible.

Gradius V: I remember playing this a lot in co-op with friends. I suspect if not 50 hours then it's close to that mark... but I'm really rusty and haven't but in any time in it recently.

Probably not 50 hours but still a decent amount of time:

Raptor: Call of the Shadows: I played the heck out of it as a kid. Like, way more than I probably should have.

SideLine: The real king of DOS era shmups. I've played it a lot, though I probably haven't actually put 50 hours into it.

Espgaluda: Love it, should go back to it for scoring more. Doubt I've played it 50 hours though.

Not a shmup, but for the sake of completeness I've probably clocked a solid 300+ hours in Bayonetta, if not more across the XB360 and PC versions. I'd also say that Streets of Rage Remake is probably at or near the 50 hour mark. One playthrough is quite lengthy, and it's my fave 2D beat 'em up.

And around 2010 I finally got a build of MAME that wasn't a digital migraine

Yeah, I seem to remember we chatted in the comments of some Progear video on Youtube and you were lamenting how you were struggling to get MAME working, glad that worked out for you.