Best System For Cave Shmups?

[iguanastorm7]

I have a Sega Saturn with Donpochi and Dodonpachi. Also a Super Gun with a 3 Cave games on the way. Which system has the most Cave Shmups?

[Steven]

Xbox 360

[Creamy Goodness]

Best bet is the Switch. It has both Deathsmiles, Mushi, DDP Resurrection, Akai Katana, and Esprade. Although not yet announced, it may also get DDP DOJ.

[Jonpachi]

Best bet is the Switch. It has both Deathsmiles, Mushi, DDP Resurrection, Akai Katana, and Esprade. Although not yet announced, it may also get DDP DOJ.

All of those (save Esprade) are Xbox 360 ports with worse input lag than the original ports. With a 360 you also get M2's amazing Mushi Futari port, DDP SDOJ, Muchi Muchi Pork, Pink Sweets... it's no contest.

[davyK]

Have the Switch and PS4 overtaken the 360 now?

360 still has Futari , DOJ-BL , SDOJ and Muchi Muchi Pork & Pink Sweets. I can't see DOJ and Futari being left that way.

PS4 has Ketsui and it will have the slightly better quality ports over Switch.

360 is still a strong choice but the games are expensive.

[Bassa-Bassa]

Windows PC with a Groovymame installation, specially if you use a CRT and don't care about arrange modes from the console versions, though some of these have Windows counterparts. Tuning it well enough is really time-consuming, though.

[hamfighterx]

I'd still go 360 as the "best", but with caveats. 360 + PS4 is probably the ideal pairing, IMO

1. Those games are pricey these days. Glad I bought them all at release. Some are still console exclusive though: aside from the already mentioned MMP/Pink Sweets, Saidaioujou, and Futari, there's also Guwange (which is backward compatible on current Xbox Series machines too!).

2. You're still gonna miss some stuff that is either only available or is better on other platforms though.

PS4 has:
- M2's ShotTriggers version of Ketsui is the definitive version.
- Dangun Feveron is a PS4/Xbox One console exclusive
- Esp.ra.de (also on Switch)
- Progear (via Capcom Arcade Stadium, also on Switch/Xbox/PC)
- Definitive version of Dodonpachi Daioujou coming soon. Maybe also coming to Switch, maybe not.

Switch - the big draw is that it has a handful of 360 ports for a lower price, and they're portable:
- Live Wire's releases of Mushihimesama, DDP Daifukkatsu, and Espgaluda II (slightly more lag than 360, but still very good) - these are not on PS4
- City Connection's releases of Deathsmiles I&II and Akai Katana (again, minimal lag but slightly more than 360) - these are also on PS4

[Lemnear]

Xbox 360

this explain why Junya Inoue (Batsugun, ESP.Ra.De etc.) used an xbox 360-like cover for his manga BTOOOM.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

360 is still a strong choice but the games are expensive.

just get a hacked xbox360

[Creamy Goodness]

Best bet is the Switch. It has both Deathsmiles, Mushi, DDP Resurrection, Akai Katana, and Esprade. Although not yet announced, it may also get DDP DOJ.

All of those (save Esprade) are Xbox 360 ports with worse input lag than the original ports. With a 360 you also get M2's amazing Mushi Futari port, DDP SDOJ, Muchi Muchi Pork, Pink Sweets... it's no contest.

Well with the Switch you don't have to deal with procuring nearly 20 year old hardware with known build quality issues and dealing with Ebay resellers for games. Plus who knows what more games the Switch will be getting. Going the Switch route is a lot easier to deal with. And maybe I'm not sensitive to lag as all the games have run fine for me.

[sunnshiner]

360 is still a strong choice but the games are expensive.

just get a hacked xbox360

This. Slims are the most reliable (least unreliable?)

[Jonpachi]

I’ve never had issue with Japanese systems. I went through several US 360s, but my JP Elite is still a silent runner and solid after all these years of play.

[dmk1198]

Xbox 360

Yep

[dmk1198]

360 is still a strong choice but the games are expensive.

just get a hacked xbox360

Exactly

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

I’ve never had issue with Japanese systems. I went through several US 360s, but my JP Elite is still a silent runner and solid after all these years of play.

true for mine as well. still works flawlessly.

[Tokyo-J]

My list in order

1. Japanese Xbox 360 (Largest library of games and DLC)
2. PS4 (Great selection of games)
3. Switch (Best Portable Option)
4. PS3 (Ketsui + PSN ports)
5. Saturn / PSX / VITA (Even in my book)


If I had to choose one it would be the Japanese Xbox 360

[Despatche]

Is the DOJ port even gonna have X-Mode? That was the thing that made the 360 version actually cool, so I hope it's in somehow. I'm guessing no, since Ketsui didn't have X-Mode either. Oh well.

[Jonpachi]

Is the DOJ port even gonna have X-Mode? That was the thing that made the 360 version actually cool, so I hope it's in somehow. I'm guessing no, since Ketsui didn't have X-Mode either. Oh well.

That mode was an original creation from 5pb, so I think there’s no chance M2 are gonna do anything with it.

[evil_ash_xero]

The Switch is great with it's input lag. Always a plus when playing shmups.

[davyK]

360 is still a strong choice but the games are expensive.

just get a hacked xbox360

This. Slims are the most reliable (least unreliable?)

I have a pre-owned slim and it works fine but it doesn't get a huge amount of use at the minute.

I also got the last revision new - an E series which is whisper quiet and is more slimline that the slim but it's HDMI out only. I got a slim for the RGB SCART capability for shmups on a CRT.

[Rastan78]

The Switch is great with it's input lag. Always a plus when playing shmups.

I think Mushi on Switch is only 3 frames provided you have a low lag monitor and controller.

[Unadan360]

The Switch is great with it's input lag. Always a plus when playing shmups.

All consoles have input lag. Depends on the individual game and its programming as to where it lands - not necessarily the system.

[To Far Away Times]

It's a shame Mushi Futari is stuck on Xbox 360. It's the most quintessential shmup of the last 20 years.

[Steven]

This is exactly why everything should be on PC, the only system that will always be modern.

[bcass]

The Jasper models (X360) are rock solid and are the most reliable 360 model. They appear regularly on ebay (modded) quite cheaply. Some seem to think the Japanese models are the most reliable, but that's only because the Jasper model was released (worldwide) around the same time that Cave started releasing their ports, and some of us bought Japanese models at the time to circumvent region protection. Jasper models from any country are equally reliable.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

It's a shame Mushi Futari is stuck on Xbox 360. It's the most quintessential shmup of the last 20 years.

Made me wonder how realistic it is emulating Xbox360 on PC with regards to specs, quality of emulators, and how easy it is to set an emulator up ... has any of you tried?

[To Far Away Times]

It's a shame Mushi Futari is stuck on Xbox 360. It's the most quintessential shmup of the last 20 years.

Made me wonder how realistic it is emulating Xbox360 on PC with regards to specs, quality of emulators, and how easy it is to set an emulator up ... has any of you tried?

Admittedly I haven't used it very much but I did test the linux branch of Xenia a few months ago and it seems to work well. I'd probably use it over MAME at this point.

[Nugs]

It's a shame Mushi Futari is stuck on Xbox 360. It's the most quintessential shmup of the last 20 years.

Made me wonder how realistic it is emulating Xbox360 on PC with regards to specs, quality of emulators, and how easy it is to set an emulator up ... has any of you tried?

Xenia runs great on my PC.
It does have pretty high specs though (AMD 5800x, RTX 3080).
I did have to find different versions of Xenia to acces the DLC of Futari and a different one to get the music to loop properly on SDOJ.
This was a while ago so it might be all sorted in the latest version.