question from a newcomer

[mmcato]

Hey y’all. Recently I’ve been doing a lot of research into shmups and the genre really intrigues me! Problem is, there are more shmups out there than stars in the sky and trying to find some good starting games to dip my toes in has been hard. So I’m here to ask the experts. I have access to basically any console under the sun including pc so platform isn’t an issue.

I’m coming from a long history/love of rpgs. As such, I’d be very interested in shmups with lite or similar progression to one. Such as getting/choosing permanent upgrades per stage or something similar. But please, recommend my anything you’d think be good for a beginner in the the genre. Either way, I’m very much looking forward to the recommendations and y’all have a nice day!

[BIL]

You might like The Guardian Legend aka Guardic Gaiden (NES/FC). It's a fondly-remembered game for its then-unusual combining of simple run/gun ARPG with regular STG intervals. I find it uniquely relaxing nowadays; has a nice breadcrumb trail groove, mowing through the labyrinth and its varmints to the next STG battle, with the simple pleasure of an ever-growing arsenal. Map design is basic grid, ala OG Zelda, but as with that game, the action is snappy with a compulsive crunch; as expected of genre lynchpins Compile. Exceptionally good music, with a memorably scary-cute biohorror menagerie, emceed by Compile's always-lovable macot Randar.

As far as difficulty goes, the opening STG battle (a meteor-pelting approach to the rogue artificial planet that makes up the game's setting) gives a good idea of its peak; I've seen it intimidate newbies, and indeed, I remember never making it past there on my own first encounter, a childhood rental. A fairly rough introduction, tougher than much of the later game. From more experienced standpoint, Compile clearly had their STG-conversant audience in mind, deploying lots of aggressively-quick kamikazes. By that same token, it may well teach some valuable fundamentals; namely bullet-herding (don't move more than you need to, burning up valuable screen space; let stuff target your XY position, then tap-dodge aside), and its counterpart, macro-dodging (the boss's walls of flak are best evaded broadly; don't risk fitting through gaps, when you can simply speed around a pattern entirely).

All this to say, if you can get to grips with the opening, you'll be in fine form for the rest, and probably a few other STGs besides.

[Steven]

Ginga Force exists. It's very difficult, and sometimes not in a good way, and some people consider the game to be a massive flaming pile of shit, but it's what you are looking for. Maybe. Make sure you play it on easy first because normal will annihilate you if you don't get equipment from playing easy first. Hard will annihilate you even with the best equipment in the game.

It has a sequel, Natsuki Chronicles, which is better in some ways and worse in others, but it's also more or less got the same type of progression or whatever. It also has a more traditional arcade mode. Some people think this game's story mode or whatever it's called is also a massive flaming pile of shit, but I think the arcade mode is generally considered to be both good and the best part of the game.

Either way, make sure you play Slap Fight and Out Zone and Hishouzame.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

RPG style progression is generally in conflict with the bite-sized, score focus of arcade style shmups because stages tend to be a delicate balancing act of how strong you are compared to the enemies, and if your powerups aren't sufficient everything becomes an overwhelming damage sponge, or everything is way too easy. There are some good games out there with a powerup/upgrade system out there, but they're few and far between. As BIL said, Guardian Legend is a great game that plays like Legend of Zelda meets a shmup with an experience system that provides max health boosts (just be aware the game will crash if you max out the score counter, but this requires playing far, far longer than is necessary to beat the game).

Other games I'd recommend:

Monolith (or whatever it's called now) - it functions as a roguelite game with upgrades you can select on each floor and other various boosts you can obtain.

and three MS-DOS era games:

Tyrian 2000 - it's got a fairly large hitbox and inertia to deal with, but there's an absolutely crazy amount of difficulty modes, an insane number of weapons, and a shop system where you can customize your loadout. As far as this style of game goes it's among the best.

Stargunner: I have some real visibility issues with enemy shots, but the graphics and music are good.

Raptor: Call of the Shadows - Slower paced, fairly dull compared to Tyrian 2000, and progression is very much RPG style. You're either very underpowered and struggling to kill enemies, or you've got the endgame lasers that melt everything in a few hits.

-

Rather than RPG progression, what about unlocking new abilities to play with in a given playthrough? Danmaku Unlimited 3 is good about this, the longer you play, the more you get new shot types to customize and equip when you play the game, so you can experiment with more combinations.

[Immryr]

ZeroRanger - great game all round, surprisingly good story, a sense of progression, not as overwhelming for a new player as something like a bullet hell game

[DMC]

Radiant Silvergun's Saturn mode lets you accumulate weapon levels across runs. Challenging chaining and memorization though.
The Fantasy Zone series let you shop around a lot. Super Fantasy Zone is a nice introduction, or any of the arcade originals.

In terms of RPG presentation, Einhänder, Brave Blade, and Soukyugurentai are all great examples. Be sure to try out the lock-on weapon if you play Souky, red ship with the pinpoint weapon is the recommended beginner's choice because it is strong and easy-to-use.

[Hazuki]

You can try Deathsmiles. It's fairly easy for bullet hell standards, and got the sort of atmosphere you could find in a RPG. (Fantasy themed, you play as human girls instead of a spaceship, etc). It also got a health bar, so it's not 1 hit = death.

[Gamer707b]

I'd say the vast majority of the 16-bit shmups will generally be a lot more beginner friendly, as opposed to any Cave or other bullet hells for that matter. Also, something is just so darn charming and approachable about this era of shmups. Lots of good one to choose from, but to be more specific, I'd go for Space Mega Force/Super Aleste, Axelay and Thunder Force 3. You should be able to get a nice clear out of them without too much trouble. All excellent games. These are very beginner friendly. You're gaming background sounds identical to mine BTW. I was heavily into RPGs growing up throughout the 80s and 90s, then some 12 years ago, I started to grow tired of them and wanted something different. I started researching shoot em ups and the more I did, the more I became infatuated with them. Now they're my favorite genre and have been the case for a decade. In fact, last I played and completed an RPG was years ago.

[To Far Away Times]

ZeroRanger has a really neat progression system, and the way it onboards new players from credit feeding to trying to go to a 1CC is so well done. It is pretty much my go to recommendation for new players. It's also just a cool game in general with an awesome OST.

[it290]

Check out Drainus. It's a rather forgiving shmup that adopts console-style upgrade progression and checkpointing. It's quite the looker too. A good chill shmup for when you just want to blast stuff and not grind your skills too hard.

[neorichieb1971]

For beginners, old school I would say Strikers 1945 or 1945 part 2. Raiden DX.

If you want something on newer consoles, probably go for ESP Ra.de or Dodonpachi for vertical. Gradius/Darius/Rtype for horizontal.

You can't go wrong with those.

Parodious/Tengoku the Game Paradise are nice shooters if you prefer cartoony graphics and are best on Saturn.


You have to ask yourself if your a chain guy or not. As quite a lot of shooters have chain mechanisms where score is reflective of chaining. Chaining is where you have to keep hitting enemies, if you wait too long the chain starts at zero again.