Your favorite ships or characters (in terms of abilities)?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I like ships that are simple yet effective. I actually rather like the "your rapid attack is actually really powerful compared to your laser" thing that some games have going on like Type B in Donpachi, B-S in DDP (for stage enemies at least), Bolt in Progear, and the Ghost Team (Youmu + Yuyuko) in Imperishable Night.

This also applies to ships that just feel exceptionally strong but still well balanced around what you're facing. R-Type Leo's ship with those TOUCH OF DEATH orbs are a ton of fun to use (sorry R-Type purists) and then there's also Kaikan's Type D with it's LITERAL SCREEN FILLING FLAME WALLS that are hilariously large and sweep popcorn better than anything (even if the shot type's kinda underwhelming on bosses).

Games with recharging special abilities like Giga Wing are a lot of fun, and Stuck's grenades that you can easily use point-blank really fit the game well. Plus the Reflect mechanic is always super viscerally satisfying.

The Bi-Axe and [Ageha] in DoDonPachi and ESPGaluda respectively. I really like the movement based firing. There's something about it's flexibility that feels so fluid and like I have slightly more agency over the protagonist.

Yeah, the swivel shots are really nice. The key that made them work was that it wasn't your whole shot that swivelled; most of the barrage still went forward when moving, and in DP/DDP you can force the pods to recenter with repeated slightly-longer-than-a-tap presses of laser. SDOJ's type B shot is also fun because the swivel speed is super fast and responsive, especially compared to DFK where to poor heli's shot turns at a snail's pace and feels unlike its earlier or later incarnations.

It's also why I love Rolling Gunner's ships, the fluidity you feel when you get a handle for the gunpod is super satisfying.

I like Judge Spear a LOT because holy *shit* that thing is a zippy little guy in Raiden Fighters! For no reason too! It was nothing close to that speed in Viper P1!

I like that even in fan games like Xeno Fighters R, the Judge Spear's incarnation in Raiden Fighters basically became the definitive one. Viper Phase 1 is a cool game with amazing music and graphics, but the gigantic hitbox size and frankly sluggish movement speed really suck a lot of the fun out of it.

Arcade distributor/seller Fabtek sold Seibu Kaihatsu SPI conversion pcb kits of Viper Phase 1 U.S.A. to arcades stateside back in September of 1995 -- was quite a popular arcade stg title in the arcades back in 1995.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I suppose it makes sense; Raiden was quite popular, so if it was marketed as a successor to Raiden it'd naturally have an eager playerbase.