Shmups that encourage aggressive gameplay?
Shmups that encourage aggressive gameplay?
EDIT: Swapped the word "reward" for "encourage," which better fits the answers I was looking for. Sorry for the confusion.
Something I've noticed that both Ketsui and G-Darius have in common, is that they both encourage an aggressive playstyle; put your gun directly in their face and waste them before they overwhelm and waste you. It goes back to my online FPS days where I'd equip a shotgun and rush into the fray with wild courage and frag away.
Can anyone here relate? If so, what other shmups have you played that encourage an aggressive playstyle?
Something I've noticed that both Ketsui and G-Darius have in common, is that they both encourage an aggressive playstyle; put your gun directly in their face and waste them before they overwhelm and waste you. It goes back to my online FPS days where I'd equip a shotgun and rush into the fray with wild courage and frag away.
Can anyone here relate? If so, what other shmups have you played that encourage an aggressive playstyle?
Last edited by sumdumgoy on Sun Feb 02, 2025 5:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
Gunnail has possibly the manliest scoring system ever.
Also, I must give a shoutout to the infamous Legion (PCE), because in that game you must kill everything the moment it spawns or you are fucking dead lol.
Also, I must give a shoutout to the infamous Legion (PCE), because in that game you must kill everything the moment it spawns or you are fucking dead lol.
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BulletMagnet
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Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
There are a bunch, though Omega Fighter comes most immediately to mind; not only do short-range kills mean more points, but one of your available weapons becomes stronger but loses range as you power it up, encouraging you to head in close for the quick in-your-face strike.
Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
And both Gunnail and Omega Fighter are on the Archives! Nice.
Gonna check those out.
Gonna check those out.
Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
Devil Blade Reboot has a point blanking based scoring system. Great game too
Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
Esprade! Whittling down big enemies, rushing in for the point-blank kill with your secondary shot, then bathing in the shower of gold bars remains one of the most exhilarating scoring loops in shmups.
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Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
Dragon Blaze. Hyperaggressive even amongst Video System / Psikyo. Smash big enemies with the Dragon Shot for tons of gold coins, and because they'll turn the screen into an unsurvivable hellscape if you don't. 
Recca, Thunder Dragon 2, SDF Macross 2 (AC), and Dangun Feveron all have the bonus wave feedback loop. Shred waves to spawn more waves, ad extremis. Absolute balls-out pace, and in DF's case some of the most blistering-fast movement ever seen, paired to macrododge-friendly stage/boss design.
This gets into the Caravan STG subgenre, which prioritises super-aggressive routing and movement. No surprise that Recca and Dangun both have Caravan-styled Time Attack modes, or that Macross 2 developed TD2's system into a rare arcade Time Attack STG. Nexzr Special (PCE) is another excellent choice here.
TD2 and DF have superb ACA and ShotTriggers ports, respectively, and ACA Macross 2 has been confirmed with date TBA. (maybe this Christmas, judging by the first game's recent success) Dragon Blaze's PS4 release seems pretty tolerable, despite the earlier Switch release's rep for ghastly input lag.

Recca, Thunder Dragon 2, SDF Macross 2 (AC), and Dangun Feveron all have the bonus wave feedback loop. Shred waves to spawn more waves, ad extremis. Absolute balls-out pace, and in DF's case some of the most blistering-fast movement ever seen, paired to macrododge-friendly stage/boss design.
This gets into the Caravan STG subgenre, which prioritises super-aggressive routing and movement. No surprise that Recca and Dangun both have Caravan-styled Time Attack modes, or that Macross 2 developed TD2's system into a rare arcade Time Attack STG. Nexzr Special (PCE) is another excellent choice here.
TD2 and DF have superb ACA and ShotTriggers ports, respectively, and ACA Macross 2 has been confirmed with date TBA. (maybe this Christmas, judging by the first game's recent success) Dragon Blaze's PS4 release seems pretty tolerable, despite the earlier Switch release's rep for ghastly input lag.

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Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
Raiden III and IV reward KSQ* too.
* Killing shit quickly.
* Killing shit quickly.
Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
Oh yeah, totally forgot Raiden Fighters! One of the more literal answers, with their QUICK SHOT! and DESTROYED AT A TIME bonusessunnshiner wrote: ↑Wed Jan 22, 2025 9:56 am Raiden III and IV reward KSQ* too.
* Killing shit quickly.


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Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
The recent Crystal Breakers from Terarin Games is all about getting in close and killing as quick as possible,
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Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
The secondary weapon in Mars Matrix is kind of the equivalent of a shotgun in that it's a short-range, powerful attack
Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
A weird one, which I hate bringing up, because the bullet visibility spoils it: Taito's The Tin Star. (1983) A belt-view rotary arena STG, already a unique premise... with lots of neat mechanical tricks atop that. You get more points for blasting enemies while stood atop the saloon table, for instance, and IIRC for shooting beer bottles to douse 'em before dispatch. The latter will immobilise the target, at any rate.
Another cool twist is the burst speedkill mechanic. Blast three foes in rapid succession, and the rest will briefly freeze in terror. (that's how the ACA manual describes it) Huge help in the heat of battle. You can see it below. Will Munny talks about that in Unforgiven, released several years later! Lose your cool in a gunfight, that's your ass boy!
You can also see the facepalm-worthy low bullet contrast. The real pisser is, the last of its three scenes is totally fine; swapping day-glo yellow / off-white floors for a blue that the grey bullets, though still tiny, pop off nicely.
I'm normally a diehard textualist with even the most busted works, but this one genuinely yearns for a ROMhack. Admirably original STG, regardless.
Another cool twist is the burst speedkill mechanic. Blast three foes in rapid succession, and the rest will briefly freeze in terror. (that's how the ACA manual describes it) Huge help in the heat of battle. You can see it below. Will Munny talks about that in Unforgiven, released several years later! Lose your cool in a gunfight, that's your ass boy!

Spoiler

I'm normally a diehard textualist with even the most busted works, but this one genuinely yearns for a ROMhack. Admirably original STG, regardless.
Last edited by BIL on Wed Jan 22, 2025 8:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

光あふれる 未来もとめて, whoa~oh ♫
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Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
In Espgaluda you get more gems if you kill enemies higher up on the screen. It is one of the few games where I hang out at the top of the screen as much as possible.
Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
Fuuuck, a few credits of RFJ reminds of Twiddle's classic series description: The Ultimate Stuntman STGs™. It's the push/pull that distinguishes. Killing some shit at thoroughly obscene buzzsaw pace. (QUICKSHOTQUICKSHOTQUICKSHOT*BAKOWWW* DESTROYED AT A TIME!!!) Holding back on others, often simultaneously. And the stuff you don't kill tends to explode violently too. (*KATHOOOM* DISCOVERED FAIRIES!!!) *euphoric Miclus sounds* 
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光あふれる 未来もとめて, whoa~oh ♫
[THE MIRAGE OF MIND] Metal Black ST [THE JUSTICE MASSACRE] Gun.Smoke ST [STAB & STOMP]
Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
Twin Tiger Shark: Not The Same.

RegalSin wrote:Street Fighters. We need to aviod them when we activate time accellerator.
Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
For a left-field pick, Space Invaders Infinity Gene reworks the classic Nagoya Attack strategy into a mechanic that makes point-blank bullets harmlessly pass through you.
Unfortunately, it's also stranded on 360 / PS3 / Android / iOS, and probably doesn't work on iOS anymore given how frequently updates deprecate unmaintained apps on that platform.
Unfortunately, it's also stranded on 360 / PS3 / Android / iOS, and probably doesn't work on iOS anymore given how frequently updates deprecate unmaintained apps on that platform.
Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
Wouldn't it be easier and more efficient to list games that don't reward aggressive gameplay?
Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
Zero Gunner 2 is a good example of this. The longer the enemies stay on screen before they are killed, the more e-cubes they provide. A bit like Espgaluda's system.
Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
I've never played Zero Gunner or its sequel, and I've also never played Espgaluda, but yeah, since most of the genre rewards the player for aggressive playstyles, it's probably going to be easier to list the games that don't reward aggressive play because those are the outliers and then just play everything else.
Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
Alright, I didn't realize you guys meant for scoring purposes, so that's my mistake.
What I meant was for survival's sake, in preparation for the 1CC.
Like, I can play Darius Gaiden either aggressively or passively as the situation sees fit, but G-Darius seems more relentless, where if you let too many enemies get up under your grill, the screen will be littered with bullets and overwhelm you. So, that one encourages more of an aggressive playstyle throughout to survive.
But some shmups don't give that same vibe of necessary aggression. Andro Dunos II is fairly easy going, or even Zero Wing.
Someone mentioned Devil Blade Reboot, and that's another great example of the in-your-face, shape-up-or-literally-ship-out more hardcore shmup that practically taunts the player with a do-you-dare attitude and design to boot.
Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
Plus one on Devil Blade Reboot rewarding aggressive play. That one's a real pleasure to go through when you're pushing it as hard as you can, especially with seeing the numbers continuously climb as you keep getting in the enemy's face. It's also a bit more approachable if you're looking at it for the 1CC, since bosses tend to telegraph their faster attacks with visible and auditory cues and enemy spawns are marked ahead of time. (Personally, I think it even makes diegetic sense. Why wouldn't you're super-prototype wondercraft not have a RWR system?) Clearing on the highest difficulty even goes so far as to make this aggro play style mandatory.
Another one I'd recommend is Steel Vampire which I just recently gave a whirl after letting it sit in my Steam library for waay too long. In particular, it gives the player more resources for killing enemies at point-blank and as quickly as possible. I especially appreciate that it doesn't punish the player for getting right on top of enemies like they're expected to, since contact with foes or walls doesn't cause any damage to your ship. It also helps that the game makes it fairly easy to manage its rank system, so you can let it ratchet up the difficulty to your liking or ease off as you learn the game. I usually don't care for STGs that go for a hit-point or shield system, but Steel Vampire makes it work really well: it seems like you're not really expected to be able to gracefully dodge everything sent at you so the shield system accommodates the messiness associated with the slugfest that this game is.If anything, it wants you to speedkill everything before it can start hurling stuff your way. I'd definitely give it a spin if you haven't already.
Another one I'd recommend is Steel Vampire which I just recently gave a whirl after letting it sit in my Steam library for waay too long. In particular, it gives the player more resources for killing enemies at point-blank and as quickly as possible. I especially appreciate that it doesn't punish the player for getting right on top of enemies like they're expected to, since contact with foes or walls doesn't cause any damage to your ship. It also helps that the game makes it fairly easy to manage its rank system, so you can let it ratchet up the difficulty to your liking or ease off as you learn the game. I usually don't care for STGs that go for a hit-point or shield system, but Steel Vampire makes it work really well: it seems like you're not really expected to be able to gracefully dodge everything sent at you so the shield system accommodates the messiness associated with the slugfest that this game is.If anything, it wants you to speedkill everything before it can start hurling stuff your way. I'd definitely give it a spin if you haven't already.
Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
Samuari Aces (aka Sengoku Ace) requires very aggressive play - it having that Psikyo difficulty it forces you to get rid of those bigger enemies super quickly and some of the characters are setup for playing that way using point blanking.
Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
Wow! How haven't I heard of this one before?!Basil wrote: ↑Mon Jan 27, 2025 7:35 pmAnother one I'd recommend is Steel Vampire which I just recently gave a whirl after letting it sit in my Steam library for waay too long. In particular, it gives the player more resources for killing enemies at point-blank and as quickly as possible. I especially appreciate that it doesn't punish the player for getting right on top of enemies like they're expected to, since contact with foes or walls doesn't cause any damage to your ship. It also helps that the game makes it fairly easy to manage its rank system, so you can let it ratchet up the difficulty to your liking or ease off as you learn the game. I usually don't care for STGs that go for a hit-point or shield system, but Steel Vampire makes it work really well: it seems like you're not really expected to be able to gracefully dodge everything sent at you so the shield system accommodates the messiness associated with the slugfest that this game is.If anything, it wants you to speedkill everything before it can start hurling stuff your way. I'd definitely give it a spin if you haven't already.
That's a great trailer, and perfect timing, too; it's on sale right now!
Definitely buying this one. Thank you for the rec'!

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BareKnuckleRoo
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Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
There's a game called Score Rush and Score Rush Extended that scores based on kill speeds. Faster kills reward much more score, and large enemies cause the screen to shake, which gives full invulnerability during the shaking. You can aggressively mow down large targets and use the invulnerability shake to get to the next enemy safely. It's pretty intense.
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Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
Angel At Dusk is a good one. There are mechanics outside of scoring that rely on playing good and close to the enemy and since you don't get penalized for colliding with them, at least at lower difficulties, dunno if it changes later on, it helps encourage that sort of thing. I only just started playing but it's a really fun game so far.
Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
Dangun Feveron
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Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
Absolutely, that one. M2's Gadgets are so good there, they really help me get into the groove.
Plus, Limited Run's physical print is flawless, final version on disc and all!
Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
Caravan modes demand aggressive play as the quicker you take enemies out the quicker you progress. Getting to the end of the level before the timer runs out is essential.
Re: Shmups that reward aggressive gameplay?
Well it's not just about scoring. Most shmups actually reward aggressive gameplay for pure survival thanks to the more or less universal abilities to prevent enemies from attacking by killing them early/quickly, to more easily misdirect enemy patterns by getting closer to them as they shoot towards you, and to deal more DPS on targets by pointblanking and overcoming shot limits. If anything, the list for shmups that reward non-aggressive gameplay might be the smaller one, though I wouldn't guarantee the games in there are fun since this need to be actively destroying your opponents is part of the excitement of shmups. But who knows, there can be exceptions. Karous can let you win by doing almost absolutely nothing and it's an excellent game when the 1CC is not the only goal in mind so heh.

As for distinctive scoring systems or specific mechanics rewarding aggressive gameplay, I imagine shmups with strong melee/short-range attacks fit the bill. Stuff like Brave Blade or Radirgy for example.
Remote Weapon GunFencer - My shmup projectRegalSin wrote: I think I have downloaded so much I am bored with downloading. No really I bored with downloading stuff I might consider moving to Canada or the pacific.