Whats the shmup that inspired you to get into this hobby.?

[BIL]

Hardboiled Kyuukyoku-esque from ex-Toaplan people at Gazelle, subtly 90s-ized! A notoriously tricky property from modern licensing standpoint, so rad to see it (and its iconic title voiceover) get a second outing.

This newfangled and cool Aku Gallet Exa Label variant out on loke test with three different modes: Exa Mode, Original and Score Attack.

Has Exa-Arcadia revealed how much it'd cost to buy such an Aku Gallet Exa kit?

And does it have tate option + low-res 15.75kHz arcade monitor support as well?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Not sure PCEFX, I only just learned of it after it popped up amidst my usual Metal Black and G-Darius live feeds; maybe the Exa thread regulars might know.

Fun fact, the famous "Blows your socks off" intro was by none other than veteran MMA announcer Lenne Hardt, with Jeff Manning of Smash Bros 64 as The Other Guy! With how bitterly Nihon Ichiban hardcore P1/TOJO looks, and P2/JOHNNY's easygoing collegiate style, it's hard to imagine either being the guy saying "WHAT THE HECK!!!" and "IT'S NOT THAT EASY!"

[espibara]

Armalyte on C64 was my first foray into the hobby.

But

It was Thunderforce 3 and Aeroblasters on the megadrive that sealed the deal.

[scrilla4rella]

I always enjoyed shooters like Life Force and Raiden but never took them seriously until I picked up Radiant Silvergun sometime around 2002. That inspired me to seek out other more modern shooters ('whoa, they still make these kinds of games?!'), which is about when I found this website. Here I learned about the other Saturn shmups like Dodonpachi, Battle Gareega, and Bastugun (as well the magic of Sony PVMs and pure RGB connections).

I would buy a new Saturn shooter about once a month. Back then you could get these games for about 40-50 USD, which seemed expensive at the time. I still remember the moment Battle Garegga clicked with me. It was pretty much over at that point.

[sumdumgoy]

x

[Gamer707b]

I grew up in the hey day of the genre back when Galaga was the trend at the arcades. Then the next boom during the 16-bit era. Played them very casually at the arcades way back when, and would very rarely buy them on console. They didn't click with me till around 12 years ago though. There wasn't that one game that did the trick, but rather a combination of several games. Around this time is when I got the bug and started getting a bunch of Saturn and Genesis shmups. Galactic Attack, Darius Gaiden, Radiant Silvergun, the Thunder Force games, the rest is history.

[Loom1es]

I go all the way back to Galaxy Invader, I loved that thing. In the arcade I remember StarForce being a favourite.

[Lemnear]

It's a genre that I happened to play over time, so it wasn't new to me, Apidya, G-Darius and Super Space Invaders were the first ever, also Einhander (which I liked at the time, but trying it again now I don't) and R-Type Delta (which I tried again and it's as good as I remembered).

Then I partially had that "Dreamcast" moment and I took Under Defeat HD on PS3 together with other SEGA games (Jet Set Radio )..then Ikaruga on PS4 because it was a "Legendary" title.
Only in 2023 I discovered the whole Arcade part of SHMUPS and the very rich and extremely detailed and documented history of the genre. From there a curiosity was born for those lost titles, but which exude perfection from every pixel and every second of gameplay.
Obviously lost to most, here maybe they are famous titles, but anywhere else no one knows what Batsugun or DoDonPachi are to say two random names.
I felt like the Lara Croft of video games, exploring ever older games, dusting off lost and once acclaimed relics, or pearls that definitely deserved more attention and success than they got.
I've never said this before but Rail Shooters are my strong point, I have a phenomenal aim even at the shooting range.

[davyK]

I'm another oldie. The arcades really came alive when video games appeared and that for most equates to Space Invaders. For those of a certain age, video games WERE shmups really. Of course other stuff like Pacman and Donkey Kong appeared but it was the shmup that was the genre for me. Space Invaders, Galaxian and Scramble were great but for me the first that blew me away was Phoenix.

The variety was one thing, the first two galaxian-style waves, made way for the eggs that hatched into the birds - you could shoot their wings off and you had to hit them dead centre to get rid of them - then you saw that each bird scored differently.....then you noticed that if you hit a small galaxian in the first 2 waves as it was flying away from at an angle you got a big score - the game play got deeper. Then the boss wave - first I ever experienced - it was breathaking and had an epic feel trying to blast through that hull. Then you saw an expert creating holes in the scrolling barrier...then there was the shield to master which could be used for defence AND attack....the variety of scores you could get from the boss wave ..... it was the first game to reveal hidden depths and tactics. Truly amazing - would still play it today if I saw a cabinet (still do via Taito Legends).

Asteroids was my second love - the arcade version was great but the 2600 provided unlimited free gaming - my brother and I played variation 39 every day for about a year. A year. Then I got Megamania which reminded me of the Sega shooter Astro Blaster which was great but just too tough in the arcade. I was able to clock that game - it stops when you score 999,999.

Gradius was the next to grab me. The power up meter and pickups provided such an compulsive experience. The first time I played it was in the arcade and don't know how long (or how much!) I spent trying to get past those volcanoes. Then I got the NES version and despite the limitations it FELT like the arcade game - played the bejaysus out of that cartridge. Great port.

Fell in love with Parodius after that - first on SNES and then on the mighty Saturn which started me importing so that I could experience the whole series - as great as Gradius V is , imagine if Treasure had decided to do Parodius instead.....sigh.

Since then I have kind of lost my way. I've got older and the games have got harder - too hard for most now - developers need to think about that. I have a shmup selection for Saturn such as RSG, Souky , DDP etc. but I'm old school and can't bring myself to continue too often - so don't see beyond level 3 as a result of that. Bangai O on DC is a cracker and I can crank down the difficulty on Gunbird 2 so I can 1CC it - but it's rare for me to find a shooter that is pitched right. My PS2 collection has a few excellent titles : Dragon Blaze, Homura, Raiden III - again some are tameable via diff options but most aren't.

Took delivery of Sturmwind and it has ignited my love again. It's easier and all the more enjoyable for it - and maybe I'll rotate my CRT and get stuck into DDP again on the Saturn....but shmups need to serve newcomers and those who don't have the reactions of a housefly as well as the hardcore....Cave please take note.

Twelve years on and I have changed my tune.

I got a 360 a few years after this post with Futari and DDP:Resurrection. Futari in particualar really grabbed me. DDP:Res got me going back to DDP on MAME and Saturn and rotating the screen and spending some time with it - enough time to really start appreciating the craftmanship of the later shmups.

Have since notched up a few 1CCs using consoles and MAME - Gigawing(MAME), Darius Gaiden(Sat, MAME) and Mushihimesama (Original and Matsuri on Steam). Love the genre and going back to DDP:Res to see what I can notch up 1CC-wise. So it was Futari that really got me into this genre. 59 in April coming and I won't ever stop playing this stuff.

[CaptainKraken]

https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/20452990/

Extremely rudimentary thing but it lit the spark

[Jack Emerson]

For me it, the first Shmup was Radio Shack’s Astro Command. What a great little game. I plan to pick up a unit at some point. Mine is long gone.

[Firehawke]

Huh. In all my time here, I've never posted in this thread?

I'd played various shooting games, Galaxian, Galaga, Xevious, and so forth, but the one that set me down this path would have been the PlayChoice-10 version of Gradius, and the one that cemented it was the NES port of Life Force a few years later.

The PC-10 was interesting to me at the time. The NES hadn't really been officially announced yet, and my neck of the woods was one of the test markets to see how it would work out. I had no idea at the time that those were home ports; I didn't see an arcade version of a Gradius game for another four or five years.

For all its faults, I think I can safely say the NES Gradius is a pretty decent title to get someone into the genre. It's not arcade perfect, but it's decently built and the PlayChoice 10 taught me the Konami code long before Contra came out...

[Stevens]

For me it, the first Shmup was Radio Shack’s Astro Command. What a great little game. I plan to pick up a unit at some point. Mine is long gone.

I got that for Christmas when I was 8. I still remember the boot up music.

Mine was Ikaruga. The game that should never be anyone's 1st.

[AGermanArtist]

I'd played lots of shooting games in arcades and I had an MSX at home, but the game that really did it for me was Flying Shark. It's a great game, but there's something to the audio feedback, every shot and impact had a certain chunkiness to it. You could almost feel it. I didn't know about Toaplan at the time, I just saw it as a Taito, but as a bit of a game nerd I did ponder if it was the same team that produced Slap Fight, Get Star and Tiger Heli.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

I remember watching a Galaga arcade cab as a young wippersnapper in the later 80s in an Italian seaside arcade. Played Nemesis/ Gradius and R-Type on the gameboy and Axelay on the SNES, then had a break from videogaming when everything became 3D. Seriously got into shmupping through Giga Wing/ Mame in the early 2000s, then Dodonpachi followed, the rest is history.

[Faith]

For me Raiden in arcades a long time ago @_@"...

But then when I discovered PC... it was Raptor (lol), then Stargunner (probably 2nd best euroshmup?) and then Tyrian (probably best euroshmup).

All of this was long ago.

For a long time if you wanted STG on PC made for PC (not port), euroshmup were the dominating force.

But because of that, didn't really play many STG's for a long long time until got back to it last year proper with Blue Revolver.

It is a genre that, even when taking a long break from, it will always be in the heart.

So, ever since BR, that just opened a big can of worms again.

And been playing nothing but STG's since.

Oops!~

[AntiramDSR]

Scramble and Gorf... Arcade at a local fastfood and the C64 versions

also survived the Amiga-Euro-Shmup-Era... barely

[eksratu]

For me Raiden in arcades a long time ago @_@"...

But then when I discovered PC... it was Raptor (lol), then Stargunner (probably 2nd best euroshmup?) and then Tyrian (probably best euroshmup).

All of this was long ago.

For a long time if you wanted STG on PC made for PC (not port), euroshmup were the dominating force.

But because of that, didn't really play many STG's for a long long time until got back to it last year proper with Blue Revolver.

It is a genre that, even when taking a long break from, it will always be in the heart.

So, ever since BR, that just opened a big can of worms again.

And been playing nothing but STG's since.

Oops!~

Raiden for me, too! As a kid, it just completely captured my imagination. I discovered Raiden Fighters in high school, and then revisiting that trilogy very recently has thrown me down the broader rabbit hole of arcade shmups.

BR got a close friend of mine into shmups, but my recent forays have primarily been motivated by Mushihimesama and other CAVE titles.

[ForeverGnomed]

There was always a shmup, until recent years, that would "almost" hook me into the genre definitely.

In the arcades I'd play around with the Strikers games here and there - but always a passing interest.

On their release, Gradius V and Ikaruga (Gamecube) hit pretty hard, but not enough to ever complete a full run.

Delving back into games of the past, around 2010, my brother happened upon Mars Matrix and beat it together without using too many continues. This was the first time I felt that joy of pushing for something close to a 1CC - kinda planting the seed of that accomplishment/reward/zen that comes with the genre.

So Mars Matrix was pretty significant. But the game that really kicked off an intense interest in the genre, and is the reason for me now having played tons of games in the genre, going for 1CCs, is DoDonPachi Resurrection. I forget what triggered it, but I bought it on a whim through a Steam sale, probably sometime in 2020, and just got hooked right away. Did my first tate rotation, dedicated myself for a 1CC, achieved it (first ever), and wanted more more more.

Yeah, DoDonPachi Resurrection opened the rabbit hole of trying every Cave game (some 1CCs since), returning to Ikaruga (1CC easy mode) - following wuth Radiant Silvergun, delving into Battle Garegga, trying mew stuff like Crimzon Clover and (forget name of one), playing on Candy Cabs whenever the chance arises... Yeah, I love the genre now.

I'll also point out that Switch and PS4 played a big role in my interest in shmups. The surge of availability/accessability is a huge factor. To be able to find a recommendation and go straight into it, is a great convenience.

[spiritofchaos]

For me, it was probably Twinbee. I had played shmups before, but not obsessively. When I got out of rehab some four odd years ago, I borrowed my nephews' Switch so I would have something to do to divert myself and replace some of the reward system that was no longer being supplied in the form of my habit.

I really liked this one because it was simple enough for my brain to comprehend when I felt that my body and brain were still recovering. I also drank a lot of caffeinated, sugary beverages during this period, particularly Code Red, which I would drink right out of a liter bottle or pour into a cup to save money. I remember being enamored with this game, playing the emulated version downloaded from the Switch shop for hours.

It has a charming color scheme, basic as it is, with a somewhat soothing melody in the beginning stage. I found myself tuning out a lot of internal chatter, my anxieties, thoughts of day-to-day distractions, and whatnot.

I believe I had also played the emulated NES title on the Switch Online library prior to sobriety, especially when I had imbibed large amounts of blackberry brandy.

In addition, I think the government stimulus had come in when I was first getting clean. I was on a pink cloud thinking, now I will be a productive member of society, and the money will roll in, but that was not the case. So I spent some of the stimulus on rent but splurged on a bunch of Switch downloads, with some Japanese music memorabilia thrown into the mix. I don't regret it.

I came to Twinbee, time and time again, and found it addictive, also sampling games, from there, like Cotton 100%, Battle Mania Daiginjō, and Twinkle Tale. I was thankful to have picked up a hobby in exploring many retro game titles I had not been familiarized with as a kid across a broad span of genres. I remember having a sort of rotation - hack-and-slash, shmups, platformer, RPG - that would help breathe variety and novelty into my routine. This forum has opened me up to many other titles beyond my early cute-'em-up exposure, so I am grateful to have stumbled upon this site.

I have been exploring many of the titles that are discussed in these forums and gaining a lot of exposure to new experiences, so I am very grateful for that.