The developers

[Lethe]

The only rule is that only their shmups count. (Or pseudo-shmups, whatever you think works)

[KAI]

Never Milestone... Never.

[Ms. Tea]

Milestone crew reporting in

[mojilove]

Only milestone

[Koa Zo]

Milestone

edit: but had to choose Williams, considering Joust and Defender

[AGermanArtist]

I went with Konami because MSX was there when pussy wasn't (when I was 11).

[donluca]

I went with Konami because MSX was there when pussy wasn't (when I was 11).

Underrated comment.

Now I wish I had picked Konami as well.

[PerishedFraud ឵឵]

Voting taito purely for metal black. Balance this, quality that, MB had more lasting effect on me than every cave shmup combined.

[M.Knight]

Just Milestone.

[blazinglazers69]

Unironically Compile for getting more sprites running fluidly on the NES and SNES better than IREM and Konami could manage, being one of the earlier developers to experiment with Rank systems in Zanac, creating games that non-hardcore shmup players could also enjoy and thus making them shmup fans for life, porting R-Type masterfully to the Sega Master System, and generally being super prolific with the amount of consoles they developed for. I don't actually have a single favorite developer, but I have to give them a shout out.

EDIT: Also for later giving us Raizing!

[Lethe]

Compile isn't here only because there's a maximum limit of 10 poll options and I had to make a decision. You've a good argument though.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

With Compile's mastery & expertise developing many of it's namesake stg titles on the venerable PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 gaming platforms including Gunhed/Blazing Lazers, Super Star Soldier Blade, Soldier Blade, Spriggan (and it's sequel follow up of Spriggan 2), etc., along with their famous Caravan stgs are worthy of the highest pantheon of legendary stg titles of "all-time greats." They'll never get "old nor stale" and just like with fine wine, the Compile PCE/TG-16 stgs & Caravan variant stgs get better with age indeed.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[To Far Away Times]

I think it comes down to IREM, Konami, Taito, and CAVE for me.

IREM made games that I absolutely vibe with. I love the design of R-Type, how it looks, how it sounds, how it plays, and how fair it is despite being a memorizer. If you ask me, R-Type could very well be the best game, regardless of genre, for the entire 1980’s. It’s that good. And even though there are other good shmups from that decade, nothing else is close.

Konami definitely deserves a shout, for basically inventing the genre (or atleast pushing it forward from Defender style games into the Hori’s that we all know and love), but it’s hard to boost Gradius when R-Type is right there a generation of game design ahead just a year later. Konami made lots of good stuff though. Xexex is extremely cool, Salamander is a lot of fun, Crisis Force is probably the best shmup on the NES, and the music is consistently spectacular in every Konami game.

I have to give Taito a shout as well. While their earlier games are probably not as well designed as say an Irem game, they are utterly fantastic from a creative vision and production value standpoint. Darius Gaiden, G-Darius, Metal Black, RayForce… these games make me feel something that other games don’t. I’d also argue DariusBurst is still the standard to beat for modern shmups. I love that game to pieces, from the brilliant burst laser mechanic to the aesthetics, to the many ships that change up the gameplay, to the short run time with many separate routes, it’s a damn near perfect game.

I can’t really say much about CAVE that hasn’t already been said. Amazingly designed games with high production values and polish. The face of the genre. CAVE, and specifically Mushi Futari, is what got me into the genre. They are to shmups to what Nintendo is to platformers. Ultimately, I think I have to go with CAVE even if it is the safe and boring choice.

[Faith]

Easy choice Cave for me... but not just because of their games... but mostly because of what they inspired... as many of my favorite STG have heavy Cave influences.

But I will give special mention to the original Raiden games which captured my interest!~

And 2nd special mention to dev of Tyrian.

When the only arcade near me shut down because dying business etc, then games like Tyrian kept my interest in STG's going.

[Fingolfin]

Williams for Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar and their amazing early STGs Defender, Stargate*, Robotron 2084* and Blaster*, as well as Smash TV by Eugene Jarvis and Mark Turmell.

* VidKidz productions


Gotta also mention Dave Thereur and Atari Tempest
Q: Where or where would Jeff Minter be without the inspiration of the original arcade Tempest?
A: Definitely making great games but, perhaps, in that alternate universe perhaps not with the same zest and penchant for onscreen madness (thinking of Tempest 2000 — and other Tempest variations — of course but also Space Giraffe, Akka Arrh, etc). More Hover Bovver and less Llamatron:2112.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Williams for Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar and their amazing early STGs Defender, Stargate*, Robotron 2084* and Blaster*, as well as Smash TV by Eugene Jarvis and Mark Turmell.

* VidKidz productions


Gotta also mention Dave Thereur and Atari Tempest
Q: Where or where would Jeff Minter be without the inspiration of the original arcade Tempest?
A: Definitely making great games but, perhaps, in that alternate universe perhaps not with the same zest and penchant for onscreen madness (thinking of Tempest 2000 — and other Tempest variations — of course but also Space Giraffe, Akka Arrh, etc). More Hover Bovver and less Llamatron:2112.

Back in the Summer of 1984 at my local 7-11 joint in Ceres, California, there was a Williams prototype cab of "Robotron 2085: Blaster" hosted for a limited time -- the actual cab was a wooden based one and not one of the later "Duramold" based variant Blaster cabs that Williams later manufactured. I didn't know at the time that this particular Blaster cab was an extremely rare & one-of-a-kind prototype version. You could continue where you last died & had a whopping 30 stages to beat (the regular production Blaster cabs only have 24 stages total and continuing isn't possible as Williams ultimately decided that it wasn't necessary at the current time of it's initial debut in the arcades of 1983-1984).

Years later, upon watching an 2024 episode of "Collector's Call" nationally syndicated show hosted by actress Rachel Welch (whom starred in the classic "Facts of Life" TV show), she & her camera crew made a visit to the world-renown "Galloping Ghost" retro arcade in Illinois. At the Galloping Ghost arcade, the owner showed Rachel the prototype version of "Robotron 2085: Blaster" in a wooden cab and mentioned that it's the only one in the world ever made/exists (the very same wooden cab of Robotron 2085: Blaster that I previously played twice at the 7-11 back in 1984). I always wondered why I never saw it shown at the past California Extreme shows as the real answer is, it's at the Galloping Ghost arcade as part of it's rare arcade game prototypes & oddities galore! Now you know the "rest of the story" in regards to this odd Robotron 2085: Blaster prototype cab at it's final resting place nowadays.

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Williams Blaster Factoid: Williams only made 500 cabs of Blaster due to the very expensive cost of producing the actual motherboard with a 1mHz cpu required to run it properly. The super-smooth scaling effects shown in Blaster were quite impressive for it's time & considered "groundbreaking." It required thousands and thousands of hours to do each sprite "frame by frame" all by hand.
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PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Compile isn't here only because there's a maximum limit of 10 poll options and I had to make a decision. You've a good argument though.

Ah, the unfairness of forum limitations! I assume this is why Takumi's not on the list, either. ;w;

I enjoy CAVE a lot and probably have put most of my time into their games, but if I had to pick one I'm not actually sure if it'd be CAVE because a lot of games in my formative years were Konami, Irem, Compile, etc, and they're still really meaningful and fun to me.