The shmups sales/deals thread

[Ideogram]

The only shmup on my wishlist on sale is g darius and I'm not drawn to it rn. What gems am I missing out on in this sea of deals in your opinion?

[Steven]

The only shmup on my wishlist on sale is g darius and I'm not drawn to it rn. What gems am I missing out on in this sea of deals in your opinion?

What you're missing out on is either this at 18% off or this at 27% off, depending on what system you want... unless you already have one of these, which you should if you own a compatible system.

[seattlexc]

There are a few Arcade Archives and ACA Neo Geo releases on sale for the PS4 USA market.

Arcade Archives 30% off/$5.59 -
Gunnail
USAAF Mustang
Tetris: The Grand Master
Vandyke
Roller Jammer


ACA Neo Geo 50% off/$3.99 -
Aero Fighters 2
Metal Slug 2
World Heroes
League Bowling
Stakes Winner

[Lemnear]

There are Black Friday sales, and... is the Darius Cozmic Collection Console worth getting? (I already have the arcade collection, G-Darius HD, DariusBurst CS). But this collection has Darius Twin, Darius Plus and Darius Alpha mmh.. A bit for completeness a bit for the myth of the PC Engine.. Maybe it's already the second time I've thought about it. There is also Escathos but my (slight) trichophobia prevents me from fully enjoying it and taking it only for the other two games I don't know if it is worth it.

PS: ACAs already in the cart (Gunnail, Usaaf Mustang) + Irem Collection Vol.1

[To Far Away Times]

I like quite a few PC Engine shmups, but the Darius series didn’t have its best outings on that console. Super Darius I & II are super zoomed in with nasty vertical scrolling and a cropped playfield. Darius II on the Genesis is a much higher effort port.

Darius Plus is just another port of Darius I (the game was ported twice to the PC Engine for some reason). Darius Alpha is probably the most intriguing of the PC Engine Darius games, but it’s just a boss rush game.

Darius Twin is solid, but not a must play. The opening stage is pretty nice and I like some of the songs in it.

And every time Eschatos is mentioned I am obligated to say play Eschatos. That game is pure joy in digital form.

[dmk1198]

https://www.hotukdeals.com/share-deal-from-app/4471662

Astro city v mini console £79 game collection.com

[BIL]

Happened to take a look at the PS5's storefront, saw Cotton Rock n' Roll is discounted a whopping 85% on Japanese PSN until the 6th of next month. Pretty damn good, barely more than the original's recent ACA release.

Perfect time to jump in, it's a great game! Excellent scoring demonstration and quick start guide from Ratikal.

[To Far Away Times]

Happened to take a look at the PS5's storefront, saw Cotton Rock n' Roll is discounted a whopping 85% on Japanese PSN until the 6th of next month. Pretty damn good, barely more than the original's recent ACA release.

Perfect time to jump in, it's a great game! Excellent scoring demonstration and quick start guide from Ratikal.

An absolute steal at that price. Probably the best STG I’ve played in the last few years.

[Ms. Tea]

That's a *great* price and yeah, it's a lot of fun. Really worth picking up. Not quite as deep, but it's 65% off on Steam right now: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1364 ... HT_DREAMS/

[m.sniffles.esq]

Yeah, the steam 'kids aren't in school and bored' sale is in full effect, so pretty much everything is on some kind of sale.

Two of my favorite games released this year are included, Devil Blade at $13 and (nu) Blue Revolver at $7.50

[Starfighter]

1993 Space Machine is currently €0,69 (nice)
Hazelnut Hex, one of my favorite horizontal shmups in recent memory, is €2,39, an absolute bargain!
I haven't played Super XYX myself, but I like the first one so €1,63 seems like a good time to try it out!

Also, I know people are a bit reluctant to taking chances with unknown titles but Radial Silvergan is €7,79 and I swear it's worth it!

[DietSoap]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1978 ... er_Nozomi/

[Lord British]

On PS4:

Irem Collection 2 (Air Duel/GunForce/Gunforce 2) $19.99

ACA -30%

Itazura Tenshi
Omega Fighter
Rezon
Strike Gunner
Thunder Dragon
Turbo Force

[Jack Emerson]

Steam has Andro Dunos 2 for $1.79. I Won’t have a chance to fire it up until the weekend. But excited to try it.

[Lemnear]

PSN Discounts

The Seventia Collection [Natsuki Chronicles + Ginga Force] (90%)
Caladrius Blaze (80%)
Strikers 1945 (80%)
BATSUGUN Saturn Tribute Boosted (75%)
Samurai Aces (75%)
Danmaku Unlimited 3 (70%)
Zero Gunner 2- (66%)
Dragon Blaze (66%)
Gunbarich (66%)
Gunbird (66%)
Raiden IV x MIKADO REMIX (50%)
Graze Counter GM (50%)
ESCHATOS [+Cardinal Sin+Judgement Silversword] (40%)
R-Type Final 3: Evolved (40%)
Deathsmiles I･II (30%)

[Daytime Waitress]

Most everyone interested probably already has it, but Cotton RnR is on the JP Switch shop for 1,000 yennies 'til May 7th.

[davyK]

Capcom Stadium 1 and 2 on Steam has all of its ROMs going cheap (86p UK). So the 194x series, Exed Exes, Gigawing, Progear etc are all going for a song. Stadium is a free download.

[Triple Lei]

Capcom Stadium 1 and 2 on Steam has all of its ROMs going cheap (86p UK). So the 194x series, Exed Exes, Gigawing, Progear etc are all going for a song. Stadium is a free download.

I'm one of the people who just can't start Stadium 2 on my PC. It just starts a small windowed black screen and then exits. None of the so-called fixes on the message boards even applied to me. The game works fine on Steam Deck at least, so anyone on the fence should definitely get it while on sale and hope you can get it to work!

[Ms. Tea]

Under Defeat is on its first Steam sale - 40% off. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2869 ... ER_DEFEAT/

Also 25% off on PS4/PS5: https://store.playstation.com/en-ca/pro ... EFEATHDPS5

[jandrogo]

Touhou 9 to 18 are on sale for first time ever at Steam (30%)

[CreditFeeder]

CYGNI, the revolutionary game that brought shmups up to modern standards just a year ago, currently is at a whopping 90% discount on Steam until the 30th of this month! Massive success!

[AGermanArtist]

Cygni - a shmup for no-one.

[mrsmr2]

Imagine if you'd bought the Gradius and Cygni double pack a week ago.

The double whammy of experiencing the 'glory' of Cygi, only to find you overpaid as well.

[Lord British]

Touhou 9 to 18 are on sale for first time ever at Steam (30%)

Man, 9 plays really slow. Is there a working v1.5 patch?

Update: It's running at 60fps now after playing for an hour, I hate computers.

But help me here: I have no evidence that a "bomb" button works. One character just does random "spell attacks" by just using the normal fire button. The other button that works casts a shadow line, various shapes depending on the character. What does this do? Any link to a tutorial would be nice.

[Lethe]

But helo me here: I have no evidence that a "bomb" button works. One character just does random "spell attacks" by just using the normal fire button. The other button that works casts a shadow line, various shapes depending on the character. What does this do? Any link to a tutorial would be nice.

PoFV doesn't have bombs. The bomb button is a panic macro for using your meter when you don't have time to charge a spell attack. Doing it this way always spends the entire meter, so you should try to avoid using the button if you can.

Spell attacks are level 2/3/4 charge attacks and they clear bullets as well as putting stuff on the opponent's screen. You get automatic ones at certain chain milestones.

The shadow thing is a "scope". Spirit enemies that touch it go into a temporary arrested state, during which you can use them to set up chains. Also while the button is held less zako will appear on your screen (which is a bad thing).

There's a bug where releasing a charge during the stun animation after you've been hit will nullify the free mercy meter you're supposed to get. If you keep holding the charge until the stun ends then you'll get the meter.

The CD version has a nice HTML manual, check if it's in the game folder.

[Lord British]

But helo me here: I have no evidence that a "bomb" button works. One character just does random "spell attacks" by just using the normal fire button. The other button that works casts a shadow line, various shapes depending on the character. What does this do? Any link to a tutorial would be nice.

PoFV doesn't have bombs. The bomb button is a panic macro for using your meter when you don't have time to charge a spell attack. Doing it this way always spends the entire meter, so you should try to avoid using the button if you can.

Spell attacks are level 2/3/4 charge attacks and they clear bullets as well as putting stuff on the opponent's screen. You get automatic ones at certain chain milestones.

The shadow thing is a "scope". Spirit enemies that touch it go into a temporary arrested state, during which you can use them to set up chains. Also while the button is held less zako will appear on your screen (which is a bad thing).

There's a bug where releasing a charge during the stun animation after you've been hit will nullify the free mercy meter you're supposed to get. If you keep holding the charge until the stun ends then you'll get the meter.

The CD version has a nice HTML manual, check if it's in the game folder.

Thanks for clearing that up about the specials. Too bad it went back to 30fps after I fired it up again.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Touhou 9 to 18 are on sale for first time ever at Steam (30%)

Can you tell us which Touhou stgs are on sale through Steam please?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[jandrogo]

PC Engine Fan X:

TH09: 東方獣王園 〜 Phantasmagoria of Flower View
TH10: 東方獣王園 〜 Mountain of Faith
TH11: 東方獣王園 〜 Subterranean Animism
TH12: 東方獣王園 〜 Undefined Fantastic Object
TH13: 東方獣王園 〜 Ten Desires
TH14: 東方獣王園 〜 Double Dealing Character
TH14.3: 東方獣王園 〜 Impossible Spell Card
TH15: 東方獣王園 〜 Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom
TH16: 東方獣王園 〜 Hidden Star in Four Seasons
TH17: 東方獣王園 〜 Wily Beast and Weakest Creature
TH18: 東方獣王園 〜 Unconnected Marketeers

[Lethe]

Thanks for clearing that up about the specials. Too bad it went back to 30fps after I fired it up again.

Should've mentioned this before - the 6 to 15 games have unofficial vsync patches to help them with modern display modes. Link to a pack of them on this page. This will also let you run the game run in a big window instead of hijacking your display mode in fullscreen which might solve the slowdown problem (I'm guessing it's some kind of refresh rate conflict). These patches are completely accepted by scoreplayers, they're as close to official as you'll get.

[Lord British]

Thanks for clearing that up about the specials. Too bad it went back to 30fps after I fired it up again.

Should've mentioned this before - the 6 to 15 games have unofficial vsync patches to help them with modern display modes. Link to a pack of them on this page. This will also let you run the game run in a big window instead of hijacking your display mode in fullscreen which might solve the slowdown problem (I'm guessing it's some kind of refresh rate conflict). These patches are completely accepted by scoreplayers, they're as close to official as you'll get.

Thanks so much