21st Annual Top 25 Shmups of All Time - Discussion Thread

[Nifty]

Voting

Discussion Thread

Yeeaah so I think I'm done after this

Combination of too many other focuses and the repetition getting to me. What this means for the continuation of the event is more than I can tell now - I'm still more than happy to assist in handing the process off as I've explained previously, but beyond that any organisation is leaving my hands. No doubt the future is still teeming with potential for this particular genre endeavour.

I'm also going to be busy this month, so voting proper won't be started up until February. Feel free to get your lists together or discuss anything else relating to the T25 during this period.


Past results:
20th Annual Top 25 Results: through 2023
19th Annual Top 25 Results: through 2021
18th Annual Top 25 Results: through 2020
17th Annual Top 25 Results: through 2019
16th Annual Top 25 Results: through 2018
15th Annual Top 25 Results: through 2017
14th Annual Top 25 Results: through 2016
13th Annual Top 25 Results: through 2015
12th Annual Top 25 Results: through 2014
11th Annual Top 25 Results: through 2013
10th Annual Top 25 Results: through 2012
9th Annual Top 25 Results: through 2010ish
8th Annual Top 25 Results: through 2009
7th Annual Top 25 Results: through 2008
6th Annual Top 25 Results: through 2007
5th Annual Top 25 Results: through 2006
4th Annual Top 25 Results: through 2005
3rd Annual Top 25 Results: through 2004
2nd Annual Top 25 Results: through 2003
Inaugural Top 25 Results: through 2002
Oh lordy this was so much shorter when I started

To link directly to your ballot (or any other post):

1. On the post in question, look at the upper left where the date stamp is. (I hope this is consistent across all themes.)
2. Right-click on the little sheet of paper to the left of the by Username text and copy the link address.
3. Make a link in your commentary post using that destination.

[dmk1198]

Nice1 nifty appreciated

[Nahar]

Appreciated. Wanna see if my votes change after this two years.

[BulletMagnet]

Thanks very much for your years of keeping the tradition going.

[eksratu]

Thank you so much!

[professor ganson]

Awesome-- much appreciated!

[To Far Away Times]

Guys, this is the year. Let's do this.

[Angry Hina]

I will

[To Far Away Times]

I will

Hell yeah!

[To Far Away Times]

[CreditFeeder]

Cannon Spike is eligible for voting under the "field shooters" category, right? I'm surprised not to see it anywhere in the lists.

[Sengoku Strider]

Combination of too many other focuses and the repetition getting to me.

Isn't this process straightforwardly automatable, if it doesn't require any human judgement calls? Writing or vibe coding a script to handle it seems like it would be achievable.

[BulletMagnet]

(images)

Just wanted to express a quick thanks for giving me a good laugh when I could use one.

[To Far Away Times]

(images)

Just wanted to express a quick thanks for giving me a good laugh when I could use one.

Thanks

[Acid]

Thanks for your hard work Nifty. These lists are landmarks online, and have undoubtedly lead to lots of people playing games they wouldn't have otherwise.

Tyrian 2000 - 25

Just kidding. But my middle school computer class was just playing games, and I played the hell out of it. I'm actually more fond of the hidden versus game within Tyrian 2000.

[Sengoku Strider]

Guys, this is the year. Let's do this.

Okay, but...

[Steven]

III >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> AC

Spoiler

But V is still the best Thunder Force~

We're all going to vote for Action 52 (NES), right?

I still say that Space Harrier and After Burner/After Burner II should be eligible BTW. I know they won't be, but they should be. Consider this my official unofficial vote for them because they deserve it.

[Angry Hina]

III >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> AC

So many ">"? Overall I would say, III is the better package but AC is very strong too. The Stage from TFII is super cool but it has not the high energy of the removed ones.

Guys, this is the year. Let's do this.

Okay, but...

I voted for them together in 2021 (but not in 2019), because its more a remix of the same game (tbh its even less different as if one would think if he hears "remix") so it would be strange to split the pts for them. You wouldnt split TF V Saturn and PS1, right?

So I would say, do it this way:

[25] Thunder Force III (/AC)

[Steven]

III is harder and therefore much more interesting, at least on normal and assuming you have autofire on AC. AC without autofire is not fun at all, but it's way harder that way. The recycled stage from II is kind of interesting, although its difficulty got cut severely in the process (still probably the hardest stage in AC, I think), but the asteroid stage is super easy and doesn't have a lot going on; out of all of the stages in III and AC, the asteroid stage is probably my pick for the least interesting one because it's pretty much a nothingness stage from what I remember. The runner up is probably the ice stage in III that didn't make it into AC. Don't really care for that ice stage either way.

I like AC and have probably played it more than III, but III is the better game. III also has better music, but...

Oh yeah, I played Thunder Spirits for some reason a few weeks ago. That game is not good at all...

[Angry Hina]

You can use harder settings to make AC hard too

[EmperorIng]

Just wanted to add my thanks to you for hosting this over all the years. These lists have always been fun, even in the ones I wasn't able to participate in (since I didn't feel like I had enough experience at the time).

As for games that are worth adding, there are just so many, and obviously the makeup of the forum has changed a lot over the years. I imagine you'd have to extend the voting time simply because people might not check as frequently as they once did and it can be mentally laborious to come up with a list even if the end result is amalgamated into a composite of everyone's favorites!

[Sengoku Strider]

III is harder and therefore much more interesting, at least on normal and assuming you have autofire on AC. AC without autofire is not fun at all, but it's way harder that way. The recycled stage from II is kind of interesting, although its difficulty got cut severely in the process (still probably the hardest stage in AC, I think), but the asteroid stage is super easy and doesn't have a lot going on; out of all of the stages in III and AC, the asteroid stage is probably my pick for the least interesting one because it's pretty much a nothingness stage from what I remember. The runner up is probably the ice stage in III that didn't make it into AC. Don't really care for that ice stage either way.

I like AC and have probably played it more than III, but III is the better game. III also has better music, but...

Oh yeah, I played Thunder Spirits for some reason a few weeks ago. That game is not good at all...

Don't tell me you don't see that crispy logo though



TBH my high hopes are for something Star Soldier or Compile, but I'm not holding my breath. I'll settle for a Psikyo game cracking the danmaku barrier.

As for games that are worth adding, there are just so many, and obviously the makeup of the forum has changed a lot over the years. I imagine you'd have to extend the voting time simply because people might not check as frequently as they once did and it can be mentally laborious to come up with a list even if the end result is amalgamated into a composite of everyone's favorites!

Yeah, I believe last time the voting needed to be extended anyway, may as well leave a wide window.

[KAI]

Nice, thanks for hosting this Nifty. Im still so mad i missed the one from last year.

[Acid]

If I made a complete list of every shmup I like, it would be a gradient going from shooters with environmental damage to shooters without environmental damage.

[To Far Away Times]

Okay, but...

Thunderforce III is pretty much a perfect game for me. Perfectly paced, fast and aggressive, powerful weapons, GOAT level soundtrack, Goldilocks difficulty balance, has auto fire by default, just the right amount of memo and routing mixed with free styling it, etc... TF III is truly a game that fires on all cylinders.

Thunderforce AC cuts two of the best stages, cuts the best song on the soundtrack, the new sound font isn't nearly as cool, and the game is even easier for some reason. It's still a good time, and getting two new stages is pretty novel, but having played it after Thunderforce III, it feels like a step down in many of those little things that makes the game special for me.

[Steven]

Don't tell me you don't see that crispy logo though

Se~ga~♪♥

I had the #7 highest score on the leaderboard for Rynex + Thunder Sword at one point. I suppose that it's possible that nobody surpassed me, but I had/have one of the highest scores on the leaderboard for that game. I would love to post it, but both here and Restart Syndrome don't seem to accept scores for anything other than Styx. Oh well.

[Angry Hina]

Thunderforce III is pretty much a perfect game for me. Perfectly paced, fast and aggressive, powerful weapons, GOAT level soundtrack, Goldilocks difficulty balance, has auto fire by default, just the right amount of memo and routing mixed with free styling it, etc... TF III is truly a game that fires on all cylinders.

Thunderforce AC cuts two of the best stages, cuts the best song on the soundtrack, the new sound font isn't nearly as cool, and the game is even easier for some reason. It's still a good time, and getting two new stages is pretty novel, but having played it after Thunderforce III, it feels like a step down in many of those little things that makes the game special for me.

Thats it. AC is a step behind III for many little reasons but if you dont compare it to Grandmasterleader TFIII, its great on its own. The cutted out levels are in terms of presentation very good but gameplay wise, I would give TF ACs TF II stage the edge.

[Samildanach]

I love TFIII and will be certainly voting for it and probably AC too! TFAC has redone sprites for most enemies and some minibosses and, on the whole, they are an improvement. The bland mines of Seiren turning into the more unique metallic conch shells being a personal favourite. It is great to get two new levels for variation, even if the second is an asset reuse of two TFII levels. The Mobile Fort boss actually suits that level far more in comparison to the cramped icy corridor that it clips through in TF3's Ellis. On the downside, the asteriod level, while fun is relatively forgettable in comparison to the incredible Haides level. It may be full of gotcha moments but damn does it look and feel good to fly through them with ease after learning the route.

For me, however, the two biggest feathers in TF3's cap are the better music and the higher health of the bosses (specifically the Japanese version). With each subsequent release, first the overseas versions of TF3 followed by TFAC, the bosses' health decreases and even marginally skilled players will melt them before they barely get any attacks off. This is epitomised by the final boss whose interesting and awesome looking first phase dies in what seems a single hit before shifting to its final phase in AC. To mitigate this, they instead make you fight the miniboss twice. What's the point when they had a good boss there and waiting to use!!

Anyway, I am glad both exists so we have more levels to play, and those two new ones are far better than Thunder Spirits' new Cerberus and Final Core levels which are mostly sleepwalks or difficult for the wrong reasons (the annoying asteroids in second half of st 6).
My dream would be a complete version with all 10, though we would need a new boss for Ellis.

[Steven]

Maybe the boss health in AC was intentionally reduced because they expected people to play without autofire. It's still kind of strange because external autofire had been around for years at that point, but I don't have any better theories. Even without autofire the bosses probably still die way too fast, especially with the supremely broken Sever, which is probably one of the most ridiculously powerful weapons in the entire genre, now that I think about it.

[To Far Away Times]

I love TFIII and will be certainly voting for it and probably AC too! TFAC has redone sprites for most enemies and some minibosses and, on the whole, they are an improvement. The bland mines of Seiren turning into the more unique metallic conch shells being a personal favourite.

The theme for Seiren is one of my favorite pieces of music ever. Videogame music, regular music, anything. I absolutely love that song.