Sega Saturn Horizontal Shooters

RaidenIII · Post by **RaidenIII** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 11:04 pm

Hi, would anybody be so kind as to list decent ss horizontal shmups? The only ones i have played are Paridous, Darius Gaiden, Cotton 2, cotton boomerang and Darius II. I do know of others but i don't know how good they are as i've never played them, i figure this is the place to ask

Thank you.

ave · Post by **ave** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 11:24 pm

Those are all pure horizontal shmups:

Arcade Gears: X-Multiply (not Image Fight)
Arcade Gears: Wonder 3 (Chariot)
Chou Aniki Kyukyoku Otokonogyakushu
Choujikuu Yousai Macross: Ai Oboete Imasu ka
Cotton 2
Cotton Boomerang
Darius II
Darius Gaiden
Dezaemon 2 (whatever you want^__^)
Gokujyo Parodius-Da! Deluxe Pack
Gradius Deluxe Pack
Hyper Duel
Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius Forever With Me
Kaitei Daisensou
Konami Antiques: MSX Collection Ultra Pack (Gradius, Gradius 2, Salamander, Parodius...)
Metal Black
Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus
Sengoku Blade
Sexy Parodius
Sol Divide
Thunder Force Gold Pack 1 (TF AC + 2)
Thunder Force Gold Pack 2 (TF 3+4)
Thunder Force V

They're all good to pretty good despite the fact, that not everyone will like Cho Aniki-games

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 11:32 pm

The Shmups Xenocide Files has what I believe is a complete list of Saturn Shooters broken down by hori and vert:

http://www.classicgaming.com/shmups/xen ... aturn.html

Most of the horizontal shooters on Saturn (and most of the verts as well) are really good, so I guess I'll just list the ones that tend to not get rated so highly, which would be:

- Cho Aniki
- Macross: Do You Remember Love (=Super Dimension Fortress Macross)
- Sol Divide
also, the Konami MSX Antiques Collection is incredibly oldschool (a lot of the games don't even have proper scrolling), so it's not for everyone

So maybe better to steer clear of those for the time being.

My personal favorites are:

- Hyper Duel (expensive, but great)
- Sengoku Blade
- Thunderforce V
- the Thunderforce Gold Packs
- all the Konami Deluxe Packs

RaidenIII · Post by **RaidenIII** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 11:37 pm

Thank you both, that is 100% helpful

The Coop · Post by **The Coop** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 11:39 pm

Hyper Duel- Made by Technosoft, it's a shmup where you can transform from a Gundam-like robot into a ship. Each form has it's own special weaponry, and the game itself has both an arcade mode, and a Saturn mode.
Thunder Force Gold Pack 1- Has Technosoft's Genesis games Thunder Force II MD and classic Thunder Force III on it.
Thunder Force Gold Pack 2- Has Technosoft's amazing Thunder Force IV and the Japan-only Thunder Force AC (arcade) on it.
Thunder Force V- The last Thunder Force game to be made. While not the best in the series, it's a very good game that pushed the Saturn with effects it wasn't supposed to be able to do (transparency, colored lighting, etc.). It's better than the PS1 version.
Metal Black- Though it gets bashed a lot, I enjoyed it. It's by Taito, and looks like a cousin to the Darius series.
Fantasy Zone- An arcade game by Sega, it's bright, colorful, and deceptively hard.
Gradius Deluxe Pack- Has Konami's Gradius and Gradius II on it.
Salamander Deluxe Pack- Has Konami's Salamander, LifeForce and the not seen outside Japan Salamander II.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Wed Aug 23, 2006 12:14 am

My only recommendation is to try before you buy. Most of those games can be played through emulation.

J-Manic · Post by **J-Manic** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 9:34 pm

Hyper Duel, although fairly easy to 1CC, is a really fun shmup to play. Is it worth the $90+ it goes for? To me, not really. But it is a must-have in any shmuppers library, in my opinion. The arranged soundtrack alone is worth the extra cash. Get it only if you have money to spare.

Thunder Force V, Salamander Deluxe Pack and Darius Gaiden are definite must-haves as well. Don't hesitate to buy 'em.

RippleScythe · Post by **RippleScythe** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 10:17 pm

Is Saturn MacrossDYRL a good game for being cheap? I've seen it under 20 bucks on ebay quite a bit.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 10:24 pm

Very nice cinema scenes, but rather easy once you learn to abuse your homing missiles, at least from what I've played of it...you'll need a Japanese Saturn to play all the way through it, though, since you'll need to switch discs halfway through, and if you're using an Action Replay or the like it won't work (not sure whether modded systems will, though). I actually managed to get my copy for about 5 bucks shipped, IIRC...usually it goes for closer to 15 or 20.