I have to say that so far I am slightly underwhelmed.. But I am pleasantly suprised also.
My favorite that I've tried so far is surprisingly Hellfire. Its a got a biatch of a rotation firing system but the graphics are solid, colorful and everything moves wonderfully.
MUSHA is fantastic also, my first impression was one of amazement, I thought sprite detection was turned off or something as I roamed through level after level without dying, but when I did die it must have turned my like charm off, because I died 3 or 4 times in a row
Elemental Master - Not tried this one yet.
Ranger X - Only watched the intro, must say though graphically it has a SNK metal slug look to it, which really surprised me. Gameplay didn't inspire me to play it.
So what is considered graphically a good Genesis shmup, because I think Hellfire is one of the most pleasing ones I've played so far and I believe its one of the earliest titles for the console. It might be that I've played too many SNK shmups to appreciate the inferior hardware of the Genesis. Animation wise apart from Ranger X there isn't a great deal going on in the games. Lots of parallax though
This industry has become 2 dimensional as it transcended into a 3D world.
So what is considered graphically a good Genesis shmup
Thunder Force 4
Just get it and play it and you'll see why...
Damn Tim, you know there are quite a few Americans out there who still lives in tents due to this shitty economy, and you're dropping loads on a single game which only last 20 min. Do you think it's fair? How much did you spend this time?
neorichieb1971 wrote:So what is considered graphically a good Genesis shmup, because I think Hellfire is one of the most pleasing ones I've played so far and I believe its one of the earliest titles for the console.
Thunder Force IV/Lightening Force and Gynoug/Wings of Wor are both very nice-looking games. Fortunately, their gameplay is great, too.
Steel Empire also has very nice graphics, but the game is rather mediocre and I like the GBA version better.
Damn Tim, you know there are quite a few Americans out there who still lives in tents due to this shitty economy, and you're dropping loads on a single game which only last 20 min. Do you think it's fair? How much did you spend this time?
Thunder Force III
Lightening Force- (known as Thunder Force IV in Japan before Sega butchered the title for the US release) Steel Empire
Granada
Gaiares
Sub Terrania
Red Zone (this one's only part shmup, but...)
-Japan-
Eliminate Down
Gleylancer
Undeadline
Super Fantasy Zone
And you gotta play Ranger-X with a six button controller to really get into the game. It gives you a lot better control over a three button pad.
If you don't have the instruction manual for Ranger-X, the reason a six-button controller's better is that it lets you independantly move the Ex-Up Indra ship (the vehicle you ride on) left and right using the "X" and "Z" buttons. This lets you move Ranger-X and Indra separately, which'll come in rather handy as the game progresses.
In my humble opinion Genesis shmupping scene goes like this.
Essentials:
1 Thunderforce III/IV (as best hories available)
2 MUSHA Aleste & Fire Shark (as best verticals available, compile and toaplan flavor respectively)
3 Super Fantasy Zone (one of a kind on Genesis, and also arguably best of its legacy. Also easily best cute-em up on the system.)
4 Subterrania (if it fits the shmup category, which I don't believe it does, it definitely is an essential purchase as best Solar Jetman-style game ever)
Highly recommended:
1 Crying/Bio-Hazard Battle(a game so unique in style that it almost belongs to "essential" - gameplay is a little simplistic though. Great two-player action!)
2 Gynoug (for its dark, bioorganic fantasy setting which brings great atmosphere - also a quite nice challenge)
3 Gleylancer (yet another hori shmup with a nice control over pods. Aesthetically not so hot.)
4 Daisenpuu/Twin Hawk (odd Toaplan shmup, noticeable for featuring just ground enemies like tanks - also noteworthy is the kamikaze attack you can perform. This should probably be in the "good stuff" category, I promote it due to personal tastes and the fact it's often overlooked and deserves spotlight)
Still "good stuff":
DariusII/Sagaia (good port), Twin Cobra (said to be different from the coin-op, but good), Sol-Feace (good music but not so hot gameplay), Eliminate Down (beware, it's highly overrated - especially since Genesis has plenty of excellent hories), Steel Empire (mostly noteworthy for the steampunk setting, not so hot gameplay), Gaiares (interesting weapon system but aesthetically unpleasant), Tatsujin-Oh/Truxton, Slap Fight (good game, sadly expensive), Kuuga/Vapor Trail, Fire Mustang (interesting WWII-themed hori), Phelios, V-V/Grindstormer.
[also: Thunderforce II, Aeroblasters, Undeadline, Elemental Master, Trouble Shooters, Battlemania 2]
Not really recommended:
Hellfire (cycling between bad weapons, not my style but it has its fans), Xenon 2 (missing final stage, flawed game -avoid), Battle Squadron (seriously broken port -avoid), XDR (avoid), Curse (interesting graphic style, nonetheless to avoid), Raiden Trad (nowadays to avoid, as you can find much better Raiden ports out there), Mega SWIV (get the snes one instead), Zero Wing, Verytex, Insector X, Arrow Flash, Whip Rush, Bio-Ship Gomora (unique lock-on gameplay, but flawed execution), Divine Sealing...
[also: Dangerous Seed, Darwin 4081, Master of Weapons, Heavy Unit]
Noticeable borderliners, in no particular order:
Gunstar Heroes (doesn't need introduction), Contra HC, Ranger X (awesome), Mega Turrican (awesome), The Chaos Engine (great conversion, bloody good), Universal Soldier (aka Turrican II), Turrican, Smash TV, Chelnov...
[also:Twinkle Tale, nice Kikikaikai style; Granada, awesome arena shooting]
Last edited by Turrican on Sat May 10, 2008 8:13 am, edited 9 times in total.
Turrican wrote:In my humble opinion Genesis shmupping scene goes like this.
-Essential:
1 Thunderforce III/IV (as best hories available)
2 MUSHA Aleste & Fire Shark (as best verticals available, compile and toaplan flavor respectively)
3 Super Fantasy Zone (one of a kind on Genesis, and also arguably best of its legacy. Also easily best cute-em up on the system.)
4 Subterrania (if it fits the shmup category, which I don't believe it does, it definitely is an essential purchase as best Solar Jetman-style game ever)
-Highly recommended:
1 Crying/Bio-Hazard Battle(a game so unique in style that it almost belongs to "essential" - gameplay is a little simplistic though. Great two-player action!)
2 Gynoug (for its dark, bioorganic fantasy setting which brings great atmosphere - also a quite nice challenge)
3 Gleylancer (yet another hori shmup with a nice control over pods. Aesthetically not so hot.)
4 Daisenpuu/Twin Hawk (odd Toaplan shmup, noticeable for featuring just ground enemies like tanks - also noteworthy is the kamikaze attack you can perform. This should probably be in the "good stuff" category, I promote it due to personal tastes and the fact it's often overlooked and deserves spotlight)
-Still "good stuff":
DariusII/Sagaia (good port), Twin Cobra (said to be different from the coin-op, but good), Sol-Feace (good music but not so hot gameplay), Eliminate Down (beware, it's highly overrated - especially since Genesis has plenty of excellent hories), Steel Empire (mostly noteworthy for the steampunk setting, not so hot gameplay), Gaiares (interesting weapon system but aesthetically unpleasant), Tatsujin-Oh/Truxton, Slap Fight (good game, sadly expensive), Kuuga/Vapor Trail, Fire Mustang (interesting WWII-themed hori), Phelios, V-V/Grindstormer.
-not really recommended:
Hellfire (cycling between bad weapons, not my style but it has its fans), Xenon 2 (missing final stage, flawed game -avoid), Battle Squadron (seriously broken port -avoid), XDR (avoid), Curse (interesting graphic style, nonetheless to avoid), Raiden trad (nowadays to avoid, as you can find much better Raiden ports out there), Mega SWIV (get the snes one instead), Zero Wing, Verytex, Insector X, Arrow Flash, Whip Rush, Bio-Ship Gomora (unique lock-on gameplay, but flawed execution), Divine Sealing...
-noticeable borderliners, in no particular order:
Gunstar Heroes (doesn't need introduction), Contra HC, Ranger X (awesome), Mega Turrican (awesome), The Chaos Engine (great conversion, bloody good), Universal Soldier (aka Turrican II), Turrican, Smash TV, Chelnov...
Bullshit on Hellfire, and Zero Wing. Hellfire should belong to the good stuf area since it's a real man's Toaplan shooter. Zero Wing has some good gameplay elements that shouldn't belong with the avoid section.
You should seriously stay away from Universal Soldier, BAD as fuck!
Turrican wrote:In my humble opinion Genesis shmupping scene goes like this.
-Essential:
1 Thunderforce III/IV (as best hories available)
2 MUSHA Aleste & Fire Shark (as best verticals available, compile and toaplan flavor respectively)
3 Super Fantasy Zone (one of a kind on Genesis, and also arguably best of its legacy. Also easily best cute-em up on the system.)
4 Subterrania (if it fits the shmup category, which I don't believe it does, it definitely is an essential purchase as best Solar Jetman-style game ever)
-Highly recommended:
1 Crying/Bio-Hazard Battle(a game so unique in style that it almost belongs to "essential" - gameplay is a little simplistic though. Great two-player action!)
2 Gynoug (for its dark, bioorganic fantasy setting which brings great atmosphere - also a quite nice challenge)
3 Gleylancer (yet another hori shmup with a nice control over pods. Aesthetically not so hot.)
4 Daisenpuu/Twin Hawk (odd Toaplan shmup, noticeable for featuring just ground enemies like tanks - also noteworthy is the kamikaze attack you can perform. This should probably be in the "good stuff" category, I promote it due to personal tastes and the fact it's often overlooked and deserves spotlight)
-Still "good stuff":
DariusII/Sagaia (good port), Twin Cobra (said to be different from the coin-op, but good), Sol-Feace (good music but not so hot gameplay), Eliminate Down (beware, it's highly overrated - especially since Genesis has plenty of excellent hories), Steel Empire (mostly noteworthy for the steampunk setting, not so hot gameplay), Gaiares (interesting weapon system but aesthetically unpleasant), Tatsujin-Oh/Truxton, Slap Fight (good game, sadly expensive), Kuuga/Vapor Trail, Fire Mustang (interesting WWII-themed hori), Phelios, V-V/Grindstormer.
-not really recommended:
Hellfire (cycling between bad weapons, not my style but it has its fans), Xenon 2 (missing final stage, flawed game -avoid), Battle Squadron (seriously broken port -avoid), XDR (avoid), Curse (interesting graphic style, nonetheless to avoid), Raiden trad (nowadays to avoid, as you can find much better Raiden ports out there), Mega SWIV (get the snes one instead), Zero Wing, Verytex, Insector X, Arrow Flash, Whip Rush, Bio-Ship Gomora (unique lock-on gameplay, but flawed execution), Divine Sealing...
-noticeable borderliners, in no particular order:
Gunstar Heroes (doesn't need introduction), Contra HC, Ranger X (awesome), Mega Turrican (awesome), The Chaos Engine (great conversion, bloody good), Universal Soldier (aka Turrican II), Turrican, Smash TV, Chelnov...
Bullshit on Hellfire, and Zero Wing. Hellfire should belong to the good stuf area since it's a real man's Toaplan shooter. Zero Wing has some good gameplay elements that shouldn't belong with the avoid section.
You should seriously stay away from Universal Soldier, BAD as fuck!
Agreed, Hellfire and Zero Wing could match up with (if not better than) the costly Slap Fight.
*Meow* I am as serious as a cat could possible be. *Meow*
Zero Wing has a nice soundtrack, that just goes and goes - I like it much better than the arcade version, the soundtrack on the Genesis version is similar, but sort of rearranged, in a good way. I kept the rom just for running the sound test once in a while. (And it has the "All your base...", which has been beaten to death by now)
SAM wrote:Hellfire and Zero Wing could match up with (if not better than) the costly Slap Fight.
You have a point - if you look at it money-wise, they may be a better purchase that Slap, since they're so cheap. However, I'm sorry but I still think Toaplan horiz attempts aren't their best...
Ceph wrote:Overrated how? It's one of the best Mega Drive horis.
Overrated precisely as you wrote, saying it's one of the best MD horis. I genuinely believe I mentioned a bunch of hories which are overall better than ED: TFIII, TFIV, S.Fantasy Zone, Gynoug, Bio-Hazard Battle, Gleylancer, I rank all of these higher.
However, ED is a good game - probably the best of the "good stuff" bunch, at least speaking of native MD titles. So if it suits better your tastes, you can swap its position with Daisenpuu's.
Fighter17 wrote:You should seriously stay away from Universal Soldier, BAD as fuck!
No sir. If you bear the sprite changes, 80% of the core gameplay of Turrican II is intact. It misses the shmup stages, but the rest is still quite enjoyable.
Insector X is underrated. For someone reason they changed the characters and music to be less cutesy than the Taito arcade game and they are more interesting than the arcade game IMO.
Whip Rush is a decent shmup made by Sega, who haven't made very many horizontal shmups.
Oh and don't be silly with Ranger X. The game is really good.
Turrican wrote:No sir. If you bear the sprite changes, 80% of the core gameplay of Turrican II is intact. It misses the shmup stages, but the rest is still quite enjoyable.
It's a different game with Turrican gameplay, but it's still not Turrican (I don't consider it Turrican). And besides, the game doesn't play good and looks very ugly.
Turrican wrote:Eliminate Down (beware, it's highly overrated)
Overrated how? It's one of the best Mega Drive horis.
I don't think it's one of the best Mega Drive horis.
While the graphics are great, the music is not so hot like Thunder Force IV. Also I believe the gameplay is really meh. It's so stupid that in order to change your ship's speed, you must pause the game and change the speed. IT would be easy just change the speed while playing the game like the Thunder Force series. After playing it I perfer Thunder Force IV more than ED. If I would grade ED from 1-10, I would give it a 8. ED to me doesn't deserve the $200 price tag.
Turrican wrote:No sir. If you bear the sprite changes, 80% of the core gameplay of Turrican II is intact. It misses the shmup stages, but the rest is still quite enjoyable.
It's a different game with Turrican gameplay, but it's still not Turrican (I don't consider it Turrican). And besides, the game doesn't play good and looks very ugly.
You are entitled to your opinion, of course. But it's hardly a different game when the stages are 90% the same as they were in Turrican II (except for the 3 shmups stages, which were replaced by three new crappy ones - one of which is the jungle at the beginning, which is very deceiving). Anyway you can read my opinion on it (and Turrican in general) here:
I've got to give a quick shout out for two borderliners (one not mentioned yet), Mercs and Granada. Both are top down 360 degree shooters.
- Mercs is a faithful port of the classic Capcom coin-op, but Sega also introduced a Normal mode, which is basically recycled graphics but with new levels and an adventure aspect to it.
- Granada is probably Wolf Teams best non-RPG effort ever. It features a mission-esque take on the 360 degree shooter formual (Kill X number of turrents/tanks/big baddies etc.) and then face the boss. Along the way you'll blast plenty of bad guys and even run into some powerups.
Insector X is underrated. For someone reason they changed the characters and music to be less cutesy than the Taito arcade game and they are more interesting than the arcade game IMO.
Whip Rush is a decent shmup made by Sega, who haven't made very many horizontal shmups.
Oh and don't be silly with Ranger X. The game is really good.
Fighter17 wrote:
Just about all JP MD shmups can be played thru a Game Genie.
Interesting. Sounds like a much cheaper solution than getting a Japanese MD.
I've heard about this and tried to find the codes to play them, but it's been a hard search.
All four of the Mega Drive games I listed play just fine without the need of any codes. The only shmup I've found that needs one, is Thunder Force IV, and it's code can be found here. Just be sure that after the "Sega" logo comes up in TF4, you turn off the Game Genie. If you leave it on, the game freezes within the first two levels. Then, if you want to listen to the omake tunes, turn the Game Genie back on at the end of the credits (the game checks regions at the "Sega" logo).
That faq will also let you play other great MegaDrive games, like Alien Soldier, Pulseman and Monster World IV.
Other shmups that I know play on a Game Genie without codes...
Curse
Darwin 4081
Fire Mustang
Verytex
Master of Weapon
XDR
Heavy Unit
Twin Hawk
Bio Ship Paladin
Dangerous Seed
If you grab the European version of Zero Wing, you don't even need a Game Genie. It plays just fine and fits in the Genesis like a US cart (same shape).
