Best SEGA console for shmups

[lynchesque]

For me it's the Saturn all the way. I know the saturn seems like an easy choice, but the dreamcast and genesis have loads of good shooters and I think an arguement can be made in favor of any of the 3.

5 reasons why:

1. Soukyugurentai
2. Battle Garegga
3. Radiant Silvergun
4. Batsugun
5. Dodonpachi

All Classics

[Alpolio]

If I could only own 1 Sega console for shmups, it would be the Genesis.

1. Thunder Force IV
2. Thunder Force III
3. Darius II
4. M.U.S.H.A.
5. Gaiares

I'd sleep well at night knowing that those were within reach.

[Never_Scurred]

Saturn man, Never got into any Genesis shmups......

[J-Manic]

Easily, the Saturn. There's just way too many great titles for that system.

[lynchesque]

Yes, I think the saturn has the most grade A titles, but obviously the newer dreamcast games outshine the older titles technically and graphically (but not in gameplay imo) to a degree that it's plausible for younger shmup fan (brought up on 3D) to pick the dreamcast. That's not a dig btw.

If you were to select just one game for a system though, I would take Ikaruga over any of them. The first time I got that game in the mail and popped it in I just sat there wide-eyed like OMFG. Truely breathtaking...

[EOJ]

Dreamcast all the way.

[sjewkestheloon]

Megadrive all the way, Gynoug, Fire Shark, TF4, Gaiares, etc, etc, for pence

[CIT]

Saturn, obviously.

[ccovell]

Saturn, but just barely. It wins because it has a lot of arcade conversions, old arcade compilations (Konami, Irem...), AND the Thunderforce series, if you need it.

[JJG]

I'd say Dreamcast but maybe it's 'cause that's just what I'm playing now.

[llabnip]

For me, it's the Saturn by a fair margin. However, the second slot would be much harder to nail down. I love the modern shooters on the Dreamcast but find that I'm spending more time with the old school Genesis shooters - especially the great batch of Toaplan goodness that came out on the system.

Well, they are all necessary The Genesis is the biggest bang-for-the-buck in terms of shooters. The system can be had for $15 and many of the best shooters are well under $10 (and if you have a gamestore near you that still has Genesis games, many of the US released games seem to be in the $5 or under range). It's hard to go wrong when you can get a system and 5 good shooters for the price of a single mid-range Saturn shooter.

[Michaelm]

Saturn !

Megadrive lacks a tate option which totally ruins it.
And Dreamcast doesn't have half the amount the Saturn has.

[Turrican]

Genesis.

[Ceph]

I honestly can't say, so I haven't voted. My preferences keep changing. There are times when I prefer 16bit, while at others I play lots of Saturn, while sometimes I enjoy more modern shmups. I just bought Giga Wing 2 for DC which I'm playing at the moment.

MD is fun for all those Toaplan shmups: Fire Shark, Truxton, Zero Wing, Slap Fight, Kyukyoku Tiger, V-V (am I forgetting any?). And then there are Thunder Force 3+4, Musha (and Robo Aleste), Gleylancer, Twinkle Tale, Eliminate Down, Gynoug, Gaiares, Undead Line, Elemental Master...
There's something very cool about popping in a game and playing it without any booting/loading. Why does it take so long to load for most disc based games? And what's with the stupidly long startup sequences of most modern consoles (PS2, I'm looking at you!)

Then there's Saturn with it's incredible number of arcade perfect ports. SoukyuGuRentai. Radiant and Garegga, both of which I enjoy despite their flaws (not another flamewar please). Then there's Cotton Boomerang, Hyper Duel, Thunderforce AC... too many to list.

As for Dreamcast, it's library certainly is limited but there are some fantasic shmups. Border Down is easily one of my favorite shooters. I also like Zero Gunner 2 and Under Defeat. Mars Matrix is yet another reason to own a DC. Since I only started playing Giga Wing 2 three days ago I don't have a qualified opinion on it yet; however, I can safely say it's a nifty game and superior to Giga Wing 1.

[Stormwatch]

Keep in mind that most of the Genesis library (and other consoles) can be played on the Dreamcast under emulation...

[Ceph]

Keep in mind that most of the Genesis library (and other consoles) can be played on the Dreamcast under emulation...

Heretic!

[llabnip]

Keep in mind that most of the Genesis library (and other consoles) can be played on the Dreamcast under emulation...

If you're reffering to DC SegaGen, it's really poor emulation. This is based on some technology stolen from the Sega Smash Pack (which is why the program is frowned upon even in the emulation community) which has many emulation problems - the most obvious of which is the sound emulation is horrible. Beyond that, there are speed issues and a general feeling like you're playing one of those crappy 10-in-1 emulator-thingies which never seem to get things quite right. Even the games on the official Sega Smash Pack (which are tweaked with the best emulator preset to make them as playable as possible) are mere shadows of their original counterparts. After seeing how poor it was, I went back to playing on a real system.

There was some effort on DCGen and another 16-bit Genesis emulator for the DC but I thought they basically gave up due to the difficulties in getting things to run properly on the Dreamcast. The 8-bit emulation fared much better on the Dreamcast.

[JJG]

Since I only started playing Giga Wing 2 three days ago I don't have a qualified opinion on it yet; however, I can safely say it's a nifty game and superior to Giga Wing 1.

I'd have to totally disagree.

[shariar07]

I would have to disagree with Saturn, because most of the good shmups are also on the PSX. Then it just leaves the Dreamcast and what a system.

1. Giga Wing 1 and 2
2. Mars Matrix
3.Broder Down
4. Zero Gunner 2
5.Under Defeat
6. Gunbird 2

[Ceph]

I would have to disagree with Saturn, because most of the good shmups are also on the PSX.

You'll probably get a forum beating for that

None of the ones I mentioned are on PSX. (Soukyugurentai on PSX doesn't count because it's crap).

[Dave_K.]

Naomi...I mean...Dreamcast for the win.

[KBZ]

actually, there is a new emulator out now that has been able to play many games with %100 perfect emulation.

I was able to get sonic 2 and Rocket Knight Adventure to play perfectly, but MUSHA wasn't working, and TF4 had a couple graphical errors on the top of the screen but otherwise played perfectly.

I would reccomend giving it a shot.

http://www.dreamcast-scene.com/index.ph ... esisPlusDC



Back on topic....

I say the saturn has the best library. and it also comes with the perfect pads.

Yet, it would be a huge loss if a shmup player didn't own a DC. Then again, I don't own a ps2..... :p

[JJG]

Cave needs to port their stuff to DC, those fuckers.

[shinsage]

Genesis for best console shmups, Saturn for arcade ports and DC for hi-quality, lo-quantity ports.

Saturn takes it, overall.

[dementia]

Mars Matrix and Ikaruga are my two favorite shooters of all time. Saturn has a massive volume of great shmups on it's side, but I'm with DC.

[Andi]

Saturn has the most good games. Genesis has the most good games at a reasonable price.

Although, really, if Saturn only had Darius Gaiden, I'd still vote for it.

[benj]

I don't understand this poll. Why is the manufacturer of the console of any importance?

Cave needs to port their stuff to DC, those fuckers.

lol

[Sonic R]

This is a tough poll! I guess Sega hardware is strong for shooties.

I going to have to say I like Genesis/Mega Drive/Sega CD. I am fond of 16 bit era console shooties and Genesis is where my heart is at.

Top titles such as:
Thunder Force III
Thunder Force II
Lightening Force(TFIV)
Elemental Master
MUSHA
Hellfire
Grind Stormer
Fire Shark
Truxton
Bio Hazard Battle
Whip Rush
Gaiares
Gleylancer
Eleminate Down
Robo Aleste
Silpheed
Android Assault
Keio Flying Squadron
and many more

[mirkvid]

pico....









ok, saturn.

[BulletMagnet]

All three are good, depending on your tastes in shmupping, of course, but overall I'd have to go with the Saturn, the first system I bought solely for the shmupping.