Best system for collecting shmups on

[Ceph]

As for the Mega Drive, it has a nice selection of Toaplan shmups - of those I currently like V-V (V-Five) and Slap Fight best, Same! Same! Same! (aka Fireshark) and Tatsujin (aka Truxton) are also nice. Then there are Eliminate Down and Twinkle Tale (both by pretty unknown developers). There's also one vertical shmup by Technosoft (of Thunder Force fame), Elemental Master. Last but not least we have the fantastic Musha Aleste by Compile (and Robo Aleste for Sega CD).

I quite like the sound of Elimate Down and Twinkle Tale. Any more info on them?

Here's a very enthusiastic review of Twinkle Tale (disregard the part where the reviewer calls Alien Soldier a shmup).

And there's a review of Eliminate Down on shmups.com

[Daz@Retro Gamer]

As for the Mega Drive, it has a nice selection of Toaplan shmups - of those I currently like V-V (V-Five) and Slap Fight best, Same! Same! Same! (aka Fireshark) and Tatsujin (aka Truxton) are also nice. Then there are Eliminate Down and Twinkle Tale (both by pretty unknown developers). There's also one vertical shmup by Technosoft (of Thunder Force fame), Elemental Master. Last but not least we have the fantastic Musha Aleste by Compile (and Robo Aleste for Sega CD).

I quite like the sound of Elimate Down and Twinkle Tale. Any more info on them?

Here's a very enthusiastic review of Twinkle Tale (disregard the part where the reviewer calls Alien Soldier a shmup).

And there's a review of Eliminate Down on shmups.com

Now I've seen the box, I'm pretty sure one of my freelancers has this. May ask on Monday and see if I can borrow it./

[shinsage]

For me it's the Saturn; although the system itself is little more than a port machine, that's its biggest strength. I wouldn't be able to play Garegga, Darius Gaiden, the Salamanders, Rayforce, X-Multiply, Metal Black, Image Fight, Hyper Duel, Gekirindan (yeah I said it) etc any other way.

Do you know what Saturn shooters you're missing, btw?

[Knuckles-chaotix]

dreamcast wins easily hands down!
naomi conversions.
how can ya beat that?

i guess pcb's.

[ubersaurus]

Even though most of the shmups on the 2600 are fixed, many of the fixed ones are quite well done and there's actually some good non-fixed ones like laser gates and vanguard. Some of my favorites on it are Astroblast (which I actually prefer over the Intellivision counterpart, Astrosmash, due to the faster, more challenging gameplay), Vanguard, Demon Attack, Spider Fighter, Megamania, and Beamrider (though I prefer the Intellivision one).

Oh don't get me wrong, the 2600 has a boatload of good shooters. But it's largely overlooked simply because they tend to be pretty "out there" compared to what a lot of people prefer to play these days. How many people are going to throw down in Plaque Attack when there's Gradius V right there?

[Arvandor]

For me it's a tossup between the Japanese PS2 (I'm a big sucker for Cave games), and the Dreamcast.

I think for the point of this topic though, I'd have to go with Dreamcast, but I don't know for how much longer. The DC has the biggest variety of quality shmups (from Border Down, to Gunbird 2, to Ikaruga, to Under Defeat, to Radirgy, to Zero Gunner 2, to Mars Matrix, to Psyvariar 2... Just so much variety in styles, while all being A+ titles), and also has reasonable prices, though that's where the "don't know for how much longer" comment comes into play. Prices on Dreamcast shooters seem to be jumping up a lot lately, and it might not be so cost effective (though still entirely worth it) for much longer. The Dreamcast also has the strongest non-JP library, especially if you're counting borderliners like Bangai-O, Cannon Spike, and Rez for the PAL regions.

[VNAF Ace]

Nintendo Wii for NES, TurboGrafx-16, Genesis, SNES, and GCN shmups. NeoGeo games are also on the way.

I still wish they would release Arcade games for the Wii though.

[ROBOTRON]

Anyway, in answer to Turrican's last post.
I'm interested in knowing more about the Mega Drive's back catalogue. I'm aware of the Thunder Force games, Gynoug, Bio Hazard Battle, Zero wing, etc, but where they any good shooters on the system that were exclusive to Japan (I know Thunder Force III wasn't released in Pal land, but that's where my knowledge ends).
We did an article on Gleylancer that I quite liked the look of, but I understaqnd that goes for quite a pretty penny

Most mates around here may disagree...but I kinda liked Curse for Mega Drive.

[nynetails]

I think that, in the end, the PS2 is going to become the best system to collect shmups for. It has a good library already, it can play many important PS1 shmups, and it will continue to receive new releases for quite some time to come.

Hamster are doing their part to put the PS2 over the top, what with their re-releases of early PS1 shooters, and now Rabio Lupis, Terra Cresta, Thunder Cross, et al... And to think that they nearly got to put out Xexex.

If Hamster keep this up, the PS2 is going to quietly distance itself from the pack.

[Ceph]

Hamster are doing their part to put the PS2 over the top, what with their re-releases of early PS1 shooters, and now Rabio Lupis

Since when did Hamster re-release PS1 shmups? It's Rabio Lepus, by the way.

[genetik]

I love the PS2 for the number and variety of shmups to collect on that platform, but i prefer playing on Dreamcast because of the VGA output. It's too bad that Karasu might be the last one.

None of my TV can be TATE. My 27'' 4:3 and my 34'' 16:9 Sony Wega are too big and my 20'' 4:3 would be perfect, but no matter how i flip it, discoloration is always an issue. But i can easily hookup my Dreamcast through VGA on my Viewsonic 21'' and flip it. Also, this makes every game run in a much higher quality than most shmup do on the PS2.

[Diabollokus]

jp Dreamcast and jp Saturn imho, The sheer quality outweigh the opposition.

PS2 only if your a Cave fan yet Gradius V is worth owning a PS2 for alone. I've only played donpachi and dodonpachi which I enjoyed alot but I prefer less bullets, bad dodger.

Value for money? Get a laptop stuff it with Gens, Mame and Zsnes even better an Xbox!

[nynetails]

Since when did Hamster re-release PS1 shmups? It's Rabio Lepus, by the way.

Nuts, I must have been thinking of Lupin. Heh. Lepus it is.

A couple of years back, as part of the "Arcade Hits" series, Hamster re-released Raiden, Raiden DX, Soukyugurentai (probably didn't get that spelling right either, oh well), Sonic Wings Special, and some others that are slipping my mind at this juncture. Because of this, many of these are very easily obtainable, whereas before they were not.

[it290]

None of my TV can be TATE. My 27'' 4:3 and my 34'' 16:9 Sony Wega are too big and my 20'' 4:3 would be perfect, but no matter how i flip it, discoloration is always an issue.

Try leaving it tated and facing in the same direction for a while... like a few days/a week. I had chronic discoloration on my crappy Sylvania TV for the longest time, but after leaving it tated for quite some time, it went away. Also, if that doesn't work, try pointing it in a different direction.... it seems some TVs are more sensitive to orientation than others. I have mine facing north now and it's perfect, whereas facing west it tended to have trouble.

[szycag]

I thought the trick was you're supposed to unplug the TV, put it on it's side, wait a couple minutes, etc.

[genetik]

I thought the trick was you're supposed to unplug the TV, put it on it's side, wait a couple minutes, etc.

I unplugged the TV and flipped it on it's side and waited a few hours, but the discoloration was still present. Maybe after a few days it would've gone away.

[it290]

That is indeed 'the trick' but if the TV is not working well in vertical mode, its orientation to magnetic north will have an effect on the display. If you are getting discoloration while tated, try facing the TV in different directions while it's turned on and watch the colors change before your eyes.

As for the time thing, 15 minutes is just not always sufficient. In general it has been my experience that cheaper TVs tend to require more time than computer monitors and better-built TVs.

[Thunder Force]

The unfortunate earlier derailing of this thread has now been split-locked to Off-Topic. If you wish to reply in this thread, please keep your comments helpful and on-topic.

[DEL]

I just read that derail on Off Topic. Hmm..my earlier post of "try playing not just collecting" was an instant gut reaction to the title of the thread which appeared 'collection-centric'. I hadn't read enough of the replies to know that a small flame-war was going on.

No offence to Retro Gamer mag of course . (Not from me anyway).

[The Coop]

Anyway, in answer to Turrican's last post.
I'm interested in knowing more about the Mega Drive's back catalogue. I'm aware of the Thunder Force games, Gynoug, Bio Hazard Battle, Zero wing, etc, but where they any good shooters on the system that were exclusive to Japan (I know Thunder Force III wasn't released in Pal land, but that's where my knowledge ends).
We did an article on Gleylancer that I quite liked the look of, but I understaqnd that goes for quite a pretty penny

Japan-only MegaDrive shmups, eh?

Undead Line- Like a vertical shmup that'll take pleasure in kicking your ass? Here ya go. Set over 7-8 stages, this shmup takes you to a graveyard, a sewer system, and a castle (among other locales), all while fighting all sorts of monsters that range from killer fish, to seemingly Death itself. The graphics and music are quite nice, and it has a pretty high level of challenge. It's also a faster paced shmup, so it'll keep you on your toes.

Verytex- Basically it's your typical shmup in space. It doesn't do anything spectacular, but it is a competent shmup, in that it does what it does without any real glaring problems. It's a fun, simple looking shmup (its graphics are somewhere between NES and Genesis) with a nice soundtrack.

Curse- Maybe it's because it took me 13 years to finally get to own this game, but I enjoy it. It's an early MegaDrive shmup, but the only real downsides to it are that it's pretty easy up until the final stage, and the frame rate isn't quite up to snuff (it runs a bit slower/choppier than many other shmups on the system). But over all, it's a fun shmup with a strange final boss, and you could do a lot worse on the MegaDrive... like XDR.

Darwin 4081- This... is an odd shmup. Basically, your ship evolves depending on which items you pick up along the way. The bosses are weird, your ship takes on some bizarre shapes, and the music is a bit odd too. But really, there's nothing wrong with the game. It runs smoothly, it gives you plenty of power up options, the controls are good, plenty to blast, and it's not too long. It's just... weird.

Bio-Ship Paladin- This is a tough shmup to judge. It's not a bad game, but it does have a shooting mechanic that takes some getting used to. You can fire while moving like a normal shmup (weaker shot), or you can fire all over the place while staying still (which is a more powerful shot). Your ship can get some serious fire power, but it also gets huge in size as you get that power. It's a slower-paced shmup, but it has plenty going on to keep you busy as you slowly scroll through the stages.

Eliminate Down- Great shmup in basically all areas. Graphics, tunes, stage variety, challenge... it's worth getting.

Gley Lancer- See above.


There are others I can name, like Heavy Unit, Fire Mustang, Dangerous Seed and Master of Weapon, but I'm tired and want to get some sleep.

[roker]

tough one

Lords of Thunder is ace on the PC Engine

Under Defeat, Zero Gunner 2, Ikaruga, Border Down are great for the Dreamcast

While the PS2 has: ESPGaluda, Ibara, and other various PSX gems that can be played on the system like Einhander.

The Saturn has a great port of Battle Garegga and some people here like Radiant Silvergun (meh)

One solution:

buy them all!

[jpj]

what sort of shooters do you generally like, daz?

[Reluctant Hero]

If you going for collection shumps in physical form (i.e. no MAME) then my personal vote is for the Dreamcast and Saturn. The Saturn has an enormous library of shumps and many are true legends (Battle Garegga, Do Don Pachi).

The Dreamcast has slowly been building it shump library as we all know and I myself have just started to get into DC shumps. My personal favorites are Mars Matrix and Under Defeat.

Both systems have expensive shumps (Battle Garegga and Border Down) and cheap ones (Gun Bird and Giga Wing) as well. I think you'd best with those two. The sytems are also fairly cheap if you get domestic version and their import solutions (Action Replay and DCX) are cheap too. You can always buy import systems but they can run a bit more.

Again, this my personal opinion and I'm no shump expert like a lot of the members here. Hell, I've yet to 1cc a shump, but I love playing them

[DEL]

Don't collect, just buy 2, spend a year on them, buy two more spend another year on them, then nuke the site from orbit.

Its the only way to be sure.

[nosorrow]

I think we can all agree that the forefathers for shmup collecting are the PC Engine (+ its various iterations) and the Genesis.

In more "recent" times, there is the big four: Saturn, Dreamcast, PS2 (and, by extension, PS1) & Xbox 360.

When I started collecting console shooters, I genuinely believed I'd be content with only one or two consoles. I started out by getting all the essentials (and personal favourites) on the Saturn. Then I bought "only" a couple more on Dreamcast (Border Down, Ikaruga) and, soon enough, I was ordering the GigaWings, Mars Matrix, Zero Gunner 2, Under Defeat... And I know all too well now that the rabbit hole is real as I have just purchased Triggerheart Exelica and am even envisioning stuff like Psyvariar 2 (only thing keeping me from getting it on the DC so far is that I don't have an arcade stick and am afraid it won't be playable with a pad).

But it's not enough, I need MORE... I found this very site and got caught in the Cave hype. I had played Donpachi and Dodonpachi on Saturn and enjoyed them, but they were far from my favourites on the system (Radiant Silvergun, Hyper Duel, Blast Wind and Battle Garegga are). Still, I felt compelled to order the Cave collection box rerelease and now I am digging deeper in the library.

Then there is the Playstations: I already had a couple of the domestic releases (Taito compilation, Gradius V, to name just a couple). I am now confident that these are the two systems I will be hunting for in the next year or so. I feel compelled to snatch all the good shooters on those systems too as I have the impression they are part of a "golden age" we will never witness again (I am also hooked on physical releases, lol).

Anyways, off to play the games and, in a few months, I'll be able to rank the systems as far as collectability/(re)playability is concerned.

P.S. Hopefully this doesn't come off too much as a "blog post": just trying to spur some conversation about the collecting hobby with a focus on shooters. It's all in good fun.

[Kiken]

Serious threadmancy here.. and yeah, I'd append my initial post with the addition of the XBox 360.

That said... it always weirds me out a bit to see a thread back on the front page with posts by Robotron in it.

[nosorrow]

Yeah, I tend to necrobump threads from time to time as I've been browsing through the archives of Shmups Chat page by page.

[Teufel_in_Blau]

Yeah, I tend to necrobump threads from time to time as I've been browsing through the archives of Shmups Chat page by page.

So you are going back page by page? Does it mean we can expect at some point threads from 2005 popping up?

[nosorrow]

I've been through 2005 already (making my way up), I might already have bumped one or two, I don't know for sure.

[LordHypnos]

oh for the days when Dreamcast shmups were reasonably priced
Would be pretty cheap though to amass a complete North American localized shmups collection for the DC though