New user with a couple questions

DBHashman93 · Post by **DBHashman93** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:43 pm

Hey guys this is my first post here and I have a couple of questions. I've been playing shmups since the early 90s, and in recent years I've been picking up all of the major domestic releases (Gradius V, Ikaruga, etc.). With the high number of shmups coming out on the Wii virtual console, my interest in the genre has been rekindled. I've been watching some youtube videos of Cave's manic shmups, and I'm extremely interested in getting my hands on them (mainly dodonpachi).

My main question is, what would be the best and most cost effective way to play these games? It seems like most of them are ps2 games so do you guys know of any cheap places to import or chip ps2s? I would also appreciate any advice on where to find these games for a cheap price. Play-asia has dodonpachi for $70 which seems a bit steep to me. Any other advice you guys have about the shmup import scene would be appreciated, since it seems like the vast majority of quality shmups are only released in Japan.

Thanks for the help and sorry that the post turned out a bit long!

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:55 pm

its been said a million times.

PS2 + Modchip + playasia = best and most costeffective way of playing the best Cave shmups.

most of the best console shmups are indeed available for PS1 or PS2.

welcome to shmups mate

Circa2113 · Post by **Circa2113** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:04 pm

Honestly, you wont find Cave shmups at bargain prices.

Also, I definitely agree that the PS2 is the best way to go.

gavin19 · Post by **gavin19** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:21 pm

I saved myself a bit of money by using the Independance exploit to enable me to play imports on my PAL ps2. It does require a couple of disc swaps but I was encouraged not to pay for a modchip+installation after I successfully softmodded my Xbox.
The games themselves however, as has been mentioned, will still cost whatever they cost, no way around that.

Never_Scurred · Post by **Never_Scurred** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:37 pm

Swap discs and the tissue and tape mod are the poor mans modchip FTW!

Also, shop around on that DDP DOJ game. I've seen it cheaper on other import sites. As for the other Cave essentials(Ibara, Mushi), you should be able to find those for relatively cheap since they are now Best Releases. EspGaluda is a nice warm up game and worth the price. If you wanna get started 1cc'ing i'd start with that. It even comes with a nice superplay DVD to get you started. Also, be on the lookout for Shikigami no Shiro 2.

Pirate1019 · Post by **Pirate1019** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 3:00 am

I thought ibara's best release was axed?

Anyway, The paper/tape mod works fine, all you have to do is buy the discs. I got them here. They even come with these nifty tools so that you may not have to use paper and tape.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 3:04 am

Pirate1019 wrote:I thought ibara's best release was axed?

It was, to the best of my knowledge, anyways. Mushi is available as a cheaper re-release though.

Never_Scurred · Post by **Never_Scurred** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 3:21 am

Pirate1019 wrote:I thought ibara's best release was axed?

Anyway, The paper/tape mod works fine, all you have to do is buy the discs. I got them here. They even come with these nifty tools so that you may not have to use paper and tape.

oooppppsss my bad......thanks fellas

kong · Post by **kong** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 4:06 am

I use hd loader to play my imports. The faster load times are a really nice bonus. As far as finding cheaper prices, your best bet is buying them used off the trade forums or wolfgames.com. I picked up Espgaluda used for $44 from wolfgames recently but it's hit or miss on what and when he gets in titles.

DBHashman93 · Post by **DBHashman93** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 5:14 am

Thanks a lot for all the advice...I never even considered the disk swaps but they seem like a cheap enough option! I think I'm going to go ahead and order Mushihime to start with since it's much cheaper than the others. Also any recommendations for good imports other than cave games would be appreciated as well

Belmont · Post by **Belmont** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 2:25 pm

Since cave shmups are very difficult i would personally recomend you start out with espgaluda since it is the most forgiving cave shmup to date. Its deffinatly no cake walk hence why im still working on my 1cc. I got mushi and espgaluda at the same time and mushi gets almost no play since galuda totally consumes almost all of my shmup time.

PROMETHEUS · Post by **PROMETHEUS** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 3:51 pm

Don't forget you can also try the older ones like Dodonpachi / ESPrade / Guwange on MAME with your PC. They're kinda kick-ass as well.

And welcome aboard yo~

Never_Scurred · Post by **Never_Scurred** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 5:19 pm

PROMETHEUS wrote:Don't forget you can also try the older ones like Dodonpachi / ESPrade / Guwange on MAME with your PC. They're VERY kick-ass as well.

And welcome aboard yo~

Fixed it for you

PROMETHEUS · Post by **PROMETHEUS** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 11:21 pm

Actually it's more like they're totally omgwtfpwnzor games. DON'T YOU MISS THEM OK ?????

Pirate1019 · Post by **Pirate1019** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 12:33 am

Non-cave? Let's see...well there's the Gunbird package if you don't want to play them in MAME. There's a couple Psyvariar releases. I heard Homura's pretty good and it's on it's way to my home now. Not sure about how good they are, but there's Twinkle Star Sprites: La petite princesse and Shienryu available too. While not imports, there is Gradius V and R-Type Final. You can either import Shikigami No Shiro and it's sequal or you can buy them as domestic releases. I forgot what the first Shiki game was called in the american release (mobile light force?), but the second was simply titled Castle Shikigami 2.

As for Ibara, which I hear is more Raizing-esque then Cave, only the Taito Best was axed, the original was still released, although it can be a tad difficult to find for reasonable price.

There's other, more obscure shmups out there. Good luck hunting down everything. Hope I helped.

EDIT: Can't forget Giga Wing Generations and Trizeal: Shooting Love.

DBHashman93 · Post by **DBHashman93** » Sat May 05, 2007 4:24 am

Just an update...got the swap disk and magic keys in as well as Mushi. Swap disk works great and despite the problems I've heard about with the Mushi port I'm loving it! I don't notice the graphics anyways...all I see are waves of purple coming at me

but so far I can reach the third level without dying on manic (can't pass the boss on one credit yet though...). So yeah thanks again for all the help, I'm loving the manic style and dodonpachi DOJ and ESPgaluda are on the way!

gundamalpha · Post by **gundamalpha** » Sat May 05, 2007 5:52 am

Pirate1019 wrote:Non-cave? Let's see...well there's the Gunbird package if you don't want to play them in MAME. There's a couple Psyvariar releases. I heard Homura's pretty good and it's on it's way to my home now. Not sure about how good they are, but there's Twinkle Star Sprites: La petite princesse and Shienryu available too. While not imports, there is Gradius V and R-Type Final. You can either import Shikigami No Shiro and it's sequal or you can buy them as domestic releases. I forgot what the first Shiki game was called in the american release (mobile light force?), but the second was simply titled Castle Shikigami 2.

As for Ibara, which I hear is more Raizing-esque then Cave, only the Taito Best was axed, the original was still released, although it can be a tad difficult to find for reasonable price.

There's other, more obscure shmups out there. Good luck hunting down everything. Hope I helped.

EDIT: Can't forget Giga Wing Generations and Trizeal: Shooting Love.

no raiden 3?

Damocles · Post by **Damocles** » Sat May 05, 2007 5:52 am

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/348187

durias · Post by **durias** » Sat May 05, 2007 6:52 am

Hi DBHashman93!

I'm new here, too. This is how I shmup...

1. Like you, I too am taking advantage of all the cheap classic shmups on the Wii's Virtual Console. Sounds like there are more to come, too.
2. Acquired Ikaruga because a) it's one of the best b) it'll play on the Wii. It wasn't cheap, however. There doesn't seem to be very many other GameCube shmups although Radio Allergy and Tumiki Fighters (Wii) are imminent.
3. Got my hands on a Sega Saturn for $35 at a local shop. Lots of imports available here. Some Saturn shmups are super expensive but most of 'em aren't. Keep an eye out on eBay and Craigslist.
4. Eyeing a PS2 so I can play domestic and import Playstation games. It's pretty cool that you can get a brand new PS2 for $125.

Enjoy! And PM me if you like. I'm not an expert by any means but I've done a lot of research and question-asking over the past several weeks and I'm happy to share.

Havin' fun!!!

Pirate1019 · Post by **Pirate1019** » Sat May 05, 2007 7:06 am

gundamalpha wrote:no raiden 3?

Must have slipped my mind.