Shmups- An acquired taste?

Kaiser · Post by **Kaiser** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 8:50 am

Star Force on Nes got me into love for shmups when i was 5... yes i played the original nes version from 1984-1985 not US version from 1990.... hell yes
i still remember getting past omicron zone

zinger · Post by **zinger** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 8:54 am

I didn't care what I played as a kid. Anything with a cool box art would do. I was instantly hooked when I tried some shooters in MAME a few years back though.

Gorecki · Post by **Gorecki** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 1:05 pm

To be honest I was far more interested in the genre when I first got into it and took them as a purely visceral thrill. The more I learn about game mechanics, scoring and so on, the less I appreciate certain games. Also the amount of dedication and time it takes to beat even the moderately difficult shmups is a big problem with my current hectic city lifestyle.

Having said all that though I still love the games and I reckon I'll be trying to smash my highscores for many years to come.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 1:25 pm

Gorecki wrote:To be honest I was far more interested in the genre when I first got into it and took them as a purely visceral thrill. The more I learn about game mechanics, scoring and so on, the less I appreciate certain games.

The same happens to me. Ignorance is bliss, it seems.

But the thing is to learn things slowly. When you get something like, say, Battle Garegga, you play it without thinking about it too much, and then you read a strategy guide for it, you learn like 200 new things, and try to do everything at the same time.

People who write those guides learned all this stuff dedicating hours and hours with the game, and they didn't discover everything at the same time. If you try to pick up things slowly, you have more chance to succeed AND enjoy the game properly.

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 1:53 pm

Shatterhand wrote:
Gorecki wrote:To be honest I was far more interested in the genre when I first got into it and took them as a purely visceral thrill. The more I learn about game mechanics, scoring and so on, the less I appreciate certain games.
The same happens to me. Ignorance is bliss, it seems.

funny, im the other way around, the more shmups i play the more i appreciate the genre.

i very rarely play anything else these days.. i think halo 2 was the last non-shmup i played thru actually and games i can recognise as quality titles do not seem to hold any interest for me anymore.
i STILL havent played thru resident evil 4 for instance (inspite of owning it for ages) even tho i hold the first 3 as some of my alltime favourite games.

grovsnus · Post by **grovsnus** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 5:07 pm

The first console I owned was a Sega Megadrive, and when I played Hellfire it took the spot as my fave game. Then I sold my gear and stopped gaming until about two years ago, when the retro bug bit me. I got a Neo Geo, followed by a Super Famicom and just recently a Saturn. Now I'm actively exploring the genre, collecting the shmups on these platforms that seem interesting. I don't exclusively play shmups, but at least 50% of my gaming time is devoted to the genre.

So to answer the question, for me the fascination was immediate, but lack of funds kept me from playing many games and later my lack of interest in videogaming in general kept me out of the loop. I'm back now with adequate funds and pretty high interest.

Sonic R · Post by **Sonic R** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 5:33 pm

Gorecki wrote:To be honest I was far more interested in the genre when I first got into it and took them as a purely visceral thrill. The more I learn about game mechanics, scoring and so on, the less I appreciate certain games. Also the amount of dedication and time it takes to beat even the moderately difficult shmups is a big problem with my current hectic city lifestyle.

Having said all that though I still love the games and I reckon I'll be trying to smash my highscores for many years to come.

I am share these feelings here.

When I try to play many games for score, some games become rubbish to me -- prime example: ESPGaluda. I bought this game and found it pretty decent until I watch the DVD and "learn" about scoring. Then I try to play that way and I hate the game. I sold it--I almost never sell my games. There was a point last year that I almost give up on shooting games because everyone I know now is play them for score and I try to fit in but fail and then I was ready to quit…but I go back to the way I like to play and find my self having fun again.

Answering original question, I always love shooting games. I first play them on the NES and during the 16-bit days and times, they became my favorite games to play. Today, I find the most fun playing these same 16-bit classics. I enjoy playing modern games today but find the old games the best.

PFG 9000 · Post by **PFG 9000** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 5:59 pm

Excluding run 'n gun games like Contra, I had only played a handful of shooters until around 2001 when I first tried Gradius III SNES. I hated it. With a passion. But after a week or so I got the uge to give it another shot, and I hated it slightly less that time. Eventually I started trying to prove that I don't altogether suck at the game (note: still working on this) and eventually I got hooked on the genre.

Enhasa · Post by **Enhasa** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:52 pm

It's weird, I always thought shmups would be one genre where it would be pretty obvious whether or not you liked it from the beginning, compared to others like RPG, FPS, RTS. Well my story is boring because I fall into the situation I just described. I never paid much attention to score until recent years though, probably starting with Ikaruga.

Fenrir · Post by **Fenrir** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:55 pm

I don't know why I've always liked shmups to death. It's probably been one of those genres that I bought/played just because I was irresistibly attracted to it, not just because they're nice to look at, or to hear, or to "play".
Since my first shmup (I guess some pirated software on the C64) I've been addicted to the adrenaline zing, the bullet avoiding, the giant monsters / spaceships that just went boom, with fire and stuff.
I like epic stuff, and I think that the "crescendo" of every shmup is something that it's incredibly dramatic and epic. You start being nothing against nothing, and you end up being god against god. What's behind that wall? What lies underneath that layer? What lies beyond? Like in Blood Money, or Macross, or Ikaruga, or Mushihimesama, or Philosoma, everywhere, the further you go, the further you discover. You feel more and more unwelcome, your enemies are full of rage.
That sort of things really makes my blood flow really freakin' fast

Davey · Post by **Davey** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 10:06 pm

zinger wrote:I didn't care what I played as a kid. Anything with a cool box art would do. I was instantly hooked when I tried some shooters in MAME a few years back though.

Yep. I must not have found shmups visually appealing as a kid, because I never played them until college.

stuminator wrote:Since I found the shmups forum I hardly play games from any other genre anymore.

Yep. Just shmups, puzzle games, and some rhythm games for me. Or anything that's crazy fast, really, but most stuff isn't. These games totally ruin your gaming attention span.

Gorecki wrote:To be honest I was far more interested in the genre when I first got into it and took them as a purely visceral thrill. The more I learn about game mechanics, scoring and so on, the less I appreciate certain games.

Yep. It's kind of ironic how shmups can be so frenetic and chaotic on the surface, yet so rigid and technical once you dive in.

shoe-sama · Post by **shoe-sama** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 1:06 am

stuminator wrote:I'd played them off and on as a kid, but only started seriously playing them about a year ago. Since I found the shmups forum I hardly play games from any other genre anymore.

Pirate1019 · Post by **Pirate1019** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 2:38 am

I'm another one who went backwards. I was bored with modern gaming and looked for some cool stuff. I saw Gunroar on a segment of Attack of the Show and as soon as I heard that Kevin guy (That's his name right?) say "It's all about the highscore" I was forever lost to the shmup abyss. After that I moved on to every other ABA game and Ikaruga.

I suppose you can consider me a rescued soul. I am only 17 so the chances of me finding my way back to arcade games was slim to none.

No_not_like_Quake · Post by **No_not_like_Quake** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 2:41 am

I was initially put off by their (seemingly) difficulty. Then in 1990, I rented the Japanese version of Arrow Flash (that store used to saw off the edges of MD carts so they could fit into the Genesis cartridge slot) and found it easy and it left me wanting more, harder challenges. I think either M.U.S.H.A. or TFIII made the genre one of my favorites

doctorx0079 · Post by **doctorx0079** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 5:17 am

I've recounted this before, but, I started playing Centipede at Chris Thompson's birthday party at Razzmatazz Family Fun Center circa 1984. The rest is history.

Blue Peace · Post by **Blue Peace** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 11:52 am

My first time was Gradius V but I didnt realy pay attention to that game.
After that somehow I got to youtube watching DoDonpachi videos and then I got hooked up,since then im playing alot of shmups and im enjoying every second of it

shmups.system11.org

Shmups- An acquired taste?

Were shmups an acquired taste for you?