Free Euro-Shmups for PC??...

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 2:20 am

I've seen quite a lot of doujin listed on this site, some free, some not, but since I love Euro-Shmups, I'd love to know if there are any free one's (full games, not demos) for download onto our PC.

moozooh · Post by **moozooh** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 2:54 am

I haven't heard of a single game that is both a euroshmup and a doujin, to be honest. :\

Necronom · Post by **Necronom** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 12:01 pm

@dave4shmups

Guess it depends a little bit on what you really consider "Euro" about a shmup. Big hitbox, a focus on shiny graphics?
There are quite some remakes and freeware shooters done by teams and individuals from Europe.

ProtoTypeII is very nice though I'm not sure whether the author is European (not that it matters anyway...)

http://www.the2bears.com/?p=1214

If you fancy Cactus' weird 8-bit style you should maybe try Akuchizoku

http://www.the2bears.com/?p=1211

I also enjoyed Smila's Wizball remake which is obviously more of a boarderliner but still one of the best remakes I've ever seen and played

http://retrospec.sgn.net/game-overview.php?link=wizball

Imho, the best european freeware title is Hurrican, not a shmup at all, but one hell of a game...when played with a pad.

http://www.hurrican-game.de/

Hard to call them Euro-shmups to be honest but they do have some Euro/ Amiga feel to them...

320x240 · Post by **320x240** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 12:18 pm

You don't get more euro than Hurrican. It has that "made by Lego" look. Still, the game is fun in a way. I only wish they got rid of those damn birds. They ruin gameplay.

Anyway, it's not in the European mentality to spend hours on something and then not make other people pay for the finished product - unless it's a remake.

Gaping Wolf Software's Adagio may count:

http://www.gapingwolf.com/

320x240 · Post by **320x240** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 12:24 pm

What about this one? It's German too. You can't beat that.

http://www.hornado.de/english/download.html

Edited to say: Oh yes!

320x240 · Post by **320x240** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 12:48 pm

The French-developed Lethal Judgement games may be to your liking:

http://www.bgames.org/gamesen.html

And don't forget Poke 53280's Takatis:

http://www.poke53280.de/artikel/index.php?artcat=0

Necronom · Post by **Necronom** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 1:22 pm

"Anyway, it's not in the European mentality to spend hours on something and then not make other people pay for the finished product - unless it's a remake."

Err...you really think so? Kinda strange that the demoscene is mainly a European thing then.

FIL · Post by **FIL** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 1:29 pm

I think he's more referring to the shareware scene, which is/was also very large and very European.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 7:25 pm

Necronom wrote:@dave4shmups

Guess it depends a little bit on what you really consider "Euro" about a shmup. Big hitbox, a focus on shiny graphics?
There are quite some remakes and freeware shooters done by teams and individuals from Europe.

ProtoTypeII is very nice though I'm not sure whether the author is European (not that it matters anyway...)

http://www.the2bears.com/?p=1214

If you fancy Cactus' weird 8-bit style you should maybe try Akuchizoku

http://www.the2bears.com/?p=1211

I also enjoyed Smila's Wizball remake which is obviously more of a boarderliner but still one of the best remakes I've ever seen and played

http://retrospec.sgn.net/game-overview.php?link=wizball

Imho, the best european freeware title is Hurrican, not a shmup at all, but one hell of a game...when played with a pad.

http://www.hurrican-game.de/

Hard to call them Euro-shmups to be honest but they do have some Euro/ Amiga feel to them...

I dig Lethal Judgement so far, but I don't know if it's the "full" game or not. I can't get Hurrican or ProtoType II to install, though, and Wizball
will start up on our PC, but after that, it's not responding to any key or joypad commands-I can't get past the start screen, in other words.

Honestly, I'd love to take some PC classes to beef up my resume, even though I'm working, but I just seem to suck with PC's.

Necronom · Post by **Necronom** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 12:00 pm

Hmmm, actually ProtoType 2 doesn't have any install, just unzip ShmupDev4.zip and start the exe inside the folder.
Regarding Hurrican, hope you went after the full game (Hurrican Full Version 1.0.0.4) and not just the update exe.

http://www.poke53280.de/download/categ.php?cat=1

Whole thing should be around 40 MB. With Wizball I really don't know what could be the problem here. Try to fire it up without any pads connected to your PC first. You should be able to skip the start screen with space bar. If nothing works you could also look for a solution here:
http://www.retroremakes.com/forum2/show ... php?t=6548

320x240 · Post by **320x240** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 12:41 pm

dave4shmups wrote:I dig Lethal Judgement so far, but I don't know if it's the "full" game or not.

It's listed as a full game at shootthecore.

doodude · Post by **doodude** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 1:32 pm

Just played LethalForce4. Thought it was enjoyable & well done.

Thanks for all the links from all corners...

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 5:22 pm

Necronom wrote:Hmmm, actually ProtoType 2 doesn't have any install, just unzip ShmupDev4.zip and start the exe inside the folder.
Regarding Hurrican, hope you went after the full game (Hurrican Full Version 1.0.0.4) and not just the update exe.

http://www.poke53280.de/download/categ.php?cat=1

Whole thing should be around 40 MB. With Wizball I really don't know what could be the problem here. Try to fire it up without any pads connected to your PC first. You should be able to skip the start screen with space bar. If nothing works you could also look for a solution here:
http://www.retroremakes.com/forum2/show ... php?t=6548

Ok, thanks Necronom!