Favorite shmup explosions.

[MadSteelDarkness]

I love ESPGaluda's boss explosions, particularly when the entire screen shakes.

Mmmmm...satisfying .

[JBC]

Gradius V -
i love the explosion at the end when the Venom brain goes kamikaze.

Darius Gaiden -
It's super-fun to kill the Golden Ogre with a black hole and watch him start exploding right after.

Viper - Phase 1 -
The green explosions that that one weopon gives you. Thier is no impact in a game more satisfying.

ThunderForce IV -
When you kill the last guy and see your ship trying to fly away from the explosion. Your little ship shatters in the blast as the screen goes black and white - it's very cool to watch.

Pulstar -
I like it when the final boss dies. Cause that explosion means you don't have to get your ass reamed anymore.

[tehkao]

I still think that no shmup before or since has given as much detail and attention to explosions/deaths as Raiden II/DX.

I mean, things don't just blow up in Raiden II...they shatter, spew debris, fall down, explode in a million pieces, and then leave a big crater....

[320x240]

I really like the boss explosions in Cho Ren Cha. The sound and the graphics compliment each other well.

[FIL]

Darius Gaiden and Metal Black, not so much for the boss explosion but all the weird swirly background stuff.

[moonblood]

Viper phase 1 & Strikers 1945+

[JoshF]

I always liked the crunchy sound of explosions in the Sonic Wings series.

[sfried]

Ikaruga's big boss explotion with intentional slow-down for effect.

[Afterbirth]

Do you know - i'm glad someone brought this up.
I love explosions done well in games.
My personal favorite is Under Defeat but the Raiden and Aerofighters (bosses) games also do a good job.

[1up]

I really like the boss explotions in the Raiden Fighters series. While youre blasting away the boss catches fire and when its all shot up, it will "stall", in lack of a better word, a bright white flash appears followed by a good explosion.

[unsane]

Viper Phase 1

[pixelcorps]

i lke muchi muchi pork's.. very voluminous and fiery..

I think they use FUMEFX to create them.

[ROBOTRON]

Under Defeat kinda owns this thread. Other notable mentions:

Border Down
R-Type Final
Layer Section
Gradius V

[elvis]

Under Defeat

I remember the first time I dropped a bomb in Under Defeat. There was an initial "so what?" moment, followed by an "oooh wow". Great stuff.

I also like the boss deaths in Psyvariar 2. Very satisfying explosions.

[StoofooEsq]

Gradius V, and by the same token, Ikaruga. The overly dramatic, slow-motion death explosion of a boss is like an ultimate sign of triumph over a formidable opponent. I can't ever get tired of seeing them.

The explosions from the bombs in the earlier games of the Raiden Series have always been a personal favorite of mine. In particular, the very first bomb that unleashed a nuclear-like, mushroom cloud of firery death shortly after you hear it careening towards the ground.

However, I think Under Defeat steals this thread. All of this game's explosions look incredibly good. Even the explosions from minor enemies look highly detailed.

[dpful]

Gradius V bosses--- The slow motion junk followed by a red hot image of the boss burned into your retinas (that's the effect)-- I thought that was very sophisticated.

Boss explosions on Truxton are great with the darkened shell left over.

Shienryu's explosions kick ass with their 2-D-ness plus tranparencies.

Strikers 1945 plus's are incredibly smooth

Hot Dog Storm's pack a punch.

Donpachi's are great with some nice diagonal flame licks thrown in and some totally traditional chunk scatter.

Second Raiden II boss death rules! Explosion, screaming/groaning fall to earth, bigger explosion leaving carnage.

player death in cyvern always gives me a thrill with it's bio-dragon scream.

A full powered viper phase 1 napalm is a great thrill, same with a full powered nuke in earth defense force.

I still love the salamander blast in aerofighters 2

[BIL]

I still think that no shmup before or since has given as much detail and attention to explosions/deaths as Raiden II/DX.

I mean, things don't just blow up in Raiden II...they shatter, spew debris, fall down, explode in a million pieces, and then leave a big crater....

Hell yeah. Raiden DX is my personal favourite, narrowly beating Under Defeat. There's something acrid about DX's destruction... the smouldering craters left behind by larger enemies look like they'd be unpleasant to be within a hundred feet of. And as another detail, there's nothing like seeing a previously pristine suburb getting reduced to burning ruins during the course of DX's Expert Stage 2.

Psyvariar 2 - Interesting take on the Ikaruga "megaton explosion" style. Although the boss explosions are huge, they're more about blinding white-hot intensity than titanic scale. Speaking of which -

Gradius V - Specifically Blaster Cannon Core (Stage 5). BOOOOOOOOM. Looks like a threat to the Vic in itself.

Samidare - Stage 1 Boss Sylphid's death. The buildup looks like your typical "nuclear meltdown" boss demise, but the actual explosion has a way sharper impact which seems to punch a dent into the cloud cover.

Under Defeat - I love the way enemy helicopters die in this game, particularly the annoying sniper type. Especially when you've got one spiralling all over the screen while you're busy taking out his pals. Excellent smoke effects, too, sometimes hazardously so. Very riveting effect, having a massive cloud of debris obscuring both your chopper and enemy ones, with bullets flying back and forth in the darkness.

[popawell]

Another vote for Viper Phase 1.

Just about everything short of fodder smokes, burns, explodes, leaves a dead hulk, breaks apart, then unleashes a loud resonating BOOOOOM.

[EllertMichael]

I love the boss explosions in Ketsui, how the whole screen rumbles. Especially the Stage 3 mid boss battleship.
Do any other games have screen shaking explosions like that?
Ketsui & ESPgaluda are the only ones that come to mind. I think it's a really cool effect!

[ZacharyB]

I love the "shrieking" explosions of large enemies in Thunder Force V (and XOP)

[charlie chong]

dodonpachi on saturn extra pixelz

[Zeron]

G-REV games have nice booms

[Uzumakijl]

I love how your ship explodes in Batrider.

PS. Necromancy.

[Obiwanshinobi]

First stage lizard boss in Sonic Wings 2
Raiden 1-2-DX
DonPachi (DDPs are nowhere near)
Assault (choppy as they are)

[BPzeBanshee]

I like Raiden Project's "bass" explosions, it makes my TV shakes really bad, but it's cool.

This guy's TV must've been AWESOME playing Raiden II.

But yeah, they're my favourite. XOP doesn't really count since it just ripped off Raiden II's sound most of the time though.

[Nick420]

Gradius V

[Gespenst]

G-Darius boss explosion


and Einhander.

[BIL]

Everything I said four years back, plus Satazius. Astro Port's explosions have a certain vicious, metal-on-metal sense impact I can't get enough of, in both this and Gigantic Army.

[Deca]

Raizing is really the beginning and end of this thread.

I do really like the ridiculously loud explosion caused if you just focus on the center of DDPs st2 boss without blowing up the sides on their own first. Played some Gun Frontier last night and it had some pretty good explosions.

Edit: Darius Gaiden has one of the coolest bombs ever.

[Skykid]

Ketsui boss explosions. Nuke the forest.