Shmups with the best *Enemy* patterns

[sfried]

Someone mentioned before that alot of danmakku bullet patterns seems to have stemmed from the search of effective enemy waves patters. Can anybody name shooters that make use of (rather nice looking) enemy wave formations effectively? I know Treasure's are usually notorius for this, but I also think I've seen some in Blazing Star. I could be wrong...

[Turrican]

I remember that SMS Aleste had some tricky patterns. Generally Compile has good sense of enemy placement imho.

[jpj]

1. ikaruga
2. radiant silvergun
3. ?

[FIL]

The star soldier series caravan modes have great enemy formations.

[sfried]

I remember that SMS Aleste had some tricky patterns. Generally Compile has good sense of enemy placement imho.

By Compile, does that include "ex-Compile" stuff? (a.k.a. Milestone)

[Turrican]

I remember that SMS Aleste had some tricky patterns. Generally Compile has good sense of enemy placement imho.

By Compile, does that include "ex-Compile" stuff? (a.k.a. Milestone)

Sorry, on those i cannot say - still have to play any of the Milestone games.

[Square King]

Ikaruga was the first one that came to mind.

[Thunder Force]

Can anybody name shooters that make use of (rather nice looking) enemy wave formations effectively?

The 1995 Galaga Arrangement has some of the most spectacular enemy movement patterns/formations you'll see.

[it290]

Under Defeat is, to my thinking, a work of genius in terms of level design and enemy placement, specifically the way that enemies move about and interact with the environment. The whole thing flows extremely naturally, yet your timing has to be extremely precise to nail every enemy.

In the same vein, Viper Phase 1 also offers some great enemy placement.. actually, I think the same could be said about Seibu games in general. It seems that games which offer a shot down bonus are usually pretty good about placement (Trizeal also springs to mind).

On another note, the Shikigami no Shiro series seems to concentrate on formations a great deal, since playing for score involves positioning your character in such a way as to destroy enemies effectively while grazing.

[lgb]

The first ones that came to mind were Ikaruga and 1942.

[Ceph]

Space Invaders.

[shoe-sama]

enemies come in formations!?

[320x240]

Rapid Hero.

[Frederik]

Recca has some frantic formations. Some of them are so hectic you are more likely to die from panicing than from the actual threat.

[sfried]

enemies come in formations!?

Where have you been all this time?

Recca has some frantic formations. Some of them are so hectic you are more likely to die from panicing than from the actual threat.

Some of the flight patterns in that game remind me of Galaga.

On another note, the Shikigami no Shiro series seems to concentrate on formations a great deal, since playing for score involves positioning your character in such a way as to destroy enemies effectively while grazing.

It seems the reason why it works is because the bullet patterns themselves are predictibly simple and don't fan as much like other danmakku games, therefore they could dedicate real-estate to enemy manuvers.

[MX7]

Yeah, I was going to say Recca too. I love those long streams of enemies. Omega Fighter's placement can be quite similar, and because of its proximity based scoring sytem, like Ikaruga it really forces you to play the enemy positions perfectly for a big score.

[320x240]

I find Recca throws to many formations at you at the same time, so you can't get at them all. Compile games have a lot of this too. It could have to do with the vertizontal aspect. Of course I like my games focused and not 'stretched' out.

[Ed Oscuro]

The classic Toaplan games don't throw tons of enemies at you due to the hardware, but the enemy placement is very carefully done. One of my favorites is the wave of red planes (assuming no misses) that circles in front of the second shack past the waterfront in stage 1; I position my plane to the left of that shack and blast the tank which otherwise comes out right as you're trying to get the powerup.

Generally speaking, Toaplan did really well with placing enemies right where you didn't want them to be, showing up when you were about to get a powerup. On the other hand, I've noticed that Mahou Daisakusen tends to keep enemies away when you're getting powerups (but in that game they'll fall off the screen if you don't get them).

Also, the first Truxton has some really tough minibosses and smaller battles with tough non-popcorn enemies. These can be tricky, and in some cases it might be a good idea to avoid them (i.e. the magnetic things that will rush for your location whenever you hit them, including by bomb; then there's the exploding glass jars from stage 2 or so).

[lgb]

On the other hand, I've noticed that Mahou Daisakusen tends to keep enemies away when you're getting powerups (but in that game they'll fall off the screen if you don't get them).

At a good fast rate; and you of course get extra points after you top out your main shot strength (100 points per coin, not bad) as well as the magic strength (1000 per book). Then you have to plan ahead to see what powerups you need here, then find all excess books and find a way to get them, and with coins (all for points).

Trying to grab an excess H book on stage 2 with a machine gun turret firing at you is not fun. You have to make the turret shoot where you aren't by hanging in a section (perferably the left side of the screen) where the book isn't until it starts firing. You could just wait for the book to float down were it not for the fact you STILL should be shooting those small cannons on the right.

Oops.

[PsikyoPshumpPshooterP]

that game thats getting ported

[ARCADIA]

How is Darius?

[kengou]

I just got G-Darius and while I like the bosses and general gameplay I'm not a fan of the enemy patterns. Most of the enemies come at you in predictable lines before drifting off the screen, or else there's the stages where enemies come at you from behind or right above and below, which really annoys me.

[elfhentaifan]

the dodonpachi - series sure is in common knowledge for that "intuitive enemy pattern" thing.
And lets ignore the difficulty there

[Shatterhand]

One of my favorites is the wave of red planes (assuming no misses) that circles in front of the second shack past the waterfront in stage 1; I position my plane to the left of that shack and blast the tank which otherwise comes out right as you're trying to get the powerup.

What game are you talking about? You mentioned Toaplan but forgot to mention the game


Milestone's game, as far as I have played from them, aren't all that hot. I expected a lot from Radirgy and got really dissapointed. It doesn't fell much like compile at all.

[nimitz]

Trigon - Konami - 1990

and

Blast Off - Namco - 1989 (the whole game is pretty much base on enemy formations)

[ARCADIA]

1. ikaruga
2. radiant silvergun
3. ?

Twinkle Star Sprites for the 3rd place.

[nimitz]

I forgot

Galmedes - Visco - 1992

[Zebra Airforce]

Gradius Series!

[sfried]

Gradius Series!

I think it reached it's hieght with the whole asteroid thing in Gradius V, but that's probably because of Treasure's involvement.

[roker]

Armed Police Batrider
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