Virtual Console Shmup Roundup article

szycag · Post by **szycag** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 5:37 am

http://www.electricpickleonline.com/?p=51

Wrote this article for a good friend of mine's website. Among all 22 shmups currently for the VC in North America I picked the best and worst 5. Admittedly there's not too much trash on there so far, it's more of a guide for people unfamiliar with the genre looking to take the leap. I wonder if I'll get any hateful comments about not including Galaga...

How would you guys rearrange the list? Anything you would have said differently?

PS There are some other really interesting articles on his site as well. I recommend the one about the Gamecube service disc. Really bizarre.

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 7:35 am

Will be checking out Dead Moon this weekend for sure.

Post by **Ghegs** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 9:51 am

I imagine Xevious on the "Must skip" -list might be a red wavy flag for some...personally I agree with you. Hell, I'd skip the arcade original as well.

Good stuff.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 9:55 am

Psychosis is good.

+Air Zonk to must play

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 12:43 pm

Ghegs wrote:I imagine Xevious on the "Must skip" -list might be a red wavy flag for some...personally I agree with you. Hell, I'd skip the arcade original as well.

Bull shit. The XBox live version of Xevious is pretty near perfect, and so is the game.

But yeah, why on earth would one download the Wii console version??? Worthless.

I agree, btw, with your lists, though I have passed so far on Axelay. Never got into it on the SNES. And I would put Zanac first.

Post by **Ghegs** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 1:58 pm

professor ganson wrote:
Ghegs wrote:I imagine Xevious on the "Must skip" -list might be a red wavy flag for some...personally I agree with you. Hell, I'd skip the arcade original as well.
Bull shit. The XBox live version of Xevious is pretty near perfect, and so is the game.

Heh, I -knew- it would be you to say this.

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 2:50 pm

Shmup history all fine and well, but on the few occasions I played Xevious I kept wondering why people played THIS for even five minutes when we have hundreds of superior shooters at our fingertips today. I just found it drab and annoying with nothing it has going for it today except "historical meaning". To me, all it does is reminding me how much better shmups have gotten.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 5:33 pm

FrederikJurk wrote:Shmup history all fine and well, but on the few occasions I played Xevious I kept wondering why people played THIS for even five minutes when we have hundreds of superior shooters at our fingertips today. I just found it drab and annoying with nothing it has going for it today except "historical meaning". To me, all it does is reminding me how much better shmups have gotten.

Xevious stands to the tradition of vertical shooters as the original Contra to run-n-gun shooters. Both are absolutely classic. And they still have much to offer for people who appreciate near flawless execution of simple but innovative gameplay ideas. I disagree that there are hundreds of superior shooters. No more than there are hundreds of platformers better than the original SMB. I can understand why plenty of people here prefer more adrenaline-pumping shooters. That's fine. And yes, we now have more complex, interesting scoring systems. But none of this makes Xevious less remarkable. Just different.

it290 · Post by **it290** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 5:38 pm

Even when Xevious came out, though, there were other games (other games by Namco, nonetheless) that offered more refined and interesting shooting, just without the continous scrolling. It's certainly playable, but the challenge just builds up so slowly that it becomes a chore to restart, IMO.

szycag · Post by **szycag** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 5:43 pm

I'm glad you agree with me on the VC NES version of Xevious. I enjoy the 360/arcade version too. I'm pretty close to a 200/200 in that game, I just need to destroy 500 air-based enemies and I'm done.

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 5:54 pm

I like the ports of Xevious with Xevious 3D/G+. The game was innovative for its time and I like how it has something of a rank system. It's also fun to try and find the hidden towers. The NES Xevious is a good port, but not really a good choice for the VC. Isn't Xevious also in Namco Museum 50th for GCN/PS2/Xbox?

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 6:07 pm

szycag wrote:I'm glad you agree with me on the VC NES version of Xevious. I enjoy the 360/arcade version too. I'm pretty close to a 200/200 in that game, I just need to destroy 500 air-based enemies and I'm done.

I'm glad that you agree abou the 360 version! Awesome achievements!

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 1:23 am

Rob wrote:Psychosis is good.

+Air Zonk to must play

Yeah, that one looks sweet! How is the PCE-CD sequel, though?

MathU · Post by **MathU** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 1:46 am

You forgot R-Type III.

szycag · Post by **szycag** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 5:59 am

I gave it a favorable opinion in the "among it's peers" section of the r-type segment.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 6:03 am

dave4shmups wrote:How is the PCE-CD sequel, though?

I hear it's not as good as the original. I have no idea how they could screw up that formula, but definitely play Air Zonk. It's worth playing just to see it (best power-ups ever).

ubersaurus · Post by **ubersaurus** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 6:16 pm

Axelay? REALLY? I'm sorry, but that game hasn't aged very well.

szycag · Post by **szycag** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 8:10 pm

Horis that don't have you dodging land masses and stuff feel weird to me, even though it works fine for most verts. It just takes some getting used to in a hori. But yeah, Air Zonk was just open air 99% of the time, and Super Air Zonk adds land masses and stuff which makes it feel a bit less empty. Most people complained because there wasn't a huge graphics leap, it doesn't feel as inspired as the first, it's a bit shorter, etc. They're both really good actually, and now they're even comparable in pricing, honestly if I had a slot 6...

Depending on the day, ubersaurus, I'd be inclined to agree with you about Axelay, but I think it's really good about it's bells and whistles, which might appeal to the people the article is targeted at. Emulator junkies might also justify the purchase because that game still has a few minor problems in ZSNES.

MathU · Post by **MathU** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 8:10 pm

ubersaurus wrote:Axelay? REALLY? I'm sorry, but that game hasn't aged very well.

I agree. Half the stages suck.

Post by **nZero** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 4:28 am

szycag wrote:Emulator junkies might also justify the purchase because that game still has a few minor problems in ZSNES.

Or they could play it in BSNES.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 4:56 am

ubersaurus wrote: that game hasn't aged very well.

Every Super Nintendo game.

ubersaurus · Post by **ubersaurus** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 5:07 am

Rob wrote:
ubersaurus wrote: that game hasn't aged very well.
Every Super Nintendo game.

Super Mario RPG and Yoshi's Island are as lovely today as it was 12 years ago

Zebra Airforce · Post by **Zebra Airforce** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 5:13 am

Rob wrote: Every Super Nintendo game.

I think he meant ever SNES Shooter

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 5:31 am

I wonder if the PCE Xevious will reach the VC. It has a chance since both Namco and Compile TG-16 games have been put on the VC. Unlike the NES one, this one offers something over the arcade, a whole new game.

Post by **spadgy** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 11:50 am

I liked the article, and what a great site. A nice eclectic range of articles too - loved the Gamecube Service Disk stuff. Guess they'll go up in price on eBay if we all go and read it!

shmups.system11.org

Virtual Console Shmup Roundup article

Virtual Console Shmup Roundup article

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