most awesome/crazy japanese shmup smartbomb explosions?

racter · Post by **racter** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 2:25 am

hi yall

i'm doing a photo-essay for a new arts journal, comprised of screenshots of 'smartbomb' explosions in japanese shmups (ie the ubiquitous secondary weapon that wipes out all the enemies on the screen).

just looking for recommendations of games to play & screencap. what are your favorite and/or most fucked up smartbomb explosions?

i'll post the essay here when i'm done with it too

thanks!
jake

jpj · Post by **jpj** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 2:28 am

i'm sure i'm alone on this one, but the Hyper Sword in radiant silvergun. although it looks great in motion, not sure how cool it looks as a screencap.

i think under defeat had a cool bomb

Mills · Post by **Mills** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 2:41 am

Strikers 1945 Plus/Psikyo, has good animated explosions. Truxton2/Toaplan, had accurately colourful explosions in terms of how the gases form. RaidenDx/Seibu Kaihatsui, had very detailed looking explosions. Truxton2 had a ridiculous player/ship bomb explosion which formed into a skull.

Udderdude · Post by **Udderdude** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 3:06 am

Not sure why it's called a "smartbomb" when it indiscriminately blows up everything in sight. Anyway, my vote would go to the good ol' fashioned DDP laser bomb.

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 3:34 am

Udderdude wrote:Not sure why it's called a "smartbomb" when it indiscriminately blows up everything in sight.

It doesn't kill you, now does it

My vote also goes to the Truxton games (both of them). KINGDOM FOR SKULL

BIL · Post by **BIL** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 3:39 am

I'd mention Under Defeat's carpet bomb, too. Definitely a "non-minimalist" bomb! Very satisfying to unleash that thing when cornered, and have everything on the screen either spiralling out of control or straight-up exploding when the flames clear. The high-pitched shriek that precedes the bomb itself is a cool touch, too.

Oh, and Darius Gaiden has a really cool-looking bomb. The lightning bolts look awesome when screencapped, as does the rainbow color distortion it causes.

Post by **Dave_K.** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 3:55 am

The term smartbomb came from Defender/Stargate where it makes every enemy on screen explore in a shower of pixels, while leaving humans in the air or on ground unharmed. Of course you have to catch the humans in the air before they splatter onto the ground. Never seen better in any japanese shmup.

elfhentaifan · Post by **elfhentaifan** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 4:03 am

Bill wrote:I'd mention Under Defeat's carpet bomb, too. Definitely a "non-minimalist" bomb! Very satisfying to unleash that thing when cornered, and have everything on the screen either spiralling out of control or straight-up exploding when the flames clear. The high-pitched shriek that precedes the bomb itself is a cool touch, too.

I agree to this statement.
Under Defeat has some powerful smartbombs that even seem to make your tv explode.

racter · Post by **racter** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 4:13 am

Mills wrote:Strikers 1945 Plus/Psikyo, has good animated explosions. Truxton2/Toaplan, had accurately colourful explosions in terms of how the gases form. RaidenDx/Seibu Kaihatsui, had very detailed looking explosions. Truxton2 had a ridiculous player/ship bomb explosion which formed into a skull.

wow thanks this sounds fantastic

Udderdude wrote:Not sure why it's called a "smartbomb" when it indiscriminately blows up everything in sight.

ya i know what you mean. do you know any other terms used for this kind of weapon in shmups?

Udderdude wrote:Anyway, my vote would go to the good ol' fashioned DDP laser bomb.

by DDP you mean DoDonPachi rite?

Bill wrote:I'd mention Under Defeat's carpet bomb, too. Definitely a "non-minimalist" bomb! Very satisfying to unleash that thing when cornered, and have everything on the screen either spiralling out of control or straight-up exploding when the flames clear. The high-pitched shriek that precedes the bomb itself is a cool touch, too.

Oh, and Darius Gaiden has a really cool-looking bomb. The lightning bolts look awesome when screencapped, as does the rainbow color distortion it causes.

ah bill this description is beautiful. i'd love to quote you on some of these descriptions if it's ok with you; would you pm me with your name/email ?

Dave_K. wrote:The term smartbomb came from Defender/Stargate where it makes every enemy on screen explore in a shower of pixels, while leaving humans in the air or on ground unharmed. Of course you have to catch the humans in the air before they splatter onto the ground. Never seen better in any japanese shmup.

thanks dave - this is really valuable information for me. when you say "never seen better in any japanese shmup" what do you mean?

thanks for the awesome tips yall!
-jake

Post by **undamned** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:53 am

Sort through these!

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=14885

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=9821

-ud

racter · Post by **racter** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 6:55 am

undamned wrote:Sort through these!

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=14885

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=9821

-ud

hey thanks for pointing me to these threads! it's great that you guys are already cataloging this stuff

i think shmups get passed over a lot in critical discussions of video games & it's important to see them reviewed with such passion & detail, which is what attracted me to this forum in the first place of course.

D · Post by D » Tue Mar 25, 2008 7:42 am

Check out the awesomely cool and sometimes funny smart bombs of all 26 ships in Sonic Wings Special. Somebody should .gif them all.

NAVVARR · Post by **NAVVARR** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 8:45 am

Check out Bangai-oh on the Dreamcast and N64- the way that all those reflective lasers and homing missiles shoot off on every direction taking out the enemies is cool as fook - although this strictly speaking isn't a smart bomb since it doesn't wipe out everything on screen.

nimitz · Post by **nimitz** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 10:03 am

No mention of Batrider??

IlMrm · Post by **IlMrm** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 10:11 am

Thanks Postman.

Post by **spadgy** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 10:58 am

IlMrm wrote:Thanks Postman.

All you need really! What's the one with the skull explosion. I feel I know it so well but can't place it...

I'm really looking forward to seeing your photo essay.

RGB · Post by **RGB** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 11:15 am

What's the one with the skull explosion. I feel I know it so well but can't place it...

It's Gekirindan. I was quite amazed when I first saw it too :}

Post by **Shatterhand** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 12:44 pm

IlMrm wrote:Thanks Postman.

Holy shit, I had never seen Under Defeat before. I NEED A DREAMCAST, I NEED A DREAMCAST, I NEED A DREAMCAST

Shocky · Post by **Shocky** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 1:05 pm

Shatterhand wrote:
IlMrm wrote:Thanks Postman.
Holy shit, I had never seen Under Defeat before. I NEED A DREAMCAST, I NEED A DREAMCAST, I NEED A DREAMCAST

Haha, that was my reaction too when Ghegs showed me Under Defeat a year ago. And I did just that, got a DC. The explosions are indeed godly, but I'm thirsting for EVEN MORE... more frames to the smart bomb animation and definitely more bass to the explosions (the explosion sounds in the video are not from UD). This game so screams for a "next gen" sequel.

Edit: Oh yeah, forgot to say that R-Type Delta and R-Type Final are full of inventive and beautiful smart bombs that distort reality itself.

Post by **Dave_K.** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 1:45 pm

IlMrm wrote:Thanks Postman.

Simply awesome! And yeah for Defender at the end there!!

I forgot how dramatic boss explosions in Grev's titles are (Under Defeat and Border Down).

lgb · Post by **lgb** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 1:56 pm

-Not exactly a "smartbomb", but larger enemies and bosses give a "BOMB" explosion in Zing Zing Zip.

-The Mahou bomb is good homage to Tatsujin.

-Yes, the D/DP Laser Bomb is indeed a work of art.

Elixeril and the demon crystal in Gundeadligne, and on that note, the 6 Matrix bombs, and the good ole super cannon thing that Eryth has in Gundemomium/Re: Collection.

BIL · Post by **BIL** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 2:08 pm

Shocky wrote:Edit: Oh yeah, forgot to say that R-Type Delta and R-Type Final are full of inventive and beautiful smart bombs that distort reality itself.

Ah, R-Type Delta! I knew I'd forgotten another favourite of mine. I love the R13's bomb in particular. Trippy but decidedly lethal-looking.

dpful · Post by **dpful** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:21 pm

Hotdog Storm's bomb is pretty rad

It always bugged me that the 'patchi's bombs were see-through.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 7:29 pm

IlMrm wrote:Thanks Postman.

One more tip of the hat to Postman, he does seem to have a knack for combining classical art forms with shmups (his old front image of God from "The Creation of Man" reaching for a set of arcade buttons with his finger still cracks me up every time I look at it).

ROBOTRON · Post by **ROBOTRON** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 8:29 pm

Alpha Mission II for Neo-Geo has several.

Blackhole smartbomb sucks everything into it in a circular motion.

Nuclear smartbomb is a huge loud explosion.

Thunder Smartbomb throws lightning across the screen while destoying everything in its path.

Phoenix smartbomb creates giant firebird which goes upward from your ship, flapping its wings destroying everything in its path.
____________

Zanac Neo has a neat looking smartbomb too, so does Viewpoint.

ED-057 · Post by **ED-057** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 8:56 am

This is the bomb ever.

Basically, manga faces portraying a variety of expressions come flooding out of your ship in every direction.

Baby Bonnie Hood · Post by **Baby Bonnie Hood** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 9:11 am

If flying girls count, then...

Marisa's Master Spark.

shoe-sama · Post by **shoe-sama** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 9:26 am

G-DARIUS LASER BATTLE

Acid King · Post by **Acid King** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 1:49 pm

Giga Wing 2

lgb · Post by **lgb** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 9:59 pm

Oh yeah, Metal Black's laser battle. Very cool.

And the awesome Darius Gaiden BLACKHOLEBOMB thingy.