US released SNES SHMUPS worth buying?

bostongeorge · Post by **bostongeorge** » Sun May 25, 2008 2:40 pm

Excuse the similarity to my NES SHMUP thread from last month haha.

Anyway I just picked up a 2nd design SNES along with R-Type III & Super R-Type for $45 at a local shop. Even if I never get another cartridge for it I would be satisfied, but do0es anyone want to tell me about any good SHMUPS I might want to pick up?

RoninBuddha · Post by **RoninBuddha** » Sun May 25, 2008 2:49 pm

Slowdius 3

it290 · Post by **it290** » Sun May 25, 2008 2:58 pm

Some people consider Axelay a classic; I find it pretty broken and boring myself, although the gfx+music do kick ass. It is, however, one of the easiest SNES shooters to find.

After R-Type 3, my next selection would personally be Space Megaforce/Super Aleste.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Sun May 25, 2008 3:45 pm

Another recommendation for Space Megaforce. I also concur on Axelay - gamneplay-wise it's nothing to get excited about, but it still looks and sounds good after all these years, and isn't too hard to get ahold of. Gradius III is indeed slowdown-plagued and thus not too challenging, but still fun.

As for stuff not mentioned yet, for something different than the usual SNES fare you might want to snag Biometal (enjoy that soundtrack, heh heh), and EDF and UN Squadron aren't bad side-scrollers either.

ubersaurus · Post by **ubersaurus** » Sun May 25, 2008 3:59 pm

Space Megaforce and R-Type 3 are both pretty awesome recommendations. If you like Darius, Super Nova is a part of that series(I believe it is actually Darius 3?) and Thunder Spirits is a port of the arcade game based on the Genesis Thunderforce 3. Both of those were good, I thought. And Gradius 3, of course. Slowdown or no, I find it infinitely more playable than the arcade version.

UN Squadron is strange, but pretty cool.

Crisium · Post by **Crisium** » Sun May 25, 2008 4:04 pm

I can't stand Axelay. Great graphics though.

UN Squadron is very unique. I've never gotten very far with it though. It's a hard game for me for some reason. I'd say it's your best bet though. But that's just because I don't like the SNES R-Types or Gradius 3 too much.

brokenhalo · Post by **brokenhalo** » Sun May 25, 2008 4:37 pm

un squadron all the way. that was the shmup that got me hooked on the genre back in the day. so much fun, good stage variety, cool bosses, and a pretty good challenge. and you should be able to get a cart for next to nothing on ebay.

Sandlegs · Post by **Sandlegs** » Sun May 25, 2008 7:35 pm

another vote for u.n. squadron. i think the snes version is a lot better than the arcade version

bostongeorge · Post by **bostongeorge** » Sun May 25, 2008 11:39 pm

Thanks for all the recommendations, I've never heard of UN Squadron, I'll definitely pick it up if I can find it, The are 3 or 4 used stores that I go to on a regular basis looking for PS1, PS2, NES, DC and now SNES games so I should hopefully find one eventually. I saw Gradius III today but I skipped it since I have the PS2 and PSP versions of the game already.

Also after some research I see that I can play JP Super Famicom games by making a slight modification to the SNES to I guess I should broaden my horizons to include those games to if there are any really worth the trouble of getting from eBay or whatever.

Damocles · Post by **Damocles** » Sun May 25, 2008 11:46 pm

bostongeorge wrote:I saw Gradius III today but I skipped it since I have the PS2 and PSP versions of the game already.

They really are two different games.

As for recomendations on the SNES...despite a weak library...

Macross - Scrambled Valkyrie
R-Type 3
Cotton 100%

EDIT: Crap. US games. Well...Gradius 3 and R-Type 3, then.

I'm Alec · Post by **I'm Alec** » Mon May 26, 2008 1:09 am

most nice US games I can think of have been mentioned. Favorites being Space Mega Force and UN Squadron.

Seriously though, just pull out the tabs and play some import carts. like parodius.

black flag nc · Post by **black flag nc** » Mon May 26, 2008 2:07 am

I don't have any imports either, my friend. I enjoy:

R-type 3
Super EDF
U.N. Squadron
Gradius III
Bio Metal

Nate · Post by **Nate** » Mon May 26, 2008 3:31 am

All of the games mentioned above are great; I personally think Super Nova (Darius Force) is fantastic! If you can snag it for under $20 you should find it to be pretty engrossing and fun. Just remember to set your frontal weapon to autofire w/ an "X" (or "Y" - any of the 4 round surface buttons but the far right or bottom ones are best) button assignment, and your peripheral bombs/lasers to manual fire w/ an "R" button assignment and you'll discover one hell of a game! I guarantee that the ambushing enemies will infuriate you at first, but after maybe 15-20 games you'll be able to fly thru it with impressive ease.

BTW bombs are better than the green lasers...and start off w/ the blue ship and work your way to green then the red.

maxi · Post by **maxi** » Mon May 26, 2008 12:10 pm

There's TwinBee and Phalanx also. The two are very good.
Spriggan Powered only have a japanese version, but is my favorite shoot'em up on snes.

Aleanil · Post by **Aleanil** » Mon May 26, 2008 1:03 pm

Darius Twin! It's kind of the black sheep of the Darius series but it's fun and it's dirt cheap (rebought a used copy for $3 from a retro shop). Though, it was my first shmup so that may have clouded my memory a bit.

Mortificator · Post by **Mortificator** » Mon May 26, 2008 3:26 pm

maxi wrote:There's TwinBee

Twinbee never made it to North America (though it did to Europe). My favorite vert on the system, anyway.

DEL · Post by **DEL** » Mon May 26, 2008 11:00 pm

Bio Metal was good and UN Squadron was the port ever.

ssfsx17 · Post by **ssfsx17** » Mon May 26, 2008 11:37 pm

US SNES region locking is, ahem, not as difficult or costly to defeat as the region locking on other consoles.

bostongeorge · Post by **bostongeorge** » Mon May 26, 2008 11:53 pm

I know I have since found that out haha, but as far as actual cartridges go I think I will only be purchasing US cartridges. CARTRIDGES!

JP games (such as Flying Hero which i just played) will be emulated...

I bought today- UN Squadron - $4.99
Phalanx - $1.99

The store I was at also had some others that have been listed here which I plan to pick up soon. They aren't going anywhere.

I know I could emulate these games on my PC but it is so much more REAL on my 42" Panasonic Plama running through S-Video (the best SNES offers) I'm digging it, especially UN Squadron. My main addiction right now is trying to 1CC Espgaluda and DDP, but I collect so ya know. let's keep the SNES discussion going! I feel it is a SHMUP system worth owning for the games that aren't available elsewhere, like UN Squadron and BioMetal (correct me if I'm wrong).

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Tue May 27, 2008 12:54 am

SNES shmups released in the U.S. of A:

1.Aerofighters
2.Axelay
3.Biometal
4.Darius Twin
5.D-Force
6.Firepower 2000
7.Gradius III
8.Phalanx
9.R-Type III
10.Raiden Trad
11.Space Invaders (not the same as the Jpn cart)
12.Space Megaforce
13.Strike Gunner STG
14.Super E.D.F.
15.Super Nova
16.Super R-Type
17.Thunder Spirits
18.UN Squadron

SNES shmups released in the European countries:

-Axelay
-Biometal
-Darius Twin
-Parodius
-Phalanx
-Pop'n Twinbee
-R-Type III
-Strike Gunner STG
-Super Aleste
-Super E.D.F.
-Super SWIV
-Super R-Type
-UN Squadron

Thanks to BrianC for the tips!

it290 · Post by **it290** » Tue May 27, 2008 1:26 am

S-Video (the best SNES offers)

You are wrong there my friend. RGB is vastly superior. If you have a model 2 SNES you will have to mod it for RGB output, but it's easy and well worth it.

Anyway, I've been warming to the SNES lately. Unfortunately the best games tend to be too expensive, but there is still a fair bit of obscure stuff that can be had for cheap. I can't say I ever see any of the better shooters for sale.. that UN Squadron you got was a steal.

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Tue May 27, 2008 4:20 am

Turrican wrote:SNES shmups released in the U.S. of A:
11.Space Invaders (not the same as the Jpn cart)

I don't know about this. The GB JP Space Invaders is different from the US one, but AFAIK, the US SNES Space Invaders is the same as the JP SFC Space Invaders. The US/EU Space Invaders GB has a version of the SNES version inside the cartridge, but this version is missing the vs. mode that's included with the JP/US SFC/SNES Space Invaders SFC/SNES cart.

MR_Soren · Post by **MR_Soren** » Tue May 27, 2008 12:33 pm

Aerofighters for SNES is awesome. Nearly impossible to find though.

The Japanese version (Sonic Wings) is much easier to find, and it is well worth it.

maxi · Post by **maxi** » Tue May 27, 2008 12:38 pm

How could I forget Aerofighters?

BazookaBen · Post by **BazookaBen** » Tue May 27, 2008 2:38 pm

I recently got into shmups, and the first ones I bought were for snes. I got both axelay and un squadron. They're both great. Axelay's graphics and music are so unique that they still hold up well today.

By the way, just in case you haven't realized it yet, the model 2 snes doesn't have s-video support. Nintendo gets really cheap on their consoles late in their lifespan.

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Tue May 27, 2008 3:55 pm

Not a shooter, but I have to recommend Wild Guns, it is my favourite game on the system, followed by Kikikaikai (Pocky & Rocky in US).

Wild Guns cost me about $2 on eBay + shipping, but P&R will be slightly more.

Pop'n Twinbee is my favourite actual shooter. Colourful graphics and sweet music all around. I highly recommend you buy one import and make it this. It is not expensive at all.

edit: Yikes. I had no idea prices for Wild Guns went up so much. For reference, I bought my bare cartridge about 2-3 years ago, though it is in really beat up condition.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Tue May 27, 2008 4:31 pm

Not a shooter, but I have to recommend Wild Guns, it is my favourite game on the system, followed by Kikikaikai (Pocky & Rocky in US).

Both developed by Natsume, coincidentally. Both games are around my fav games on the system too.

bostongeorge · Post by **bostongeorge** » Tue May 27, 2008 4:36 pm

BazookaBen wrote:I recently got into shmups, and the first ones I bought were for snes. I got both axelay and un squadron. They're both great. Axelay's graphics and music are so unique that they still hold up well today.

By the way, just in case you haven't realized it yet, the model 2 snes doesn't have s-video support. Nintendo gets really cheap on their consoles late in their lifespan.

Well the Model 2 SNES I bought didn't work at all. So the next day i returned it at a different location of the same store and got a Model 1 SNES that was in absolute PRISTINE condition. Like fresh out of the box condition. The only reason I originally got a Model 2 in the first place is because Model 1s all seem to get that uniform discoloration/yellowing of the plastic it's made out of. I'm sure anyone who has seen a used SNES knows what I mean. It seems like every one I see is all yellowed and ugly looking, even if it has been taken care of. Weird. So needless to say I was very happy to find the beautiful one that I did.

So yes I knew that Model 2s don't support S-Video. Mine does and thats what I use now, and it shows a marked improvement over Composite.

Now what's this RGB business? Thats different than Component video right? Where would I get this cable? My Panasonic plasma supports S-Video, Component and HDMI but I don't know about RGB. Please explain.

Also, thanks for all the responses to this thread! I now have a good list of games to look for on my weekly rounds to all the Used/Retro shops in my area (well I should say ANOTHER good list of games in addition to the PSX and DC and PS2 games I already search for).

After I'm satisfied with my SNES SHMUP collection I'm either gonna purchase a JP Saturn or a Turbo Duo and start on that collection.

ubersaurus · Post by **ubersaurus** » Tue May 27, 2008 4:53 pm

RGB is pretty much component, only not a digital output. Nearly all US televisions lack RGB ports however; you'd have to try for a computer monitor that supports it.

Personally, I just use S-Video. less of a hassle.

it290 · Post by **it290** » Wed May 28, 2008 12:03 am

<derail>

Component isn't digital (well, it's stored that way on DVDs, for example, but that's a different story), and is also totally different from RGB, although the image quality is comparable. If you have a TV with component inputs you can get an RGB->component transcoder and use that, which is what I do on my TV that I use for horizontal stuff. It looks just as good as native RGB on another monitor. Generally one starts with an RGB SCART cable and works from there towards whatever input is required.

However, this is all low-res, tube monitor stuff. If you're using an HDTV monitor such as a plasma, you can get an upscanning device (or maybe just use a low-res input if your scaler is decent), but it's never going to look as good as native low-res.

</derail>