Good, easy/moderate shooters to start with?

OmegaFlareX · Post by **OmegaFlareX** » Fri May 13, 2005 10:24 pm

Gunhed series? There's only one. The Soldier games were developed by a different company and have nothing to do with Gunhed/Blazing Lazers. I'd group it with the Aleste series if nothing else.

And yeah, they're pretty easy. I'd reccomend them for shmuppers not wanting a stiff challenge. Same with Gate of Thunder.

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Fri May 13, 2005 11:42 pm

OmegaFlareX wrote:Gunhed series? There's only one.

Actually, there is a NES game named Gunhed, but it's completely different the PC Engine game. The NES Gunhed isn't even a shmup. Also, Compile didn't own the Gunhed name.

Fighter17 · Post by **Fighter17** » Sat May 14, 2005 12:09 am

You guys forgot to say Lords of Thunder, a really good game. Solder Blade is fun and easy. OOO, this one may be rare, but I found Blast Wind to be easy and great for starters (I'm going to do that test in school

).

Smraedis · Post by **Smraedis** » Sat May 14, 2005 12:24 am

most games on the PC Engine?

gameoverDude · Post by **gameoverDude** » Sat May 14, 2005 1:16 am

Gekirindan is one of farily moderate difficulty. The first two stages are easy, but the challenge steps up gradually through the final three.

This is a good game for when you want a break from the more manic fare as well.

FRO · Post by **FRO** » Sat May 14, 2005 2:00 pm

Tomtom wrote:I recommend Flying Shark for an oldschool entry, as it's not too difficult and has a really nice difficulty curve. Heck, I've gotten to the end of the fourth stage (and that was after only about a week), so it's probably doable for most people here.

TomTom = masochist

Every time I play Flying Shark, be it the Arcade or NES version (which I own) I get my rectum handed to me. That's a twitch shmup if I ever played one. Or maybe I just suck at it...at any rate, I'd recommend Fire Shark for arcade/Genesis over that. It's more balanced in terms of difficulty, has a good weapons system, and is loads of fun to boot.

Accutron · Post by **Accutron** » Sat May 14, 2005 2:27 pm

Einhander- The first few levels are incredibly easy. It picks up later though, so you won't get so bored with its lack of difficulty as you improve.

Gradius III (SNES)- The whole thing is pretty much a cakewalk, as long as you hold onto your weapons. Excellent game to clear on one life.

Diabollokus · Post by **Diabollokus** » Sat May 14, 2005 5:03 pm

Easy to moderate shmups...

Some of the dreamcast actually no,the dreamcast shmups are fairly tough in retrospect theres 13 of em and they are generally tough.

thats actually quite a hard question shmups are ment to be hard!, thunder force 3 and 4 are nice, vapor trail nice esp in 2 player and musha. stay away from gaires and hellfire for a bit, but come back to them!

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Sat May 14, 2005 8:11 pm

Accutron wrote:Gradius III (SNES)- The whole thing is pretty much a cakewalk, as long as you hold onto your weapons. Excellent game to clear on one life.

haha funny.

Accutron · Post by **Accutron** » Sat May 14, 2005 8:49 pm

captain ahar wrote:
Accutron wrote:Gradius III (SNES)- The whole thing is pretty much a cakewalk, as long as you hold onto your weapons. Excellent game to clear on one life.
haha funny.

What's so funny about that?

FatCobra · Post by **FatCobra** » Sun May 15, 2005 12:58 am

Although I did say the Raiden games were a good choice, someone mentioned that they are pretty hard, and I do agree. The Strikers games, however, are a pretty good starter shmups. They can teach you things like how to dodge bullet swarms and how to take bosses apart quickly.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Sun May 15, 2005 2:13 am

...and how not to trust your hit detection to get you out of a jam, heh heh ("Bomb away, before it's too late!"). And how to watch shrapnel-laden explosions like a hawk for stray bullets...

chtimi-CLA · Post by **chtimi-CLA** » Sun May 15, 2005 9:04 am

Smraedis wrote:most games on the PC Engine?

yeah you're not that far from the truth. coryoon and star parodia are easy but still fun, gate of thunder is about as hard as thunder force 3 (ie. easy with practice)

gameoverDude · Post by **gameoverDude** » Wed May 18, 2005 12:07 am

I've killed 2 large boss planes on one credit in the arcade version of Flying Shark. Keeping your plane powered up is the best way to go. I don't think that the game ever ends, since the AIVA page lists the Gamest record as a 10,000,000 point Counter Stop- my best is about 1.4 M.

The NES version of FS is actually harder IMO.

Blazing Lazers is something else entirely if you decide to use the difficulty code. Try God of Game or even Hard Human.

Raiden or Twin Cobra can be a good next step up from Flying Shark. TF3 may be easy with practice, but TF4 is probably the most challenging one in the series (not even TFV touches it).

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Wed May 18, 2005 3:12 pm

greng wrote:What about Psyvariar? If you take it easy, it's simple to finish, or you can do technical and make it as difficult as you like?

For a beginner? 1CC Psyvariar? ... That seems more than a little outrageous.

Smraedis wrote:most games on the PC Engine?

Yeah, like Rayxanber II, Rayxanber III, Image Fight, Image Fight II, Nexzr, Heavy Unit, R-Type...

(Note to actual beginners: none of the games I just listed are easy AT ALL. ^_^;;)

The PC Engine has so many shooters that they come in all varities, easy to tear-your-hair-out hard.

My suggestions:

Gradius 1 arcade (mentioned before but I agree - a good game to get used to the one-life-clear)
M.U.S.H.A. Genesis (again, mentioned before but a good one to try)
Robo Aleste (sequel to MUSHA in a way, also not too hard)
Ordyne TurboGrafix 16 (it's been a long time, so I could be mistaken)

In general: don't be afraid to use bombs. They're there to be USED. Don't hoard em like I do.

I find myself doing waaaay better these days now that I actually use my bombs.

Post by **Ghegs** » Wed May 18, 2005 3:28 pm

Cthulhu wrote:Nexzr, Heavy Unit...(Note to actual beginners: none of the games I just listed are easy AT ALL. ^_^;;)

I think they're both pretty managable, I've got them on my 1CC list and didn't work that hard on reaching the clear. Both rely on memorisation (not nearly as much as R-Type or Rayxanber II, though), but they also have a few spots where fast reflexes are required.

Last weekend I played Gradius on NES for the first time in my life and 1CCed it on my second play. There's a good starter game. The PCE port is harder, but not overly so.

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Wed May 18, 2005 3:38 pm

Ghegs wrote:
Cthulhu wrote:Nexzr, Heavy Unit...(Note to actual beginners: none of the games I just listed are easy AT ALL. ^_^;;)
I think they're both pretty managable, I've got them on my 1CC list and didn't work that hard on reaching the clear. Both rely on memorisation (not nearly as much as R-Type or Rayxanber II, though), but they also have a few spots where fast reflexes are required.

Last weekend I played Gradius on NES for the first time in my life and 1CCed it on my second play. There's a good starter game. The PCE port is harder, but not overly so.

Wow! Those games gave me some real trouble...

Nexzr I can see getting easier with a lot of practice, but Heavy Unit ... I died like CRAZY on the opening levels until I got to the point where you get such powerful shields that you're pretty much invincible. I guess that one is more unbalanced than truly difficult.

Post by **Ghegs** » Wed May 18, 2005 8:36 pm

Cthulhu wrote:
Wow! Those games gave me some real trouble...

Nexzr I can see getting easier with a lot of practice, but Heavy Unit ... I died like CRAZY on the opening levels until I got to the point where you get such powerful shields that you're pretty much invincible. I guess that one is more unbalanced than truly difficult.

Well yeah, Heavy Unit's hardest part is the first 30 seconds.

After you develop a routine for that, the rest of the game is much easier, especially after picking up the shield in Stage 1. After that the only really hard part is the final boss, thanks to his lasers that totally ignore any amount of shields you have and destroy you if they hit. And it's just not fun trying to make a comeback if you happen to get killed there.

That said, I still love Heavy Unit, it's got this cool atmosphere.