Good Shumps?

DJM · Post by **DJM** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 12:25 am

Whoah, hardcore Shumps players in this piece! I'm looking for opinions from you guys to find out what good Shumps games there are. I'm basically looking for PC or GBA Shumps. I am also looking for Shumps that are for the SNES. Can someone help me?

I sound like a total noob.

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 12:32 am

There is a site called 'shoot the core', it is your friend! there, you will find many full doujin (indie) shooting games, such as Blue Wish resurrection (a definite first download, and free at that!) as well as many others. Find out what you like, lurk on this site, and perhaps further define what you mean by 'hardcore' (i.e 'good' or 'old')

Super Laydock · Post by **Super Laydock** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 12:36 am

DJM wrote:Whoah, hardcore Shumps players in this piece! I'm looking for opinions from you guys to find out what good Shumps games there are. I'm basically looking for PC or GBA Shumps.

GBA = Gradius Advance/Galaxies.
Nothing else...really.

I am not enough in the know to inform you on PC shmups btw,
Toho is nice, but otherwise check out http://shootthecore.moonpod.com/ for refference and ideas.
Excellent website.

I am also looking for Shumps that are for the SNES. Can someone help me?

Macross Srambled Valkyrie, about anyting made by Konami and Super Aleste is nice too.

spongdangly · Post by **spongdangly** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 12:42 am

As MX7 mentioned you can check out Shoot The Core for new shmup news (click on pc database for a list of pc shmups). For a listing of shmups for most systems along with some reviews I recommend that you check out SHMUPS!.

If you like manic shooters with intense bullet paterns you should check out the Touhou games for your pc.

DJM · Post by **DJM** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 12:43 am

MX7 sez: "There is a site called 'shoot the core', it is your friend!"

...GAH!! The download site is in Japanese! I'm waiting for it to finish downloading (2 minutes remaining). Thanks for the site!

DJM · Post by **DJM** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 12:46 am

If you like manic shooters with intense bullet paterns you should check out the Touhou games for your pc.

Intense, eh? Maybe when I get good at these kinds of games, I'll try it out.

Observer · Post by **Observer** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 12:50 am

heh, I was going to mention Scrambled Valkyrie and Aleste. Great stgs.

For PC, Shoot the Core will help, definitely pick Touhou as well, but for the games. Believe me you don't want to mess up with the fandom, the 'loli' thing and such... The games might leave you speechless at times because ZUN, the creator, has a wicked sense at creating some of the most colourful bullet barrages I ever saw. Precious.

For Gameboy, I recall there was a shooter called Iridion if I'm not wrong. I think that's the name.

Continuing with PC, I'm gonna mention a couple of freeware games:

Kenta Cho stuff is a must. While not strictly all stg-based, it's worth to take a look at his site.

Site: http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~cs8k-cyu/index_e.html

Then you have the obvious choices: Warning Forever and Rayhound by Hikoza.

http://www18.big.or.jp/~hikoza/

The pretty much ignored Varia:

http://www.kairos.110mb.com/varia.html

That thing is great. Ikaruga meets Gradius and Rez in a vertical 'shootan gaem'... and you have to play it with the keyboard since I don't think it had pad support.

You should also try the amazing Laseroid, which I found in this very forum and liked quite a lot. It has a 3-player mode and TATE!

Then you have X.X's stuff: Blue Wish Resurrection and Eden's Aegis. Think Cave. This is the doujin response to Cave, purple bullet hell included:

http://www004.upp.so-net.ne.jp/x_xgameroom/

Oh, and since a lot of people are addicted to it, PATRIOT DARK!

It's still a 3-stage trial but so damn sweet, such a glorious Cave tribute but with loads of pew pew, manly mecha, explosions and all that stuff:

http://temperancelance.orz.hm

I didn't mind the music but people seem to hate it.

Into commercial stuff:

Btw, Touhou is commercial. Can be purchased from several online stores and the author sells it during Comiket and other conventions, pretty much like every other doujin developer.

You might also want to check Siter Skain stuff if you love the Rayforce/Layer Section series because the guy is the doujin continuation of that legacy and, personally, his games rock:

http://www.siterskain.com/

Guess that's it for now. There is a whole lot of stuff that might be worth checking so scan STC for more info.

By the way, I'm not even entering into the flood/cascade of loli stgs because I'm sick of them and the whole trend so I'm focusing on plain good old mecha/ships/huge battleships stuff.

And of course you have MAME and the brutal amount of arcade STG classics...

Guess that's it for now.

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 1:02 am

Warning Forever was my 1st shootan gaem. I remember playing it at a videogame exhibition after only a few months time with it and truly falling in love with it (along with Gradius V, which was so good I bought a PS2 for, and Bomberman Saturn, which I dug out my Mega Drive for.) I takes up absolutely no room on any computer, and it is truly awesome.

DJM · Post by **DJM** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 1:53 am

MX7 sez

there, you will find many full doujin (indie) shooting games, such as Blue Wish resurrection

Blue Wish Resurrection is cool, nice BGM too. Feels like bullet hell. Thanks for the links!

Observer sez

Kenta Cho stuff is a must. While not strictly all stg-based, it's worth to take a look at his site.

Whats stg? Anyway, his games ARE good. My fav from him right now is Titanion.

Observer also sez

Oh, and since a lot of people are addicted to it, PATRIOT DARK!

I can see why people are interested in it. Its very fun. I cant wait til the full version comes out, if it ever does.

Observer sez again

Then you have the obvious choices: Warning Forever and Rayhound by Hikoza.

Warning Forever has an interesting concept for a game. Its like one giant boss rush. However I cant find Rayhound. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough...

MX7 also sez:

Warning Forever was my 1st shootan gaem. I remember playing it at a videogame exhibition after only a few months time with it and truly falling in love with it (along with Gradius V, which was so good I bought a PS2 for, and Bomberman Saturn, which I dug out my Mega Drive for.) I takes up absolutely no room on any computer, and it is truly awesome.

I totally agree. Warning Forever is boss.

Thanks for all who gave me these links so far! I thank you all for helping me out!

-DJM

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 2:11 am

DJM wrote:Whats stg?

Rather oddball Japanese abbreviation for ShooTing Game ("shmups," as most call them here).

Anyways, welcome to you.

Also, I'm not sure anyone mentioned it above, but if you're looking fro freeware PC stuff be sure to DL Cho Ren Sha 68K - super simple, yet also really fun.

Observer · Post by **Observer** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 2:53 am

BulletMagnet wrote:
DJM wrote:Whats stg?
Rather oddball Japanese abbreviation for ShooTing Game ("shmups," as most call them here).

Anyways, welcome to you. Also, I'm not sure anyone mentioned it above, but if you're looking fro freeware PC stuff be sure to DL Cho Ren Sha 68K - super simple, yet also really fun.

Absolutely seconded. Cho Ren Sha 68k is AMAZING.

Link just in case: http://www2.tky.3web.ne.jp/~yosshin/my_works/index.html

I prefer the term "stg" or use the full "shoot 'em up" from the past rather than "shmup", which still sounds better than the awful spanish term "matamarcianos" (martian killer). Of course we also call them "shootan gaems" or "pew pew".

With everything we listed you already have entertainment for hours and hours.

By the way, Rayhound is in the japanese section of Hizoka's site but the whole thing is eminently in english anyway.

No_not_like_Quake · Post by **No_not_like_Quake** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 4:07 am

DJM wrote:
If you like manic shooters with intense bullet paterns you should check out the Touhou games for your pc.
Intense, eh? Maybe when I get good at these kinds of games, I'll try it out.

I'll give you an answer. Download a Sega Genesis emulator and download a Thunderforce III rom. It's easy but a masterpiece. Excellent game to start shmuping to.

GrimoreLibrarian · Post by **GrimoreLibrarian** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 5:13 am

HellSinker is an Awesome shooter. At first it seems extremely complicated, but the music is great, and the levels and bosses offer a few surprise you might not see in your first play through.

I suggest fraxy to waste an after noon. It's freeware and it lets you built your own bosses.

Here are a few of my creations

Das Ende
http://youtube.com/watch?v=WxIc8Vw5Lag

Big Core MK3
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tXPK-JFBbbw

Dark Embryo
http://youtube.com/watch?v=b26t6wUAH9M

The Coop · Post by **The Coop** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 6:23 am

-=GBA=-

Gradius Galaxies- Horizontal shmup inthe famed series. Very good game.
Iridion- 3D "into the screen" shmup. Plays like Galaxy Force II, but with real power ups. A bit tech demo-ish, but decent.
Iridion II- The better sequel that goes into the screen at a 3/4 view like Raystorm or RayCrysis. A bit long, but not a bad game at all. Rather pretty too.
Steel Empire (import)- A port of the great horizontal Genesis game. It's supposedly good, but I've never gotten to play it.
Darius R (import)- A pseudo-port of the first Darius game. It's not a bad game, but it has fewer levels. Decent music, decent game as well.
R-Type III- A horribly botched port of the great SNES game. Smaller movement space, really bad hit detection, bad "music"... it's just a mess.
Phaylanx- A port of the SNES game. A horizontal shmup that plays fine and looks alright. It's pretty good.

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 7:42 am

DJM wrote:I'm looking for opinions from you guys to find out what good Shumps games there are.

Really? I thought they all sucked.

Especially all Toaplan vertical shooting games.

Aru-san · Post by **Aru-san** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 7:45 am

Observer wrote:Oh, and since a lot of people are addicted to it, PATRIOT DARK!

It's still a 3-stage trial but so damn sweet, such a glorious Cave tribute but with loads of pew pew, manly mecha, explosions and all that stuff:

http://temperancelance.orz.hm

I didn't mind the music but people seem to hate it.

If you use Audacity or anything that can export to OGG, the music can be replaced with something more 'STG friendly' such as, oh, I don't know, music from other STGs?

I've also made a high score table for this game as well as a small guide to scoring in that thread as well. It's at least getting viewed, but I'm eagerly waiting for some scores to come in. Until then, I can just keep improving on my old scores.

(You can obviously tell I'm addicted as hell into PatriotDark.)

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 12:04 pm

The Coop wrote:-=GBA=-

Gradius Galaxies- Horizontal shmup inthe famed series. Very good game.
Iridion- 3D "into the screen" shmup. Plays like Galaxy Force II, but with real power ups. A bit tech demo-ish, but decent.
Iridion II- The better sequel that goes into the screen at a 3/4 view like Raystorm or RayCrysis. A bit long, but not a bad game at all. Rather pretty too.
Steel Empire (import)- A port of the great horizontal Genesis game. It's supposedly good, but I've never gotten to play it.
Darius R (import)- A pseudo-port of the first Darius game. It's not a bad game, but it has fewer levels. Decent music, decent game as well.
R-Type III- A horribly botched port of the great SNES game. Smaller movement space, really bad hit detection, bad "music"... it's just a mess.
Phaylanx- A port of the SNES game. A horizontal shmup that plays fine and looks alright. It's pretty good.

Steel Empire is the best of the bunch by a long shot - Gradius GBA does pale in comparison.

Also the list is missing Invader, one of the very few verticals on the system.

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 8:14 pm

Turrican wrote:Steel Empire is the best of the bunch by a long shot - Gradius GBA does pale in comparison.

I've played both a little; I don't get it. Gradius is the one for me.

Also, praising Phalanx GBA's graphics?! ...

yojo! · Post by **yojo!** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 8:23 pm

DJM wrote:Whoah, hardcore Shumps players in this piece! I'm looking for opinions from you guys to find out what good Shumps games there are. I'm basically looking for PC or GBA Shumps. I am also looking for Shumps that are for the SNES. Can someone help me?

I sound like a total noob.

You can't go wrong with any shmups; It's lile a Pizza, no matter how bad it is you still enjoy it.

sfried · Post by **sfried** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 9:53 pm

Super Laydock wrote:
DJM wrote:Whoah, hardcore Shumps players in this piece! I'm looking for opinions from you guys to find out what good Shumps games there are. I'm basically looking for PC or GBA Shumps.
GBA = Gradius Advance/Galaxies.
Nothing else...really.

No love for Iridion II and Steel Empire?

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 11:40 pm

yojo! wrote: You can't go wrong with any shmups; It's lile a Pizza, no matter how bad it is you still enjoy it.

Replace pizza because shumps can't make you vomit.

Zebra Airforce · Post by **Zebra Airforce** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 11:48 pm

Are you sure? I think I've vomited at least once from the high speed backgrounds in a Compile game.

seiatsu · Post by **seiatsu** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 2:15 am

For PC you could try:

Zillion Beatz: If you like challenge, this is your game. Kind of cave like but tough as nails (yet doesn't seem impossible). I doubt anyone has 1cc'd this yet. Maybe you will be the first.

Kamui: Similar in vein to the ray series. Worth a look if you can find it.

Ether Vapor: This is a cool multi directional stg done modern. Nice graphics, nice gameplay.

Shoot The Bullet: Of the touhou games, this would be my top pick. Not your typical STG. Definitely something new and interesting. Nice patterns as expected from touhou games but the gameplay has you taking photos to clear bullets and defeat bosses. This is a boss rush type game as well. It can be played in short bursts but I also find it a bit addictive once I start playing.

Mortificator · Post by **Mortificator** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 8:58 pm

This forum holds an annual vote for the top 25 shooters of all time. The results of the most recent poll are here, and this thread has links to most of the earlier votes. Many of these arcade games can be played in an emulator like MAME or its more user-friendly derivatives.

Now don't take these lists as God's Own Best or anything. But while I don't want to shit on doujins (I like Shoot the Bullet & Warning Forever), so many of my all-time favorite shooters are arcade games.

shmups.system11.org

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