When did you finally know you liked shmups?

Never_Scurred · Post by **Never_Scurred** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 3:16 pm

Please share your coming out stories.

Did you find it difficult to come to terms with your love of this exciting genre?

Do you find yourself defending your choice of gaming against ridicule?

How did your family and friends take it when you told them or are you still in the closet?

I was exposed to shmups by way of my uncle when back during the NES days. The times we spent together playing Gradius and Lifeforce really opened my mind. Much later on in life, I made friends with a kid who loved shmups just as much as I did. In an age of platformers, we shared a secret kinship unlike any other.
These days, I am an out and proud STG gamer. I show no shame or remorse for the types of games I chose. I stood in line proudly and bought Raiden IV. I do aspire to reach the fullness of this lifestyle one day with the purchase of my first Cave PCB. I haven't made the full transformation yet as i'm still holding on to my Wii and 360. But with a little faith and a lot of money, I can go to Japan and make this happen.

emphatic · Post by **emphatic** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 3:29 pm

Back in 1987 when I first played Flying Shark. My parents weren't overly excited, since I started stealing money from them to support this new addiction. But hey, I was 13.

Emph

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 3:48 pm

My mom kept buying me games like Final Fantasy or Gran Turismo and I just played along, saying "Wow, just what I wanted! Thank you so much", but back in my room I locked the door and started playing Strikers 1945 II. I knew very well what was going on with me, I felt like there was something wrong with me at that time and I didn´t want to disappoint my parents.

But now that I found out that other people feel the same way I can now proudly play Batrider and DDP and if anyone doesn´t like it, well TOO BAD FOR THEM! Thank you people, you gave me so much strenght over the years. Keep reaching for the highscore!

doctorx0079 · Post by **doctorx0079** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 3:57 pm

The first video game I ever played was Centipede. I played a lot of Centipede.

captpain · Post by **captpain** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 4:01 pm

One day, I realized that I had Life Force memorized. It suddenly struck me... I hadn't been in touch with myself. What I really loved was shmupping.

I was fortunate enough to have supportive family and friends, although I recognize that's not the case for everyone.

Stay strong, guys.

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 4:17 pm

when i wasn't so scared shitless of actually posting on the forums anymore. i definitely don't miss lurking. it's worth noting my absence of late was not the result of lack of posting, but of actual absence.

Necronopticous · Post by **Necronopticous** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 4:29 pm

I think it was the first time I played Raiden 2 at a pizza place somewhere in San Bernardino county, circa '95. I remember playing a lot of Raptor: Call of the Shadows on the PC after that, trying to get back to that feeling that Raiden 2 gave me.

Ah, good times.

Lordstar · Post by **Lordstar** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 4:32 pm

ive always liked them like I like other games. But I fell in love when i played Mushi on the PS2. the music/graphics/theme all ticked the right boxes thats when i started looking at the games a little closer and. . . yeah you know the rest.

Pixel_Outlaw · Post by **Pixel_Outlaw** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 5:10 pm

I sort of eased into loving shmups, they were sort of an acquired taste for myself.

kengou · Post by **kengou** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 5:29 pm

Growing up I always liked them but I never really took them that seriously. I had a few freeware shmups on my computer, stuff like Mars Rising and Swoop, When I went to arcades, if I saw a shmup I'd go play it while my friends made fun of me for playing a 2D game while there were all the Time Crisis machines and 3D fighters lying around. I still always took the genre for granted as fun games that I just didn't really play that often. The first shmup I seriously got into was a mac freeware game called Giants by some japanese developer. It had actual bullet patterns, small hitbox, and an amazing scoring system that is still one of my favorites even today. I spent one entire summer working at getting high scores on that game, it was awesome. Still have it, too.

Anyway I forgot about shmups for a time since I was getting into multiplayer PC gaming and some console games and stuff, and I didn't even know that really big professional shmups like Cave's stuff existed, or console shmups either. I took it for granted that they were limited to computer freeware and arcades (which I never went to anymore, just like everyone else in america). And so I went about like that for many years.

And then a couple years ago I read this article.
http://www.destructoid.com/real-men-pla ... 8920.phtml
Seriously, read that article, show it to your friends who don't play shmups, it's really great.

I remembered how much I used to like games like that. I started googling around and came across this site, along with Shoot The Core. I started reading, checking out what the most popular and highest rated shmups around here were. With a small list of stuff to try, I installed MAME and got to work. I think the first one I downloaded was Donpachi, which I loved, and then right after that I tried Dodonpachi, which to this day is my favorite shmup of all time. I started looking for more, then bought Ikaruga and Gradius V and Shikigami 2, and last year got the Cave PS2 shmups. Now I play shmups almost every day, I have a USB controller, and my friends think I'm insane. It's great!

So yeah, that's me.

FIL · Post by **FIL** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 5:36 pm

I always played them, as everyone my age did in the Megadrive/SNES era. But I suppose the start of my more modern period of shmupping was Strikers 1945 II on the Playstation.

Of course that didn't last too long because I spent several years in the wilderness playing fighters, but now i'm back firmly in shmupland.

MR_Soren · Post by **MR_Soren** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 5:46 pm

I loved Space Invaders, River Raid, and Chopper Command on the Atari 2600. I later played a good deal of Xevious, Galaga, and Sky Shark on the NES. However, when the SNES came along, I was into RPGs and believed that shooters weren't worth buying because they were short. I was also disgusted with the slowdown in Super R-Type and hated the game.

In 2007, my NES broke, so I bought an FC Twin. It's a clone system that can play NES and SNES games. I wondered if it had a faster processor that would reduce the slowdown in SNES games. Choosing my worst offender, I gave the hated Super R-Type one last try. I'm not sure if the slowdown was improved or not, but the game managed to hook me fifteen years after I first played it.

There are other side-stories involving Ikaruga, Mobile Light Force 2, and the cancellation of Radio Allergy, but that day with Super R-Type and the FC Twin is what re-opened my eyes to the genre.

I'm Alec · Post by **I'm Alec** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 6:35 pm

galaga, then much later un squadron, then much later truxton and donpachi.

MathU · Post by **MathU** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 6:37 pm

It all started with Galaga for me. I never really liked Space Invaders.

I knew I was hooked the first time I single credit cleared R-Type, seconds before my arcade closed for the day.

I stopped caring as much after the 16-bit era, and it wasn't until I played Chaos Field that I was hooked again.

Skykid · Post by **Skykid** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 7:05 pm

Fairly late bloomer with Giga Wing.

I wasn't really interested before that, although I played a lot of SFC Pop n Twinbee.

Giga Wing just clicked with me and all of a sudden, after lifelong gaming without shmups, I had the bug.

EDIT: This should be in shmups chat!

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 7:14 pm

C64 era for me.

Katakis
Delta
Flying Shark

Then it went pear shaped when the Amiga came along. It wasn't until I moved to the USA and found out about Saturn collectibles that my shmupping addiction started again.

elfhentaifan · Post by **elfhentaifan** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 7:33 pm

When did you finally know you liked shmups?

When they chased me even in my dreams

DEL · Post by **DEL** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 7:53 pm

I 'finally' knew in 1979

themachinist · Post by **themachinist** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 8:05 pm

She had me at "hello".

GrimoreLibrarian · Post by **GrimoreLibrarian** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 8:39 pm

When I discovered HellSinker.

jonny5 · Post by **jonny5** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 8:48 pm

as a kid with games like 1943 and raiden...

and i got back into them hard after several years of fighting games in the last few years.....thanx mostly to cave

for me now cave is pretty much all i play....period!!!

and i dont play anything that isnt an arcade game....and no 3D stuff either....but honestly other than batsugun and a couple others i pretty much exclusively play cave games....

after cave, most other games seem bland and uninteresting in comparison

and i am constantly defending shmups, and arcade games in general to my next gen gamer friends....

they dont get it at all.....

moozooh · Post by **moozooh** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 9:00 pm

Enjoying shmups as a genre, rather than appreciating particular games, came slightly less than 1.5 years ago, when my fellow SDA members told me about Touhou games. After playing them and subsequently discovering a huge world of MAME shmups, I was sold.

Twiddle · Post by **Twiddle** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 9:25 pm

i like shootan game

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 9:54 pm

i always liked shmups from the very first time i played one, cant remember which was my first but something for the C64 or amiga 500...

ed: i always played for the 1CC (even when i was a kid) but didnt grasp the concept of scoring properly untill Ikaruga.

Momijitsuki · Post by **Momijitsuki** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 9:57 pm

Shmups have always been my favorite arcade games, but I never really started getting really interested in them until recently, when Necronopticous introduced me to Mushihimesama and Cave in general, along with another friend telling me about Touhou. Since then, shmups are pretty much all I play anymore.

I guess you can call me a late bloomer, but I'm also probably quite a bit younger than most of you.

Ruldra · Post by **Ruldra** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:39 pm

To be honest, I never really liked shmups, but that's because I never played them the way I was supposed to. I considered 1cc'ing simply impossible, and always credit-fed through them. No wonder I never enjoyed the genre.

My main focus for the past years was RPGs. But after playing them for so long, I was getting bored. On these games, it's just a matter of time before you finally beat them. There's no real skill involved. And I wanted a challenge. Badly.

Then I saw a video of the Mushi TLB, which made me see how far shmups evolved since I last played one. More importantly, it showed me that beating those games on one credit was possible. It's tough, it takes commitment and skill, but it's possible. It was the challenge I was looking for.

So I pick Gradius V and beat it after practicing for weeks on end. It was my first shmup 1cc, and the whole experience was so awesome it hooked me to the genre.

In the end, shmups made me remember why I loved videogames so much.

Nuke · Post by **Nuke** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 11:43 pm

I fell in love with the music and aesthetics of Gradius on a friend's MSX in the early 90's and began to actively seek such games out.

Arvandor · Post by **Arvandor** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:22 am

I've always loved shmups. Played a lot of Zaxxon, 1942, Legendary Wings, Aero Fighters, Galactiga, and others in my childhood. They just kind of fell off my radar come the 16-bit era though (I also went to arcades less with the release of SFII on the SNES), and didn't come back until a friend suggested I pick up Ikaruga, which marks the beginning of the end. However long ago Ikaruga was released on the gamecube in the states, that's how long I've been playing almost exclusively shooters.

Edit: Oh, and my family knows. My sisters actually enjoy the occasional shmup.

ROBOTRON · Post by **ROBOTRON** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 1:55 am

I'm an old fart that was around for the atari 2600...shmups were always my fav. Then shmups hit the arcades hard as hell:

Scramble
Vanguard
Zaxxon
Asteroids
Gyruss
Tempest

It exploded for me at that point...then you had Defender/Stargate and ROBOTRON 2084.

When consoles became popular again after the crash, the NES gave us Zanac among other fine shmups. As consoles improved I swung right with it..SNES, SMS, Genesis, TG16, PS1, Saturn, DC, PS2...on and on. Oh I forgot I have a Neo-Geo.

My love of shmups will soon continue with THUNDERFORCE VI.

ROAR!!!!

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 2:38 am

I'd played them pretty much as long as I'd played video games, but never really "devoted" myself to them until a few years ago - on a whim I picked up a used copy of Space Megaforce, which I remembered liking back in the 16-bit era, and played through it for the first time in awhile. Having rekindled my desire to blow things up with lasers 4 times as wide as my ship, I started looking around for other games like it...eventually I stumbled across DoDonPachi and MAME, and that was it - soon after I bought myself a Saturn, and kept going from there.