Attempt at a Cute 'em up List

The Eidolon · Post by **The Eidolon** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 4:48 pm

This is a bit subjective, but how many arcade "cute 'em up" type
shmup games are there? I've made an attempt at a list below:
Edit: I've made the suggested additions and sorted by date, while
uglifying the formatting.

Name Company Date Aliases
Fantasy Zone Sega 1985
Twin Bee Konami 1985
Fantasy Zone II Sega 1987
Gemini Wing Tecmo 1987
Mr. Heli no Daibouken Irem 1987
Rabbit Punch V-System 1987 Rabio Lepus
Wonder Planet Nihon Bussan 1987
Chuka Taisen Taito 1988
Ordyne Namco 1988
Pilot Kids Psikyo 1988
Cotton Success 1989
Insector X Taito 1989
Plus Alpha Jaleco 1989
Parodius Da Konami 1990
Pistol Daimyo no Bouken Namco 1990
Cosmo Gang the Video Namco 1991
Detana!! Twin Bee Konami 1991
SD Gundam Psycho Salamander on Kyoui Banpresto 1991
SD Gundam Neo Battling Banpresto 1992
The Great Ragtime Show Nihon Bussan 1992 Boogie Wings
Gokujo Parodius Konami 1994
Gunbird Psikyo 1994
Akkanbeder Taito 1995 Space Invaders '95: Attack of the Lunar Loonies
Twin Bee Yahoo! Konami 1995
Sexy Parodius Konami 1996
Twinkle Star Sprites ADK 1996
Cotton 2 Success 1997
Polystars Konami 1997
Cotton Boomerang Success 1998
Gunbird 2 Psikyo 1998
Pink Sweets Ibara sorekara Cave 2006
Muchi Muchi Pork Cave 2007
Otomedius Konami 2007

Borderline:
Flower Komag 1986
Galaga '88 Namco 1987
Andro Dunos Visco 1992
Sonic Wings Video System 1992 Aero Fighters
Sengoku Ace Psikyo 1993 Samurai Aces
Sonic Wings 2 Video System 1994 Aero Fighters 2
Ultimate Ecology Capcom 1994 Eco Fighters
Sonic Wings 3 Video System 1995 Aero Fighters 3
Sengoku Blade Psikyo 1996 Tengai
Mushihime-sama Cave 2004
Ibara Cave 2005
Darius series

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

PROMETHEUS · Post by **PROMETHEUS** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 4:56 pm

Wouldn't count mushihimesama or Ibara.

ZOM · Post by **ZOM** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 5:06 pm

Star Parodier (Hudson Soft, 1995)
Twinkle Star Sprites (ADK, 1996)
Akkanvaders (Taito, 1995)
Rabio Lepus(Video Systems, 1987)

EDIT: added a few more titles

gabe · Post by **gabe** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 5:46 pm

The Eidolon wrote:This is a bit subjective

I'm just going to sit back, and wait for the first argument on whether or not title X qualifies as a cute 'em up

In all seriousness though, thanks! I'll be watching this thread.

cfx · Post by **cfx** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 6:59 pm

Jockel · Post by **Jockel** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 7:33 pm

ZOM wrote:Twinkle Star Sprites (ADK, 1996)

I was surprised that Eidolon didn't include it in his list.
It's basically THE cute em up

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 8:08 pm

Your list needs

Harmful Park
Twinkle Tale
Magical Chase
Akkanvader
and a bunch more. I'll try to add when I get time.

Plasmo · Post by **Plasmo** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 8:16 pm

WTF! Ibara is a cute 'em up???????????
It's probably the manliest game ever made! (besides Garegga maybe)

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 9:07 pm

Plasmo wrote:It's probably the manliest game ever made!

Nothing says "manly" like thongs n' roses!

As for arcade-specific cute-em-ups, would Ordyne count?

320x240 · Post by **320x240** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 10:40 pm

Plus Alpha (Jaleco, 1989)
Galaga 88 (Namco, 1987)
Ordyne (Namco, 1988)

ZOM · Post by **ZOM** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:24 pm

Is Andro Dunos considered cute? It has SD ships & enemies, it must be cute...

cfx wrote:While an awesome game, I don't believe Star Parodier was ever an arcade game.

Ooops! Somehow I missed the "arcade" in the OP.

Jockel wrote:
ZOM wrote:Twinkle Star Sprites (ADK, 1996)
I was surprised that Eidolon didn't include it in his list.
It's basically THE cute em up

Yes, I agree

Mortificator · Post by **Mortificator** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:55 pm

Mr. Heli no Dai-Bouken (Irem, 1987)

evil_ash_xero · Post by **evil_ash_xero** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 12:49 am

Mushime sama, maybe.

Ibara, no way.

I mean, the artwork has all those hot chicks, but they never appear in the game. And other than the roses, there really isn't anything cute in the game whatsoever.

It's really not a cute em up.

Cotton 2...that is a cute em up.

s/m

cutty_sark · Post by **cutty_sark** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 6:43 am

A few more:

Cosmo Gang The Video (Namco, 1991)
The Game Tengoku (Jaleco, 1995)
Wonder Planet (Nihon Bussan/AV Japan, 1987)
Polystars (Konami, 1997)
Pilot Kids (Psikyo, 1999)

toaplan_shmupfan · Post by **toaplan_shmupfan** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 7:04 am

Probably more of a comical animated shooter, but what about Insector X (Taito)?

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 7:21 am

BulletMagnet wrote:
Plasmo wrote:It's probably the manliest game ever made!
Nothing says "manly" like thongs n' roses!

Gunbird 2

GrimoreLibrarian · Post by **GrimoreLibrarian** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 7:32 am

Does ChoAniki apply?

moozooh · Post by **moozooh** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 8:25 am

BulletMagnet wrote:Nothing says "manly" like thongs n' roses!

Isn't it manly to rearrange the insides with your manly meatstick?

But in all honesty, Ibara is not cute at all. Have you ever played it?

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 3:00 pm

Heh, yeah, I have it on the PS2. I wasn't arguing that it should be called a cute-em-up in the above comment, I was just annoying Plasmo.

The Eidolon · Post by **The Eidolon** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 3:35 pm

Thanks for all the additions! I'll edit and update the original list above
momentarily. I've omitted some of the suggestions because I they
seem to have been console-only. If they had an arcade release I
missed please let me know. I may add console cute 'em up's later,
but with all the different ports to various platforms that's a bigger task
than I'm ready to take on yet.

Console only?
Star Parodier
Magical Chase
Harmful Park
Cosmo Gang the Video
The Game Tengoku
Cho Aniki series (I hesitate to call these "cute"!)

It I were to try and name the "elements" of a cute 'em up I would list:
1) Cute/cartoonish graphics
2) Non-traditional, ridiculous enemies (and players)
3) Parody of existing game or genre
4) Humor

Something like Parodius has all of these. A game like Sonic Wings is
borderline--it has humor but the art style and enemies are mostly
played straight (save for the occasional giant ape).
Likewise, something like Mushihime-same has nontraditional enemies
and a cartoonish style, but isn't played for laughs (I assume--I
haven't played it. My arcade knowledge ends after ~1996.)
It's not an exact science--this list is just for fun, so I'll bump
borderline/disputed ones to a sublist at the end.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 3:41 pm

The Eidolon wrote:The Game Tengoku

The first Game Tengoku was an arcade release before being ported to the Saturn - the sequel was a PS1 exclusive.

320x240 · Post by **320x240** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 5:26 pm

Cosmo Gang the Video is originally an arcade game.

Bonemaster969 · Post by **Bonemaster969** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 8:35 pm

GrimoreLibrarian wrote:Does ChoAniki apply?

LOL! I've been waiting for a cute em ups list for a long time and the second it shows up, someone just has to mention cho aniki!

lawnspic · Post by **lawnspic** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 8:55 pm

Did not see it, add Trouble Witches

Lloyd Mangram · Post by **Lloyd Mangram** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 12:41 am

Space Bomber Psikyo 1998

...and the Darius series as a 'borderline cute'emup'? Huh? Big fish are scary. As are big crustaceans. Nothing cute about them. Just scary.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 11:43 pm

Is Mystic Riders a cute-em-up? I haven't played it myself, but I've seen a few screen shots that suggest it is.

Skyline · Post by **Skyline** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 11:03 am

Gun-Nac Compile 1991
Captain Tomaday Visco 1999

ROBOTRON · Post by **ROBOTRON** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 11:28 am

Insector X? Gunnac? I'd say Trouble Shooter and toilet kids brfore those two. Maybe Action Fighter?

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 12:56 pm

Note that this is an arcade-only list.

ROBOTRON · Post by **ROBOTRON** » Sun Sep 19, 2010 3:17 pm

professor ganson wrote:Note that this is an arcade-only list.

ah....

shmups.system11.org

Attempt at a Cute 'em up List

Attempt at a Cute 'em up List

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