Differences with the Annual Top 25 Shmups of All Time:
1) Everybody can participate;
2) short voting period (2 weeks);
4) strict list of 10 rather than variable length;
3) simple 1-10 ranking order instead of flexible weighting;
5) simple Vote Format.
Note that this is the voting only thread. Please post everything else in the discussion thread.
Polls close February 28th 11:59:59 PM UTC! (Results expected promptly.)
For reference lists see the "6th Annual Top 25 Shmups of All Time!": complete results list, discussion, voting, results.
Much of the following is taken verbatim from nullstar's last poll. Rules are identical to last year.
RULES:
1) Vote for the 10 shmups you feel are the "top" of all time. (What constitutes top is up to you: best, favorite, most influential, most significant, mix-and-match, etc.)
2) Shmups released in calendar year 2009 are not eligible for consideration.
3) Don't Vote for Games You Haven't Played! Hopefully that was self-evident...
4) Distinguish between games on compilations! (e.g. Zanac X Zanac is not something you can vote for -- that's the name of the compilation, not a game. Raiden Project is another example.)
5) Specify when different games share the same title. (We're not talking about ports here -- but stuff like U.N. Squadron: the SNES game and arcade game are so different we consider them separately; Gradius III SNES and arcade is another good example.) E.g.: if you intend to vote for a game titled "Salamander" or "Life Force", please be as specific as possible as to which format and region you're voting for.
6) No Borderliners! Stuff that's off-limits generally include: "run-and-gun" (think Contra or Metal Slug); on-rails/into-the-screen shooters (Rez, Panzer Dragoon, Space Harrier, etc.). Stuff like Space Invaders and Galaga are OK. Arena shooters (Robotron, Smash TV, etc.) are OK.
7) One voting post per person. Edit it as much as you like until polling closes.
8) Only posts with exactly 10 (not 5, not 11) games, ordered 1-10 will be counted.
9) Use the vote format below! Thanks for making my life easier.
Vote Format:
Votes need to be in the following format:
- one game per line
- first thing on the line: the game's rank
- second thing on the line: a space
- final thing on the line: name of the game
Your list should look like this:
1 Brilliant Bronzerifle
2 Gradius MCMVII
3 Cosmos Field
4 DoReMiPachi
...
9 1914
10 Super Robo Aleste II Turbo
BACKGROUND:
My goal is not to overshadow the Top 25, but to make it even better. By having the less experienced vote in preliminaries, it will reduce the temptation to vote in the Top 25 when one isn't really widely and deeply experienced. Let's face it, most of us haven't played 95+% of the Top 25, 90+% of the Honorable Mentions, and 50-65+% of the The Rest. This way everyone else gets to have their say too. If you don't know whether you're "less experienced", see the "widely and deeply experienced" guidelines from the Top 25 poll:
So what constitutes "widely and deeply experienced"? That's impossible to truly quantify, but as a general guideline: voters should be familiar with nearly all (95+%) of the games on previous years' top 25 lists. Furthermore, they should be equally familiar with nearly as many (90+%) of the shmups on previous years' honorable mention lists. And, to the extent that other games voters have listed are available, would-be voters should be familiar with 50%-65+% of those games, as well.
And what constitutes "familiar"? Basically, having played it enough to understand the gameplay mechanisms that make it unique, and/or fun and/or historically important and/or any number of other things you might take as helping define "top."
Last year's voting thread.
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