New to shmups and shmups

[Seelen]

Yeah, I figured it wasn't the greatest recommendation, but I couldn't find Gradius V or Taito Legends 2, and I wanted something new to play today. If I get really bored with it, I figure I can just return it, but it's cheap enough to not be that big of a deal.

Also, it was worth it just so I could experience "ghetto tate" for the first time. It was so weird at first, but I really like it, and it's really comfortable! I just lay on my bed because it's the same height as the TV when I stack it on my futon

Also, I still need to get a stupid A/V cable for my dreamcast, every time I go to a game store they are sold out, and I'm too lazy to buy one online...but I guess I really should, I want to play ikaruga some more.

One thing I've been thinking about, is getting a HDD for my PS2. I already have the network Adaptor, so it would be pretty cool to load it up with games. It could even help with the ones I already own to reduce load times and stuff.

Edit: Been playing blue wish resurrection...it's really cool, it seems like a "bullet hell" i've heard about, but in a fairly positive way. Are there any "high def" shmups though? I have a decent pc, so I was wondering if there are any graphically intensive ones, or at least ones that can output at 1080 or something...

[indutrial]

Psikyo games have fast bullets, but not the fastest ships. I know it was already mentioned above, but Strikers 1945 II is a good game for beginners (and a good game in general).

Definitely a good game in terms of gameplay/graphics/etc.., but not something that any beginner should dream of 1cc'ing (or in my case, 10cc'ing ) anytime in the near future. I played through this game earlier this evening to get an idea of what the later bosses were like and it's bloody brutal! Flying too close to any plane or turret after level 6 is pretty much doom.

The Psikyo games I've played definitely take the cake amongst frantic shooters. I prefer the slower burning panic of horizontal games like R-Type and Gradius; both series are replete with what I'd consider highly memorable moments of frantic insanity (the Gradius bubble stages; R-Type II's ridiculous fifth boss).

Regarding my hi-def TV, all of my PS2-programmed games look great with the component cables (Gradius V, Raiden III) but I have to switch back to my old-school composite cables to play some of the emulated stuff (the arcade packs and especially SNK-Playmore discs). The biggest pain in the ass is Gradius III/IV. The FMV intro and IV look amazing with the component cables but the port of III doesn't come through on those (nothing but a blank screen and the game's background music), requiring me to switch to the other setup again. I similarly have to 'downgrade' my video output whenever I pop R-Type Delta into the PS2.

I always play the PS2 games in 4:3 with sidebars, since most PS2 games were not designed for 16:9 and just end up stretching horribly when the TV is set to that mode.

Finding shmups at Gamestop IS tough. I recommend checking store inventories on their website and EB games' website. Give yourself a wide geographic radius and make sure you call ahead and verify that it's actually in the store.

[BIL]

the most annoying thing about some of these games is that you can get all the way to the end and then be completely RAPED and have to start over (make it to the end of thunderforce IV on easy every time without dying once and then the 8th level final boss sand 9th level final boss destroy me a billion times)
same goes for Android assult/bari arm (no deaths until the last level, cant beat it)

why do some of these games insist on such a ridiculous jump in difficulty :(

It's more of a console / PC shooter thing, in my experience. Expect the same treatment from Thunder Force V and Ether Vapor (PC) if you want a 1CC from them. Most of the respected coin-op shooters will bring the pain by Stage 3 if not quicker. Not to say you won't find yourself struggling to clear a last boss when the rest of a game is relatively down-pat... this genre has to have the most brutal endgames of them all. But there are plenty of evenly-judged shooters to try your hand at.

[Davey]

Edit: Been playing blue wish resurrection...it's really cool, it seems like a "bullet hell" i've heard about, but in a fairly positive way. Are there any "high def" shmups though? I have a decent pc, so I was wondering if there are any graphically intensive ones, or at least ones that can output at 1080 or something...

None of the big name developers have any games in high def AFAIK. PC shmups don't have the same level of detail in their artwork, so high res games might look neat and clean but don't expect to be blown away.

I like the graphical style of Kenta Cho's games, and those scale to your screen's resolution, but some people don't like that minimalistic abstract look. I doubt that's what you meant by high-res, but his games are good and free so try them out (SOME of them are good, not all, check out this thread).

Regardless, BWR is so hideous that anything should look good after playing that (good game, though, although personally I only like Accel mode).

Flying too close to any plane or turret after level 6 is pretty much doom.

Don't do that, then.

[indutrial]

Flying too close to any plane or turret after level 6 is pretty much doom.

Don't do that, then.

Whenever I was ranked up, no amount of distance helped much! The game definitely makes me want to get better. It's frantic without being discouraging in the fashion of something like Battletoads.

[Mortificator]

Things are hugely easier if you only pick up one or two power-ups. The bullet speed increases so much with more that it's counterproductive. Anyone who plays Psikyo games for a while dodges those power-ups as if they were bullets.

Also, it's usually not worth it to build up more than a level one charge, so go ahead and go nuts with your charge shot.

I share the hate of R-Type II's stage 5 & stage 5 boss. Getting rid of that is one of the motivations of playing Super R-Type.

I see that X Multiply [arcade] hasn't been mentioned. You'd probably like that if you like R-Type. It has a huge difficulty spike in the last stage, though. On the Gradius side, the Japan-only Gradius Gaiden [PS1] is the best of the games that follow the classic formula.

[Seelen]

Ok, so I think I overdid it. Every time I close my eyes, I can almost SEE bullets coming at me. I've had falling arrows, tetris blocks, etc in the past, so this isn't too new, but it's pretty funny how into it I've gotten so quickly. I better take it a little easy, I don't want to get burnt out.

I'm actually trading someone for a copy of Gradius V, so I'm really excited about that one.

Do you guys have any tips for gaining skill in these games? I figure there's no best way, but certain ways are surely better than others. Are there certain games I should play, or just pick any game I like and keep grinding it out? Should I be playing on easy where I can dominate, or hard/arcade where I have more of a challenge?

If you have any good tips I'd appreciate it. Before it comes up, I've been reading the strategy forum, I just figure I can leave my questions in here for the time being, and take it to strategy when I start having complex and specific tactical questions.

[Rob]

Do you guys have any tips for gaining skill in these games?

Play a lot. Do not set it to easy. All defaults if you want to participate in the high score section (there are some progress oriented goals for you), though some have higher difficulty charts. Playing a lot of R-Type will not make you better at Strikers and vice versa, but Strikers will make you better at manic/bullet hell types of games.

[The Coop]

You mean the teddy bear setting isn't going to make me the bestest in the world?

[indutrial]

Do you guys have any tips for gaining skill in these games?

Agreed on Rob's message 100%. You should watch his youtube review of Gunbird 2...very entertaining. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2YSH95x7O4

R-Type is definitely more dependent on memory and precise positioning; I feel, however, that the Psikyo titles help a bit with the Gradius series, which involves far more weaving and dodging (especially when you die and can't rely on your options anymore).

I was looking at the dip-switch settings for the original Gradius on my MAME emulator and noticed that the default setting is 'easy.' Should I just switch it to medium, even though I still suck too much to get past level 5 after the ranking difficulty kicks my balls in.

[Seelen]

ok, so I'm really starting to like raiden III. It took a little while to grow on me, but I really enjoy it. And I'm starting to get better at Blue Wish Resurrection. I think i REALLY like manic ones, I played a little touhou 9, but it was kind of crappy (I have a 16:9 display, so fullscreen looked like crap, and because it's 1080, windowed mode was tiny). I'm d/ling touhou 11 right now, maybe that will be fun.

OMG though, I've been looking at lal these lists of shmups...I'm definitely a big collector of video games, and I can't believe how many good shmups I've passed on over the years. I go to garage sales and stuff constantly, I could have had like 15 really good ones at like $1-3 a piece =/
Oh well, I'm still excited about Gradius V.

Are there any games for PC that can use widescreen? I HATE the way it looks stretched, and a 16:9 horzie would be AMAZING, don'tcha think