Best shmups on the Xbox Live Arcade?

[Kaspal]

I'm still hoping some of the Cave shooters make their way to XBLA at some point.

Apparently Microsoft won't let them. You know, looks like the "A" in XBLA doesn't stand for "Arcade" anymore

I wish they'd change the name. XBLA was arcade ports for about 2 weeks. And whats up with so many games using what appears to be poor 3d graphics and no hand drawn stuff? (minus a few games such as the developer behemoth). Oh well, in a perfect world i suppose.

maybe one of the reasons for this, is that the QA team, are incapable of having a real challenge with one of these... you know, most ppl when looking at one of this games goes "OMG!... THAT IMPOSSIBLE TO DODGE!", even tho, its just a pattern on the 1st level, and not even one of the boss patterns

[MADEIRA STEVE88]

TBH i was one of those, but then i started playing them more and realised that there is always a way out. Theres a pattern to the bullets etc. MS musta looked at it and went no way, probs didnt even pick the pad/stick up.

[ZOM]

Well, the MS guy who rejected them said something along the lines of XBLA focusing more on "original" titles instead of old arcade ports.

[Chiaroscuro]

Also a requirement for XBLA is to have a proper English name (as the games are released worldwide) something that most of Cave games lack.

It is silly but if you think well it makes sense outside the shmup bobble.

[Raizen1984]

Also a requirement for XBLA is to have a proper English name.

Like Ikaruga?

[hermosaguy]

Fired up Ikaruga in honor of this thread. Definitely the biggest love/hate relationship I've ever had!

[Cave4life]

My fav would have to be Triggerheart but if they ever do port Radiant Silvergun with Hi-Def Visuals then i will probs like that the best

[Kiken]

Ikaruga: What-The-Fuck-Is-Going-On-With-The-Chaining Edition
Triggerheart Exelica: What-The-Fuck-Is-Going-On-With-The-Score Edition
R-Type Dimensions: These-Are-Some-Fucking-Weird-Ass-Reverse-Engineered-ROMS Edition

[Chiaroscuro]

Also a requirement for XBLA is to have a proper English name.

Like Ikaruga?

Well, at least Ikaruga is a little more english-friendly (you have to admit that Cave games aren´t) and it is recognized in the Easter shores, since Gamecube version was released outside Japan.

[DrTrouserPlank]

I'm amazed there isn't a bit more love here for triggerheart. It's actually one of my favourite shooters.

Do people just not like bullet-hell games, or is there another reason that it doesn't seem to find favour with players?

[kid aphex]

geowars2. i calculated ive played it over 1000 hours.
can't believe kiken doesnt play it. only game i could compete with him at.

[MADEIRA STEVE88]

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet will be one of them, its been submitted to MS for the XBLA.

[Kaspal]

Also a requirement for XBLA is to have a proper English name.

Like Ikaruga?

Well, at least Ikaruga is a little more english-friendly (you have to admit that Cave games aren´t) and it is recognized in the Easter shores, since Gamecube version was released outside Japan.

Ikaruga is not that friendly if you (as an english speaker) try to pronounce it the japanese way. and i dont see what the problem is with the names, Mushihime is not hard to pronounce, DDP DOJ, if kept short, is not a problem either... Ketsui? not hard at all... Death Smiles?... please! not even Galuda is hard to pronounce...

M$ just didnt see profit on bringin those to xBLA (the best way we could get those, since not everyone has a japanes console), and while thats fucked up, its still their bizz model.

[monkeyman]

I'm still hoping some of the Cave shooters make their way to XBLA at some point.

Apparently Microsoft won't let them. You know, looks like the "A" in XBLA doesn't stand for "Arcade" anymore

What I really don't get about that is MS stating the reason behind this is that that they don't want basic arcade ports anymore - which seems a little odd considering the inundation of fighting game ports which have been hitting XBLA recently.

Back on topic however - I'll put another vote in there for G Wars 2 and also give an honourable mention to Omega 5, yeah it's not amazing and it's a little short even by SHMUP standards but it's new and looks gorgeous. It also manages to be challenging without being completely daunting to newcomers (unlike many bullet hell games).

[WarBovine]

I don't think Microsoft doesn't want arcade ports, I think they just don't want the low-quality crap that certain companies have been doing so far. Take a look a the early Konami or Digital Eclipse stuff: emulator + rom + crappy XBLA wrapper = shitty port. Look at a some of the fighting games that have come out lately or will come out soon in comparison: SFTHDR looks and feels pretty good for a Street Fighter port and MvC2 is at least getting new menus and HD-filters; same for the SNK games. Ikaruga got upgraded to 720p, R-Type got a nice overhaul, and so on. Ideally, XBLA should be something more than just a crappy port of MAME. Even if it innudated with crappy new games...

The other point is revenue. I'm sure Death Smiles would have been able to meet the quality control on XBLA, but I'm sure Microsoft AND Cave have made a lot more money selling full price titles to the Japanese market than they would have selling massively discounted titles world-wide. If anything, the success of Death Smiles guarantees that Ketsui and all the other titles in the pipeline will be retail only, because even a Japan-only release will make more than a 800 XBLA game. As long as people whine and bitch and refuse to buy anything over 800 points that isn't an established brand, there's going to be very little incentive for companies to make quality XBLA games or arcade ports. Well, when they're not skipping development costs by reverse engineering someone else's PS2 port at least.

[Chiaroscuro]

Ikaruga is not that friendly if you (as an english speaker) try to pronounce it the japanese way. and i dont see what the problem is with the names, Mushihime is not hard to pronounce, DDP DOJ, if kept short, is not a problem either... Ketsui? not hard at all... Death Smiles?... please! not even Galuda is hard to pronounce...

Death Smiles of course has a proper English name, I guess its problem is more related to the lolly image the game has, which is not soo welcome in USA.

And Ikaruga is from Treasure, a well name in the worldwide gaming world, which had produced far more than shumps. And you have to admit, despite Cave being good at what it does, it is only know in Japan and small niches outside (like us).

Cave games are not harder to pronounce, but they do not mean anything to a English speaking gamer outside our community.

[Kaspal]

and precisely that is what could work in their favor... showing good stuff, at budget price, with cool quality (at least for us), its somethin that exploited the right way, could make u a name out of the stablished markets.

[Alfred]

I would recommend R-Type Dimensions. You get Two games and online play/leaderboards. I have played for 44 hours. Still enjoying it.

If you don't like R-Type than get Ikaruga it's only 400 points. Get it today because its going back up to 800 points soon or you could get Triggerheart Exelica.

Yesterday i got Biology Battle its 400 points and its a Community game. Fun to play and looks great.

[Bluce_Ree]

I like 1942 JS and Omega Five because they're easy to complete but then give you the added depth when it comes to getting the bigger scores when challenging your friends on the leaderboards. That said, the 'Joint' part of 1942 JS (the co-op) isn't so good.

Assault Heroes is good. It's one of those on-foot Ikari Warriors/Commando type efforts and is rather nice. Assault Heroes 2 was pretty horrible though, mainly because of the cluttered visuals and the slight direction lock on the shooting.

[Xonatron]

In order from best to worse:

Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 (if you like score running, which I do)
R-Type Dimensions (how can you not?)
Ikaruga (same as above)
1942: Joint Strike (wished for the actual arcade ports over a remake, however... and this one almost didn't make my list from my biased expectations)

Not saying you'll like them all, but check them out.

Didn't really like Space Invaders. Should I have? Maybe it's worth a revisit.

[TodayIsForgotten]

In order from best to worse:

Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 (if you like score running, which I do)
R-Type Dimensions (how can you not?)
Ikaruga (same as above)
1942: Joint Strike (wished for the actual arcade ports over a remake, however... and this one almost didn't make my list from my biased expectations)

Not saying you'll like them all, but check them out.

Didn't really like Space Invaders. Should I have? Maybe it's worth a revisit.

SIE is good but the DS version is so much better. Its a fun 30 minute waster.

[LoneCynic]

Not a shmup, but definately and solid retro style title, MegaMan 9 is an awesome game that I had a lot of fun with. I always liked the NES MegaMan 1-6 better than the chunky SNES MegaMan 7 and the super cutesy Playstation/Saturn MegaMan 8. So when 9 came out with the same gameplay engine and graphics style of the first six games, I was hooked immediately. It is one of the best entries in the series, and for some reason does not seem to be mentioned or discussed much.

[professor ganson]

It's good to see that some people are being drawn to shmups (and to this site) through xbox live. A remastered Gradius V on Live Arcade would probably give the genera a real boost here in the states.

[kid aphex]

a remastered gradiusv on xbla? boy id quickly consider selling everything but my 360.

[Awqward Eye]

I had high hope for 1942 Joint Strike...When I finally got to play it I was pretty disappointed. It's too slow for me and the fact that it fills the entire screen makes it almost unplayable.

My picks

Triggerheart
Ikaruga
Galaga Legions

[Meyers07]

Tried Assault Heroes and doesn't really meet my expectation. Slow fixed scrolling (instead of centering your character after clearing enemy waves) ruins my mood.

Although (strange for arcade ports) not an XBLA, i'm enjoying Raiden Fighters Aces.

[2dvertical]

For a non shmup try Shadow Complex demo. I think ill buy this, compared to other 2d run and gun games this one kicks ass. I wonder how long the full version is.

[antron]

Geometry Wars Retro evolved 2 is the mightiest shooter on XBLA. Its so pure and the high score intergration makes it maddenly addictive.

is it possible to play this with two arcade joysticks? thanks anyone.