What shmups to buy next?

[Nico87]

Well, seeing as this is my first post, I though I'd introduce myself first. I'm Nico, 22 years old, and live in Norway.

I collect & play shmups, among other genres, and I'm always looking to expand my collection.

I'll get right to the point and list the shmups I have for each system I own. Oh, and I'm not trying to brag or anything with this topic, if it's something to brag at, at all. I'm just looking for help.

Nintendo Disk System -

Moero! Twinbee: Shinamon Hakasei wo Sukue!​

PC Engine (HuCard & CD)

Super Star Soldier
Soldier Blade
Final Soldier
Star Parodier
Dragon Spirit
Air Zonk
Super Air Zonk
Coryoon
Cotton
Super Raiden
Download
Metal Stoke (probably not even a shmup)
Side Arms Special
Lords of Thunder
Spriggan

Super Famicom -

Area 88
Pop'N'Twinbee
Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie
Parodius Da! －Shinwa kara Owarai e－

Sega Mega Drive -

Tatsujin
Thunder Force IV
MUSHA Aleste
Volfied

Sega Saturn -

Gokujou Parodius Da! Deluxe Pack
Detana TwinBee Yahoo! Deluxe Pack
Gradius Deluxe Pack
Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus
Sexy Parodius
Jikkyō Osyaberi Parodius ~ forever with me ~
Batsugun
Battle Garegga
Soukyugurentai
Cotton 2
Twinkle Star Sprites
Bokan To Ippatsu! Doronboo Kanpekiban
Steam Hearts
Darius 2
Darius Gaiden
Thunder Force Deluxe Pack 1
Thunder Force Deluxe Pack 2
Layer Section 1
Layer Section 2
Radiant Silvergun

Playstation -

X2 No Relief
DonPachi
DoDonPachi
Einhänder
Raiden DX

Playstation 2 -

Shooting Love: Trizeal
Radilgy PreciouS
Thunder Force VI
Gradius V
Sega Ages Vol. 33 - Fantasy Zone Complete Collection
Psyvariar -Complete Edition-
R-Type Final
Homura

Xbox 360 -

Mushihime-sama Futari
Trigger Heart Exelica (XBLA)
Ikaruga (XBLA)

Obviously, I'm missing games such as Ibara, ESPGaluda, Mushihime-sama, DoDonPachi Dai Ou Jou, and Psyvariar 2 for the Playstation 2, but these games can be very expensive these days, but I'll get hold of them some day. Also missing are the obvious Cave 360 games. I've yet to decide if I'm gonna purchase a NTSC-J 360 Arcade, but I think I will make a decision on that once they reveal if ESPGaluda 2 will be region-free or not. I'll also pursue some Famicom games such as Crisis Force and Gun Nac, together with Arrow Flash for the Mega Drive, and Thunder Force V for the Saturn.

Anyway, please post if you know of any great shmups that I haven't picked up as of yet.

Thanks!

[Dale]

For PS2 I'd recommend the Shikigami No Shiro games and for Mega Drive I'd recommend Wings Of Wor(especially) Crying/Biohazard Battle, Thunder Force2 and Gaieres. I think they're great but some people would disagree.

[Nico87]

Gaiares is under my consideration, just forgot to mention it above. Thunder Force II is a fair recommendation, but I'm content with the Gold Pack version. I'll check out the other titles, thanks!

[Slump]

Not sure if by expand you mean also into new consoles because I can think of quite a few Dreamcast titles most shmupers, including yourself, would probably enjoy. Depending on your ethics, the main reason I bought one was the terrible lack of copy protection, you can play some greats for the simple price of bandwidth.

***Edit***
Also the r-type dimensions for XBLA might be one you could check into if you're a fan of the series. Not everyone likes it but meh, I enjoy it.

[nZero]

Playstation - Raiden DX

[Nico87]

Not sure if by expand you mean also into new consoles because I can think of quite a few Dreamcast titles most shmupers, including yourself, would probably enjoy. Depending on your ethics, the main reason I bought one was the terrible lack of copy protection, you can play some greats for the simple price of bandwidth.

***Edit***
Also the r-type dimensions for XBLA might be one you could check into if you're a fan of the series. Not everyone likes it but meh, I enjoy it.

Nah, I only buy complete games and XBLA games. I had a Dreamcast, with Ikaruga and Bangai-O, untill I sold it a month ago. Thing is, almost every shmup worth owning was also released on the Playstation 2, and the DC versions almost always seemed more expensive than the PS2 versions. Ikaruga was a must, obviously, but I can live with the XBLA version.

I prefer games on their original console(s), and I'm considering various R-Type games for various consoles (mainly R-Type: The Third Lightning for the SFC)

[The Coop]

Volified isn't a shmup. It's basically a Qix sequel (it's called Ultimate Qix in the U.S.).

That said...

-=MegaDrive=-

Whip Rush
Thunder Force III
Gley Lancer
Eliminate Down
Wings of Wor (Gynous)
Bio-Hazard Battle (Crying)
Sagaia (Darius II)
Zero Wing
Sol-Deace
Phelios
Granada (borderliner, but great)
Undeadline
Twin Hawk
Steel Empire (Koutetsu Teikoku)
Super Fantasy Zone
Vapor Trail (good, but not great)
Verytex (good, but not great)
Darwin 4081 (just for the oddness of the powerup system )


-=PC=Engine=-

Super Darius
Super Darius II
Rayxanber II
Rayxanber III
Spriggan Mark II (turn off the in-game chatter)


-=PlayStation=-

Einhander
The Raiden Project
Raiden DX


-=Playstation 2=-

Sega Ages Vol. 33 - Fantasy Zone Complete Collection

[Nico87]

Purchased Raiden DX just now. I have Einhänder, actually, forgot to write it down.

Nice MD and PC E recs, though! Will check 'em out even though I'm aware of most of them.

Have you tried both the PC Engine and the Mega Drive port of Twin Hawk? Curious as to which is the best port/version. And have you tried Hellfire and V-V? I'm a part-time Toaplan fanboy, but I haven't played those three games yet.

[The Coop]

Hellfire's a good game (and one I forgot to list). Tough, but fun. I own the Genesis (MegaDrive) version, and enjoy it. V-V (Grindstormer in the U.S.) is all right, but I wasn't that enamored with it. Others here seem to like it quite a bit though.

I can't contrast and compare the two versions of Twin Hawk, as I only have the MegaDrive version. However, I also recommend Twin Cobra (Kykkyoku Tiger) for the Genesis. It's a bit different than the arcade game, but it's a very good game nonetheless.

There's also Toaplan Shooting Battle Volume 1 for the Playstation, which is a bitch to find. It has three Toaplan shmups on it (Tiger Heli, Kyukyoku Tiger and Twin Cobra if memory serves), and is quite expensive. And for some old school fun, there's Xevious 3D/G+ for the Playstation, which has four Xevious games on it (Xevious, Super Xevious, Xevious Arrangement, and of course, Xevious 3D/G).

[Ed Oscuro]

Twin Cobra for Genesis is a lot different from the arcade / PC-E versions due to the different colors and newly hacked-together level layout. It's not bad. I like the Genesis remixes of Toaplan games (ones that are significantly different enough include Fire Shark / Zame Zame Zame! and Truxton / Tatsujin; maybe Twin Hawk / Daisenpuu as well).

[BIL]

Gradius Gaiden and R-Type Delta (PS1) are both excellent members of their series, and quite affordable. Note that Gaiden's seventh stage will run slowly on a PS2, if you lack an original PlayStation. Delta got US/EU/JP releases, Gaiden is JP exclusive.

[MrPopo]

Blazing Lazers (Gunhed) on the PC Engine has a special place in my heart, as it was the game that finally got me to "get" shmups and really got me started picking up others (MUSHA, Shikigami no Shiro 3, Mushi Futari). I find it to be tons of fun with some very satisfying weaponry.

[lgb]

Have you tried both the PC Engine and the Mega Drive port of Twin Hawk? Curious as to which is the best port/version. And have you tried Hellfire and V-V? I'm a part-time Toaplan fanboy, but I haven't played those three games yet.

straight-up, the PCE versions of those Toaplan games (K-Tiger, Daisenpu, Truxton, etc) are a lot more like their arcade originals than the Mega Drive versions turned out to be. almost different experiences playing one after the other.

you need the Mega Drive Fire Shark, very relaxing. the two Super Darius games on PCE-CD are good too

V-V is great. V-V itself is like Batsugun+Slap Fight almost.

[The Coop]

I'll second Gradius Gaiden and R-Type Delta, and add R-Types (R-Type and R-Type II) for the Playstation.

[Slump]

Not sure if by expand you mean also into new consoles because I can think of quite a few Dreamcast titles most shmupers, including yourself, would probably enjoy. Depending on your ethics, the main reason I bought one was the terrible lack of copy protection, you can play some greats for the simple price of bandwidth.

***Edit***
Also the r-type dimensions for XBLA might be one you could check into if you're a fan of the series. Not everyone likes it but meh, I enjoy it.

Nah, I only buy complete games and XBLA games. I had a Dreamcast, with Ikaruga and Bangai-O, untill I sold it a month ago. Thing is, almost every shmup worth owning was also released on the Playstation 2, and the DC versions almost always seemed more expensive than the PS2 versions. Ikaruga was a must, obviously, but I can live with the XBLA version.

I prefer games on their original console(s), and I'm considering various R-Type games for various consoles (mainly R-Type: The Third Lightning for the SFC)

Ahh, that's a good choice. I own both R-Types for SNES they are quite fun and challenging. Also, unless things have changed, they are pretty cheap still.

[Herr Schatten]

For PS2 I'd recommend the Shikigami No Shiro games and for Mega Drive I'd recommend Wings Of Wor(especially) Crying/Biohazard Battle, Thunder Force2 and Gaieres. I think they're great but some people would disagree.

I completely agree with this, except for Gaiares. It's really not as good as some people seem to remember it.

[Kron]

I prefer games on their original console(s)

Well thats not true if you're buying the weak PS2 versions of the DC games.

[Nico87]

Fair enough, but of all the DC shmups, I only have Trizeal and Radilgy for PS2.

[Nico87]

Also, what is THE DDP DOJ version to get? PS2 or 360 (assuming I buy a J360)?

[davyK]

You NEED Super Aleste (PAL) / Space Megaforce (NTSC) for your SNES....excellent shmup which pulls miracles technically.

[Jockel]

Also, what is THE DDP DOJ version to get? PS2 or 360 (assuming I buy a J360)?

Hard question IMO.
if you can live with REALLY terrible menus and some bugs you can go with the 360 version.
The PS2 port however is more accurate and less annoying in the menus.
On the 360 you've got the Black Label, though.
And the Black Label really is a huge improvement on playability in my opinion.

[Nico87]

And I read there will be a patch out soon. Guess I'll go with the 360 version, as I just made a decision to sell my PAL 360 and american PS3, buy a J360 and a cheap dvd-player, and become business man of the year.

[Grant_Windsor]

Also, what is THE DDP DOJ version to get? PS2 or 360 (assuming I buy a J360)?

I have my copy of DDP DOJ for 360 firmly placed at the bottom of my JP360 stack (well, right on top of Senko no Ronde...which is rock bottom). Those freaking "now loading" (and it really does mean it) screens piss me off so much I don't even bother with it. I've been gaming on the PC Engine since somewhere around the advent of Super CDs in 1991, so I'm used to pathetic load times...but I seriously expect a little more nowadays. I guess you can hope for the best with whatever Arika is doing with DDP DOJ for JP360 as a download, but I'd go with the less-buggy, more functional JP PS2 port. Or just get both of them for the pure heck of it. I mean...I have Radirgy for 4 systems...that's pretty sad (in more ways than one)...but I just play it on whatever system I'm tooling around with at the moment.

[XERO]

AXELAY (SNES/SFAMI)

[TrevHead (TVR)]

What about some doujin shmups? imo the best names are all worth buying (touhou, siter skian, rebrank or alternative sphere, exceed )

For collections, I don't know how well they retain there value, but i bet early touhous must be worth something. And what about collecters editions like that one of Samidare some1 posted a day or so ago?