the 10 pc engine shmups you simply must own.

[DazTM]

so what are they then? I'd like to know

[louisg]

The ones that pop into my mind:
- Lords of Thunder
- Nexzr
- Soldier Blade (especially on Hard mode)
- Super Star Soldier
- Mr. Heli
- Spriggan

I only consider the first 3 of those all that essential

[MathU]

My 5 essentials would be these:

R-Type
Gradius II
Soldier Blade
Blazing Lazers
Gate of Thunder


People never seem to differentiate between Seirei Senshi Spriggan and Spriggan Mark II when they're referring to the PC Engine.
It's almost as if they've never even played the games. Seirei Senshi Spriggan is the good one, by the way.

[gameoverDude]

Here's what I thought of:

Seirei Senshi Spriggan (Hard mode or higher recommended)
Gate of Thunder
Lords of Thunder
Sylphia (Start on Hard though. Normal mode is a cake walk.)
Soldier Blade
Super Star Soldier
Final Soldier
Blazing Lazers/Gunhed

[Kollision]

From the ones I've tried so far, Nexzr is really amazing.
Gradius II is also a great port.

[Alien Soldier]

Top 10 only ? I'm going with the PCE exclusives then (no arcade conversion):

Soldier Blade
Super Star Soldier
Gunhed
Gate of Thunder
Lords of Thunder
Nexzr
Seirei Senshi Spriggan
Magical Chase
PC Denjin (Air Zonk)
Coryoon

[louisg]

Legend of Valkyrie is cool too, but you really need to be able to recognize Japanese characters well to type in your continue password =) And Star Pariodier is very charming, very well done, but very easy. Coryoon’s good too but will cost you an arm, a leg, and a kidney.

[Zigfried the Trizealot]

Gate of Thunder
Spriggan
Kiaidan 00
Winds of Thunder
Sapphire
Nexzr
Rayxanber 2
Soldier Blade
Sylphia
Ai Cho Aniki

[The Coop]

Gate of Thunder
Lords of Thunder
Rayxanber II
Rayxanber III
Super Darius
Super Darius II
Spriggan
Super Raiden
Soldier Blade

I haven't gotten to play Sapphire yet.

[Ed Oscuro]

I like anything with a Caravan Mode.

Well, almost anything. Nexzr and Spriggan are just sorta okay in my book. I think Final Star Soldier's mode is as good as Soldier Blade's, though.

[Warp_Rattler]

No love for Image Fight? Sure, it's better in the Saturn collection, but it's still a solid challenge.

[NTSC-J]

I'm not sure one must own 10 shooters for the PCE, but Star Parodier is a very sweet game (not in the kickass sense, although I guess it does, but its very charming, as someone already mentioned). Most of the other heavily lauded shooters on this system are kind of paint-by-number, but this one has lots of character.

[Klatrymadon]

No love for Image Fight? Sure, it's better in the Saturn collection, but it's still a solid challenge.

No Salamander, either! It's the best version of the game by some distance. The distance from here to Neptune.

[KidQuaalude]

No mention of Galaga '88? For shame!

[Ed Oscuro]

Man, all these games getting mentioned that are either on X68000...or MAME, in their original and best incarnations. (I don't know about Salamander per se but I expect that's also best on PCB.)

[ROBOTRON]

Blazing Lazers
Dead Moon
Aero Blasters
Dragon Spirit
Gates of thunder

Honarble Mention:

Psychosis
Air Zonk
Lords of Thunder
Cybercore

Note: Beware of Deep Blue AT ALL COST, unless you want skitzophrenic bi-polar, HIV of the brain disease.

[Opethian]

Gunhed (just an all around awesome game)
Nexzr (good challenge and great presentation)
Spriggan (the love child of naxzat and compile, legendary!)
Coryoon (its a score fest! so much fruit that distract you form the bullets)
Sapphire (really pushes limits of the PCE, one of the best looking games)
Image Fight II (tough as nails!)
Rayxanber II (superior over the 3rd one)
Tatsujin (probably the hardest port of this game, the bullets are faster than the arcade and the playfield is smaller)

[Obiwanshinobi]

Gunhed is okay ("console shmup" through and through, but that's just the way PCE shmups are).

[Nasp]

For me is Gate of Thunder

[Klatrymadon]

(I don't know about Salamander per se but I expect that's also best on PCB.)

The PCE one doesn't aim for arcade-perfection, if that's what you mean. There are quite a few sections it tidies up a bit, most notably the gun wall in stage 4 (just before Tetran), which it turns from an utterly hateful, capricious shitpile* into a meaningful obstacle which is challenging for the right reasons. It's just a much more enjoyable version of the original game, IMHOtep.

*You don't apply strategies so much as neutering techniques.

[Herr Schatten]

Dragon Spirit
Galaga '88
Gate of Thunder
Gradius II
Lords / Winds of Thunder
Mr. Heli (definitely!)
Nexzr
Parodius Da!
R-Type Complete
Soldier Blade

Not a big fan of Sapphire. It's a showcase of what can be achieved with the hardware, but it's a fairly mediocre game, and not even a particularly pretty one. The same can be said to a lesser extend about Sylphia, although that one is actually pretty.

I have a soft spot for L-Dis, due to its quirkiness and its frantic pace, but I wouldn't really label it as a must-have title.

[ZOM]

I'm surprised by how few times Namco's Dragon shooters were mentioned in this thread,
and I'm even more curious about why those who did mention Dragon Spirit put it above Dragon Saber, no, actually no one even listed that game...
Am I missing something that is disliked about that game on these forums? AFAIK we don't even have a HS thread for Saber.

Anyways, here's my list

Dragon Saber
Dragon Spirit
Nexzr
Image Fight II
Super Darius
Super Darius II
Soldier Blade
Serei Senshi Spriggan (Hard mode)
Psychic Storm (lol I kid you not - I like the transformations)
Cybercore (yeah boring and easy I know, but I still like it)

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I see that no one has mentioned the cool little known Hu-Card release of OverRide from famed defunct developer, Data East. It's recommened to use a proper PCE arcade stick controller to play it.

Another cool PC Engine shmup title that was released on Super CD-Rom2 format was Riot's Kiadian-00. The opening intro with voice-over narration and opening theme song really draws the player in. Bought them both blind not knowing what they both were like in terms of gameplay, game mechanics, etc. They both are worthy of any PCE shmupper's stash.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Herr Schatten]

I'm surprised by how few times Namco's Dragon shooters were mentioned in this thread,
and I'm even more curious about why those who did mention Dragon Spirit put it above Dragon Saber, no, actually no one even listed that game...
Am I missing something that is disliked about that game on these forums? AFAIK we don't even have a HS thread for Saber.

Saber has more variety in the powerup departement, which strangely makes it feel a lot more conventional than its predecessor. When playing Saber, I've always got the feeling that I'm playing a run-of-the-mill shooter dressed up in fantasy clothes. The game is nice enough, it just doesn't feel very special to me. Spirit, on the other hand, has embedded the whole 'Dragon' concept firmly into the gameplay itself. It's not just cosmetics, and the limited nature of the powerups makes the game feel focused and wonderfully claustrophobic. Additionally, the difficulty curve in Saber jumps all over the place, while in Spirit it rises more steadily. Saber's not a bad game by any means, but when I have to pick one of the two for a must-have list, it's definitely Dragon Spirit.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I should also note that Seirei Senshi Spriggan is über-pretty. Possibly the best looking Compile shmup.

[Zigfried the Trizealot]

I have a soft spot for L-Dis, due to its quirkiness and its frantic pace, but I wouldn't really label it as a must-have title.

L-Dis is pretty damn cool, and surprisingly tough -- in a good way -- although the last level (I think it's the last one, anyway) brings it down with all that racing-between-walls stuff. People should definitely check it out, especially since it's cheap cheap.

Another cool PC Engine shmup title that was released on Super CD-Rom2 format was Riot's Kiadian-00. The opening intro with voice-over narration and opening theme song really draws the player in.

Agree on this one, too. The opening is phenomenal, but the whole game is a stellar effort. And I mean "effort" as in "they put a lot of effort into this". It's neat how harder difficulties add elements like suicide bullets; not too shocking nowadays, but back on the PCE, that required a significant change in play style. And of course, any game that includes cybernetic soldiers surfing across lava as well as war mammoths (and baby war mammoths!) is a winner. I played this again the other day and would still call it one of Alfa System's best.

[E. Randy Dupre]

Nobody ever mentions Ordyne.

I like Ordyne.

Also, R-Type Complete is worth getting over and above the HuCard releases, because of the hilariously boring and odd alternate storyline sandwiched into the game, plus the excellent remixed music, which adds to the whole 'alternate universe' vibe that the cutscenes create.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Don't R-Types and Namco Museum Volume 4 (including Ordyne) for the PSX top the PCE releases? I mean, all things considered they aren't "must own" for the PCE.

[MathU]

Don't R-Types and Namco Museum Volume 4 (including Ordyne) for the PSX top the PCE releases? I mean, all things considered they aren't "must own" for the PCE.

What E. Randy Dupre said + the extra boss at the end of stage 5. The only downside to the PC Engine version is the cropped 3:4 resolution, but it's actually handled very well (uses scrolling like Raiden) and you barely even notice it.

[Ed Oscuro]

I am enjoying (and being informed by) all the replies in this thread, good work everyone!

There are quite a few sections [PCE Salamanda] tidies up a bit, most notably the gun wall in stage 4 (just before Tetran), which it turns from an utterly hateful, capricious shitpile* into a meaningful obstacle which is challenging for the right reasons. It's just a much more enjoyable version of the original game, IMHOtep.

This is interesting information. For what it's worth I'm not sure I got that far on PCB - past the rather easy fireball section, and then to the second (?) top-down stage, with all the little dead ends and such. The game was pretty damn good up to that point at least.

HIV of the brain

Wasn't that also a PC-Engine game? Not a shooter I don't think.