Name All Energybar Shooters

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

Menace, D-Hero (both Europe)

[mesh control]

Borderliners/yet to be confirmed:
US version of Xexex <- can a owner of the PCB confirm this?

Note: I make a distinct beetween hit by bullet and hit by ground/walls. When there's a energy life bar for walls only, but 1-hit kill for bullets the game does not count here and goes into the borderline section as for now.

It's actually the international version, sorry.

Discussed in this thread:
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... ex&start=0

[Drum]

Sky Fox (Japan)
Mazinger Z (Japan) - Life bar but no lives.
Bangai-o (Japan) - are we counting this?
Gaia Seed (Japan)

Narc (USA) - are we counting this?

[toaplan_shmupfan]

Re: Eco Fighters, the only game version I have is the Capcom Classics Collection 2 for the PlayStation 2 version, but I'm not finding a lifebar, only an actual indication of ships remaining.

Add: Forgotten Worlds (Capcom), initially only a lifebar but can buy a regeneration that is effectively an extra life.
Add: Dragon Spirit (Namco). Both an indication of hits per life and more than one life by default.

[Ed Oscuro]

Ecco the Dolphin

you shoot things with your nose

Possibly Donkey Kong 64 as well but oranges don't come out straight so it's not real close. FPS mode confirmed!

[lgb]

Phalanx. Move Deathsmiles to its apporpriate section. Are we really considering life bars that are simply life counts anyway?

[Elixir]

I can't think of any reason behind making this list besides defending why your own games have lifebars. Trying to future-proof yourself, eh RHE?

Eurothread confirmed.

[toaplan_shmupfan]

I also just occurred to me that if

Full bar lost for bullet hit, half bar for physical contact.

Then the platform/shooter Rolling Thunder (Namco) definitely qualifies, even though it is not a forced-scroll (but does have a timer).

[Kollision]

can of worms open!

run for your lives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[linko9]

Well, Guwange definitely has a life bar, but in practice, it feels much more like a standard "one hit" system. You can only sustain two or three hits at most per life bar (if memory serves; I've actually only played a few credits). I guess the same could be said for the Shikigami games. I don't think they should be moved to a different category, I'm just saying that having a life bar can mean very different things in terms of gameplay depending on how it's implemented.

I only bring this up because your initial post seems to be testing the common assumption that "euroshmups" are mainly made in Europe, but a life bar does not a euroshmup make. Of course, as has been pointed out very often, the term is very poorly defined, but I don't think you'll catch anyone calling the Shikigami games or Guwange a euroshmup, for obvious reasons.

More on topic, some google searching has turned up the following games:
Magic Girl (MD) - Japan
Cotton (MD version at least) - Japan [If this is true, I'm surprised no one has mentioned it. I've never played any of the games in the series, so I don't know if this is true. Can anyone confirm or deny?]
Chromium B.S.U. - the Reptile Labour Project (PC) - US/Europe? (here's the official website...)
Phelios (MD, (Arcade also?))- Japan - (Mentioned earlier, don't see why it wouldn't fit the bill)

Anyway, that BSU game seems to be an extremely obscure freeware game, so feel free to not add it. On that note, perhaps a distinction should be made between commercial and non-commercial games? Or not.

[Nate]

Elixir:

I can't think of any reason behind making this list besides defending why your own games have lifebars. Trying to future-proof yourself, eh RHE?

Eurothread confirmed.

Well, YOU and a handful of others are going to hate this title when it gets released. I guess you could call this "future-proofing...once removed"? The game is moving from GBA to flash format btw. Won't be long, now.

[lgb]

Considering I am not a person to say things like this, it's a shock that I think that game looks unplayable. Maybe it'll just be like Strahl, but I have doubts.

[twalden]

Is 1943 the first one?

[RHE]

Move Deathsmiles to its apporpriate section.

Quote:
Full bar lost for bullet hit, half bar for physical contact.
Then the platform/shooter Rolling Thunder (Namco) definitely qualifies, even though it is not a forced-scroll (but does have a timer).

As stated in the original post: I make a distinct beetween hit by bullet and hit by ground/walls. When there's a energy life bar for walls only, but 1-hit kill for bullets the game does not count here and goes into the borderline section as for now.

Re: Eco Fighters, the only game version I have is the Capcom Classics Collection 2 for the PlayStation 2 version, but I'm not finding a lifebar, only an actual indication of ships remaining.

Okay, but how many hits can take the ship before going down?

I only bring this up because your initial post seems to be testing the common assumption that "euroshmups" are mainly made in Europe, but a life bar does not a euroshmup make. Of course, as has been pointed out very often, the term is very poorly defined, but I don't think you'll catch anyone calling the Shikigami games or Guwange a euroshmup, for obvious reasons.

It's not only about that. I find it interesting to see how many games actually have lifebars, and how they're integrated. Japanese developers tend to have them in a more subtile way (Guwange) while western developers tend to have them more than obvious (X2). Theres also Cloudphobia which has a lifebar as part of the scoring system, which is interesting. The thing I learn from this thread already is: the problem isn't a lifebar itself, it's rather the way it is integrated.

And of course it's not only a energybar that makes a Euroshmup, what ever that is anaway.

I can't think of any reason behind making this list besides defending why your own games have lifebars. Trying to future-proof yourself, eh RHE?

Yeah dude we heard lifebars are the next big thing in Japan.

[Observer]

I forgot to mention Cloudphobia has TWO lifebars:

1 your armor and 2 your mothership, not visible but every enemy you don't destroy and gets off the screen damages your mothership. If any of those two bars goes down it's Game Over. (Mothership health is also key, as well as the missile stock).

Also, CyBattler counts remaining HP and gives a score according to it at the end of the stages. Same deal with Suguri where your rank is heavily affected by your HP, sometimes it's better to avoid all sort of damage altogether (hard as "%·$%).

edit: add Sora (PC), the new entry of the Suguri series, which also uses a health bar and relies heavily on avoiding damage (it's even stricter than Suguri!).

edit2: oh, and Kamui (also PC), it uses a shield system (6 hit points if I'm not wrong?) on top of each player's life.

[Herr Schatten]

The thing I learn from this thread already is: the problem isn't a lifebar itself, it's rather the way it is integrated.

Yeah, that's really an interesting question. There are many ways in which a lifebar can be implemented, not all of which are bad per se. I think we should talk about this in more detail instead of just listing whether a game has a lifebar or not.

The most unique implementation of a lifebar I've ever seen has the old Amiga title Wings of Death, btw. It differs from the usual one in two ways:
1. It's actually a 'deathbar' that fills up rather than a lifebar that depletes. (Of course this is merely a cosmetic change.)
2. Here it gets interesting. Normal lifebars work like this: A bullet hits your ship, then the bullet disappears and you lose a chunk of your lifebar. The lifebar in Wings of Death, however, works differently, because the bullets don't disappear upon contact with your ship, so the amount of damage you take differs depending on how much time your ship spends overlapping the bullet. This makes slower bullets more dangerous than fast ones. Additionally, the bar doesn't fill up instantly, it rises gradually with a small delay. In the end, this creates situations where dashing through a cloud of bullets can be better than trying to dodge all the bullets and risking multiple hits.

I'm not completely sure if these quirks of the lifebar are really a conscious design choice of the developer. I doubt it, actually. But there's no denying that it adds some strategic depth to an otherwise flawed (but fun) game. I'd really liked to see this particular implementation of a life bar in a game that makes full use of it, maybe even designs bullet patterns around it.

[RHE]

There's also the berserk mode of Söldner-X, when your life bar comes down to a certain extent (near death) the ship switches into berserker mode to give the player an advantage. Not 100% sure what though, better powerups or even more score I believe. But it makes the player try staying in berserk modes as long as possible. Sort of risk and reward. That's how I get it at least, I'm not that much into the game.

[TMR]

There's also the berserk mode of Söldner-X, when your life bar comes down to a certain extent (near death) the ship switches into berserker mode to give the player an advantage. Not 100% sure what though, better powerups or even more score I believe.

It gives a 50% boost in weapon damage and decreases the enemy weapon damage by 50% as well, the gauge has to be below 20% (had to check the manual, i'd forgotten). i quite liked Berserker mode actually, the ship shudders like it's had too much caffeine. =-)

[toaplan_shmupfan]

Quote:
Full bar lost for bullet hit, half bar for physical contact.
Then the platform/shooter Rolling Thunder (Namco) definitely qualifies, even though it is not a forced-scroll (but does have a timer).

As stated in the original post: I make a distinct beetween hit by bullet and hit by ground/walls. When there's a energy life bar for walls only, but 1-hit kill for bullets the game does not count here and goes into the borderline section as for now.

For Rolling Thunder I will clarify that this means collision with another enemy man (half lifebar lost) vs. an enemy shot (full lifebar lost).

Re: Eco Fighters, the only game version I have is the Capcom Classics Collection 2 for the PlayStation 2 version, but I'm not finding a lifebar, only an actual indication of ships remaining.

Okay, but how many hits can take the ship before going down?

Looks like one hit to me, either by colliding with an enemy ship or an enemy shot.

[microcosm]

A very borderline case is Halley's Comet (1986, Taito, AC).

Your home planet has a life bar of sorts: every enemy you miss counts as 1% damage on it, and 100% damage means game over. Your ship enjoys one-hit deaths, as expected.

[Observer]

I can confirm on Karous (DC/Wii): it has a lifebar and once it runs out it's game over. I think Radirgy (DC/PS2/soon 360) works in a similar way?

Also, add Twilight Refrain (PC) to the list. The spirit counter definitely operates as a life bar and can be replenished by scoring well and such.

[BulletMagnet]

I can confirm on Karous (DC/Wii): it has a lifebar and once it runs out it's game over. I think Radirgy (DC/PS2/soon 360) works in a similar way?

If memory serves, in both of those cases it's really just a souped-up life counter...taking a hit always takes away a third of the bar (on defaults, anyway), while getting an extend fills up a third of it.

[MathU]

Not quite. Karous has health items which fill up different amounts. It isn't neatly cut into thirds.

[MommysBestGames]

Whats that ps1 hori with the pre rendered graphics? Sol Divide?

Yup, I can confirm this has a lifebar, as I think RHE has defined. It takes various damage for different attacks, you can get health back in two amounts, and you can extend the bar itself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4lN7ilnhBM

Good luck with your research and new game RHE!

[RHE]

Good luck with your research and new game RHE!

Thanks. Actually it will have a life bar indeed, but won't be a shmup.

[Skykid]

Bouken Danshaku Don Sun=Heart-hen (PC Engine)

(The last Sunheart?)

Has an energy bar iirc.

[Skykid]

Also:

HanaTakaDaka

PC Engine. Not sure if this has an 'energybar' per se, but you can take three hits per life, each one shrinking your character into oblivion.