Favorite Xbox Live Indie games shmups?

[MachineAres 1CC]

I've come across a number of the Indie games shmups that I enjoy quite a bit. I'll list some of my favorites here and why they're good, and encourage others to do so. There are so many games on the indie games now, it'd be easy to miss some, so maybe we'll find games we didn't know about. There's lots of scattered threads about specific Indie games on the forum here, but this will just be a general discussion thread.

3D Infinity - I thought the price for this was really high and never thought I'd play it, but when I saw it was getting really high ratings and a bunch of awards and stuff, I checked it out. Now, the game is pretty cool to begin with, its a forward-moving 3D shooter like After Burner style, but when I went into the options, I saw where the game got its name and you can actually throw on those old red and blue 3D glasses to make the game fully 3D. This is an awesome experience to play such a fast-paced shooting game in 3D. The enemies and environment literally come flying at your face and it really makes a pretty unique experience to most shooters out there today. Check it out if you get a chance and if you have one of those pairs of 3D glasses sitting around (a lot of DVD movies come with them) throw those on too.

Leave Home - A really unique hori shooter, uses really cool lighting effects and semi-transparent 3D models to have almost like a glass effect on the models. Very fast paced, short, and pretty difficult to do well, but very enjoyable.

Platypus - Sure this isn't really an XBL exclusive, but Platypus has always been a pretty fun shooter, although pretty slow paced and drags at points, its a fun little hori with those classic claymation graphics.

Prismatic Solid - A Japanese-developed Raystorm-type isometric perspective that scrolls vertically, this has tons of flashy graphics and even more options for what kind of shot your ship uses that are all fully switchable at any time, as well as an interesting shield/bomb system and some hidden easter eggs to earn extra stages and such. A little more expensive than most indie games, but very fun and original.

Shoot 1up - A very bizarre, but interesting vertical shooter. The premise is that instead of just controlling one ship on the screen, you basically control a growing armada of ships that can have different formations and different shot types depending on how you arrange it. I think it gets up to 30-something ships at once. The art style is very bleak and extremely strange, with giant scorpions, robot women, nasty human-ish monster, and dead things everywhere, but all in all, its very unique and worth a buck.

Vampire Rage - A really interesting and well-made vertical shooter, it feels like a big combination of vertical series like Shikigami, Giga Wing, Silvergun, Ikaruga, and a little bit of CAVE thrown in. Has a bullet reflect and close-range sword option and tons of patterns, cool music, etc.

Zap Zap Pew Pew - Sounds really stupid from the name and I was very reluctant to even try it out, but this ended up being a ton of fun. Its an old style shooter with 8-bit graphics, almost like a scrolling Galaga with way more patterns and environmental obstacles, bosses, etc. It controls very well and has a proper screen ratio, which is nice, and another huge draw of the game is the humor. There are 30-something stages in the game, and you'll often encounter bosses that spew out some of the funniest, most ridiculous dialogue and retort that I've seen in a while, almost like how there's always some stupid banter in Shikigami before a boss fight. Its tons of fun, has awesome music and made me laugh out loud more than once. Check it out for $1.

Crecendo Symphony - A Japanese hori shooter with little anime girlies and crazy metal/classical music to back it up. The main downside of the game is that it has always kinda felt like a demo, since there's only 2 stages and the boss mechanics are horrible, sometimes you'll fight a boss for like 5 minutes for seemingly no reason. The backgrounds also basically just scroll endlessly, but with a little work and a bit of addition on levels, this could be a great game, and after you purchase an indie game, any future updates always come free, even when they add on levels and features.

[Alfred]

I like XBLIG alot. Lethal Judgment HD is a pretty good shooter.

[MachineAres 1CC]

I like XBLIG alot. Lethal Judgment HD is a pretty good shooter.

I'll have to look this up, did it come out recently?

[Alfred]

I like XBLIG alot. Lethal Judgment HD is a pretty good shooter.

I'll have to look this up, did it come out recently?

No it's been out for some time. I payed 400 MS points the day it came out. It's now only 240 MS points. Try the demo first. I like it.

[originalz]

I've always liked Unoriginality

[Sixx]

The best Space Invaders type game i've played since '79: Radiangames Crossfire

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEaBHWmx ... r_embedded

I love this arena shooter as well:

http://catalog.xna.com/en-US/GameDetail ... 2e3&type=2

[MachineAres 1CC]

The best Space Invaders type game i've played since '79: Radiangames Crossfire

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEaBHWmx ... r_embedded

I saw this the other day when I was scrolling through some games, but the screenshots looked pretty vague, but the video you linked to makes it look much more appealing. I think I'll try that out.

I love this arena shooter as well:

http://catalog.xna.com/en-US/GameDetail ... 2e3&type=2

This looks like a combination of Crystal Quest and Geometry Wars. That isn't very appealing to me, but it still might be a well-made game for fans of those types.

[Sined]

Hello,

If you like Lethal Judgment HD, a sequel will come : Lethal Judgment Origins (in development) -> http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lethal-Ju ... 383?ref=ts

New good shmups also are in the way : Space Force G, Isagoras, Hypership Out of Control (very retro one)...

Space Invaders type : Decimation X of course

Many XBLIG shmups to win soon here : http://bit.ly/c1NXkn

[Alfred]

If you like Lethal Judgment HD, a sequel will come : Lethal Judgment Origins (in development) -> http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lethal-Ju ... 383?ref=ts


Thanks Sined, Coming out end of 2010. I am looking forward to this game.

[xris]

Looks like you should overhaul the OP after awhile and turn this into the much needed XNA shmup thread MachineAres.
I'll try most of the shmups that come up, but many are just there..
Shoot 1up, a great game and a fun play. Absolutely love the backgrounds in this. Fun and creative, I can't wait until he makes another shmup.
Retrofit Overload, secretly the best shmup on Indie Games. Don't believe me, look at the scoreboard for it. I've recognized top players from many other serious shmup scoreboards, including a few personal rivals. Really tight scoring, fun and fast paced. Gets rather difficult.
That's about it for me. I've been meaning to get and play Vampire's Rage, I just haven't had the loose 80 space points yet. So that might be good.
The 3D in 3D Infinity does actually work pretty well for being red/blue. They had the right idea about making it monochrome, it makes the 3D effect work allot better than if it was in full colour.

[Elixir]

Prismatic Solid's the only one which has caught my eye, but even then I didn't buy it.

[MachineAres 1CC]

Looks like you should overhaul the OP after awhile and turn this into the much needed XNA shmup thread MachineAres.

Good call, I was kinda thinking this as well.

[Sixx]

ちえりのドキ★ドキ湯煙ぶらり旅

Played the trial less than a minute and bought it right away (80 MS points). Not only the most obscure shooter on XBLIG but maybe also the best!? It says (C) 2006, 2010 in the title screen and i kinda suspect this is some old PC (freeware?) title. The game and manual is in japanese, but it seems pretty straight forward... To me it feels like a doujin Treasure shooter some how..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY7tJnkP ... r_embedded

[PepsimanVsJoe]

ちえりのドキ★ドキ湯煙ぶらり旅

Played the trial less than a minute and bought it right away (80 MS points). Not only the most obscure shooter on XBLIG but maybe also the best!? It says (C) 2006, 2010 in the title screen and i kinda suspect this is some old PC (freeware?) title. The game and manual is in japanese, but it seems pretty straight forward... To me it feels like a doujin Treasure shooter some how..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY7tJnkP ... r_embedded

Oh yeah I just got the game earlier today.
Good stuff
I put a review up over here: http://www.xblaratings.com/component/co ... 2-00-44-08