New to shmups...where to start?

[BPzeBanshee]

If you download your Dreamcast games I can help a little bit with getting Segagaga up and running. The game itself isnt a shmup but its R720 minigame is actually pretty neat for the Thunder Force parody it is.

[Drachenherz]

Very good tips here in general. MAME would be indeed the first place to go, as it is free and has a shitload of incredibly good shmups of all varieties.

Then, if you got an Xbox, Mushihimesama Futari 1.5 is a must, and I do recommend you to download the "black lavel" DLC. It's more than worth the hefty price tag of 1200 ms-points.

On the pc side: You cannot go wrong with Crimzon Clover, get a feel for it with the trial version, and then be a proud owner of a hard copy of the full version - this doujin game puts many a full-blown "professional" game to shame.

And if you want to get a free taste and yet want to play a full game: Get Blue Wish Resurrection +. You can download it for free via Rancors Tokyo-Shmups site.

Yesterday evening, I just installed it myself, after having seen it mentioned here in this very thread (actually, didn't know how I managed, I just clicked through the japanese text and suddenly the game was working, hehe). And waddayasay... It's tons of fun, quite easy (even on the normal difficulty) thanks to the autobomb feature and gives you a very good feel of the bullet-hell genre. Acutally, I'm positively surprised with this game.

[Heartwork]

For whatever reason Blue Wish Resurrection and my computer are NOT FRIENDS. It was running as low as 12fps in some of the particularly hectic sections. I can't seem to find any settings menu in which to turn the graphics down, either.

[Kazuya]

I´ve seen you have a PS2...try to play Parodius and Twin Bee series (from PSOne). If you like the shumps history, then R·Types, Toaplan Shooting Battle or Gradius-Salamander compilation.

[Nick420]

DODONPACHI!!!! and GRADIUS V!!!!! Best 2 starter shmups imo

[burgerkingdiamond]

For whatever reason Blue Wish Resurrection and my computer are NOT FRIENDS. It was running as low as 12fps in some of the particularly hectic sections. I can't seem to find any settings menu in which to turn the graphics down, either.

If possible find Blue Wish Resurrection, it's better than BWR +.
I don't know if you know, but a trick you can sometimes do with games to get them to run at full speed:
right click the game application icon. Go to properties. click run in compatibility mode for : (try xp if you're running 7, or try something else. See what works best)
also try 256 colors, and run as admin. I've done this for several doujin games to get them to run on my "un-gaming" computer.

Sadly this is not enough to get CC running without significant slowdown, even with the game's graphical options turned down.

[Heartwork]

For Dreamcast, the easiest place to start IMO is Fast Striker or Zero Gunner 2.

So I burnt myself a copy of Zero Gunner 2...this game is NUTS. Hard as balls, but holy shit is it ever good. And the boss who's a giant fighter jet that turns into three smaller fighter jets, and then the middle one turns into a robot!?! OMGWTFBBQ!

[TrevHead (TVR)]

For BWR try turning V synch on or off, If I remember correctly other ppl have had problems with X.X's games not running at 60FPS in the past

[moozooh]

Vsync has nothing in common with dipping to 12 fps (it wouldn't even sync with a framerate that low). It seems to me you have an integrated graphics adapter. If you aren't running on a laptop I can suggest nVidia GT 240 or a similarly cheap graphics card. I'm sure you can find one from mid-2000s [basically] for free.

For MAME, Armed Police Batrider (Normal Course, then Advanced with custom teams when you get better at it) is an excellent title if you'd like to play a crossover period game that is noticeably more advanced than classic 80s shmup but doesn't resemble a bullet hell yet. Very fun and easy to get into, yet there aren't many shmups that can rival its depth. Its spiritual prequels, Battle Garegga and Recca, were among the most influential shmups of its time, all made by the visionary designer Shinobu Yagawa.

Aside from that, DoDonPachi and DoDonPachi DaiOuJou Black Label are both incredibly polished games with a manageable first loop. For horizontals, Darius Gaiden jumps to mind as the first recommendation (make sure to play it with autofire and take upper routes). For lots of shiny trinkets, try GigaWing. It's pretty fun!

[Special World]

Is DOJ BL really your idea of a game with a manageable first loop?

[moozooh]

Absolutely. Check my 1-ALL in the hi score thread if you don't believe me. The difficulty starts out rather high but the bullets stay slow and sparse if you bomb regularly and don't abuse hypers. It's also my third 1-ALL on a Cave game after DDP and DDP DFK 1.5. I haven't beat any other Cave game yet. ;_;

[MathU]

If you're interested in Darius Gaiden, I recommend you play it the way it was intended: without an autofire cheat.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

Speaking of graphics card upgrades Ill reiterate what ive just said in the Crimson Clover thread. If your card will fit it this isnt a bad buy for dirt cheap DX11 gaming (£35ish) http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalo ... CEgQ8gIwBA#

Im using something simlar to this atm in my 6 month old i5 PC as its what came with everything else. Considering how powerfull the lowest priced GFX cards are nowadays theres no excuse for ppl to continue to use integrated GPUs in desktop PCs anymore

[rancor]

For Dreamcast, the easiest place to start IMO is Fast Striker or Zero Gunner 2.

So I burnt myself a copy of Zero Gunner 2...this game is NUTS. Hard as balls, but holy shit is it ever good. And the boss who's a giant fighter jet that turns into three smaller fighter jets, and then the middle one turns into a robot!?! OMGWTFBBQ!

If you like that, make sure you get in on "Under Defeat" as well. Few things are more satisfying than sending a single wispy smoke-tailed rocket into a cluster of battleship gun turrets, then watching the resulting chain of massive primary and secondary explosions.

[evil_ash_xero]

For Dreamcast, the easiest place to start IMO is Fast Striker or Zero Gunner 2.

So I burnt myself a copy of Zero Gunner 2...this game is NUTS. Hard as balls, but holy shit is it ever good. And the boss who's a giant fighter jet that turns into three smaller fighter jets, and then the middle one turns into a robot!?! OMGWTFBBQ!

If you like that, make sure you get in on "Under Defeat" as well. Few things are more satisfying than sending a single wispy smoke-tailed rocket into a cluster of battleship gun turrets, then watching the resulting chain of massive primary and secondary explosions.

What he said. I like ZG2 a bit better, but UD is very similar, and has great graphics for the DC.

Oh, and this might be a little gay to link a blog entry, but here's mine which recommends a bunch, has some review links, and also discusses what systems they're on.

http://www.myspace.com/evil_ash_xero/blog/541868362

[bitkid]

I don't think you're allowed to NOT start with DoDonPachi. I thought that was an unwritten rule.