Shmup stinkers

[louisg]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE71QT70LZ0

I don't even like the "good" Darius games that much, but that's just painful to watch.

Eh, it looks like everything else on the Spectrum.

I also nominate Strikers Plus for being a really crappy shmup. It's one of the few arcade games I walked away from. It looks like what you'd get if you hired the guys at Apogee to do a Strikers sequel.

Aerial Assault on SMS was pretty bad too, wasn't it? I remember it being excruciatingly dull.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Isn't singling out the SNES version of Strike Gunner S.T.G. weird? Not that I played either version long enough to figure out what they were thinking or smoking, but it seemed more playable on SNES. Everybody should play it on MAME at least once, "just for the experience".

Ha ha, it's like an 8-bit version of In The Hunt!

More like In The Hunt is a 16-bit version of Sqoon.

[EinhanderZwei]

...when a game is well-known universally for being trash (something like Silver Surfer).

I dispute!

The game gets its overwhelmingly bad rep thanks to AVGN. The only thing really wrong with Silver Surfer is the lack of autofire, something which can be easily remedied.

I'd also add large HP for regular enemies as a flaw... I think AVGN wasn't all that wrong reviewing this game

[Estebang]

For a Spectrum game, Darius Plus actually looks really good.

[devilmanozzy]

- It has next to no level design

It has good color and graphics for the era and system. Seen much worse from that system.

- nothing really happens for quite long stretches of time

Looks pretty busy to me. Not Crazy busy, but not a lot of empty time.

- sometimes you don't know whether you hit an enemy or you don't (I still have no idea how I beat the boss of the ruins stage)

That is a fair gripe if true.

- it's pathetically easy

pathetically easy... maybe.

I posted more in-depth impressions here.

But not ever Shmup needs to be as tough as nails either. I get the idea we may not have much we agree on. I read your review, and from that I may download it and give it a spin. I am a old school casual gamer, and I don't need games to murder me. Sometimes enjoyment comes from the old school graphics and music and a steady flow of enemies, which is what that game does seem to have. I feel your being nicky-picky here.

[devilmanozzy]

For a Spectrum game, Darius Plus actually looks really good.

The dumb reviewer never even got to the first boss. The game is very picky about how you destroy a fish boss. You have to blow off one part of the fish at a time and it has to be only the part that is suppose to be hit. There are also no indications you are hitting the right part till it blows off. And they are not simple 3 for bullets, no way, you got to keep hitting them a good 10 to 15 times. Also you have to have the right weapon to do it. they offer a few during the level and then you build them up. Die once you lose whatever weapons you have. The game is very hard and unfair to the player. Also it glitches really bad including one were Octopus sometimes leaves the screen and then your stuck having to restart the whole game! No its not a very good game. Go play it and you will agree.

[Estebang]

Nearly all Spectrum games are like that. It has funky trippy graphic design and a weird-ass ship and that's all it needs. I don't think anyone in the 21st century plays the Speccy with any expectation of quality.

[Skykid]

I can see the argument for 'of its time'. It is more important to pinpoint games that were absolutely terrible even of their era, rather than retrospective comparison.

There's a lot of adverse comments for Strikers+, if there's one more I'll put it back on. Sounds crappy.

[EinhanderZwei]

R-Type for ZX Spectrum was awesome! It was like... Crysis of it's time

[Ruldra]

There's a lot of adverse comments for Strikers+, if there's one more I'll put it back on. Sounds crappy.

Please put it in the list then. That shit is like a bootleg version of Strikers 1945 II.

[Rob]

Mushihimesama. I just need to get 2-3 people to agree with me.

[Treasurance]

Mushihimesama. I just need to get 2-3 people to agree with me.

+1

lags too much on PCSX2

[TVG]

Mushihimesama. I just need to get 2-3 people to agree with me.

+1
Score system based on autofire hacks.

[Skykid]

Mushihimesama. I just need to get 2-3 people to agree with me.

I took off Turbo Force Rob, gimme a break.

Strikers + back up.

Considering the list is actually pretty good, no Muhsihimesama folly will be entertained... even if the arrange mode is better than the rather scrappy original.

[Blackbird]

Darius + by the Edge.

*looks at the video*

Damn O_O. I think we have a winner, folks. That looks like some new kind of awful.

- Menu screen has irritating, overused visual effects that actually delay the player from interacting with the interface.
- Where is the hitbox!? Hit detection looked terrible.
- The ship is huge. The level is small and cramped. In combination with funky hitbox, there's barely any room to maneuver at all.
- Horrible graphical clipping (Watch when the ship collides with something, or any explosion effects).
- Sound effects and music seem almost nonexistant (hard to tell in the video, though).

[TransatlanticFoe]

Aerial Assault on SMS was pretty bad too, wasn't it? I remember it being excruciatingly dull.

It's not that bad. If you stick with the missile weapon until stage 4 and only play it on hard mode then it's quite good fun (because things actually shoot at you). It picks up speed for the final two stages (going from Carrier Airwing to R-Type in one sudden jerk) and is pretty fun... until you die, lose all your powerups and realise that it's now impossible.

Isn't singling out the SNES version of Strike Gunner S.T.G. weird? Not that I played either version long enough to figure out what they were thinking or smoking, but it seemed more playable on SNES. Everybody should play it on MAME at least once, "just for the experience".

I'd only ever played the SNES version and frankly, that's enough! Might try out the original in MAME just to see if it is worse. It handles well enough and the "choose a secondary weapon for each level" is interesting, but it is mind-crushingly dull - on harder difficulties you're stuck with a peashooter until you've enough powerups. Not that that's challenging, it's just boring because things take forever to kill and there's zero variety.

[Dragoforce]

Strike Force Hydra - There is not a single good bit within this clusterfuck of a GBA cart.

Try the PS1 version, it's a straight port of the GBA game...

[Skykid]

Strike Force Hydra - There is not a single good bit within this clusterfuck of a GBA cart.

Try the PS1 version, it's a straight port of the GBA game...

LOL

[Kollision]

Mushihimesama. I just need to get 2-3 people to agree with me.

This thread is dead for me if such heresy takes place.

[dunpeal2064]

Mushihimesama. I just need to get 2-3 people to agree with me.

This thread is dead for me if such heresy takes place.

Yeah, I vote against this before it even gets the vote to pass.

However, I'll change my vote if Rob makes more videos.

[Dale]

This is the worst fucking thread ever. 1942? this is becoming surreal. I hate Ikaruga with a passion but I know it doesn't belong on this list. 2 too 7 people don't like a game and it ends up on a shmup stinkers list? More people probably like some of these then people who wasted there time posting in this thread like me.

[Skykid]

This is the worst fucking thread ever.

Hi Dale, thanks for posting, come in and join the fun!

(btw, if it's not on the front page list, it's not worth worrying about. If there's something you don't reckon should be on the front page list, just let me know.)

[Skykid]

eXceed (that first one) is pretty shit

I can't find any vids for the first one (it's a doujin shmup right?) just the second.

[Wenchang]

Silver Surfer has been defended by a bunch of people, just saying. I don't think Strikers 1945 Plus would be so poorly thought of anywhere else but this forum. Calling it a bad Shmup is just a particularly anal tate vs yoko phenomenon. It's not a bad game at all. You can call it half-assed or whatever, but the game hardly plays poorly. If you're going to call it a bad game you may as well list just about every single arcade port, as most have far worse issues. Idiotic. Also I like Cyber Core, I'm failing to see anything wrong with that game, it doesn't have any serious issues. WTF?

[Skykid]

Silver Surfer is off then. Looked pretty poor to me though.

Keep in mind that even though there's been a little for and against debate (which is helpful) the majority of stuff on the list clearly sucks ass. Some of it's funny too.

Like Alien Gate.

[Despatche]

eXceed (that first one) is pretty shit

I can't find any vids for the first one (it's a doujin shmup right?) just the second.

From what I know, people don't consider it "bad" so much as they consider it "bland"; if I could understand how to actually play the game (I don't know how to play any of the games in this series), I'd say more.

At any rate, the sequels have had better reception.

[toaplan_shmupfan]

Strikers 1945+ aspect ratio being wide horizontal didn't bother me so much as what would be the charge shot going off as soon as the meter hit maximum even just tapping the fire button. Also, compared to Strikers 1945 and Strikers 1945 II, the bullets were considerably slower. This was, by the way, playing on a Neo-Geo cabinet set to Level 6, and only giving 2 lives per 2-coin credit--not using emulation.

[louisg]

Yeah I might actually have to reconsider Strikers+.. it's not that it's a terrible game, but it comes off as like a budget version of the real Strikers games. I think it's standing in the shadow of such a rad series that hurts it the most. And it ramps up way too slowly.

[Kaiser]

Fun fact, Japanese version of Strikers1945+ gives you 3 lives at start as far as I recall. There's been a lot of arguing over MARP forums to make Japan version default one. Between japanese and MARP owners... as we can guess, the japan version replays are denied to this day. Same with autofire.

[spikehead]

Blast Wind is overpriced and may provide no challenge at default settings but it´s way above the other games on this list.