So which is the best ?

[RNGmaster]

Hellsinker is great - yes, I've come to the good side on that - but it is most assuredly not a game for an admitted newcomer to play. I don't want this poor guy's first experience with shmups to be traumatic, you know?

Oh, and don't talk shit about the classics. Dodonpachi and ESP Ra.De have great pixel-art, incredible music, and fun patterns (Psikyo games are pretty much great too, but I suggest playing with the volume off).

I petition that we sticky a thread like this so newbs don't post a bunch of copies; this would also save us the work of having to reiterate what we've already said to the last 4 new users looking for recommendations.

[Blackbird]

I concur. I think it would be a useful resource if we could have a "best of" list for each platform stickied somewhere so that people looking to figure out what to play next can have a handy guide.

[ShmupSamurai]

Zen Itchi and XOP...

'Nuff said.

[Deca]

Keep talking up Crimzon Clover, my copy is in the mail and I need to be good and excited when it gets here

[BPzeBanshee]

Xeno Fighters R

GwangeDash

Broken Thunder

[Sumez]

So I managed to turn off v-sync in Crimzon Clover, but it just makes the game completely unplayable. It claims to run at ~59 fps, but it's more like 10...

[Anesthetize]

Keep talking up Crimzon Clover, my copy is in the mail and I need to be good and excited when it gets here

You won't be disappointed. It's an incredible game. I'm still getting lots of enjoyment out of my copy.

[Observer]

So I managed to turn off v-sync in Crimzon Clover, but it just makes the game completely unplayable. It claims to run at ~59 fps, but it's more like 10...

Just in case, see if this helps: enter your video card settings and make sure you disable the Vsync from there (or leave it as "application controlled"). Or turn the whole settings to "performance" instead of quality. Some doujin games seems to be really (and I mean REALLY) sensitive to certain video card settings.

For example, exception (the 3D hori that is getting an arcade port by Success soon) won't run properly if you have CPU optimisations enabled and will suffer a plethora of slowdown when it shouldn't. Ether Vapor won't record properly if you have anti-aliasing turned on, some Touhou games actually won't work with Vsync off and run at 1000 fps...

edit:

So, talking about Crimzon Clover, I periodically pop the OST on my CD player and have the tunes blasting at full volume. Subwoofer ftw. I also end up playing Stage 5 in Unlimited mode with Type Z now and then. It's a brutal dose of adrenaline trying to keep the break rate sky high without dying!

[RNGmaster]

So, talking about Crimzon Clover, I periodically pop the OST on my CD player and have the tunes blasting at full volume. Subwoofer ftw. I also end up playing Stage 5 in Unlimited mode with Type I now and then. It's a brutal dose of adrenaline trying to keep the break rate sky high without dying!

Fixed.

[Observer]

Ok, ok.

Type I is where the fun is at but I like to make the game nearly crash with the obnoxiously fast break rates of Type Z.

But, yeah: it's Crimzon Motherfucking Clover, bitches.

[Subterranean Sun]

Everybody knows Hellsinker. Yet Radio Zonde get no love.

That's just unfair.

[Treasurance]

Everybody knows Hellsinker. Yet Radio Zonde get no love.

That's just unfair.

it's too hard for these people
and HS is an improvement in every aspect

[MathU]

Cho Ren Sha 68K, without a doubt.

Thread ended here. You tasteless plebeians can stop posting.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

I was revisting some of my old doujin shmups that I hanvt played for over 18 months back when I first caught the shmup bug. I played some Nomltest (simple but very very addictive), BWR, Zen-Ichi and ChoRenSha. One thing I noticed straight away was how easy Blue Wish Ressurection was. (This was the first stg I played seriously when i first discovered shmups and was instrumental in me becoming so hooked into shooters). I was amazed just how slow and genrally easy to dodge the bullets were. This is a game where I spent 1 or 2 months of serious play and practice so I could memorise the game and find out the most easiest way to fight the bosses just so I could 1CC. And now I was quite easily dodging bullets and playing by ear since ild forgotten 95% of the game.

One thing I noticed though was just how much my playstyle had changed and even though i am a better player now, I still died in ways that I wouldnt of in the past, basically because Im a much more (too much) aggressive player when in the past I genrally played defensivly. I think playing these old favorites has allowed me to analyse my current playstyle and identify my strengths and weaknesses.

Rambling over . Another old favorite I played was Zen-Ichi and I was reminded of just how much of a damn fine shmup it is (I had 1 played through and got to stage 4 for the 1st time ever). Anyone who hasnt played this game really should do (stage 3 with its train tracks is simlar to Raiden Fighters 2 train track stage)

Zen-Ichi wouldnt play properly on my current Win7 PC as all the background colour was garbled just like buggy mame games are. Fortunatly I found a fix where you need to run it in XP compatabilty mode, plus tick the use 256 colours box (also running it in 640-480 may help) as is disabling Win7's or Vista's Aero 3d destop (i keep mine off all the time as it conflicts with so many games). Also you must use these settings on a shortcut of exe and run the game from the shortcut overwise the fix wont work. Hmmm maybe I could get my other games to work on win7 if i use a shortcut...