iPhone / iPad Shmups

[koleslaw54]

I was wondering if anyone had played any good shmups on the iPhone or iPad. I generally see the controls taking up about 1/4 of the screen making it difficult to fit lots of action into the remaining pixels.

If you know of any that are decent, what did you like about them?

I've checked out Sky Force Reloaded and Glandarius Wing Strike so far.

Thanks!

[BPzeBanshee]

ESPGaluda II, Space Invaders Infinity Gene and (not a shmup but) Spectre3D. Those are singlehandedly the only games I'd ever really get on the iPhone that I've played and can say aren't a total gimmick.

[astroid]

Go and check DoDonPachi Resurrection on your iPhone!! This is SO GREAT!

[Treasurance]

Go and check DoDonPachi Resurrection on your iPhone!! This is SO GREAT!

Best non-doujin shmup I've played. And it's a goddamn handheld

[koleslaw54]

Nice! I'll check some of these out today and see how I like them.

[Treasurance]

also check out Jet Fighter Ace: Secret Wars (previously known as Corsair)
It's "Change Air Blade meets your typical real-time Facebook game"

not that great gameplay-wise but the idea is interesting and it's free

[Guardians Knight]

You must check out Airattack! its awesome, graphics are great and the touch controls very nice

[kong]

Check out Phoenix. It's only a buck and it's good. If you like boss rush shmups you could try isud or the rrootage port. Super Laser is worth a look. Warblade is good, it's more of a galaga style shoot em up, but it's solid.

[sjoecool1991]

Rrootage is really awesome, and free.
No point in getting the "HD" version for $1, regular version is awesome enough.

[Anesthetize]

I agree with all of the suggestions so far. I just got my iPhone last month and have downloaded most of the ones listed here. Espgaluda II is my favorite so far, closely followed by DDP Resurrection.

Also check out Mushihimesama Bug Panic, although it's not technically a shmup. More like an action/adventure mixed with a shmup. Very fun, though.

[eatingbadly]

I would LOVE to get the full version of espgaluda ii on my iPod. The game is so solid from the little I have played and the original espgaluda was one of my all time favorite shmups. Never 1cc'd though...

Cave does some awesome ports for iPhone. I wish they had some HD games for the iPad. I heard they were porting deathsmiles too which is awesome! Can't wait for that one. I am too poor right now to get an Xbox 360 so I am pretty much only able to play Caves games on my iPod. I really wish they would release some stuff on steam.

That said Cave games are all pretty expensive on the app store. Warblade is a great game for only 99 cents. Galaga Remix is also pretty good and cheap. I must say though, get rRootage! It is free and has tons of levels. Great practice.

Also this is my first ever post after being a long time lurker.

[Treasurance]

one thing that bothers me in DDP:R...
the hit detection doesn't seem to work if you move really fast, so you can go through solid walls of bullets unharmed
pretty fun though

[Frederik]

Rrootage is really awesome, and free.
No point in getting the "HD" version for $1, regular version is awesome enough.

I bought the HD version, I really enjoy the cleaner look (obviously only makes sense on a iPhone 4/iPod Touch 4) and I wanted to give some money to the developers, given that this game has a ton of stages. Yeah, it´s freeware on the PC, but sometimes I don´t mind giving a little.

DDP:R and Espgaluda II are the obvious choices, and Fast Striker just came out and is a great game as well.

Death Smiles is coming out this spring:
http://www.cave-world.com/en/games/deathsmiles.html

I´m really looking forward to this one, I´m curious what kind of iPhone mode they will include. Little touches like increasing the size of the hitbox indicator show that they really know what they´re doing.

I´m a bit torn on Phoenix, it´s cool for a buck and has a nice style but it´s very repetetive and I always have the feeling that the touch controls don´t work as smoothly as on the other games. The hitbox is also in a very odd position - right on top of your cockpit. But yeah, for a buck it´s certainly fun for a while.

[near_miss]

The Cave games are the best I've played so far on iphone...

To mix it up, I just got Fast Striker, and its pretty intense, digging it so far. They took out the backwards shot, and at first it bothered me, and while I hope they patch it in somehow, it's still a solid shooter.

I found R-Type to become eventually obscenely hard with touch controls, though I fared no better in the PSN release.

And I agree with the above post: You can't go wrong with rRootage and Noiz2sa.

[Frederik]

one thing that bothers me in DDP:R...
the hit detection doesn't seem to work if you move really fast, so you can go through solid walls of bullets unharmed
pretty fun though

Interesting, I have never noticed that. The hit detection in the original game engine probably wasn´t coded for these super-fast swiping motions you can to with the touch controls. I´m no programmer but I remember reading something about that the hit detection in some CAVE games only works every other frame, so that might be the source of that.

I found R-Type to become eventually obscenely hard with touch controls, though I fared no better in the PSN release.

Yeah, it´s brutal on the iPhone, but for some odd reason I still enjoy it. There´s no way I´m not going to abuse credits like crazy, but I sometimes just enjoy going "Well, let´s see if I can get past this huge battleship THIS time" The touch controls are a bit jerky, however - whenever I try to move it causes my ship to jump a few pixels before it starts following my finger 1:1. Quite annoying, and it really makes me appreciate how well the controls are programmed in the CAVE ports.

[kong]

ISUD: bullet hell action, is free today for the iphone. It's a rrootage type boss rush shmup.

[eatingbadly]

ISUD: bullet hell action, is free today for the iphone. It's a rrootage type boss rush shmup.

Thanks, will check it out today for sure if it is still up for free when i get to the app store! I love it when games get released for free for a day or two. So satisfying.

[gs68]

If things go right I may have an iPhone 4 soon. First thing I'm buying is Daifukkatsu It'll come in handy for those times when I can't bring my laptop (to play Crimzon Clover etc.) or don't bother to pack my handhelds.

If I was in a more financially favorable position, I'd probably look into an iPad. Although the only uses I can think of for it are games; an iPhone would offer more versatility, especially when I want to use non-game apps.

[Treasurance]

ISUD: bullet hell action, is free today for the iphone. It's a rrootage type boss rush shmup.

yeah, it's quite good, although the 4th boss is a bit too Utsuho

also if you open the .ipa file in iFunBox you can get the boss theme (BLOOD.mp3)

[eatingbadly]

If things go right I may have an iPhone 4 soon. First thing I'm buying is Daifukkatsu It'll come in handy for those times when I can't bring my laptop (to play Crimzon Clover etc.) or don't bother to pack my handhelds.

If I was in a more financially favorable position, I'd probably look into an iPad. Although the only uses I can think of for it are games; an iPhone would offer more versatility, especially when I want to use non-game apps.

There is an app called "textfree plus voice" or something that is basically a free phone. It's free too and I think it works on iPad. Also there is Skype which is free too, and probably a better deal than most cell carriers.

I only have an iPod 4 but when my contract expires I will see if I can buy an iPad with 3g and just use free phone apps and skype instead of actually paying for phone calls! Communication workaround FTW. It's worth checking out at least.

iPad is far superior for games due to screen size. If the CAVE games are available on iPad it is my next purchase after an xbox360 and a mame-centric pc. Too bad I am poor as dirt and unemployed

[gs68]

Well, by versatility I meant more along the lines of portability. I carry my phone wherever I go, so that means access to my apps and games at any time my hands are free. An iPad would require consciously carrying around

[Frederik]

Well, by versatility I meant more along the lines of portability. I carry my phone wherever I go, so that means access to my apps and games at any time my hands are free. An iPad would require consciously carrying around

Exactly. The main reason I love the iPod Touch so much is that it´s just easy to carry around - it even beats the GBA micro in that regard, while having obviously a far bigger screen. All my other handhelds - the GBA SP, PSP and DS Lite - are all WAY bigger and much, much heavier. Even my cheap Nokia cellphone is much thicker and heavier than the Touch. (I´m still not over how thin this thing is.)

People keep saying how horrible iOS gaming is supposed to be, due to the lack of physical buttons, only crappy flash game ports on there and all that nonsense. Let me say this: This is a device as thin as a cracker that plays games as gorgeous as Real Racing 2, Dodonpachi or Minotron - games that can be bought for mere spare change.

I was really skeptical about iOS gaming at first, but the iPod Touch has permanently warped my idea of what a gadget has to be capable of. I look at the 3DS and the only thing that really interests me is the Mario 3D game developed by the Mario Galaxy team, but this is far off on the horizon. Once I played Real Racing 2 it was really painful to watch the horribly pixellated, jaggy footage of Ridge Racer 3DS - and I LOVE the PSP Ridge Racer, which somehow STILL looks better than Ridge Racer 3DS, which is coming out seven years later.

Not to mention that games like DDP:R and a lot of smaller titles like Forget Me Not or Hook Champ would have never come out on a "regular" handheld anyways. Sure, I would kill to have physical buttons for the Touch, but that will probably never happen, and games like DDP:R work astonishingly well with touch controls.

Sorry, that was my little rant. The only reason I didn´t buy my iPod Touch sooner was because I kinda didn´t like Apple for whatever nebulous reason - but once I got my hands on this little thing it was impossible for me not to blown away by it.

[gs68]

The only reason I didn´t buy my iPod Touch sooner was because I kinda didn´t like Apple for whatever nebulous reason - but once I got my hands on this little thing it was impossible for me not to blown away by it.

Be thankful you didn't buy a 1st-gen Touch like I did, thereby being deprived of any Cave goodness.

[Treasurance]

Hook Champ

best non-shmup game

[maxlords]

Does anyone know if the Cave games are available on the Android platform? I just got an Experia Play and I can't seem to find any of em (or rRootage) in the Android marketplace at all

[Anesthetize]

Does anyone know if the Cave games are available on the Android platform? I just got an Experia Play and I can't seem to find any of em (or rRootage) in the Android marketplace at all

iPhone only (well, iPod or iPad, too), as far as I know.

[maxlords]

Oh. Bummer

That's weird tho...cause rRootage was on Android...my buddy has it, and now it's gone

[Never_Scurred]

Go and check DoDonPachi Resurrection on your iPhone!! This is SO GREAT!

[Avatar Ignis]

Tou-Hou is no longer available (as far as i can see).

I found a demo of a game called "Danmaku Unlimited", and it plays really well.

Anyone try "Fast Striker"? i saw its available but not sure if i want to pay for it. Is this the same game that was released to dreamcast not too long ago?

[mesh control]

Anyone try "Fast Striker"? i saw its available but not sure if i want to pay for it. Is this the same game that was released to dreamcast not too long ago?

It is, I think it's alright. If you like the Dreamcast version you might like it (or vice versa). It features the same 4 mode that are found in the Dreamcast version: Novice, Original, Maniac and Omake. The only thing it is lacking is the back-shot iirc.