General verdict on the recent glut of 360 shmups?

[TrevHead (TVR)]

As someone who is only just now getting into PAL 360 gaming, I am alittle behind the times and im wondering what is the general concensus on the all the recent shmups for the 360. I have a rough idea about many of them, but Ild might aswell include every recent title as a reference to newcommers. Yeah I know I cold read the original threads for each game but that would take bloody ages

Listing the what games to have come out this year:

(J) DFK 1.5 - OK but the autobomb spoils the game for many ppl (ild guess that the game is too easy for most high level shmuppers)
(J) DFK BL - An big improvement over 1.5 plus the Ketsui (pre-order only) DLC is intresting.
(E) Deathsmiles PAL (plus NA patch) - Very cheap to buy, Much better now the game has the original slowdown
(J) Deathsmiles 2 - If you can get over the 3D graphics the game is fun to play, Arcade mode is broken, Dunno if the gameplay is better or worse then DS1
(XBLA) Score Rush - A fun and very cheap twin stick shooter with 4 player online co-op
(XBLA) Guwange - Good early Cave shmup, cheap with an decent noob friendly arrange mode, Options menu is a pain to navigate making it hard to play in fullscreen TATE (But not impossible right?) Also did this game ever get patched to fix the arkward options menu?
(XBLA) KOF Sky Stage - OK for a cheap download title but nothing special
(XBLA) Strania: The Stella Machina - Looks good, stage design is simlar to Radient Silvergun, How good is it now that ppl have had a chance to delve into it?
(Region Free) MMP & Pink Sweets - Well worth the cash, Most ppl prefer Pork over Sweets (Are they good arcade ports)
(Region Free) Bullet Soul - Looks good but other then that I dunno anything about it(Region Free)
(Regoin Free) Eschatos - Different from the Cave norm, Like BS I havnt a clue how its plays like, incudes the wonderswan stg Judgement silversword
Unreleased (J) Akia (Red) Katana - will include the shin arrange mode, whats the concensus on the arcade original?
Unreleased (Region Free) Esp Galuda 2 platinum label - If youre a shmup fan with a Xbox youre mad to not buy this. (Same goes for Mushihimisama Futari)

Plus heres a couple non 360 titles:
(DC) Fast Striker - A fun manic shmup with a mars matrix feel to it. How is the scoreplay?
(PS3) Mamoru-kun wa Norowarete Shimatta! - OK non forced scrolling shmup thats an slight improvement over the 360 "beta version"

(Also I might aswell ask while im here) I have EspGaluda 2 & DS and im waiting for Play-Asia to ship a copy of Futari once they have it in stock, Waiting for MMP& PS to be restocked as well grrr. Then ill only be able to afford one more RF game atleast for a while, which is the better choice Bullet Soul or Eschatos?

[Sumez]

You should include Futari on the list, it's like the most important one.

[MrFog]

(J) DFK BL - An big improvement over 1.5 plus the Ketsui (pre-order only) DLC is intresting.

Actually if you buy the disc version the Ketsui Arrange is always included. You do have to option to buy the BL mode for the 1.5 disc release though.

Also don't forget about DOJ and Ketsui, both are excellent releases(now that DOJ got patched).

[Van_Artic]

which is the better choice Bullet Soul or Eschatos?

Eschatos all the way

[Despatche]

I heard Akai Katana Shin doesn't have the consumer version so it's imperative that we wait for the port to finally be released.

Strania seems like Radiant Silvergun because Hiroshi Iuchi was behind it.

Get Eschatos, if only out of principle.

[Wonderbanana]

Strania seems like Radiant Silvergun.

I keep hearing peeps say this. Do others really think this? I think their nothing like each other

[Klatrymadon]

I keep hearing that, too, and even sketchier comparisons to Ikaruga. The only significant similarities to RSG are the sheer variety of purpose-specific weapons and the sword, but the actual use of the sword is completely different anyway - it's there to facilitate and reward an aggressive playing style.

In any case, Strania's a lovely game and everybody should buy the fuck out of it.

[Special World]

DFK 1.5: My least favorite Cave release
DFK BL: A good deal better than 1.5, but still lacking flair in some ways. The music is awesome. Arrange is really good.
Deathsmiles: Didn't like it at first, but I really like it now. One of my faves.
Deathsmiles IIX: Gets way too much hate. Really fun, fast-paced scoring with lots of shinies. The graphics are unfortunate, but the music is fantastic.
Score Rush: Tons of fun but not too deep, even my friends who don't like shooters love this game. Sucks that you have to be signed in, though.
Guwange: Good game, but I don't find myself playing it much when there's so much else to play and the conversion is somewhat meh.
Strania: An okay game, but the scoring system is super crap as far as I'm concerned.
MMP/Pink Sweets: A fantastic collection, marred only by some poor porting. The games are fantastic, except MMP Arrange, yuck.
Bullet Soul: Looks good, plays great, but extremely disheartening lack of scoring depth.
Eschatos: A fantastic package. Eschatos has the worst graphics ever, but it's a pretty fun game. Judgement Silversword and Cardinal Sins are absolutely amazing though. Both games are 9+/10. Fantastic.
Espgaluda II: I love it and I hate it. When it clicks it's amazing, but otherwise it's frustrating as hell. The scoring potential is massive, but I feel that the bullet patterns are sort of sterile.
Mushihimesama Futari: My absolute favorite scrolling shooter of all time, if we're counting Black Label. Absolutely A+++. I just wish the Arrange mode wasn't crap.
Ketsui X: I'm not huge on the scoring (it's pretty damned good but doesn't get my blood pumping) but the bullet patterns are probably the best of any shooter I've played. This game is just pure fun from level 2 onwards.
DOJ BLEX: I don't like DOJ's chaining that much, but I like it more than DFK's hypering. The game's a good bit of fun, but I don't find myself playing it much.

I would say get Eschatos over Bullet Soul, definitely. If the new mode on the DLC has some scoring depth, then I think it'll be one of the greatest shooters of all time. However, I feel that it'll probably just be something akin to a boss rush, where the core scoring mechanics are kept unaltered. At the current time, though, Eschatos comes with two of the finest shooters I've ever played, and a new (pretty good) game with a lot of content. It's a great package, even if Eschatos is ugly as sin.

[Skykid]

You should include Futari on the list, it's like the most important one.

Why?

[TrevHead (TVR)]

THX for the info chaps, I was leaning towards Eschatos anyway (although due to very recently playing Touhou and with how so much of the total score is in the boss fights the idea of boss rush doesnt seem too appettising Still Unless the print run of both games was really small, I'll probably eventually pick both of them up by the end of this year.

You should include Futari on the list, it's like the most important one.

I didnt bother because Futari has been out for awhile now and im just listing the games that have been released this past 6 months (I included Guwange cos I wanted some info on it. and its always seems to be the cave game that no one mentions around here.)

I keep hearing that, too, and even sketchier comparisons to Ikaruga

Im not talking about the scoreplay / each games hook, but just how the stages are designed. Treasure shmups seem more like horizontals in TATE mode rather then traditional verts

Strania seems like Radiant Silvergun because Hiroshi Iuchi was behind it.

Ahh that explains it. That guy is class when it comes to stage design

[Wonderbanana]

The only significant similarities to RSG are the sheer variety of purpose-specific weapons and the sword, but the actual use of the sword is completely different anyway - it's there to facilitate and reward an aggressive playing style.

Yeah I guess so but even they are hardly that similar; RSG's has all weapons from the start and you equip what you need in Strania. Plus like you say the 'swords' are nothing like each other.

In fact the more I think about it, the more I don't get the whole 'similar' thing

[BPzeBanshee]

TATEing Guwange 360 is possible, and I personally think there's nothing terribly wrong with the "hidden" menus. Their actual size however remains the same when the "Zoom Mode" for TATE is used so the sides are chopped off and looking at highscore leaderboards are somewhat of a pain if memory serves, but otherwise there's no problems going through the Options Menu while in TATE. No patches that I've heard of post-TATEable update.

As for why it's not talked about much, I'd say it's because of the Arrange Modes not being OOO SHINY HD and OMG TOO FRIGGIN EASY to 1cc.

Apparently the MMP/PS bundle has the same issues from what I read some time ago, though I'd like to see this confirmed or blown out of the water too by someone who owns it. That bundle and ESPGaluda II are probably the main titles I would like to buy when I get around to sorting myself out for international sales properly.

[stryc9]

All the games on the OP's list are great except for KOF sky Stage - It kinda sucks balls for reasons that have already been explained at length. And I don't know what Score rush is.

[Sumez]

Does Sky Stage's balls really have to be explained at length?
Sad to see the KOF name related to something like that - it's my second most favourite fighter series.

[stryc9]

Does Sky Stage's balls really have to be explained at length?
Sad to see the KOF name related to something like that - it's my second most favourite fighter series.

Agreed. Let me guess, Streetfighter is your number one?

[Sumez]

Nah, Samurai Shodown I have a soft spot for the immense atmosphere and sense of tension you get in a good SS match against an opponent of roughly the same level. My favourite is SS4 (never really got into SS2, it seems too generic compared to the later games) - but probably only until I hopefully receive SS5S in the mail any time now.

SF is close though - I guess probably third place, I was just never really good at those games, and I especially can't figure out Third Strike.

[xris]

Still a little worried about market oversaturation, but I'll take it. When it dries up again, at least I still have some games that I haven't gotten around to playing yet.

[Annoyboy]

Your list lacks Otomedius Excellent.

[Jeneki]

Since no one else brought it up yet:

(DC) Fast Striker - A fun manic shmup with a mars matrix feel to it. How is the scoreplay?

Scoring in Fast Striker is still to be determined. There's a bunch of secrets that give a fair number of points (some A LOT of points), which have not been very well discussed or published yet. So if you enjoy figuring things out yourself you may like it.

Other than the secrets, the scoring method is different in each game mode. Some have enemy chaining, others collect medals, etc.