List of recomended shooters?

[DeBurgo]

You can't play shmups with a keyboard, though. I would kill people caught doing so.

Why's that? Some people can't get a hold of a decent gamepad or adapter, so they need to make do what they have.

I actually got good enough at the keyboard that I found it easier to play shooters the keyboard than a gamepad or stick as of recent... of course, if that's your point, then, alright

[SAM]

A good controller is vital. It is a matter of live and death, at least decent gamepad.


SAM's Recommended Gamepad:

"Sega Saturn Gamepad" for PC (USB)
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-1i-70-cj4.html

Sanwa NES style (USB)
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-1i-70-t8c.html

The Saturn one is better, since it is more easy to pull the diagonals.


SAM's Recommended JoyStick:

Sega Saturn Virtua Stick for PC
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-1i-70-gyn.html

The Saga VS seems to be installed with Seimitsu LS-33, anyone can confirm that?

Built you own custom joystick is the best option, since most adopters induce lag in the control. This is the cheapist joystick option consider the postage you have to pay for importing joystick form Hong Kong.

One more thing, a bad joystick (with big dead zone, long throw, etc.) is much much worser than a cheap average gamepad. Only the very best joystick beat a real good gamepad. So go for a good gamepad, if you are not plan to spend much on the control.

[Vomitspit]

I'd just like to thank everybody again, and say that I'm having insane amounts of fun with these babies. Of the games I've downloaded I'd rank them like this (in order of funtasticness):

1. Dodonpachi
2. Mars Matrix
3. Giga Wing
4. Dragon Blaze

If anyone more qualified than me feels like doing it, a good idea for an article would be to write something titled "New to Shmups?" where they would list some recomended games (it doesn't have to be perfect, just somewhere to start) with some comments.

I mean, all of the games I ranked are very similiar (possible in some kind of subgenre), but Dodonpachi is much less complex than Mars Matrix, which is why it would be a good candidate for a "manic" shooter beginner game.

[CMoon]

If anyone more qualified than me feels like doing it, a good idea for an article would be to write something titled "New to Shmups?" where they would list some recomended games (it doesn't have to be perfect, just somewhere to start) with some comments.

There is actually a good reason this _shouldn't_ be done. First, you can always check out the 'top 25' poll done every year, but I'm not sure this is the way to play shmups. Those top 25 are always pretty exclusive to a certain orthodoxy that has come to rub me more and more the wrong way. Mame gives you (and everone else) the chance to sample an extraordinary number of shmups for free, and subsequently escape this orthodoxy of of shmupperdom.

To be honest, being 'more qualified' has steered me farther and farther from believing that a deep appreciation of shmups can be had from a 'top 25' or whatnot. I think that if someone were to write a guide, they'd be best listing every major shmup developer, and their favorite games by those developers, ensuring to include games which represent every major form of shmups--Not just falling in line with the standard bullet-curtain worship.

...but Dodonpachi is much less complex than Mars Matrix, which is why it would be a good candidate for a "manic" shooter beginner game.

All that said, you need to spend more time with DDP. I find it a much deeper game than Mars Matrix; I think you're missing some of the complexity with that one.

[Herr Schatten]

I think that if someone were to write a guide, they'd be best listing every major shmup developer, and their favorite games by those developers, ensuring to include games which represent every major form of shmups--Not just falling in line with the standard bullet-curtain worship.

That's why browsing the voting thread usually is more fun to me than the result of the actual voting. There are always some obscure shmups that score high on single persons' lists. I always assume that those games are there for a reason, so I go and check them out, especially if I know that the forum member's taste in games is similar to mine. That way I discovered the joys of Space Manbow and Beamrider, for example.

Apart from that, I think the yearly top 25 are a good guide for people who have taken interest in shmupping and are looking for suggestions. I tend to feel that the honorable mentions are just as important, if not more important, than the actual top 25, though.