Racketboy "Defining Shmups" Article - IT'S UP!

[Hagane]

I feel that Sengoku Ace deserves a mention. Even though I've seen many people say it was too similar to Aero Fighters, the fact is that it plays very little like it (most enemies don't kill you if they touch you allowing for aggressive play and quick kills - play Jane for example, and watch bosses go down in seconds if you point blank / ride them -, very fast paced style, charge shots) and defined most of the qualities of later Psikyo games. I've read it was quite popular (in Japan) at release too (from what Rob said in your shmups 101 article thread).

[BulletMagnet]

I know you're including it with the Tatsujin writeup, but I would give special mention to Batsugun for being the first Toaplan-descended shmup that doesn't loop infinitely, which was carried over into every shmup made afterwards with a loop (as far as I know).

Batsugun's definitely getting a mention (possibly two; it'd easily fit into the DonPachi segment), though I hadn't thought of the looping thing...though technically that'd only apply to the Special version (which people can still counter-stop anyway, heh).

I would give Psyvariar 1/2 and Homura a tiny mention for being the only major Korean-developed shmups.

Their point of origin (and, in Psyvariar's case, its unusual gameplay emphasis) do set them apart, but I really don't think either of them truly qualify as "defining", at least not in the same sense as the rest of the list. Anyone else want to weigh in at the eleventh hour?

Aero Fighters should get an honorable mention since it is the predecessor to Strikers, and was the first to use that random level order Psikyo is well-known for.

I feel that Sengoku Ace deserves a mention.

Psikyo/Video System is a tough one to quantify for a list like this one...I still stand by my decision to put the Strikers series with the 19xx games due to their similar themes and widespread distribution, and am hesitant to devote another section to anything else of that ilk...I could definitely make some references to Aero Fighters and other Psikyo games in there though, would that be an acceptable solution?

Also, I'm not the biggest fan of Gaiares myself, but that should get a mention too considering how well-renowned that was back in the day.

This one, if it goes anywhere, will probably end up in the Hidden Gems article, as I doubt it could really be called a "defining" shmup.

[RNGmaster]

I would give Psyvariar 1/2 and Homura a tiny mention for being the only major Korean-developed shmups.

Their point of origin (and, in Psyvariar's case, its unusual gameplay emphasis) do set them apart, but I really don't think either of them truly qualify as "defining", at least not in the same sense as the rest of the list. Anyone else want to weigh in at the eleventh hour?

They're more of an interesting anomaly IMHO. If they're going to be in Hidden Gems anyways, there's no need to shoehorn them in elsewhere.

[BulletMagnet]

Okay, gonna bump this one more time to make sure everyone gets a chance to be heard: if you have any additional suggestions for this article voice them now, else the next time you hear from me on this will be when I've got a completed draft to show you.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Compile are a tough bunch to do them justice. No matter how many excellent shmups they released, nobody would emulate them (except for the makers of Tyrian, which sucks). Self-defining at best.
That said, whenever SNES was successful, Super Aleste/Space Megaforce is fondly remembered.

[Hagane]

Psikyo/Video System is a tough one to quantify for a list like this one...I still stand by my decision to put the Strikers series with the 19xx games due to their similar themes and widespread distribution, and am hesitant to devote another section to anything else of that ilk...I could definitely make some references to Aero Fighters and other Psikyo games in there though, would that be an acceptable solution?

I disagree with pairing Strikers with 19xx. They have nothing in common except for the WWII setting, which is superficial IMO.

I'd either put Ace or Gunbird as influential, or at least Strikers in a separate entry. Psikyo was too popular and unique to just be lumped with the 19xx games, but your article, your call.

[BulletMagnet]

As I've said before, Psikyo is a rather tough one to pin down in this sort of setting...in terms of overall exposure (at least in the West) I'd definitely pick Strikers as the company's top offering, and would probably end up mentioning it in connection with the 1940 series anyway, but from where I'm standing attempting to shoehorn Gunbird or Sengoku Ace in there alongside it seems like just a tad too much, especially since neither series is/was as prolific or well-known, especially outside the shmupping community.

That said, I really can't say I'm 100 percent decided on this...a separate Psikyo-centric segment would allow me to mention Sonic Wings and some of the company's other offerings more easily, but I'm still having trouble justifying any one series (save Strikers) over the others in terms of its "defining" quality. Looks like I'll have to write up the rest of the items first, and leave this one 'til the very end: keep the input coming!

[Taylor]

Hm...Futari is definitely one of the more popular "recent" shooters out there, and it was Cave's first attempt at going region-free, but I'm not completely sold...one could just as easily nominate Deathsmiles as the harbinger of a "new era" of shmupping, I think. Any additional thoughts?

You could do this curve within the DoDonPachi series instead. Daioujou basically offered the option to be kicked in the nuts once or twice, whereas Daifukkatsu was aimed towards a much wider audience.

Including Touhou makes a lot of sense because it’s a massive phenomenon and dictates a lot of the doujinsoft scene (or at least did). It has also gotten a lot of people into the genre thanks to very broad fanbase and big music (read: porn) following. And while it does mean every video on youtube that’s not touhou has “play flandre on lunatic” in the comments that is actually testament to how big it is.

[Hagane]

That said, I really can't say I'm 100 percent decided on this...a separate Psikyo-centric segment would allow me to mention Sonic Wings and some of the company's other offerings more easily, but I'm still having trouble justifying any one series (save Strikers) over the others in terms of its "defining" quality. Looks like I'll have to write up the rest of the items first, and leave this one 'til the very end: keep the input coming!

If you mainly care about popularity, I'd make a separate entry for Strikers. If you want to include a game that influenced other games, I'd go for Ace or Gunbird, since SW doesn't have that much in common (system-wise) with Psikyo games. Or you could mention Strikers and Sonic Wings in separate entries since SW was a Video System game after all.

I'm just against lumping Strikers or other Psikyo games with 19xx; as one of the big STG companies (and one with such an unique style) I think it deserves a game in its own entry.

[Paradigm]

Psikyo were a good company but this article is about defining shmups, they shouldn't be shoehorned in 'just because'. Giving Strikers a mention in the 1940 section is ideal. I really don't think Tyrian/Raptor should be included, they were important to a select few but they certainly don't qualify as defining for me.

[professor ganson]

Space Invaders (series, w/Galaga)

Xevious (series, w/ Layer Section)

Zanac (series, w/Aleste)

Star Soldier (series)

1940 (series, w/ Strikers 1945)

Darius (series)

R-Type (series)

Gradius (series, w/Parodius, Salamander)

Twinbee (series)

Tatsujin/Truxton (series, w/ Flying Shark, Kyukyoku Tiger and Batsugun))

Raiden (series)

Thunder Force (series)

Battle Garegga

Radiant Silvergun/Ikaruga

DonPachi (series)

Tyrian and Raptor

Touhou (series)

BM, this is just an AWESOME list til you get to the bottom (last two). Wth is Tyrian and Raptor? Should I be playing this? I've already mentioned Touhou before, so I'll assume you know what you're doing with that one.

[dunpeal2064]

Would Recca fit in anywhere?

That game definitely defined the Yagawa formula, as it plays so similarly to Pink Sweets that its creepy

[BulletMagnet]

Wth is Tyrian and Raptor? Should I be playing this?

As I've mentioned, I'm not particularly knowledgeable when it comes to either Euroshmups or PC shmups, so I'm pretty much working off of what my fellow forumers are saying for this one.

I've already mentioned Touhou before, so I'll assume you know what you're doing with that one.

Heh, yeah, 'fraid there's no avoiding this one (though personally I'm at least somewhat fond of the series, so take that for whatever it's worth).

Would Recca fit in anywhere?

It might merit a brief mention under Garegga, but it's more likely you'll see it in the Hidden gems list instead.

[BulletMagnet]

Hey, remember this? Yeah, me neither, but here it is!

Anyways, it's taken me a lot longer than I'd hoped, but I've finally got a draft ready to go for this article, which I've posted at the beginning of the topic: give it a read if you've got the time, and let me know how it looks to you, and what your suggestions for improving it might be. Thanks as always for the help!

[chempop]

Bravo! Well done man, I think you nailed it!

Typo a the end of the first Truxton paragraph? It seems to cut off mid sentence..

[DQuick]

A very trivial suggestion. If you are going to point out that Raiden is generally mispronounced you may want to include the correct pronunciation after the title of the game.

[Hagane]

Good article except for what I've been telling you before. You lump Strikers with Capcom's 19xx games only based on the setting (which to me is like lumping Dragon Blaze with the Mahou games because they both have a fantasy setting) and make no mention to Psikyo's many unique qualities (something you do for the other series or games you mention in the article).

Yeah I'm an annoying Psikyo fanboy, please make a separate entry for any of their games.

I can even save you some of the effort and give you a prototype for you to build upon.

[RNGmaster]

You used the non-word 'irregardless'. I will hunt you down BM. Also thoughout your articles there are far too many quotation marks.

Other than that my qualms are the same as Hagane's.

[kid aphex]

"Pretentious"
Gah.

[BulletMagnet]

Typo a the end of the first Truxton paragraph? It seems to cut off mid sentence..

Gah, you're right, I'll hafta fix that.

A very trivial suggestion. If you are going to point out that Raiden is generally mispronounced you may want to include the correct pronunciation after the title of the game.

That's probably not a bad idea, I'll toss it in.

I can even save you some of the effort and give you a prototype for you to build upon.

If you're willing to ponder and decide which of Psikyo's series is most worth the effort, and cook up a well-reasoned set of criteria that make it so, I'm certainly willing to hear it: as of right now things are still kind of stuck in limbo.

You used the non-word 'irregardless'. I will hunt you down BM. Also thoughout your articles there are far too many quotation marks.

Heh, I'll be editing this at least once more before submitting it to RB, I'll keep these suggestions in mind.

"Pretentious"
Gah.

Sorry, no way around it!

Thanks for the suggestions so far, keep them coming!

[BulletMagnet]

Okay, I've edited the piece and implemented most of the suggestions offered so far, as well as reworded certain parts for clarity and readability: let me know what you think!

[Randorama]

Will try to read ASAP, maybe...

Can you bump in 3 days or so, please?

[BulletMagnet]

I'll probably bump this at least once more, just to make sure everyone interested has had a chance to give it a once-over before I send it to RB...by the way, where have all the angry Psikyopaths gone all of a sudden?

[opt2not]

Was Scramble mentioned at all? I see that you're drawing on Space War as being the technical roots of shmups, but Scramble played a huge part in defining horizontal series' like r-type, gradius and the like...
Scramble has a more quantifiable connection to modern day shmups then Space War does.

Good write up btw, always fun to read a culmination of information on our favourites!

[BulletMagnet]

Was Scramble mentioned at all?

I can see why this one would be a candidate for the list, but as was said earlier on "defining" here is more or less interpreted to mean a combination of both raw innovation and popularity/notoriety, i.e. stuff like Thunder Force and Raiden didn't really "innovate" as much as some of the other entries, but are still very recognizable names and have influenced a lot of other games. Scramble is definitely a milestone, especially if you're talking about side-scrollers specifically, but for some reason it just doesn't come up a lot in conversation among genre fans - I'd even be more tempted to reference Defender (which I sorta do) in that particular area. I'm not completely closed off to throwing a quick nod to Scramble in there, but I'm not sure how to do it...any ideas?

[toaplan_shmupfan]

I also agree that Scramble (and also mention its sequel Super Cobra) deserve a mention. The game featured slow down (joystick left)/medium (joystick neutral)/fast (joystick right) speeds in addition to up/down navigation, separare buttons shots and bombs, needed to shoot or bomb fuel tanks to replenish the always draining fuel gauge, some very narrow passages occur as well. It's included in Konami Arcade Classics for the PS1 as well, so then Konami's pre-Gradius shmups? Super Cobra would obviously get a smaller mention than Scramble, due to it being a sequel to Scramble.

How they are mentioned? Well, how many of those game mechanics were defining?

[BulletMagnet]

How they are mentioned? Well, how many of those game mechanics were defining?

Again, though, just because a game does something innovative or groundbreaking doesn't necessarily make it "defining" - I'm not saying that Scramble doesn't deserve a hunk of credit for what it did, but for whatever reason it just never really established itself as a "gaming icon" even among most shmuppers. I think a reference within the Gradius section might be appropriate, but I'm hesitant to commit to much more than that.

[Hagane]

by the way, where have all the angry Psikyopaths gone all of a sudden?

You won't get away from us so easily!

I have a prototype for Gunbird, which I think is the game that really established the Psikyo play style. Since Strikers is the more famous series you could make a mention to it like you do with other entries (like Batsugun in the Tatsujin entry). See if you can use anything of this.

----------------------------

While on the surface Gunbird may seem to play like an oldschool shooter with a slightly higher bullet count, the game is built around an idea that would define all subsequent Psikyo shooters: dodging bullets should always be your B plan. Unlike most modern shooters in which you generally wait and react to the enemies' patterns, in Gunbird you must kill enemies as fast as you can, prioritizing the larger ones that usually shoot the fastest, more problematic patterns, and dodging only the slower, easier bullets shot by the small fry.

Doing this requires high firepower, and the game offers it to those willing to play in close. It's no coincidence that the two best characters in the game are the ones with the strongest close ranged charged shots: Yuang Nang (whose charge attack, besides being fast and damaging can even nullify bullets!) and Valnus (who can take down pretty much any normal enemy with a single strike. To further encourage this style of play, charge shots save you "ammo" (Gunbird still uses the ammo-based power down system from Video System's Turbo Force and Aero Fighters, that drops your power level from 4 to 3 after some bursts of fire), netting you extra points from the abundant power ups, and, more importantly, crashing against an enemy doesn't kill you; instead it drops your power by one level, making close quarters combar far less risky as it would otherwise be.

This frantic type of play, coupled with Psikyo's usual short, fast paced levels make for a pretty unique experience. The company would build and refine over these basics in every one of their subsequent games, from the World War II based Strikers which introduced gold bars that must be picked up when fully flashing to maximize their value (that phased out the fixed value coins and ammo based power downs as scoring mechanics), to their bullet hell magnum opus, Dragon Blaze, that would take this philosophy to the extreme by quickly crushing you under tons of extremely hard to avoid bullets if you aren't on the offense most of the time.

----------------------------------------

Gunbird was also the first Psikyo game to have suicide bullets in the second loop, which is pretty big since it changes the way the game is played a lot, but it might be too much data and it's not as relevant to the "core" of the Psikyo style as its heavily proximity based gameplay is, so I don't know if it deserves to be mentioned.

[BulletMagnet]

Hmm...not bad, methinks. What do the other Psikyo fans think of going in a Gunbird-ish direction? If there are no objections I'll try "BM-izing" this and see where it takes me. Thanks for the contribution.

[RNGmaster]

Gunbird is a game that defined both Psikyo's aesthetic and gameplay attitude. I'd say go for it.