Rank these potential-impulse-purchase shmup titles

[Never_Scurred]

Just got my tuition reimbursement money, and i'm looking to fill up some holes in my modest shmup collection.
I've thus far narrowed it down to these titles:

1. Castle Shikigami III - X360

2. Soul Divide/Dragon Blaze Psikyo pack - PS2

3. Silpheed: The Lost Planet - PS2

4. Dodonpachi Black Label Extra - X360

5. Akai Katana - X360

6. Raiden IV - X360

7. Raiden Fighters Collection - X360

8. Thunderforce VI - PS2

9. Trizeal - PS2

10. Bullet Soul - X360

11. Homura - PS2

I'm only looking to pop for maybe, 5 of these ATM. My heart is already set on Thunderforce Vi, but which others do you guys suggest?

[BulletMagnet]

Definitely snag Raiden Fighters Aces - DOJ BLX ain't bad either, now that it's been patched. I like Homura, but it probably isn't to everyone's tastes. Dragon Blaze is my favorite Psikyo shooter, though that's something of a modest compliment - Akai Katana is okay, though I like the console-exclusive modes more than the arcade original. I have Shiki III on the Wii (a cheap pickup), but couldn't tell you if the 360 version is worth the extra cash you'll fork over for it.

I'd hold off on Trizeal for PS2 and look for the Shooting Love 200X pack for the 360 instead, and probably pass on Silpheed and Raiden IV as well (though both can be found for pretty cheap). Bullet Soul isn't terrible, but isn't as good as it should be, so I'd put that near the bottom of the list.

Hope that helps a bit.

[cpcbautista]

I would also suggest picking up Raiden Fighters Aces. You can get it cheap in the states (under $20) and it comes with three great games. I'm having a blast with it myself.

[Never_Scurred]

I would also suggest picking up Raiden Fighters Aces. You can get it cheap in the states (under $20) and it comes with three great games. I'm having a blast with it myself.

I would've jumped on this sooner, but this was before the Cave homeportplosion and my purchase of an asian 360 prevented me from pulling the trigger on RFA. Sadly, the US one is out of the question.

[RNGmaster]

Bullet Soul should probably go at the bottom of the list.

I would suggest Homura or Shikigami 3, both great games. Also Dragon Blaze, but you can play that more easily on MAME.

[mjclark]

Sorry but TF VI is fuckin dreadful, the worst of the franchise, as is Silpheed which goes in the "don't even bother" category.
Raiden IV and Trizeal are beautiful.
Shiki is just solid quality.

[Never_Scurred]

Sorry but TF VI is fuckin dreadful, the worst of the franchise

Well fuck me, I just bought it on eBay a few minutes a go. But I need some more hori shmup sexiness on my PS2 next to Gradius V and the shmup forum favorite, R-Type Final. Silpheed is looking good from the vids i've seen of it on YT, Trizeal looks a little too simple. Raiden IV looks pretty and shiny, but I don't know how much different it is from Raiden III which i've played the hell out of.

[Dave_K.]

I'm only looking to pop for maybe, 5 of these ATM. My heart is already set on Thunderforce Vi, but which others do you guys suggest?

My ranking of top four from your list:

Dodonpachi Black Label Extra - X360
Akai Katana - X360
Raiden IV - X360
Raiden Fighters Collection - X360

[Skykid]

Homura, big time. Superb game and probably pretty damn cheap. Soundtrack is mint too, buy it.

[Ruldra]

Stay away from Silpheed and Thunderforce VI, both of them suck. Some people like Homura but I personally didn't like it at all.

If I had to pick 5 games, I'd choose Shikigami, DDP, Akai Katana, Raiden 4 and Raiden Fighters.

[mjclark]

Sorry but TF VI is fuckin dreadful, the worst of the franchise

Well fuck me, I just bought it on eBay a few minutes a go. But I need some more hori shmup sexiness on my PS2 next to Gradius V and the shmup forum favorite, R-Type Final. Silpheed is looking good from the vids i've seen of it on YT, Trizeal looks a little too simple. Raiden IV looks pretty and shiny, but I don't know how much different it is from Raiden III which i've played the hell out of.

Lol- TF VI looks very pretty but cannot be spoken of in the same breath as Gradius V.
Raiden IV is very very similar to III but has an additional charge shot and a choice of lasers (!). If you liked III you'll lurrrrvvv IV.
Trizeal's got that weird Triangle Service vibe- like Milestone either you love it or you hate it...

[Never_Scurred]

I have the PS2 version of DOJ, and rocked that thing to death, are the differences on the extra version worth the upgrade?
When this came out, I was so "OMG Ketsui is coming to 360!!!!" that I pretty much ignored DDP Extra. Have the bugs been sorted out yet? I've read in the past that the loading times and inconsistent menu controls were the biggest issues.

Thunderforce VI touched my heart in a way that a hori hasn't since Gradius V, i'm surprised so many people thought it was bad. Ah well, it was 50 bucks. I can get that back selling off my second copy of MMP/PS.

[mjclark]

Thunderforce VI touched my heart in a way that a hori hasn't since Gradius V, i'm surprised so many people thought it was bad. Ah well, it was 50 bucks. I can get that back selling off my second copy of MMP/PS.

I got very excited for TF VI too and it can't be "wrong" in any way to have it in your collection- it looks great, is very conscious of it's history and backstory and includes sections in Mongolian.
The problem is that the stages are very short and unsatisfying and the bosses are just laughable beginning straight off on Stage 1 with a robotic chicken

[EllertMichael]

1.DDP DOJ BLEX (patched.)
2.Akai Katana Shin
3.Raiden Fighters (IMO a nice compilation with some great music)
4.Raiden 4
5.Bullet Soul (maybe not worth the pricetag, but I found it to be pretty fun... even if it does pat you on the head and tell you you're special for just holding down rapid fire while the background moves )

[Kollision]

Unless you're very good at twitch dodging and Psikyo-style shooters, Raiden Fighters isn't for you.
Maybe if you want 3 games in 1, but even so it's more of an acquired taste than the other ones you listed IMO.

I'd say Raiden 4, Akai katana, Homura, DDP DOJ and your TF6.

[BPzeBanshee]

Unless you're very good at twitch dodging and Psikyo-style shooters, Raiden Fighters isn't for you.
Maybe if you want 3 games in 1, but even so it's more of an acquired taste than the other ones you listed IMO.

I'd say Raiden 4, Akai katana, Homura, DDP DOJ and your TF6.

Well he listed Soul Divide/Dragon Blaze...

Either way, RFA will provide a refreshing alternative to the Cave stuff he's got on the list.

[Hagane]

Dragon Blaze, Raiden Fighters Collection, Raiden IV, Shiki III.

[Bananamatic]

Homura is awesome, get it

[Jeneki]

9. Trizeal - PS2

Since you have a bunch of X360 stuff on your list, have you considered Shooting Love 200X? It has both Trizeal and Exzeal and some other stuff on it.

[hamfighterx]

Just got my tuition reimbursement money, and i'm looking to fill up some holes in my modest shmup collection.

Hahaha love it, that's sound financial management after my own heart. Tuition reimbursement bought me my first arcade stick (old school MAS Saturn stick) and a good chunk of my early shooter collection.

As for your list, I'd go with...

1. DDP DOJ Black Label Extra (unless you already have the PS2 port and don't particularly love it. Even if you do have the PS2 version, worth it to get the 360 port for Black Label and X mode.)
2. Raiden Fighters Collection (lots of bang for your buck)
3. Castle Shikigami III
4. Akai Katana
5. Dragon Blaze (I refuse to even discuss this as a pack, since Sol Divide is so bad. But Dragon Blaze is damn good.)

Maybe:
1. Thunderforce VI (I do have a soft spot for it, and don't blame you for adding it to your collection. It's inarguably not as good as it could have been, but you really can tell it was a labor of love and that counts for something in my book.)
2. Raiden IV
3. Homura

Pass on:
1. Silpheed: The Lost Planet
2. Trizeal (as mentioned above, Shooting Love 20XX is the better option)
3. Bullet Soul

[chempop]

What kind of TV/display are you using? I ask because Akai Katana (as you likely know) has two widescreen modes, and a somewhat botched 4:3 arcade mode (boss life-bars are off screen...)

If you can access your service menu or manually adjust the hori/vert size of you screen then playing Arcade mode should be fine, but if your screen is on the smallish size (<20"), those widescreen modes might be a tad on the cramped side.

It's easily my favorite game on your list out of the ones I've played.

[burgerkingdiamond]

Silpheed is dirt cheap but still not worth it. It sucks hard.

Bullet Soul has sweet graphics/presentation and good/decent music. It's too easy though and it may bore you until the very end if you're a pretty decent player. I'm not great and still managed to 1cc it on my very first credit. So take that for what it's worth. Even if you're interested, it's not worth full price so try to get it used from someone who's tired of it and willing to let it go for a loss.

[stryc9]

Your potential Shmup purchases in order of excellence:

1. Raiden Fighters Aces: (this series just rocks, backed up by some quite sexy screen options comparable in quality to Futari's. You can check these out in MAME before purchasing to see if they suit you even).

2. Raiden 4/ Akai Katana: (for the purposes of this list I rank these as even, depending on your preference - oldschool with fast aimed shots - and I do mean fast - or ultra modern Danmaku with the usual arrange modes, both of which are excellent. Raiden 4 destroys Raiden 3, on PS2 at least, so if you enjoyed 3 there will be no worries at all).

3. DOJBLEX: (Never saw this pre-patch. Post-patch is fine, visuals are inferior to PS2 but still acceptable, esp. on a tated CRT. Load times are a non-issue. It has Black Label, which is an excellent refinement of the original, but depending on how much more DOJ you want to play as opposed to something new and different to master your mileage may vary).

4. Dragon Blaze: (Awesome game, again can be checked out in MAME before the purchase. Sol Divide sux but that kind of doesn't matter).

5. Homura/ Bullet Soul: (Some would argue that Homura isn't for everyone, and those some would be right. It's not without it's charms - it's possibly got one of the best boss tracks ever IMO - but call me shallow cos I just can't get over how lame the enemies are with their two-frame animation routines. It still plays a decent shmup though with an interesting score mechanic.

Bullet Soul is marmite. It is easy overall, but this can be remedied somewhat by using the point-blanking to full effect, something you are encouraged to do for score anyway. I actually really quite like it, the controls are butter smooth and I enjoy the aesthetics, although the music is not fantastic. Solid.

6. Trizeal: (As Raiden-esque as it is, nothing really clicked with me about it except the asteroid level. It does look every bit as budget as it actually is, but not in a good way like Milestone post Chaos Field).

7. Thunder Force VI: (There's just not enough meat on it's bones, and by that I mean actual shooting content. Levels are over way too quickly and it's too easy, even on Maniac IIRC. As has been stated above it still sits nice in a shmup collection, if just for the fact it was even made at all. TFVI is by no means a bad game - I think people have lost sight of what we called a bad game back in the 8 and 16 bit days - it's just too lightweight.

I have yet to play Shiki 3, held off on buying it cos I was one of those weirdos that was more or less unimpressed with the second one. I prefer big bosses.

Silpheed on Mega CD was more a tech demo for streamed polygons than a really solid shmup engine when we played it back in the day, but damn was it visually impressive. Haven't played the new one but I trust the opinions voiced on this forum about it being kinda balls.

Sorry for the long post but I felt I needed to relay some points about the games specifically
Hope it all helps towards an informed decision

[Special World]

From what I've played:

1. Akai Katana
2. Raiden Fighters Aces
3. Dodonpachi DOJ BLEX
4. Bullet Soul
5. Raiden IV

Those wouldn't be my first picks, though. I'd say Futari Black Label, Muchi Pork + Pink Sweets, and Eschatos, if you don't have them already. Great games, great variety.

[Deca]

Raiden Fighters Aces
Dai Ou Jou
Dragon Blaze

I put RFA above DOJ because I'm judging the release as a whole and not just the individual games on it against one another. I definitely like DOJ more than any of the RF games (not that I don't love them) but as a package Aces is just amazing. Spectacular ports and 3 very fun games. I put Dragon Blaze on there because it's an awesome game, but I can't personally speak to the quality of the port.

Mushihimesama Futari is an essential, if you don't already have a copy. Very well designed and approachable game with a TON of content. I wouldn't call it my favorite, but if I could have only one 360 shooter it would be Futari.

[Bananamatic]

get Psyvariar for ps2 as well