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[bedazzler]

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[Estebang]

First things first: Get yourself hooked up with the MAME emulator and some roms ASAP.

Despite what the creator says, Shmupmame v.2.2 is the best all-around version.

Essential arcade/MAME games you'll see mentioned constantly on the forums:

I'm going to assume you're familiar with the older classics like R-Type/Gradius/etc.

Donpachi
Dodonpachi
Dodonpachi Dai Ou Jou
Dangun Feveron
Ketsui
ESP Ra. De.
Guwange (Better to buy this on Xbox Live Arcade, but I don't know if you have a 360)
Battle Garegga
Armed Police Batrider
Gunbird
Sengoku Blade/Tengai
Strikers 1945 series
Dragon Blaze
Space Bomber
Shippu Mahou Daisakusen
Cyvern: The Dragon Weapons
Progear
Giga Wing
Raiden Fighters series (though there's a far superior port of all three on the 360)
Espgaluda (need newer version of MAME than what I linked)

Essential non-MAME PC shmups:

Cho Ren Sha 68k (freeware)
Crimzon Clover (ask forum user Rancor about buying this)
Hydorah (freeware)
Hellsinker (ask Rancor)

I wouldn't call Satazius "essential," but it's notable in that you can buy it on Steam.

Dreamcast essentials (if some of these are way out of your budget, burning discs might be an option):

Zero Gunner 2
Trizeal
Under Defeat (soon to be on PS3/360)
Border Down
Giga Wing 2
Mars Matrix (also on MAME, but DC version is superior)
Psyvariar 2
Gunbird 2 (also on MAME, DC version has two more characters)
Ikaruga (also on Gamecube/360)
Bangai-O

[Acid_Rain]

Hi frickfrock99,

over here I started a similar thread, which has some good tips. The games are for xbox360, dc and pc so you might find some games there as well.

[bedazzler]

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[Estebang]

They're both region-locked. The PS2 needs Swap Magic disks to break the region lock, which are a pain to use and require some hardware modding. It's better to just buy a Japanese PS2. The Dreamcast is far easier: you can burn an Action Replay disc that requires no work to use other than swapping the discs. (Don't get ripped off buying one: it's freely and legally available.) Most pirated scene releases of games automatically bypass the region check, too.

[Rex Cavalier]

What Estebang said about MAME/PC games
+
If you feel like being too close for comfort, pick slowpoke mame there
Then find mushihimesama, mushihimesama futari, mushihimesama futari BL, ESPGaluda 2 roms

As for non-MAME PC games, also look for Radio Zonde, Zen-Ichi and x.x Games

[Bananamatic]

psyvariar and a box of tissues is all you need

[Estebang]

If you feel like being too close for comfort, pick slowpoke mame there
Then find mushihimesama, mushihimesama futari, mushihimesama futari BL, ESPGaluda 2 roms

Those have been all but wiped off the face of the internet since the purge. You'd need someone to send them to you.

They still run like shit unless you've got a very powerful rig, and the 360 ports are far superior (and you might end up actually supporting Cave).

[Rex Cavalier]

Those have been all but wiped off the face of the internet since the purge. You'd need someone to send them to you.

Nah, there are still download links all around in Google

[AntiFritz]

If you feel like being too close for comfort, pick slowpoke mame there
Then find mushihimesama, mushihimesama futari, mushihimesama futari BL, ESPGaluda 2 roms

Those have been all but wiped off the face of the internet since the purge. You'd need someone to send them to you.

They still run like shit unless you've got a very powerful rig, and the 360 ports are far superior (and you might end up actually supporting Cave).

They run fairly well on a core i5.

[damakable]

I'd consider XOP an "essential" non-mame PC shmup. As well as Jamestown, but frickfrock99 here already has that. Seriously though, XOP is really good once you read the README and turn the difficulty up to Expert. It was made by shmups forumers, and there's a demo.

[BPzeBanshee]

I'd consider XOP an "essential" non-mame PC shmup. As well as Jamestown, but frickfrock99 here already has that. Seriously though, XOP is really good once you read the README and turn the difficulty up to Expert. It was made by shmups forumers, and there's a demo.

This, but I don't think Expert is the way to go in terms of difficulty for a newbie. Stick with Normal and then go up when you're ready in your own time.

Nice to know you're a player of Xeno Fighters R frickfrock99. There are other games in Development forum that are a definite must-try although like XF-R they are WIPs. Namely XYX, FINAL BOSS and Papilio come to mind. If you're a good player the Raiden games (anything with Raiden in it really) is a good game to get, but a lot more of a challenge than XF-R. Good luck!

[Chaos Phoenixma]

I'm not even a newbie, and I thought the Normal on the Xop games was hard enough. I don't have the latest versions though, just the ones that were free.

Also, check out

Embodiment of Scarlet Devil
Imperishable Night
Mountain of Faith
Subterranean Animism

as I think of them as the best in the Touhou series. That list isn't in any particular order. 10 Desires doesn't look bad either, but I never played the full version.


And definitely get the Gundemonium Collection on Steam. Gundemonium Recollection is great, and so is GundeadliGne. I haven't played much of Hitogata Happa yet, so I can't really say much about it, but it's probably the weakest of the 3.

[BPzeBanshee]

I'm not even a newbie, and I thought the Normal on the Xop games was hard enough. I don't have the latest versions though, just the ones that were free.

I own them as is now and before they went to 'Ultra' editions, and when I first played them I beat it on Normal mode on like, the first or second time. I don't consider myself a terribly good player either. There's a mode down from Normal as well, and the various modes can add or take away from the difficulty in itself too.

Those have been all but wiped off the face of the internet since the purge. You'd need someone to send them to you.

They still run like shit unless you've got a very powerful rig, and the 360 ports are far superior (and you might end up actually supporting Cave).

They run fairly well on a core i5.

I'm running a Core 2 Duo and the only games that really lag much is Pink Sweets/Muchi Muchi Pork. I must say though, if you run it on Windows 7 machines there's a chance the graphics may glitch up a fair bit - I've seen the entire sprite layer disappear and some of the visual effects in Futari's menus are spastic on the laptops at school though they run at fullspeed or somewhere close.

[ChainsawGuitarSP]

You gotta play Kamui. It's the only doujin shmup on par with the arcade releases; I'd go as far as to say it's the only worthy successor to RayForce. (which by the way, is on the PC version of Taito Legends 2.)

Avoid Touhou games like the plague.

[bedazzler]

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[renardqueenston]

i use my 360 Hori EX2 on my PC. they're pretty darn affordable and i can't complain about it at all.

[damakable]

I'm not even a newbie, and I thought the Normal on the Xop games was hard enough. I don't have the latest versions though, just the ones that were free.

I own them as is now and before they went to 'Ultra' editions, and when I first played them I beat it on Normal mode on like, the first or second time. I don't consider myself a terribly good player either. There's a mode down from Normal as well, and the various modes can add or take away from the difficulty in itself too.

I have the Ultra edition so I'm not sure if the difficulty has changed. But again, Normal in XOP is ridiculously easy in my opinion -- and I'm not terribly good or anything, but beat Original mode on Normal on my third try. At least if you're not playing for score, there's not much challenge. Expert difficulty, on the other hand, makes it feel like a Cave game (and there's one more difficulty level past that). You can always start on Normal and bump it up once you've won, of course. I just don't want anyone to play XOP without realizing how many modes there are and think "well this is boring" when there's so much more available.

[BPzeBanshee]

I own them as is now and before they went to 'Ultra' editions, and when I first played them I beat it on Normal mode on like, the first or second time. I don't consider myself a terribly good player either. There's a mode down from Normal as well, and the various modes can add or take away from the difficulty in itself too.

I have the Ultra edition so I'm not sure if the difficulty has changed. But again, Normal in XOP is ridiculously easy in my opinion -- and I'm not terribly good or anything, but beat Original mode on Normal on my third try. At least if you're not playing for score, there's not much challenge. Expert difficulty, on the other hand, makes it feel like a Cave game (and there's one more difficulty level past that). You can always start on Normal and bump it up once you've won, of course. I just don't want anyone to play XOP without realizing how many modes there are and think "well this is boring" when there's so much more available.

Well said. And no, on Normal at least, the difficulty doesn't appear to have changed much. I don't think Udderdude really needs to tell us for us to figure out that the principle behind the XOP games is very much: easy to learn, hard to master. Sure, you can beat the game on Normal real easily but how good is your score at the end of the day.

I'm a survivalist myself but I enjoy my scoring as well. Maybe this is why XOP Black Ultra Special is my kind of thing - it's both at the same time.

[Special World]

Mars Matrix DC, all the way.

Twinkle Star Sprites is also an amazing Dreamcast game. Ignore the title and play it with a friend.

Other than that, Ikaruga, Zero Gunner 2, and Gunbird 2 are great.