My personal favorite...slow paced, methodical, strategic power up and leveling system, sci-fi setting, very detailed graphics, etc. If your a fan of it you know what I mean.
I think it's one of a kind, am I wrong?
Thanks
(Sadly all these newer "bullet hell" shooters do nothing for me)
Any games similar to Alpha Mission 2?
Re: Any games similar to Alpha Mission 2?
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Last edited by cfx on Thu May 29, 2025 8:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Any games similar to Alpha Mission 2?
Slap Fight (also I recommend the MD version with the special mode)
Ajax
Final Star Force
That's about it from me.
Ajax
Final Star Force
That's about it from me.
Zenodyne R - My 2nd Steam Shmup
Re: Any games similar to Alpha Mission 2?
Well there's the original
ASO Armored Scrum object
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWumC7MaN8U
I never got enough time on it to figure out what the hell is going on though...?
There should be a number of older titles that match what you're looking for. Just trawl through MAME.
Hellfire is slowish paced and strategic, so are R-Type and Viewpoint.
In the Hunt is very slow and may match what you want.
R-Type Final is so long and slow that you may well give up on it, like most people did.
There's always the original Nemesis/Gradius, and that ticks your power up bar needs.
ASO Armored Scrum object
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWumC7MaN8U
I never got enough time on it to figure out what the hell is going on though...?
Well I get tired of threading the eye of a needle a thousand times too.(Sadly all these newer "bullet hell" shooters do nothing for me)
There should be a number of older titles that match what you're looking for. Just trawl through MAME.
Hellfire is slowish paced and strategic, so are R-Type and Viewpoint.
In the Hunt is very slow and may match what you want.
R-Type Final is so long and slow that you may well give up on it, like most people did.
There's always the original Nemesis/Gradius, and that ticks your power up bar needs.
Re: Any games similar to Alpha Mission 2?
Which is sad because levels change at successive completions from what i remember (levels flooding etc)... my memories are fuzzy i gave it to my shmupette sisterDEL wrote:R-Type Final is so long and slow that you may well give up on it, like most people did.
You should enjoy In The Hunt, the pinnacle for detailed dotgraphics (my favorite from Irem), paced like you want it to be since you control the scroll, and strategic because you have surface weapons AND immersed weapons... very very very neat game. Love it.
It s the kind of game where you can destroy a bridge pillar to make vehicles on top of it fall down to the water, where building you shoot first have progressive shock-waves destroying windows then destroying supporting walls then destroying all together...
Sure you don t have a weapons' grid like gradius...
Einhander is quite slow paced, detailed, has a lot of weaponry with attaching slots you can switch, there are lots of branching and secrets and it was pretty for its time (although it is 3D)...
st5ex0boss/st5ex0boss.cpp, st5ex0boss/st5ex0b_appear.cpp, st5ex0boss/st5ex0b_disp.cpp, st5ex0boss/st5ex0b_move.cpp, st5ex0boss/st5ex0b_anime.cpp, st5ex0boss/st5ex0b_check.cpp
And there shall be TTLB... <3 Muwohohoho
And there shall be TTLB... <3 Muwohohoho
Re: Any games similar to Alpha Mission 2?
Surely Image Fight deserves a mention as well.
Good to see other people prefer these types of shmups as well, it's sometimes tough liking the niche subgenre of a niche game genre...
Good to see other people prefer these types of shmups as well, it's sometimes tough liking the niche subgenre of a niche game genre...
No matter how good a game is, somebody will always hate it. No matter how bad a game is, somebody will always love it.
My videos
My videos
Re: Any games similar to Alpha Mission 2?
Ghegs wrote;
Well I'm generally happy to play anything but Cave games. Once I understood that there is no individuality allowed when going for score on a game that has a strict chaining route that must be adhered to, I realised that robotically sticking to a prescribed route throughout a whole game is too constrictive for me.
I am not averse to performing tricks and strict manouevers at certain points in every shoot'em up to gain more score. This is a large part of the fun and a good aspect of the evolution of the STG. But I stress the 'at certain points' bit - not being constrained from start to finish.
A number of years ago, Michael Palin documented a trip round the World and stopped off in Japan. He said one thing that caught my attention: "The Japanese seek perfection of movement."
A Western scientist went to Japan and wrote this in 2004: "A friend of mine even introduced me to a Ken-do club where I learned this traditional Japanese sport. In this club I learned that the perfection of the movement is often more important than the game, thus the teaching was focused on learning Ken-do movements to aim toward the perfect movements. This is rather different from European sport training where less emphasis is put on perfection of the movements."
^So the above pretty much explains chaining in Cave shooters. Such as the very strict routes that must be adhered to in the DDPs of the whole-game chaining of Guwange. Strict Chaining is the epitome of the perfection of movement discipline.
Could it be said that once you've achieved the feat of chaining the whole game, your score isn't yours? But a replica of someone else's?
To put this into perspective, you can draw an analogy or two.
Chaining in Cave games is like syncronized swimming or line dancing. Both these activities require everyone to perform the exact movements at the same time. No individuality. It comes as no surprise that line dancing is popular in Japan and Japan is well represented in syncronized swimming also. Imagine a syncronized swimmer sticking her arm out of the water in her own artistic individual way....the team's score would be decimated, and so it is with deviating from a strict chain route on a Cave game.
I guess its all part of the Japanese psyche, and it may also go some way to explain why a top Japanese player will put up a sick score in an arcade and walk away without putting in his initials/TAG.
---------------------------
Image Fight is also a good recommendation for garbage1 - strategic but a bit faster paced.
Considering Alpha Mission 2 is a Neo Geo game, PULSTAR is slow paced and should be perfect. Great music, atmosphere and very strategic.
warning - minor Cave chaining rant - pls feel free to ignoreSurely Image Fight deserves a mention as well.
Good to see other people prefer these types of shmups as well, it's sometimes tough liking the niche subgenre of a niche game genre...
Well I'm generally happy to play anything but Cave games. Once I understood that there is no individuality allowed when going for score on a game that has a strict chaining route that must be adhered to, I realised that robotically sticking to a prescribed route throughout a whole game is too constrictive for me.
I am not averse to performing tricks and strict manouevers at certain points in every shoot'em up to gain more score. This is a large part of the fun and a good aspect of the evolution of the STG. But I stress the 'at certain points' bit - not being constrained from start to finish.
A number of years ago, Michael Palin documented a trip round the World and stopped off in Japan. He said one thing that caught my attention: "The Japanese seek perfection of movement."
A Western scientist went to Japan and wrote this in 2004: "A friend of mine even introduced me to a Ken-do club where I learned this traditional Japanese sport. In this club I learned that the perfection of the movement is often more important than the game, thus the teaching was focused on learning Ken-do movements to aim toward the perfect movements. This is rather different from European sport training where less emphasis is put on perfection of the movements."
^So the above pretty much explains chaining in Cave shooters. Such as the very strict routes that must be adhered to in the DDPs of the whole-game chaining of Guwange. Strict Chaining is the epitome of the perfection of movement discipline.
Could it be said that once you've achieved the feat of chaining the whole game, your score isn't yours? But a replica of someone else's?
To put this into perspective, you can draw an analogy or two.
Chaining in Cave games is like syncronized swimming or line dancing. Both these activities require everyone to perform the exact movements at the same time. No individuality. It comes as no surprise that line dancing is popular in Japan and Japan is well represented in syncronized swimming also. Imagine a syncronized swimmer sticking her arm out of the water in her own artistic individual way....the team's score would be decimated, and so it is with deviating from a strict chain route on a Cave game.
I guess its all part of the Japanese psyche, and it may also go some way to explain why a top Japanese player will put up a sick score in an arcade and walk away without putting in his initials/TAG.
---------------------------
Image Fight is also a good recommendation for garbage1 - strategic but a bit faster paced.
Considering Alpha Mission 2 is a Neo Geo game, PULSTAR is slow paced and should be perfect. Great music, atmosphere and very strategic.
Re: Any games similar to Alpha Mission 2?
The original Alpha Mission was quite funny. It is was impossible to finish without using the correct special weapons on each boss, though. I think that it was the first shmup to have a loop, and a true last boss.
"The only desire the Culture could not satisfy from within itself was one common to both the descendants of its original human stock and the machines [...]: the urge not to feel useless."
I.M. Banks, "Consider Phlebas" (1988: 43).
I.M. Banks, "Consider Phlebas" (1988: 43).
Re: Any games similar to Alpha Mission 2?
Not every cave game has chaining...DEL wrote:snip
Espgaluda 2 for example allows alot of individuality.
RegalSin wrote:Rape is very shakey subject. It falls into the catergory of Womens right, Homosexaul rights, and Black rights.
Re: Any games similar to Alpha Mission 2?
^Yes indeed AntiFritz. Ketsui also has short chains and a lot of crossfire which forces you to to some freestyle. Feveron is also very different and does not keep you constrained. I haven't worked out the percentage of Cave games that have chaining at the core of their scoring engines - Its certainly not all of them as you say .
btw. I do not count the Raizing/Yagawa games released under the Cave name - IBARA, Sweets & Pork, for obvious reasons.
Rando wrote;
Interesting. If you would do a brief Strat listing the correct special weapons for each boss, I'd download it and give it a go.
.btw. I do not count the Raizing/Yagawa games released under the Cave name - IBARA, Sweets & Pork, for obvious reasons.
Rando wrote;
RE: ASO Armored Scrum objectThe original Alpha Mission was quite funny. It is was impossible to finish without using the correct special weapons on each boss, though. I think that it was the first shmup to have a loop, and a true last boss.
Interesting. If you would do a brief Strat listing the correct special weapons for each boss, I'd download it and give it a go.
Re: Any games similar to Alpha Mission 2?
DEL: I don't remember much, I need to play again the game. I do remember that the final boss is almost impossible without the thunder armor, and another boss (the fourth one?), without the nuke armour. Will check soon 
"The only desire the Culture could not satisfy from within itself was one common to both the descendants of its original human stock and the machines [...]: the urge not to feel useless."
I.M. Banks, "Consider Phlebas" (1988: 43).
I.M. Banks, "Consider Phlebas" (1988: 43).