PC Engine shmups recommendation

[gundamalpha]

Can someone recommend some PC Engine shmups that:

1. have aged well
2. doesn't cost an arm and leg (mine costs $30 )

So far I have got, and really enjoyed Winds of Thunder and Gate of Thunder.

[KAI]

Soldier Blade.

[Moniker]

Off the top of my head. Don't know prices.

Aero Blasters
Air Zonk
Blazing Lazers / GunHed
Coryoon
Detana Twinbee
Download
Dragon Spirit
Final Soldier
Gradius
Magical Chase (expensive!)
Nexzr
Parodius Da!
Psycho Chaser
Punkic Cyborgs
Raiden
R-Type
Sapphire
Soldier Blade

[sunburstbasser]

If you don't mind a really squished resolution, Super Darius II is pretty good.

I've tried Dead Moon recently. Wouldn't pay a ton for it, but it's been pretty fun so far. Somewhat similar to the early Darius games in feel.

Most of the really good games, particularly on CD, tend to get pretty pricy. PC Engine is not a console for the poor collector.

[cj iwakura]

Was Pulstar on there? Because if so, Pulstar.

[NTSC-J]

Star Parodier

[Herr Schatten]

L-Dis

[sunburstbasser]

Was Pulstar on there? Because if so, Pulstar.

Pulstar didn't make it to the PCE. Did it ever go to anything besides Neo Geo?

[PinkSweets]

Star Parodier

This. Great game. Very affordable too.

[BIL]

Was Pulstar on there? Because if so, Pulstar.

Pulstar didn't make it to the PCE. Did it ever go to anything besides Neo Geo?

Nope. MVS, AES and Neo CD only.

[RaidenViper]

Super Star Soldier
Final Soldier
Soldier Blade (a little pricey)
Terra Cresta 2 (expensive)
Final Blaster
Dragon Spirit
Dragon Saber
Space Invaders
Xevious
Gradius
Salamander
Parodius
Detana Twinbee

Good luck finding a actually working CD unit. But if you do:

Gradius II
Winds of Thunder
Summer Carnival 93 Nexzr Special (it's superior to the standard Nexzr release)
Sapphire (Damn expensive. Just get the repro if you don't care for collection value)
Gate of Thunder.

Most of these should be fairly cheap.

Have fun.

[sunburstbasser]

The cheapest way I've found to get into PCE CD is to get a Japanese Duo. Usually, these sell for a premium on Ebay but it used to be that some Japanese sellers would offer them cheap, then try to gouge you out of $150 for airmail shipping. However, occasionally they would offer multiple shipping options including seamail. It takes a couple months to arrive, but shipping ended up only costing me about $30 for my PCE Duo, and the price was aorund $120 with some games and controllers.

If this is no longer viable, getting into the CD games gets quite pricey on Ebay. I've been pretty lucky with my purchases there.

[louisg]

I think Nexzr has held up incredibly well. I guess I'd say it's like a vertical R-Type, but a little more forgiving. I've beaten it multiple times, and it just gets better each playthrough. But what kind of games are you looking for? Console-style shmups with a slow difficulty ramp, or grab-you-by-your-nuts arcade style shooters?

Nobody mentioned Spriggan yet. If you like Compile style games, you can do a lot worse. But, like other Compile games, it's long and easy. And Soldier Blade on hard is pretty great-- I'd recommend that one.

[xbl0x180]

The cheapest way I've found to get into PCE CD is to get a Japanese Duo. Usually, these sell for a premium on Ebay but it used to be that some Japanese sellers would offer them cheap, then try to gouge you out of $150 for airmail shipping. However, occasionally they would offer multiple shipping options including seamail. It takes a couple months to arrive, but shipping ended up only costing me about $30 for my PCE Duo, and the price was aorund $120 with some games and controllers.

If this is no longer viable, getting into the CD games gets quite pricey on Ebay. I've been pretty lucky with my purchases there.

I have a U.S. TurboDuo, but I'm hesitant to buy more games for it because the composite cables are already getting frayed where it connects to the console.

[HydrogLox]

I have a U.S. TurboDuo, but I'm hesitant to buy more games for it because the composite cables are already getting frayed where it connects to the console.

Like one of these PC Engine Turbo Duo Core Grafx stereo TV AV cable lead?

[xbl0x180]

Holy carp! I think I will dust off my Turbo Duo this week!

I know, I know. It was right under my nose, but thank you for cluing me to that.

[Despatche]

Cards: Paranoia, Psycho Chaser, Violent Soldier, Aldynes (good luck with this one), and I may as well toss in Deep Blue just to annoy. Not sure about Space Invaders, need to play around with it. Afraid to mention Final Blaster for some reason.

CDs: Nexzr, Gate of Thunder, Avenger, and Rayxanber II.

Above all, try to avoid conversions, unless you really like the particular game and want to see how the conversion behaves.

[Fudoh]

Aldynes is a Super Grafx card, not a PCE one.

[Obiwanshinobi]

GunHed should be played on Hard. Takes entering the code:

Hold select and press I+II repeatedly on boot until it does to the difficulty menu, the autofire on either mode can do this.

To get more difficulties, just keep holding them down while in difficulty select, and you'll find the select button cycles through more each time you stop and check.

Hold start and press select to drop to title screen.

Nobody mentioned Spriggan yet. If you like Compile style games, you can do a lot worse. But, like other Compile games, it's long and easy.

The caravan modes are not long (obviously) and pretty unique (for caravan games and Compile shumps alike).

[Mortificator]

Most PCE shooters are mediocre. The only one I really like is Lords of Thunder.

[OdiousTrident]

Although Metal Stoker isn't forced scrolling per say.... I really think it's one of the best shmups on the console.

[gundamalpha]

Thanks for the recommendations, so far I have added R-Type I & II, Daisenpu and non shmup Legend of Valkyrie to my purchase list. I'm a bit skeptic on the Hudson's Star Soldier series, afraid it might end up like Image Fight which I really couldn't enjoy one bit.

Shmups for PC Engine I have:
Lords of Thunder - love it
Gate of Thunder - love it
Kyuukyoku Tiger - love it
Star Parodier - love it
Dragon Spirit - aged badly
Mr. Heli - so so only
L-Dis - so so only
Spriggan - love it
Legion - don't find it enjoyable
Side Arms - aged
Macross 2036 - love it
Ordyne - aged
Image Fight - don't find it enjoyable

Heard many good things about Blazing Lazers, but can't find any seller selling it cheap as claimed. My Duo is region modded thus no problem playing Turbo Grafx games. Any more recommendations?

Side note - is Turbo Grafx Ninja Spirit really as cheap like below $20 I have read in many places? Can't seem to find any seller selling that cheap.

[sunburstbasser]

Ninja Spirit and Blazing Lazers were two of the most popular games on the TurboGrafx. Some sellers try to charge more but they aren't rare and you shouldn't pay more than $20 for them if possible. I think I got both of mine for less than $15 total.

If you liked Star Parodier, you'll like the Star Soldier games. They don't play like Image Fight they play like...well Blazing Lazers and the NES Star Soldier. They aren't too hard at all, and are quite a lot of fun.

The Japanese version of Blazing Lazers is called Gunhed and might be a little cheaper, if you haven't tried that already.

[louisg]

Although Metal Stoker isn't forced scrolling per say.... I really think it's one of the best shmups on the console.

Yes. That game is a must-get if you like tank games. It's like a more linear Granada, smoother, and with better level design and amazing bosses.

The caravan modes are not long (obviously) and pretty unique (for caravan games and Compile shumps alike).

Those are a lot of fun. The Soldier Blade one in particular I liked a lot.

[gundamalpha]

After doing a bit more browsing, I have came across "Summer Carnival" versions of some shmups. What are those?

[TerminasluT]

A few that I didnt see any mention. All of those are CD games.

Download 2 (classic hori, one of the best end boss ever)
Spriggan (Compile at its best)
Psychic Storm (old Alfa System game)
Mystic Formula (kinda like Ikari Warriors but with rpg style characters)

[CStarFlare]

After doing a bit more browsing, I have came across "Summer Carnival" versions of some shmups. What are those?

Hudson and Naxat used to hold annual high score competitions with their games (called Caravan or Carnivals, respectively); the Summer Carnival editions are special releases that usually have an extra score/time attack mode that was used for those competitions. Not all of the games used were shmups, but they were a popular genre in the competitions for obvious reasons.

They're interesting events, well worth a quick google if you're curious.

[Despatche]

Aldynes is a Super Grafx card, not a PCE one.

sigh

Thanks for the recommendations, so far I have added R-Type I & II, Daisenpu and non shmup Legend of Valkyrie to my purchase list. I'm a bit skeptic on the Hudson's Star Soldier series, afraid it might end up like Image Fight which I really couldn't enjoy one bit.

you may as well edit your post and change everything but "love it" to "aged"

After doing a bit more browsing, I have came across "Summer Carnival" versions of some shmups. What are those?

it's a bit confusing. in that era there were "Caravan"/"Carnival" competitions with the 2 minute and 5 minute modes in some games. naxat had their own called "Summer Carnival", which is made of the following (note that aside from Recca these are all PCECD games):

1. Seirei Senshi Spriggan (wasn't badged like the others but was used for Summer Carnival '91)
2. Summer Carnival '92: Alzadick
3. Summer Carnival '92: Recca (Famicom game)
4. Summer Carnival '93: Nexzr Special (a different release from the original Nexzr with the cutscenes removed and the Carnival levels added)

"Caravan", on the other hand, typically applies to Hudson's games, e.g. the Star Soldier series.

spriggan is bad as nearly all compile games are, do not waste your time with them

[blackoak]

There's a neat little interview with Takahashi Meijin about the shmup caravan competitions, in shooting gameside #3 I believe. I wasn't too interested in it, but I started watching gamecenter cx recently, and now I'm thinking I might translate it.

[louisg]

I dunno if I'd pay too much for Daisenpu, unless you tried it on emu and fell in love with it. I thought it wasn't nearly up to Toaplan's usual standards myself, though it does have a couple interesting gameplay ideas.

Graphics aside, Legend of Valkyrie is a great game, though I have to warn you that recognizing the characters on the password screen can be a serious chore if you don't know Japanese. I think I must've spent an average of 10 minutes entering my password! If you like games in that style, could I recommend Bloody Wolf? Bloody Wolf is very rough around the edges (typical Data East), has a bit of slowdown, but I thought the gameplay was rewarding and original enough of an experience to make it worthwhile. Think Commando crossed with Metal Gear. I feel like it's a proto-Shock Troopers in some places too.

On the topic of Star Soldier vs. Image Fight, Star Soldier is a lot more forgiving, if that's what you're worried about. The one thing I didn't like about it is that checkpoint vs. restart-in-place system that's in nearly every game in that series: You get powerups that allow you to restart in place. When you run out of those, it sets you back to the start of the level, which can be painful (doesn't GunHed do this too?). But if you can put up with that, Super Star Soldier is quite good, though I prefer Soldier Blade personally: Soldier Blade is a little more modern and arcadey, though I think despite this Super Star Soldier's difficulty ramps up a lot quicker. Try them on emulator and see what you think!