Shmups like X-Multiply?

[xris]

I would really suggest R-Type Final. It has the game play you are looking for. There's a myriad of ships to unlock with a ton of various weapon types, including many that pay homage to their previous games, and new takes on them as well. There is even a stage or two where you play as the Bydo and fight against R-Type ships! It takes forever to unlock ships though, for awhile I was using the cheat for invincibility and bashing my way through.
Not quite the esthetic you are looking for, but you may also enjoy Last Resort.

[Edmond Dantes]

Someone posted a link to a vid of R-Type Final earlier.....

So... you're shooting at stuff... while a pair of sillouhettes make out in the background... after you flew through a vagina...

SOLD!

Also, to the person who told me about Galshell... I tried the demo of the second game, but I want to know if there's a way to "strafe" (move left and right but continue firing straight ahead)? The game seems good, but I always fire at angles when I don't mean to, and it seems like my crab-ship is just too big a target.

[Aisha]

Also, to the person who told me about Galshell... I tried the demo of the second game, but I want to know if there's a way to "strafe" (move left and right but continue firing straight ahead)? The game seems good, but I always fire at angles when I don't mean to, and it seems like my crab-ship is just too big a target.

There's nothing you can do about your shots angling while moving, nor is there anything you can do about the size of your ship. You get used to those things after you play a bit, though.

[MommysBestGames]

To the guy above me: I don't have a physical copy of Dragon Breed, but it is in the Irem Arcade Hits collection. Man, talk about tough... I can't get past the first level. (To be fair, I usually play Image Fight when I play that collection).

Went back and checked the mame version. Yeah, you're right, Dragon Breed is pretty dang hard. It took me a good few tries to beat the first level. Made it to the start of level 3. The yellow powerup can wrap around your head (it's hard to say how, feels like just rotating the stick around). I used that one a lot since it provides a lot of protection. The blue lightning one can go the other way (below you), but that doesn't protect you. Charge shots were pretty helpful. Otherwise yeah, tough game. But the creatures are pretty freaky, I like it a lot.

[nimitz]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned Psyche Metal: The Bleeding, the first game by what is now known as "Astro Port" (Satazius, gigantic army, armed seven)

It's not "old-school" like x-multiply but the theme could definitely be considered "creepy as fuck".

few screens:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI1RpVlEpWA (wow that guy sucks)

I'm pretty sure it was freeware, I can upload it if it's now hard to find.

[CDexWard]

OMG, red background AND red bullets?

[Captain]

That 6th boss is awesome!
...Well so is the 5th one but in another way, reminds me of Gradius and Pulstar.


However the bad thing is that they solely seem to focus on human body horror. I see no alien or demonic stuff in the backgrounds, just horribly twisted human bodies.

[MommysBestGames]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned Psyche Metal: The Bleeding, the first game by what is now known as "Astro Port" (Satazius, gigantic army, armed seven)

Yes! Creepy, bloody, I liked the extreme feel of it. The name cracks me up too. I had played this along with Galshell at the time.

OMG, red background AND red bullets?

Good point, an enhanced version with an option to 'shadow' the bullets would be nice. I haven't played it in a while, but I tend to remember the gameplay being only okay, just liked how freaking disgusting it was (for a change).

[Jeneki]

How about Violent Soldier / Sinistron on PC Engine / Turbografx? It has creepy biological stages, plus a shell attachment that you can open and close to block bullets in similar fashion.

[Captain]

Isn't Violent soldier regarded as a horrible shmup for some reason?

[Squire Grooktook]

I'm surprised no one mentioned Abadox. It's not really too creepy given the music and the fact that's it's a nes game, but some of the boss designs are kinda cool.

[Jeneki]

Isn't Violent soldier regarded as a horrible shmup for some reason?

No idea. I played through it not long ago. Very memorize oriented. Certainly not the best shmup on the system, but I wouldn't call it a horrible experience.

[Edmond Dantes]

Wow, never thought an NES game would be recommended.

So I've gone from having nothing else to look at to having a ton of choices. Thanks everyone.

Now if only we had more tentacles...

[zabu]

IREM's 1988 'Guardian Legend' for the NES has some weird shit going on in the later stages. One of the best shmup/games in general on the NES imo.

[Squire Grooktook]

Only during the organic section, but as soon as your out of there, the game is back to normal.

But GL is still a fantastic game that should be played by everyone everywhere no exceptions.

[Ed Oscuro]

I bet you that SCAT ("Action in New York") gets crazy later on, and Abarenbou Tengu / Zombie Nation is off the chain throughout... (interesting fact, there is some doujin artist / circle that adopted the name of Abarenbou Tengu, and very NSFWy stuff of a different organic sort ensued).

[trap15]

some of the boss designs are kinda cool.

Almost all of them have safe-spots too Fun game though, I spent way too much time playing it

[Master O]

Rezon. Metal Black is also a pretty dark game, albeit in a much different manner. You'll probably hear more about it from BIL.

I kinda wonder about the programmers of that game. I think they were on some really special drugs when they had the cat background on the last level.

[Captain]

They probably had cat food for dinner before they got high.

[k39bk]

Rezon. Metal Black is also a pretty dark game, albeit in a much different manner. You'll probably hear more about it from BIL.

Since this thread is more or less about Irem games, does anyone know the name of that one super hard Image Fight clone? I'd also like to see more games in that fashion.

How is IMAGE FIGHT 2? I never had the opportunity to try that one out.

[Klatrymadon]

It's not bad, but nowhere near as good as the original. Feels like a Super R-Type-style half-conversion-half-reimagining in some ways; a lot of the stage ideas are lifted right from the first game, and so is the entire soundtrack...

[DocHauser]

I've been playing Image Fight and Image Fight 2 recently. I can no-miss the first four levels on Image Fight fairly consistently, but for some reason I'm struggling to get past the first stage in Image Fight 2. Playing it on an emulator on my PSP, though, so I'll blame the PSP's D-pad. Yeah, that's probably the reason.