I'm ready to try a Bullet Hell shooter

[Edmond Dantes]

After being hands-off (and largely preferring oldschool shmups like R-Type, Gradius and Thunder Force), I think I want to try one of them more modern "danmaku" shmups, with the bullet curtains and the in-depth scoring systems with the big numbers.

I can do anything that runs in Shmupmame.

Consoles I own:

NES (can't play imports, highly doubt there's any danmaku on this system anyway)
Sega Genesis with the CD addon (can't play imports, not sure what to do about it)
Super Nintendo (already took the tabs out of the cart slot, so yes it can play imports. Acrobat Mission rocks BTW)
Turbo Duo (actually have two of them, and both can play imports)
Playstation One (modchipped, been playing lots of import shmups on it)
Sega Saturn (I have the Action Replay cart, been using it to play Capcom Generations)
Playstation 2 (NOT modded, sadly, and at the moment modded or imported consoles are outside my price range)
Gameboy Advance SP (I think its regionless by default)
Playstation Portable (not jailbroken since I'm not into emulation, but I think it still plays imports)
Neo-Geo Pocket Color (although I doubt there's any danmaku on this thing)

So, shoot at me the game you think most likely to give me cardiac arrest. Don't worry, I won't make you pay my medical bills.

[jepjepjep]

Do do do do do Dodonpachi

[null1024]

As someone just starting out on danmaku, I'd start by playing the original DoDonPachi, which you could play on the PS1, you could play in MAME [best way because savestate practice], and there's a Saturn version [ehhhh].

So, shoot at me the game you think most likely to give me cardiac arrest. Don't worry, I won't make you pay my medical bills.

DoDonPachi DaiOuJou. I'm playing black label, that game hates me. Stage 3 is a brick wall. It's in MAME.

Be warned -- you mentioned wanting to do scoring. DDP series chaining is strict. If you want something less strict in that regard, try for something like Mars Matrix [still a bit strict, but you have a lot more flexibility in chaining possibility] or Dangun Feveron [kill everything ASAP for more disco men, don't let any of the disco men reach the top or you break the chain].

[Edmond Dantes]

I'd start by playing the original DoDonPachi,

You mean Donpachi?

which you could play on the PS1, you could play in MAME [best way because savestate practice], and there's a Saturn version [ehhhh].

Is the Saturn version bad? I've heard Saturn versions of 2D games are usually better.

[Hagane]

So, shoot at me the game you think most likely to give me cardiac arrest.

Dragon Blaze.

There's a PS2 port and you can play it on MAME.

[KAI]

ESPgaluda.

[Mortificator]

I think the best introductory danmaku are Batsugun Special and Espgaluda.

I understand the recommendation for Dodonpachi, but I think Dodonpachi Dai-ou-jou's more fun. It's also more accessible if you play the black label version and set it to one loop; that way, even if you score bad, you'll still get to see the true last boss... if you live long enough.

And if you want to taste flavors of danmaku other than Cave, try Giga Wing or Castle Shikigami 2. Shiki 2's the only game I've mentioned that's not available in MAME, but it has a PS2 port with amazingly moving English dialogue.

[Squire Grooktook]

Dodonpachi and DDP: Dai-Ou-Jou are good place to start just for how fun they are.

For easiness/accessibility you could go with ESP Galuda or Touhou.

[Obscura]

If you want cardiac arrest, Dangun Feveron and Dragon Blaze would be the top picks.

Dragon Blaze is the much better game of those two.

[shmuppyLove]

Shiki 2's the only game I've mentioned that's not available in MAME, but it has a PS2 port with amazingly moving English dialogue.

SO. MUCH. BADNESS.

But, aside from that, it's actually a really good game.

[Deca]

Surprised noone has suggested Ketsui yet!

Also any Touhou Lunatic.

[KyoKusagani1999]

Uhh.. Guys.... Don't you think that's a bit much for the first time?
Batsugun was the First Bullet Hell shooter ever made,
so in that regard, it's a good way to ease yourself into the genre!
It's not nearly as harsh as many of the other games mentioned,
and once you learn the general hitbox rules, you'll be able to
apply that to other games as well, including DonPachi, DoDonPachi, and DoDonPachi II: Bee Storm.

Speaking of Bee Storm, that game even has an easy mode with additional resources
to get you prepped for all the other games and beyond.

[null1024]

I'd start by playing the original DoDonPachi,

You mean Donpachi?

which you could play on the PS1, you could play in MAME [best way because savestate practice], and there's a Saturn version [ehhhh].

Is the Saturn version bad? I've heard Saturn versions of 2D games are usually better.

No, I do mean DoDonPachi [original to differentiate it from DOJ]. DonPachi is actually quite hard [at least to me, stage 4 and on show a different kind of hate that I'm not used to [yay shit ramming you from the back!]], although the US version refills your bomb stock each stage [which takes off the edge a bit, but dying with bombs in stock is the worst].

Also, the Saturn version of DDP has pixelated explosions and just like the PS1 version isn't 100% arcade accurate. The PS1 port comes off better.

[dunpeal2064]

The PS1 port comes off better.

It looks better from first glance, but I think it actually plays worse. IIRC, they forgot to make uncovering a bee add a hit to your chain in the ps1 port, and on top of that, the chain timer drops too quickly. I think the timer drops fast in the Saturn port too, but its not as bad.

If you are wanting to score in the game, I'd say go Mame. Savestate practice for two weeks gave me better improvement than grinding away at the ports for a year!

If you wan a console port, I'd personally say go saturn. The arrange mode with a bonus first stage and first loop TLB is pretty cool in itself, and the arcade mode is at least accurate enough to attempt scoring in.

[J_Taishu]

I'd say Blue Wish Resurrection Plus (PC), Imperishable Night(PC), Batsugun Special (Mame) and Espgaluda (Mame) for starters.

[Ed Oscuro]

SO. MUCH. BADNESS.

Is he talking to the border? On the original arcade...the cabinet bezel?!

[1up]

my vote goes to ESP Galuda. It's out for PS2 and can also be found in MAME.

It's quite good as you're starting out. If things get rough you can switch to 'kakuse' mode and all the patterns slow down, as long as you have gems, and if you get hit in this mode you autobomb. Also the scoring is fun and simple.

Runner up is Dodonpachi. It's not the hardest and you get introduced to the basic boss patterns, but I find the scoring/chaining real hard to get to grips with.

[Cagar]

Dodonpachi daioujou black label and ketsui it is.

[Drachenherz]

Blue Wish Resurrection + and Edens Aegis. They're free, they look good and they are tons of fun to play while offering a nice and digestable serving of bullet hell.

[exquisite_torture]

Stick a CPS emulator on your PSP and play Progear

[null1024]

Stick a CPS emulator on your PSP and play Progear

Unless you have a PSP-1000 like me, whose d-pad is so terrible that trying to play any shmup on it is the worst. Can you say no diagonals?
2000/3000/any other PSP models have noticeably better d-pads.

[Illyrian]

See my signature below

[RNGmaster]

Like Illyrian said, but start on Lunatic, it's the arcade experience.

I recommend EoSD. It grows on you.

[nimitz]

DODONPACHI

[Squire Grooktook]

There is no excuse for ever playing Touhou on easy.

Absolutely disgraceful.

Also for Touhou, since you're a fan of X-Multiply (and I'm guessing R-Type, by extension), you should probably try Subterranean Animism or UFO first, since they have check point systems, and are a bit more intense (better scoring also).

[Seppo Hovi]

There is no excuse for ever playing Touhou on easy.

I'm not overly native to these forums, but I assume elitism, especially dumb elitism, is frowned upon. I could just as well tell you that playing for survival is useless, since it gets you no good spots on Royalflare, but achievements are of one's personal thing. If a first-time player puts effort into clearing an easy mode and feels good about it, there is no reason to go and mock them.

Subterranean Animism or UFO first, since they have check point systems

None of the Touhou games has checkpoints. You may continue, but it invalidates the clear.

I won't say anything about scoring, since such things are heavily subjective, but I'll point out that UFO and SA are both games that heavily rely on memorization rather than basic read-and-dodge playing, thus making them very bad games to start out with.

[shmuppyLove]

SO. MUCH. BADNESS.

Is he talking to the border? On the original arcade...the cabinet bezel?!

Naw that's the PS2 version, it's yoko with some stuffs on the sides.

But anyway the player character is at the bottom, just kind of hidden by the dialog box.

Besides who cares about the story ... lolz

[KAI]

Be a man and play Radirgy, It's available on MAME, Demul, Makaron, PS2, DC, GC and Wii.

[Vyxx]

Ibara.

Might as well start with the best!

[Squire Grooktook]

I'm not overly native to these forums, but I assume elitism, especially dumb elitism, is frowned upon. I could just as well tell you that playing for survival is useless, since it gets you no good spots on Royalflare, but achievements are of one's personal thing. If a first-time player puts effort into clearing an easy mode and feels good about it, there is no reason to go and mock them.

I'm joking man, lighten up.

But to speak seriously I'm not talking about the worth of achievements here, I would not recommend easy mode Touhou at all because it's just painfully boring and uneventful. Hell, Normal mode for most of the franchise is easy enough that most players who are not new to shmups should be able to 1cc it on their first play session. Maybe if it's your absolute first foray into not just bullet hell, but shmups in general, then yeah easy mode is fine. But otherwise no, not a good idea IMO.

The person in question whom these recommendations are being made to, plays X-Multiply. X-Multiply is not an easy game. If you can play that, then I'd recommend starting on normal or even hard.

*edit*

Also my experience is that most of the players who use easy aren't really playing it for the game part. The only two people I know who use easy mode, do not play shmups (one of them even admits to detesting shmups in general), do not play Touhou at all consistently, and pretty much admit they are only there for the music and annie-may gurlz.

IMO here is how I would recommend


Easy: For casuals (not intended as an insult), and people who don't really play shmups

Normal: Accessible mode to jump in for beginners. Challenging but not excessively demanding.

Hard: For people who want to invest real effort and practice to achieve victory.

Lunatic: For real men.