Which of these 3 Compile shmups is the best?

[MrOldSchoolCool]

Serei Senshi Spriggan
Super Aleste
Robo Aleste

I'm trying to decide between these three. I really want to only get one for now.

[Herr Schatten]

You can't really go wrong with any of these.

Personally, though, I wouldn't choose Robo Aleste, as I always felt that it's one of Compile's weaker offerings. Of the remaining two, Super Aleste has the more 'classic' Compile feel (think Zanac, Aleste) to it, if that's what you're looking for. Serei Senshi Spriggan is very pretty and it's fun to experiment with the different weapon combinations for a while until you find out that you don't really get anywhere unless you stick to one or two of the more powerful ones.

I'd recommend Super Aleste for the actual game and Spriggan for the sheer spectacle on show. It depends on what you're looking for.

[Ed Oscuro]

It's my least favorite of the type, but Spriggan does have a caravan mode.

[mrsmiley381]

Robo Aleste kicks my ass a little too hard for some reason and I have yet to play Spriggan, so I say go for Super Aleste. Personally, I kinda like Blazing Lazers and MUSHA.

[Friendly]

I'd go with Spriggan. The others aren't bad, either (Robo is the weakest), but I enjoy Spriggan most (great style).

[Obiwanshinobi]

Seirei Senshi Spriggan is arguably the best looking Compile shmup out there and its Caravan modes are pretty unique.
Super Aleste has brutally tough suicide bullets modes. That said, I'm not very fond of more than 2 buttons in Compile shmups (I have no problem with many buttons in R-Type III or Delta, but Compile shmups are better off with just two).

[BIL]

Semi-OT, but consider Zanac X Zanac (PS1) as well. It was the first Compile shooter I got into and owned, and although I've subsequently acquired most of their other console titles, I still consider ZXZ by far the definitive one. Zanac Neo's simple, addictive combo system and nonstop screenloads of enemies make it either a perfect chillout shooter or a surprisingly intense one, depending on the difficulty setting, and you get the FC version, FDS version and an exclusive arrange mode of the original on the same disc. Only caveat is it's on the pricier side, but then I'd consider it worth several of their earlier STGs combined.

Of those listed I'd go with Super Aleste, its harder difficulty modes get pretty lively.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Unfortunately Zanac Neo is laggy on PS2 (not sure if all models). Good reason to keep a PSX.

[BIL]

Good reason to keep a PSX.

One among many reasons. (even for 3D stuff like Rage Racer and Wipeout XL I prefer to use a real PS1)

[Squire Grooktook]

I only played Super Aleste, but it's aces.

Just make sure you don't play it on the normal difficulty, the game is poorly balanced on that difficulty and basically let's you kill everything before it gets a chance to fire back, which can make the longer stages feel a bit boring. Play on the harder difficulties that buff the enemies health and add suicide bullets and faster fire right, game becomes MUCH more interesting.

[Pretas]

Unfortunately Zanac Neo is laggy on PS2 (not sure if all models). Good reason to keep a PSX.

Thankfully, it's been released digitally as a PSOne Classic in the US. There is some input lag in all of these emulations when played on a PS3, but disabling upscaling seemed to eliminate it.

Unfortunately, I'm still not too fond of the game. Like all Compile shmups, it's far too easy and takes too long to get going, in an obvious bid for perceived value through extended playtime.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Do you find Super Aleste suicide bullets modes too easy?

[BIL]

Like all Compile shmups, it's far too easy and takes too long to get going, in an obvious bid for perceived value through extended playtime.

It's definitely overlong whatever the difficulty, though I like the simple fun of driving up the combo counter from the word go, but on the highest setting bosses will really pile the indestructible bullets on to the point "invincibility hopping" is the only way to survive and it's easy to die several times consecutively if you're not careful. I've still not tried for that one-life clear trophy.

[Pretas]

I guess I'll have to try that. For arcade-style games, I typically always play on whatever the standard difficulty is, especially since it's usually mandated for scoring. The sheer length of Compile games kind of hampers my motivation to keep going, though.

I did play Soldier Blade on hard a while ago and found it to be a big improvement.

[Obiwanshinobi]

To access Hard in Gunhed (recommended) you need to enter a code.

[BIL]

IIRC, Neo gives each difficulty its own table and max combo record. It also has a specific unlockable challenges menu to work through, and you can save everything to an individual pilot profile on memory card, just like R-Type Delta from a few years earlier. Some good home console shooter design was afoot on the PS1.

[MrOldSchoolCool]

IIRC, Neo gives each difficulty its own table and max combo record. It also has a specific unlockable challenges menu to work through, and you can save everything to an individual pilot profile on memory card, just like R-Type Delta from a few years earlier. Some good home console shooter design was afoot on the PS1.

The thing about Zanac on the PS1 is that I like my shmups sprite-based. Isn't that polygons?

[BIL]

It's mostly prerendered sprites on 2D backgrounds. There are a few instances of polygonal bosses, and I think a Rayforce-style bunker descent late in the game uses a polygonal background, but they're the exceptions.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Some Neo bosses appear to be of textured polygons (I think The Adventure of Little Ralph does a similar trick). You can tell if you force PS2 texture smoothing (not that you should play any PSX game with it).
Make no mistake, Compile 32-bit efforts look fairly plain (unlike their 8- and 16-bit stuff). Gameplay-wise, Zanac X Zanac is the ruler. As a spectacle, Seirei Senshi Spriggan is peerless.
P.S. Oh yes, can't remember which stage it is, but the background during at least one bossfight (looks like a desert) seems to be rotated & scaled via software 3D. On Saturn it would've been its Mode 7+ thing.

[Ganelon]

Super Aleste is as the title entails: a better looking and smoother version of Aleste. Unfortunately, it's too bland for me.
Spriggan has the most visual flair of the 3 in terms of art, effects, and cutscenes but it's also the only shooter where I've dozed off for a minute while playing, woke up, and found myself still going (I suppose this could've happened in any Compile shooter). Still an excellent shooter though.
Robo Aleste has the most variety of enemies and settings. It's easy to keep playing as you wonder where the game and plot will take you to next. I'd say Robo/Dennin the best of this bunch.

[Squire Grooktook]

I would just like to point out again, that I think the only reason people think that the level design in Super Aleste feels "bland" or "too long" is because of how fast everything dies on normal. With the addition of health buffs + faster and denser bullets + suicide bullets, the game becomes vastly more compelling and every stage feels a lot more interesting.

You really need to throw that "I only play on standard difficulty because I'm an arcade gamer and don't see hard mode as legit" attitude to the wind if you want to get enjoyment out of this game.

[louisg]

I would just like to point out again, that I think the only reason people think that the level design in Super Aleste feels "bland" or "too long" is because of how fast everything dies on normal. With the addition of health buffs + faster and denser bullets + suicide bullets, the game becomes vastly more compelling and every stage feels a lot more interesting.

You really need to throw that "I only play on standard difficulty because I'm an arcade gamer and don't see hard mode as legit" attitude to the wind if you want to get enjoyment out of this game.

Yeah, Super Aleste's balance is good on hard. It's not like Spriggan where you get totally hosed if you die in certain places on hard mode. I would recommend Super Aleste over Spriggan, and over M.U.S.H.A. too.

[Mortificator]

All of the games are decent, but the Zanac / Aleste / Gunhed / Gunnac line of Compile shumps reached its peak in Zanac X Zanac, while the Musha Aleste / Spriggan / Dennin Aleste line realized its potential when its developers joined Raizing and made Mahou Daisakusen and Souky. You might as well play the greats in these styles before hitting up the goods.

[MrOldSchoolCool]

All of the games are decent, but the Zanac / Aleste / Gunhed / Gunnac line of Compile shumps reached its peak in Zanac X Zanac, while the Musha Aleste / Spriggan / Dennin Aleste line realized its potential when its developers joined Raizing and made Mahou Daisakusen and Souky. You might as well play the greats in these styles before hitting up the goods.

I know this board is generally not too big on 16-bit shmups but I really like the look and feel of them. I don't like the way Zanac X Zanac looks at all.

[louisg]

All of the games are decent, but the Zanac / Aleste / Gunhed / Gunnac line of Compile shumps reached its peak in Zanac X Zanac, while the Musha Aleste / Spriggan / Dennin Aleste line realized its potential when its developers joined Raizing and made Mahou Daisakusen and Souky. You might as well play the greats in these styles before hitting up the goods.

I'd say that Soukyugurentai is a completely different style from Aleste. It's even a different style from Mahou which, while it has some similarities with Spriggan, is a different feel from a Compile game.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Souky does not feel like a Compile shmup to me. Mahou Daisakusen at least has that variety of weapons for one ship. No such luck in Soukyuugurentai.
Again and again - Zanac Neo is a blast to play, not to look at. Who plays R-Type Delta for the graphics? Same with Neo.

[Mortificator]

Yeah, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned Souky. It has the same programmer as the Mahous, Musha, and Spriggan, but the style's quite different.

However, I do see a different style in Compile's three mech verts than the one shared by their space ship verts*, which were typically programmed by Jemini. Lead programmer or designer is probably has more to do with the style of a shooter than the company's name. Raizing in similarly schizophrenic, with the Yagawa-helmed and Sotoyama-helmed games taking different directions, though there's still cross-pollination.

I don't like the way Zanac X Zanac looks at all.

I like how Zanac & Zanac Neo look, but the art style grossing you out is a valid reason not to get into a game. After the Zanac X Zanac package, Super Aleste's probably the best Jemini-flavored Compile vert, and its notorious third button made it in the "special version" of the original Zanac on the compilation.


* except the Xevious ones

[Despatche]

Oh, it's this topic. Well, simple enough.

Super Aleste is the obvious pick here, though I give respect to whoever picks Dennin. It might actually be one of Compile's better games; better than Musha at least, somehow. If Aleste was one of the choices, it'd be an easy pick too; I think I need to play 2, though.

Dunno about Super Aleste being "bland". I like it because it actually makes shooting things fun. Not a lot of Compile games and clones do that! Gunhed... Super Star Soldier, and Final Soldier I guess... Nexzr is the cure. That's all I'll say.

Can't say a word about Zanac Neo, but everything I've read tells me it has a lot going for it. However, I'd like to consider that a MileStone game, for obvious reasons.

I did play Soldier Blade on hard a while ago and found it to be a big improvement.

I'm not sure how the guys at Compile, naxat, Inter State, Hudson, and Red overlapped in those days, but I think it's safe to say that Final Soldier and Soldier Blade were by Hudson or Red. See also: Thunder games, which are a lot more enjoyable than Thunder Force.

In short:

As a spectacle, Seirei Senshi Spriggan is peerless.

Compile in a nutshell, right here.

Hey, Delta looks great, and it really shouldn't. More people need to appreciate low poly when it's executed well, and Delta is the example of such.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I like PSX 3D if done well, but Delta is rather skanky. Einhänder - now that's a looker.
Caravan modes of Seirei Senshi Spriggan are not just quite unlike Compile (take care of the "too long" complaints some might have); those are unlike all other Caravan modes known to me.
Zanac Neo is Compile in a nutshell and it doesn't even look great.

[Ganelon]

Although I normally do play games on default settings only (and haven't played Super Aleste on hard yet), I doubt my reference to Super Aleste being bland would be any different with more strategic bullets and power-ups. If we were talking solely in terms of basic stage mechanics design, then Spriggan would probably fit the bill the best of these 3. Super Aleste's aesthetic assets are clearly Zanac-derived (and Xevious-inspired), which is far from everyone's cup of tea and, combined with its standard mechanics (not much different from these others), isn't very interesting for me.