Whats the shmup that inspired you to get into this hobby.?

[Wonderbanana]

My grandparents had a Gorf cabinet in their basement growing up. Really attribute all my gaming to that game.

Your grandparents are cool!

[Deca]

Not sure, I grew up playing shooters. PCB was the first game I really made an effort to learn and 1cc. Had put a little effort into Ikaruga but beforehand but that game just never clicked for me.

[J_Taishu]

I played some SHMUPs growing up, namely the NES versions of Gyruss and Lifeforce. In college I got a Dreamcast and started playing Ikaruga, which led me into getting G Darius and ThunderForce V for PSX. I didn't manage to do very well with any of those games, I recall G Darius being especially brutal.

A few years ago I started watching game broadcasts first on ustream, and later on NicoNama. Watching other plays go from absolutely sucking to being able to 1CC a game inspired me too try it on my own. It's not really limited to STG either, the first guy that really inspired was good at playing Ghouls N' Ghosts, another game from my childhood that I felt was simply impossible.

[Yield]

Is "Touhou porn" a valid answer in this topic?

[Muchi Muchi Spork]

I played and loved Space Invaders, Galaxian and Galaga when they were new in the arcade which is what made me originally get into them though it wasn't until recent years that they were "absolutely my genre of choice". I've gone through stages of almost all genres. I was a platformer junkie in the 80s and a fighting game junkie in the 90s and early 00s. There was even a time when I played RPGs. It was searching for Raiden in the internet's early days that made me discover emulation and then get reintroduced to everything, that absolutely blew my mind but most recently it has been Cave addiction that brought this last burst on. If it wasn't for Cave games I probably would have lost interest, or at least the amount needed to clear shooting games. I'd be a casual at best with no Cave.

[kathy]

^^wow what a spine chillingly great post! = )

I adored monsterland, rygar and galaga along with metroid and some of capcoms finest in the late 90's

Does anyone remember 'street fight' by Seibu Kaihatsu?

The thing i love most about about Cave (even beyond the fact they produce best games ever!) is that the games are 'now' = )

ill be quiet now

[nasty_wolverine]

dodonpachi, nuf said...

[Acid_Rain]

rRootage

played it for survival only.

[japtor]

Wasn't serious about them back then, but I guess in my younger years in the arcade there was Galaga of course, as well as I guess Silk Worm, Airwolf, Time Pilot and god knows what else. On NES all I can remember is Gradius and some vertically scrolling one with what I vaguely recall as a F-14 in spacey/polygonal looking lands and behind the plane docking sequences where you had to line up with a rotating station, Captain...Skyhawk (thanks Google auto complete)! Moving on to SNES I had Gradius III and had fond memories of UN Squadron, forgot whether that was borrowed or rented, but I remember wishing I had my own copy.

Then I can't remember much between then and college, when I went to the school arcade to kill time between classes and eventually got addicted to the Strikers 1945 III there (sort of by default, most other games were competitive like fighting games where I had no chance). There was a Gunbird 2 machine too, although I think I focused on Strikers more cause Gunbird was just brutal in the later levels and the tech bonuses made Strikers easier to an extent (meanwhile a few girls seemed to always get the highs on the Gunbird machine).

Anyway that's what got me back into the fold big time. I already had a big MAME collection for a while and one day discovered the Cave games while browsing screenshots, Dreamcast was getting its shooters at the time, got a Saturn for some stuff there, and I guess it all sort of culminated in getting myself an Astro City and a few boards after school.

[soupbones]

ThunderForce 2 on the Genesis. Played that game over and over until I could beat it. Played other shooters before like Gradius, Transbot, and Power Strike, but Thunderforce 2 was the first real hook.

Mushihimesama Futari on the X360 reignited my interest in the genre and introduced me to bullet hell type of games.

[professor ganson]

I think Space Invaders in the arcade was the first shmup I played. It was cool because it was such a new idea, but Defender was the first really to blow me away.

[shaowebb]

Tossup between 3 games honestly.

My first that I spent forever on was Castle Shikigami 2...I was addicted to the insanely bad engrish, but never realized how much fun I was having just playing the game.

My second was Eden's Aegis. I had never played a bullethell and the bullet converting was so new to me. BLEW. MY . MIND

The third is the one that made me realize how much I loved the genre as it was the first I bothered to beat...Jamestown. It made me go back on harder and harder difficulties to unlock stages and had just the right amount of unlockables to make me keep going. Before I'd just move on, but that game paced itself and the slowly increasing difficulty so well that it showed me I COULD play shmups well enough to beat them and not just idle on them. Plus it was so fulfilling to beat them and rack up my score in that game for the unlockables that it taught me to be addicted to score chasing.

Jamestown isn't the best I've played, but it was the one that made me realize how much I loved shmups and the one that made me try to discover more and play more of them.

[CIT]

Life Force and Tiger Heli were the first shooters I played, on the NES, back in '87/'88.

Shooters have always just been a regular part of gaming for me since then, and I always played some on every new system I got.

Pretty much exactly eleven years ago I started picking up "retro" games that I had missed back in the day but still wanted to play, and naturally that included a lot of shooters — that's what also led me to shmups.com eventually.

[davyK]

I'm another oldie. The arcades really came alive when video games appeared and that for most equates to Space Invaders. For those of a certain age, video games WERE shmups really. Of course other stuff like Pacman and Donkey Kong appeared but it was the shmup that was the genre for me. Space Invaders, Galaxian and Scramble were great but for me the first that blew me away was Phoenix.

The variety was one thing, the first two galaxian-style waves, made way for the eggs that hatched into the birds - you could shoot their wings off and you had to hit them dead centre to get rid of them - then you saw that each bird scored differently.....then you noticed that if you hit a small galaxian in the first 2 waves as it was flying away from at an angle you got a big score - the game play got deeper. Then the boss wave - first I ever experienced - it was breathaking and had an epic feel trying to blast through that hull. Then you saw an expert creating holes in the scrolling barrier...then there was the shield to master which could be used for defence AND attack....the variety of scores you could get from the boss wave ..... it was the first game to reveal hidden depths and tactics. Truly amazing - would still play it today if I saw a cabinet (still do via Taito Legends).

Asteroids was my second love - the arcade version was great but the 2600 provided unlimited free gaming - my brother and I played variation 39 every day for about a year. A year. Then I got Megamania which reminded me of the Sega shooter Astro Blaster which was great but just too tough in the arcade. I was able to clock that game - it stops when you score 999,999.

Gradius was the next to grab me. The power up meter and pickups provided such an compulsive experience. The first time I played it was in the arcade and don't know how long (or how much!) I spent trying to get past those volcanoes. Then I got the NES version and despite the limitations it FELT like the arcade game - played the bejaysus out of that cartridge. Great port.

Fell in love with Parodius after that - first on SNES and then on the mighty Saturn which started me importing so that I could experience the whole series - as great as Gradius V is , imagine if Treasure had decided to do Parodius instead.....sigh.

Since then I have kind of lost my way. I've got older and the games have got harder - too hard for most now - developers need to think about that. I have a shmup selection for Saturn such as RSG, Souky , DDP etc. but I'm old school and can't bring myself to continue too often - so don't see beyond level 3 as a result of that. Bangai O on DC is a cracker and I can crank down the difficulty on Gunbird 2 so I can 1CC it - but it's rare for me to find a shooter that is pitched right. My PS2 collection has a few excellent titles : Dragon Blaze, Homura, Raiden III - again some are tameable via diff options but most aren't.

Took delivery of Sturmwind and it has ignited my love again. It's easier and all the more enjoyable for it - and maybe I'll rotate my CRT and get stuck into DDP again on the Saturn....but shmups need to serve newcomers and those who don't have the reactions of a housefly as well as the hardcore....Cave please take note.

[RoninBuddha]

messing around with MAME during my highschool years, rediscovered some psikyo shmups (strikers) that I was playing on ps1 when i was younger. then eventually stumbled upon cave shmups like guwange and esp ra de, and then discovered this site when trying to learn how to properly play these cave games, shmups became a staple genre i invest in from then on.

[PROMETHEUS]

Blazing Star (MAME)

[yukbeezy]

I discovered danmaku through Deathsmiles.
I took a slap in my face when I first played that game

[Obiwanshinobi]

My first that I spent forever on was Castle Shikigami 2...I was addicted to the insanely bad engrish, but never realized how much fun I was having just playing the game.

I doubt it was real Engrish. Rather, US publisher produced the translation and voice acting.

[zeroroute]

Aero Fighters, though Raiden 3 really made me wanna 1cc stuff.

[ShmupSamurai]

Thunderforce II for the Sega Genesis all the freakin' way!! I must've rented that thing from Blockbuster ATLEAST 15 or 20 times until I finally bought it with my own moolah... Infact I believe that was the first game I ever bought in my life, the rest of our starting library was already in the house before I came into existance..

[RyIII]

I would say it was The Guardian Legend. Unfortunately, it's a game that's one-of-a kind.

[system11]

Nemesis was the game that made me seek out similar games rather than just putting money in anything at the arcade.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I would say it was The Guardian Legend. Unfortunately, it's a game that's one-of-a kind.

Super Star Force by Tecmo is a similar game of two halves.

[Kaleb Parham]

Xevious was my first shump. Yeah its old, but it was and is dope.
1941 was my second shump. Darius Gaiden made me love the genre.
Raiden Fighters Jet sealed the genre as one of my favorites.

[stryc9]

I played 1942 on a cruise ship on the way to Denmark (destination Lego Land) from Great Britain in the mid eighties which was set to FREE PLAY.

I had played Galaga and Galaxian before that, but I think this was my first proper vert.

I got the 7800 a bit later and of course Xevious and played the hell outta it

[fenyxofshadows]

Deathsmiles 2... saw it at an anime convention and started playing it and i was hooked. Then I got Perfect Cherry Blossom when I remembered what it was called since I saw someone playing it at school.

[BIL]

In addition to the Konami staples on the NES... even though I didn't actually play it much, Treco's Genesis version of Twin Cobra (which is actually based on Kyuukyoku Tiger - checkpoints, singleplayer, variable tank graves) was a big influence on me for a couple of reasons. One, the astonishingly punchy explosion sfx - that was the first time I'd seen a really OTT shooter in action with screenloads of enemies exploding beneath a monstrous player shot, and I loved it. The other is the sheer difficulty. After I briefly played a friend's copy, I forever associated this genre with hard-as-nails challenge. Sometimes it'd make me stay away, but it ensured I never forgot about it.

[sladekravenT3]

Wow, phoenix. I totally remember that game now, that was really cool! For me it was gradius and lifeforce on the NES, but I didnt become really hooked until discovering dodonpachi, saturn imports and turbografx shmups years later.

[Jonst]

Tiger heli for me,had me hooked instantly when I was about 7 (I think)
Then it was terra cresta and light force on the spectrum 48k then
Nothing really made me take notice again until thunder force 4 on the
Megadrive (so awesome!) then dodonpachi on the saturn,then...

[SA-DaleCooper]

Ok, so i'm always been into fighters, mostly SF, and a friend of mine is kind of pro level (he's not pro but he plays with a lot of pros and the match is fair) so i was at a local tournament with my friend and i overhear some guy talking about arcade machines and how he has several up for sale and wants to sell them to people how are into the whole arcade thing, so i naturally turned around and started talking to the guy because i've always wanted a cab, anyway turns out he's selling astro city's and one is still up for grabs and it's dirt cheap (not going to say how much but my progear was like twice as much as my cab itself) so i jump on the opportunity and over the next few days i learn everything there is to know about arcade games, the jamma harness, monitors, control panels and things like that so naturally in my research i find that shmups are a very big thing among arcade collectors and i began wondering, i had played shmups before but nothing serious, mostly space invaders and i had seen let's plays on japanese bullet hells from one of my favourite youtubers but i really hadn't experienced the real thing so i jump online and download an emulator for neo geo and started playing blazing star, strikers 1945 and twinkle star sprites, mostly because these are the one's that people suggested the most and i fell in love, i got strikers 1945 plus a week after i played it in my computer and progear a month later, and as they say, the rest is history