New To Shumps / Gradius

[starbelle]

Basically, just discovered Vulcan Venture (Gradius 2?). Can't imagine how much I like it, especially the music and the part
where the flaming dragons come out from the suns O_o. I tried a few bullet hell games, but didnt really like em too much, dunno..
seems there is a lot of luck involved? (I'm prolly wrong though). Are there any other games like Vulcan Venture - they don't have to be
horizontally scrolling but, quite tactical, tried r-type and r-type 2 btw, love them!

[Sturmvogel Prime]

First of all, Welcome to Shmups!!

As for Vulcan Venture, well is one great shmup classic. Good to hear you like it

[Aquas]

Side Arms Hyper Dyne, Gradius 1, U.N Squadron, Ordyne, I think you might like these.

[Herr Schatten]

Basically, just discovered Vulcan Venture (Gradius 2?). Can't imagine how much I like it, especially the music and the part
where the flaming dragons come out from the suns O_o. I tried a few bullet hell games, but didnt really like em too much, dunno..
seems there is a lot of luck involved? (I'm prolly wrong though). Are there any other games like Vulcan Venture - they don't have to be
horizontally scrolling but, quite tactical, tried r-type and r-type 2 btw, love them!

Welcome to the forums.

With Gradius II you picked a fantastic introduction to shmups. I suggest you try the other entries in the series, particularly Gradius Gaiden and Gradius V. The former pretty much represents the perfection of the Gradius formula, while the latter has a more modern approach. Both are very pretty games, too, so if part of the appeal of shmups for you is the spectacle, you're definitely in for a treat.
Since you like R-Type and R-Type II, I suggest you also try R-Type III and (especially) R-Type Delta.
If you don't mind fiddling with Amiga emulation, you should try Apidya and Z-Out. They're really good and should be right up your alley.

Definitely try Hydorah by Locomalito. It's excellent, very beginner friendly, and also free.

Don't miss out on the games of the Parodius series either.


There's no luck involved in playing bullet hell games, but it's a gameplay style that can feel intimidating at first. Those games can be something like an acquired taste. If you like your games more tactical, you should try Treasure's offerings Ikaruga and Radiant Silvergun. They are vertically scrolling, but in some ways feel similar to a typical horizontal scroller.

Here's a selection of some more games you might enjoy:

Bio Hazard Battle (Mega Drive)
Gynoug / Wings of Wor (Mega Drive)
Thunderforce III, IV, V, VI (Mega Drive, Saturn/PSX, PS2)
Last Resort (NeoGeo)
Pulstar (Neo Geo)
Gate of Thunder (PC-Engine)
Lords of Thunder (PC-Engine / Mega-CD)
Axelay (SNES)

That should keep you busy for a while.

[starbelle]

Thx everyone for the welcome guys! gonna check out as many as I can that are mentioned.


And wow didn't even know there was a gradius V!

Edit: gotta say the adrenaline rush with these games is ridiculous! The stuff I have played before, like skyrim or whatever no where
near compares to this, just got to the 1st boss (lol) in vulcan venture , was too excited and panicked and lost all my options

[ACSeraph]

Definitely seconding the Thunderforce series!

[J_Taishu]

I'd say to try:

Gradius Gaiden
R-Type Delta
Salamander for PC-Engine
Darius Gaiden
Parodius Da!
Twinbee Yahoo
Rayforce

I would also try out Ikaruga, ESP.Galuda, DoDonPachi and Imperishable Night, at some point, even though they're from a different tradition (bullet hell) than the above games.

[KAI]

Metal Black and US Navy.

[starbelle]

I had NO idea there were so many shumps! feel pretty ignorant! Tried thunderforce, not sure which one,
loving it though..and Ordyne wtf duck music, weird ass shop, crazy ransome ships appearing our of the top
and bottom of the screen....amazing!

[Obiwanshinobi]

I tried a few bullet hell games, but didnt really like em too much, dunno..

Check out Dangun Feveron nevertheless. Bullet hell shmup that tends to work for those normally left cold by the sub-genre. All you need to remember about the score system is to collect every single disco man (missing even one resets the multiplier).
Horizontal-wise, I recommend Eliminate Down (Mega Drive).
Vartical scroller that came to mind first when I read "tactical" was Pippols (MSX, also, PSX and Saturn Konami MSX games collections). More beginner-friendly than something like Image Fight.
On a side note, Game Boy sidescroller Balloon Fight, while not a shooter, feels not quite unlike R-Type (yet it is more forgiving).

[ACSeraph]

All you need to remember about the score system is to collect every single disco man

I have got to play this game...

[trap15]

Well actually, you want to collect the disco men as soon as possible because your score is based on how many discomen you've collected. And you need to speed kill to make more discomen/patterns. Welcome to point-blank+speed-kill: the game.

[Kollision]

point-blank+speed-kill: the game

= Bullet Soul

[Marc]

I'd suggest UN Squadron on SNES/emulation. The energy bar gives you a bit of freedom to learn the levels, the shop lets you tailor your plane to your own style, and it's just a really good mix of everything I like pre-bullet hell.

Saint Dragon and Dragon Breed should both be experienced at leas once as well.

[starbelle]

Loving thunderforce! Also I checkouted out Bell's and whistles (Twinbee?) lots of fun.

For Bullet Hell my cousin has Mushihimesama Futari and Pinks Sweets.


Futari was lots of fun actually, love the dragons, I can only do the 1st level though haha


Pink Sweets just seemed completely crazy, definitely fun to cosplay the characters. Not sure wtf is going on
in the game though, seems like fun if you can figure out the system etc

So many games *head explodes*

Must check out that disco game hah

[zaphod]

well if you wanna cosplay, Touhou is pretty good for that.

Also, nearly every home version of gradius provides a "Konami Code" which can be used once, plus once per level beaten to power up you ship to full options and barrier. Some games even add the double or laser when using it.

Purists will consider this cheating because it doesn't work in the arcade, but it's part of the game, and it has limits to it's use, so it's not a free ride either.

The code, in case you don't know, is to pause the game, and then press Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A, then unpause the game. (playstation controllers don't have A and B, so they use two of the normal symbol face buttons instead)

Some games it's trapped though, and you have to use a variation to not get blown up. (the most common variation is to use the shoulder buttons instead of left and right)

[starbelle]

ahh thx but I would never use cheats....haha


Touhou cool will google it



also my cousin is making me play "recca carnival or something or other". He says it's the first bullet hell game (true or bull?)

and Recca, seriously WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, can't believe i actually beat the first boss

Edit: damn it was just the mid boss

[KAI]

Please consider playing Radirgy, Karous or any other Milestone shmup, they rule.

[starbelle]

Noted! I'll consider anything at ths point, its like I've discovered something amazing that's been under my nose all this time!

[Obiwanshinobi]

Recca felt like faster-paced Star Force or Omega Fighter Special to me. In bullet hell shmups things usually move slower (especially the bullets). Dangun Feveron is quite an exception.

[Special World]

Gradius II is great, but it's such a bastard. Fantastic levels though.

What's weird is that I really missed that lameass boss from Gradius I. Love that guy.

[system11]

For some vertical scrolling with a tactical element, try Image Fight - it's very difficult though.

I bet you'd like Dragon Breed too.

[Iori Branford]

RAIZING!
Probably start with Armed Police or Soukyugurentai, the others basically expect you to crawl through our Strategy threads in order to get very far, but all very strong titles indeed.

[trap15]

Batrider is probably the hardest of the trilogy and has the most depth of the 3 as well. Very much expect to be studying replays and digging around the ST thread for everything.

Bakraid is by far the easiest in the trilogy and has an interesting (and divisive) scoring system.

Garegga is fantastic and probably the best starting point for getting into the trilogy. Took me a while to get into it, and now see where I am?

[EmperorIng]

Only a crazy person would recommend Yagawa's Raizing games to a newcomer.

For some vertical scrolling with a tactical element, try Image Fight - it's very difficult though.

On that note, Layer Section (aka RayForce aka Galactic Attack) is definitely a good "tactical" vertical shooter. Same with its sequel RayStorm (aka Layer Section 2).

[jepjepjep]

Batrider Normal Course is one of the best shmups for beginners!

OP, if you like Gradius 2 Vulcan Venture, you'll love Gradius IV.

[starbelle]

Cool will check out Gradius IV


I got Radiant Silvergun, really like it! Any more kinda like this apart from Ikaruga, not tried that yet.


Image fight:crazy hard but I like it!


I don't mind hard games at all, good to throw yourself in and the deep end I think. I only knew about hitboxes
last night -_- , makes stuff a lot easier lol

[zaphod]

actually Battle Bakraid normal course is probably the best of the three as an intro. just play normally, grabbing medals and getting powerups, and it' actually beatable.

Batrider is much harder than normal course on Bakraid.

[ACSeraph]

Cool will check out Gradius IV


I got Radiant Silvergun, really like it! Any more kinda like this apart from Ikaruga, not tried that yet.


Image fight:crazy hard but I like it!


I don't mind hard games at all, good to throw yourself in and the deep end I think. I only knew about hitboxes
last night -_- , makes stuff a lot easier lol

If you don't mind hard then go for Gradius V, its the absolute best Gradius game imo, but it makes Cave games look easy. Japanese 360 exclusive Caladrius is similar to Radiant Silvergun, in that you have a lot of different weapon types you can use with different buttons and they level up throughout the game.

[Master O]

Basically, just discovered Vulcan Venture (Gradius 2?). Can't imagine how much I like it, especially the music and the part
where the flaming dragons come out from the suns O_o. I tried a few bullet hell games, but didnt really like em too much, dunno..
seems there is a lot of luck involved? (I'm prolly wrong though). Are there any other games like Vulcan Venture - they don't have to be
horizontally scrolling but, quite tactical, tried r-type and r-type 2 btw, love them!

I would recommend Gradius III, but this particular Gradius's difficulty is infamous...

Gradius II is great, but it's such a bastard. Fantastic levels though.

What's weird is that I really missed that lameass boss from Gradius I. Love that guy.

Gradius II ... a bastard? hahahaha, have you even played 3?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erGzgSegA2U

The Big Core from Gradius isn't lame. It's hilarious. How many arcade games make you fight the same pathetic boss over and over again?

---

Herr Schatten, are you sure you want to expose Starbelle to all those penguins? They are very crafty birds that sneak up on you when you least expect it, then "Boom!" Plus, those sumo pigs throwing their loincloths at you is a traumatic experience! {/joking}