Hardest. Shooters. Ever.

[nullstar]

Now Rayxanber 2, that is a hard game, obviously for its crap challenge but it strangely has its appeal. I could never get past the fifth level because the ships would always fly right through the organic stuff you have to shoot to get through and into you.

I'm pretty sure that's stage four. (Stage 5 is the one that looks like they ripped out of R-Type II and features the nigh-on-impossible "2" tunnel.) I only made it to the boss a few times, which required you to have the blue power-up in a vertical configuration in order to win the vertical dogfights in the little curved tunnel up to the boss's weak spot, at which point you had to shoot to the right.

I assume what you're referring to is the little orbs that were "caged" in by that web stuff and occasionally got passed the collsion detection and started flying around where they literally could not be shot?

Whatever it was, I always recommend this game to the people who think R-Type II doesn't pose enough of a challenge. (I'm just not sure I've ever met any of them...)

[King Slime]

R-Type2 wins for hardest shmup.

[yojo!]

The original R-Type is damn near impossible if you ask me. It's just so unfair that when you die you come back as the slowest thing in the universe.

Rtype is not that hard. You just need practice. I can now consistently 1 credit it with one life (PSX arcade rev) , and working on clearing both loops ( I am stuck in level 12 in the 2nd loop but I still think it is possible to clear it). Call me crazy buth sometimes I just die on purpose at the in level 7; restarting w/ nothing make it more challenging and fun. But it is just me. Rtype was designed so you can clear any level starting w/ no option (at least in the 1st loop).

[JigsawMan]

Konami seems to like butchering World Versions of anything.

Xexex Japan dosen't have a life meter: If you get hit, you die and is sent to the previous checkpoint(A la Gradius)... The bullets move much slower, and there are more weapons.

I remember someone on this board who says that the only game he 1CCed was Hellfire(Genesis), and that was a 1LC!

Yeah.. That was me, I must have been about 13 yrs old or something and I was off school ill for a week and I played it solid. I remember going downstairs to tell my mum and gran - like they understood! It was 50hz PAL, so it was a little slower than it should have been. Still the only game I have ever 1CC'd.

[LASERBEAST]

The original R-Type is damn near impossible if you ask me. It's just so unfair that when you die you come back as the slowest thing in the universe.

Rtype is not that hard. You just need practice. I can now consistently 1 credit it with one life (PSX arcade rev) , and working on clearing both loops ( I am stuck in level 12 in the 2nd loop but I still think it is possible to clear it). Call me crazy buth sometimes I just die on purpose at the in level 7; restarting w/ nothing make it more challenging and fun. But it is just me. Rtype was designed so you can clear any level starting w/ no option (at least in the 1st loop).

I also actually have a much more difficult time with the first R-Type than I do with the second one. I can't one-credit R-Type II yet, but I die relatively fewer times than I do with R-Type I, which took me forever just to beat. It's the second-to last level, ESPECIALLY the boss, that really gets to me.

Truxton II is really hard. They have it at the student arcade at my school, so I play it often. Longest shmup levels EVER. And of course, you can't talk about Toaplan shooters in a thread about difficult shmups without mentioning Batsugun.

Also, I was G-Burk on the old board, but I didn't post much there anyways. Perhaps things will be different this time, or perhaps instead I will go the usual route of fading into obscurity.

[captain ahar]

everyone who has coin-ops in their vicinity are stupid. i have to buy everything i want to play.

[ST Dragon]

Once upon a time I had a website (that very few people went to, but that's beside the point), and I put up an article on what I thought the ten HARDEST shooters ever made.

Now that I am working on another couple of websites, I want to rewrite the article. In my original article, I grouped series of shooters together so that one series would not end up dominating the list.

My original list was:
10: Layer Section (series)
9: Thunderforce (series)
8. Darius (series)
7. Pulstar
6. Ikaruga
5. Radiant Silvergun
4. Last Resort
3. Viewpoint
2. R-Type (series)
1. Gaiares

Now I realize that difficulty is purely subjective. What someone may find easy, someone else may find very difficult.

So my question to all of you is what do you feel is the hardest shooter(s) you've ever played, and what makes them so hard?

Layer Section, Thunder Force, R.Silvergun & Gaiares aren't that hard.
I can beat Thunder Force III & V without losing a life.

If you want "hard", you ought to try Project X on the AMIGA. That's one annoying shmup. Kills the gameplay. It's a pitty caus eit has nice graphics.

[captain ahar]

i remember complaining about Gradius III's difficulty on the SNES. i withdraw those complaints.

i just got the Gradius pack for PS2 today and had a quick romp through 3 and 4.

can't get past stage 2 in III. i always die as i am not paying attention to the bubble hell around me (they take a lot more damage here than SNES right?). so crazily difficult, i love it and will never dishonor its challenge by turning it to a lower difficulty (at least, not for a while anyway ).

IV is less impressive, but still fun. can't get past bubble stage (3?). i HATE how the bubbles come apart. irritating to look at and makes it harder to navigate the "shit". boss rush is a nice touch and that first level is ugly (Bad, bad Polygons!)

looking forward to the unlockables as well. never played the first Gradius, though i am looking for a copy of Gradius Deluxe for Saturn (see sale thread ).

[LUNardei]

I've seen the DDP DOJ's superplay...



Hibachi is the devil. And Laos is the devil too...Mmm, I'm confused...

[captain ahar]

rank in gradius kills me. i was playing Salamander 2 (offshoot i know), and it really didn't appreciate it when i got to level 5 on one life. tore me apart very efficiently.

[TVG]

fuckin raiden 2 is the hardest game ive ever played.

DDPDOJ feels like a walk in the park compared to raiden 2.

[Dartagnan1083]

The bubble stage in Gradius IV isn't too bad. . .provided you have at least 1 option by the time you get to the boss.

I focus on shooting & dodging the bubbles the boss releases while also doging its own shots.
The core will eventually get hit enough to die this way.

[landshark]

rank in gradius kills me. i was playing Salamander 2 (offshoot i know), and it really didn't appreciate it when i got to level 5 on one life. tore me apart very efficiently.

Take a look at the later levels of the parodius games on full rank. It's sick.

[tehkao]

Yeah...I agree...Raiden 2 is effin hard...I own the PCB and played it hundreds of times but still can't get past stage 2 on 1 credit!!!

[MSZ]

rank in gradius kills me. i was playing Salamander 2 (offshoot i know), and it really didn't appreciate it when i got to level 5 on one life. tore me apart very efficiently.

Take a look at the later levels of the parodius games on full rank. It's sick.

Totally agreed on this one.

[Nei First]

People go on about how difficult DOJ is, but the game has rarely been mentioned here.

Considering games like Thunderforce, Gradius III and Gairies have been mentioned alot more, I'm skeptical and more curious as ever, to find out how difficult DOJ REALLY is..... I guess the only way for me to truly find out, is to find a copy and play it myself.

[The Bullet Dodger]

I got to the very last boss in R-Type Delta the other day. That shit was rediculously hard. I kept duying over and over again.

Is it really that difficult or is there some kind of strategy to beating it, like in Final??

[captain ahar]

rank in gradius kills me. i was playing Salamander 2 (offshoot i know), and it really didn't appreciate it when i got to level 5 on one life. tore me apart very efficiently.

Take a look at the later levels of the parodius games on full rank. It's sick.

in that case, i am happy to say that i am bad enough at anything Gradius to never see such horror. i'm close to clearing Galaxies, still haven't worked out my Level 8 routine (i've never had to play an entire game using tap-movement before this), and Salamander 2 is next closest.

[The Bullet Dodger]

I got to the very last boss in R-Type Delta the other day. That shit was rediculously hard. I kept duying over and over again.

Is it really that difficult or is there some kind of strategy to beating it, like in Final??

Nevermind. I figured it out.

[BR1]

I think we cannot forget that some shooters become ten times harder if you play for high-score and not 'just' to 1CC...

My question is: you mean the hardest to 1CC or the hardest to get an high-score? They're definitely different!

[Palmer Eldritch]

The MD versions of Kyuukyoku Tiger (with new, fancy, mean AI) and Undead Line are just insane. KT is possibly the most frustrating game I have ever played.

Kyukyoku Tiger on the Megadrive is not only one of the hardest shooters ever, it´s also my absolute favourite bar none.
Treco did a great job of putting that kind of really intelligent, but nasty AI unto the cartridge didn´t they
In KT you never die an unfair death. The enemy is merely onto you. Every. Second.

Ace game.

[ST Dragon]

Personally I find hard most shmups that have check points & need heavy level memorisation rather than skills. Most of these are rather impossible to complete without pumping more credits:

Here as some:

1945 Strikers III - Coin Muncher!
Blazstar - Poor Player! This is Practically impossible to complete without pumping more credits. Personalisation of a Coin muncher
Dragon Blaze - Yet another Coin Muncher
Gradius Series - This is where I was 1st introduced & got to hate Check points in shmups. Collecting all those powerups again is not funny at all!
Last Resort - Cheap-Ass difficulty
Mars Matrix
Project X - Needs memorisation. Very cheap having to collect all those powerups all over again.
Pulstar - Needs memorisation. Can get very cheap at times.
R-Type Series - Seen as the best example of check points/level/Boss memorisation
Thunder Force IV - Some of the Bosses are bastids
Twin Cobra



1945 Stikers II - Is hard but if you master it, its possible to complete with 1 coin!
Gaiares & Layer Section Series are hard but not impossible.
Ikaruga - is hard but it feels more like a strategy shmup.
Radiant Silvergun - Has a very well balance of difficulty, but its a never ending Boss Duel than a Shmup.
Thunder Force III & V are easy imo.

[DEL]

BR1 made a good point with;

"I think we cannot forget that some shooters become ten times harder if you play for high-score and not 'just' to 1CC...

My question is: you mean the hardest to 1CC or the hardest to get an high-score? They're definitely different!"

Border Down is a perfect example of this. You can choose to 1CC it at an easy low rank with a low score, or you can go for a high rank 1 life completion of a difficult route & aim at a high score, whilst squeezing the max out of your Breaks leaving yourself with peashooter firepower to negotiate a large part of a max ranked game. Hence my respect for the very few players who can get 300mil+ on this game

[captain ahar]

yay, me! i have come closer to taming (well for one loop anyway) Gradius III on SNES. got to the plant boss on one life last night. and lost it for final on the stage 7 boss.

using hawk wind, f.option, c.laser, reduce, and ?-option. very effective.

[FatalError]

It could be me, but Taito's Twin Eagle - Revenge Joe's Brother is freakin' hard. Your chopper is pathetically equipped to do much of anything in that game.

[Lyle]

+1 for Gradius 3 arcade. Actually I never got past level 2 (I played on the PS2 port) and dropped the game out of frustration. I can't believe that some guys here reached level 6 or more. Either I didn't choose the right ship, or laser + 4 forces + missiles aren't enough firepower to make your way through all those f... bubbles. By comparison G4 seemed a walk in the park (by comparison, I said).

Undead Line was also a painful experience to me. I had a few cracks and gave up until I was told that auto-fire could be set before starting the game. I retried thinking it would change everything. Well, I didn't change much

The recent Psikyo games in general. Seems to me the gameplay consists in keeping ranking as low as possible to prevent the game from cheating you. I hate it. I want shmups to reward me for my efforts. Here they just tell me "you've been doing well so far. OK, let's just crush your hopes". Then again, I may not know the games well enough to handle that sort of stuff.

[captain ahar]

^i have made it into stage 3 once, and doubt i will be doing the same for a long while. last night finally got to the bubble-core boss on stage 2 and those bubbles took me out like nothing. i had it on Wait 2 and the thing didn't hardly slow down at all.

[TGK]

If someone didn't mention Fuzzy Shooting (SNES) then I definitely need to do it.

If someone did, great, then I still need to mention it again for emphasis.

Words cannot describe the degree of toughness of this game. I would try to compare it to something, but it would sound like a tall tale.

Let's just say, it is a shmup where your enemies are trained killers, and not mindless drones controlled by super computers or clumsy aliens who barely have enough muscle to steer their crafts.

[sethsez]

Darius Gaiden and Super Nova are difficult to the point of unfair. I played Darius Gaiden again recently, and just the sheer amount of bullet spam and bosses that take a hojillion hits makes this game ever so hard. I can probably safely say that I doubt anyone has 1cc'd this game.

I've come close. I don't really find Darius Gaiden to be all that difficult, especially if you can hold ou long enough to level up your shield. If you manage to level it up twice, you almost have to try to die.

Then again, Darius Gaiden is my favorite shmup, and one of my favorite games period as well. So I've probably put more time into that game than is healthy.

[TGK]

In SuperNova, don't use the default Darius ship (with the Wave Laser), use the one with the white straight laser weapon and keep your path straight upward. It feels vastly easier to me when played this way.

also, play through all stages and note down the stages that have the bomb launching squid boss and avoid them. That bomb weapon is nearly undodgeable.