7th Annual Top 25 Shmups of All Time! - Results

[Twiddle]

You'd also get a lot of people spamming the highscores forum just to be eligable.

You will probably not believe me, but that is the exact will of most score trackers and the exact point of their score boards in the first place.

People post in the high score threads?

*collects pcbs*

[Rob]

Ketsui is expensive part 3. I could see myself voting for Ketsui at maybe 25th place since I'm 99% sure of what it plays like (other Cave games), but this is a distraction that benefits GALUDA and MUSHI. That is all about:

edit : really I just think 25 games to name is too many

But it's not. The overall 25 is and has been pretty solid, so even rearranging those wouldn't be bad. Then there are about 400 other games that received votes. (399 aren't Sol Divide)

[MadScientist]

I don't see why some people have problems with voting for or seeing 25 games on the final list. I mean, you're on a shmups forum - if you signed up here, surely you must like at least 25 shmups, right?

[Limbrooke]

Wow, someone else voted for Bosconian. Props to whomever that was.

[Rob]

Double edit: Why is Biometal so low?

Because only I voted for it.

Why that is: people don't vote for old console shooters for reasons other than nostalgia and if someone played it back in the day they'd be scared off by the mutilated soundtrack and lack of dizzying mode 7 effects.

And I was wrong, no one voted for Sol Divide. Double frown.

[Dale]

Great to see an semi-old school modern badass shmup get number1. The shift is definitely towards Danmuku which I like but seeing something of completely different style dominate is refreshing. APB in top 5 is also awesome.

Twiddle if Daioh didn't have checkpoints I'd join you. How about one of the Aero Fighters game's or a NMK shmup? We should have a Cigar as our signature.

Too bad their weren't more old school shmups on the list. R-Type being the oldest is a damn shame. And where are all the awesome danmuku freeware games? No X.X no Kento Cho no Zap madness.

[Dale]

Double edit: Why is Biometal so low?

Because only I voted for it.

I'm sorry about that it was so close between that and Wings Of Wor for a 16-Bit manic representation. I'm shocked at the games I left out this year due to newly discovered awesome games. I mean I didn't even vote for Exed Eyes or Gunsmoke. Air Gallet and Raiden2 got the axe too...scary.

I voted for King and Balloon though awesome game, thanks for showing it to me.

Edit:Also great to see people voting for games that I thought no one liked, like Eight Forces B-Wings and D-Force. Good to see people with interesting tastes.

[antron]

Paperboy above Vanguard?

And to think I sat out this year to gain more experience, while some treat it as a joke.

[Enhasa]

Just so you guys know, most of those WTF games near the bottom (D-Force, B-Wings, Divine Sealing, etc) were Ceph fakevotes. Due to the large number of 1's he had, each counted more than someone giving a 4 on a default weighted list.

How about one of the Aero Fighters game's or a NMK shmup?

P-47 Aces BTW get ready for the Twinkle Star Sprites Defense Force. We will rally PVP fans, cute em up fans, Neo fans, Saturn/DC fans, and more to combine for an unstoppable overwhelming army of maybe 10 people. We have a large tent. Ran is a loli, Macky is a furry, Tinker and Linker are lesbos, and Schmitt is beefcake. Bulimics and fans of munching sweet tacos also welcome.

I really don't care about the rank, just the games included. Here's my bizarre fantasy shumps.org top 25.

More people should join in on this pointless list-making action. Here's my list, it's messy because I didn't really think about what I was going for, so I think it ended up like "representative/influential games plus ones that I think should have been even though they weren't." Haven't played Ketsui or DeathSmiles yet, but Cave fans seem to rate them above the modern Cave games I have played, and this is a made-up list anyway so why not.

Galaga (1981)
Robotron 2084 (1982)
Gradius (1985)
Zanac (1986)
R-Type (1987)
Granada (1990)
Recca (1992)
Thunder Force IV (1992)
Batsugun (1993)
Raiden DX (1994)
RayForce (1994)
Cho Ren Sha 68k (1995)
Battle Garegga (1996)
Twinkle Star Sprites (1996)
Dodonpachi (1997)
G-Darius (1997)
Raiden Fighters Jet (1998)
Psyvariar (1999)
Dragon Blaze (2000)
Mars Matrix (2000)
Ikaruga (2001)
Ketsui (2003)
Senko no Ronde (2005)
Shoot the Bullet (2005)
DeathSmiles (2007)

[lgb]

Wayyyyy too high, I don't personally even think it should be on this list because of the ridiculous mechanics, but I guess a lot of people like suiciding intentionally due to a brutally stupid rank system.

Make one mistake on DoDonPachi, and you could lose a good deal of points.

[Enhasa]

I already find it hard to take someone seriously who says:

So if Ibara or Soukyugurentai is better than Garegga (which imo they are), then they should be ranked higher, regardless if Garegga began the Raizing formula.

They are quite dissimilar games.

[Dale]

Paperboy above Vanguard?

And to think I sat out this year to gain more experience, while some treat it as a joke.

Paperboy is the shit. Vanguard is awesome too. Paperboy wasn't even that high on my list, if two people would of placed it low on their list or if one person would of placed it high it would of been much higher. You should of voted. I don't see why'd anyone on almost anyone on this forum couldn't have a list.

Too bad about the Ceph's joke vote thing. I was really hoping that their were people who actually liked those games.

Some other good games got respectable positions like Thunder Dragon2,Thunder Force2, Gunsmoke and Sky Kid Deluxe.

I'd be down for a TSSDF. Who else is?

[VorpalEdge]

I'd be down for a TSSDF. Who else is?

yo

[spineshark]

Tinker and Linker and Memory are lesbos

Just saying.

Wayyyyy too high, I don't personally even think it should be on this list because of the ridiculous mechanics, but I guess a lot of people like suiciding intentionally due to a brutally stupid rank system.

Make one mistake on DoDonPachi, and you could lose a good deal of points.

=b

Yeah, Raizing games are complicated and somewhat unintuitive, but at medium levels, Garegga seems less exacting than DDP/DOJ/Guwange; you're allowed to bomb and die, and the only thing that really ruins your score is losing 10k medals, which is a lot easier to avoid than dropping chains mid-stage.

Now Dimahoo? Then you'd have a point. I still love that game too though.

[kengou]

i think the main difference this year was that there was a bit of a shift in the voting populace....

whereas, in previous years the rules stipulated that only those with the most in depth long term experience with the genre could vote, so we saw a lot more 'classic' titles voted on by the 'veterans'....

with the rules this year it opened up the voting to more people who are newer to the genre, and a LOT of newer enthusiasts are here for one reason.....CAVE!!!

i can understand people's attachment to the great games of yester-year, but you cant discount the revolution cave caused.....

nobody does it as good as cave.....period.....

things changed in 94.....and now 15 or so years later we see the results.....

everyone is entitled to an opinion, and as such they are free to dislike cave....but you cannot deny that in this day and age cave is on top with nobody else even close to the summit

just my 2 cents

Absolutely agreed, well said. There's so many Cave games because Cave is the best and nearly all of their games are fantastic.

I already find it hard to take someone seriously who says:
kengou wrote:
So if Ibara or Soukyugurentai is better than Garegga (which imo they are), then they should be ranked higher, regardless if Garegga began the Raizing formula.

They are quite dissimilar games.

That's not my point, my point is that better games should be ranked higher than older games that might be more historically significant. That's how I feel about the voting, anyway. I actually like Ibara (arrange only) and Soukyugurentai precisely because they are dissimilar to the standard Raizing formula as found in Garegga, Batrider, and Bakraid, and I don't really like that formula.

kengou wrote:
Wayyyyy too high, I don't personally even think it should be on this list because of the ridiculous mechanics, but I guess a lot of people like suiciding intentionally due to a brutally stupid rank system.

Make one mistake on DoDonPachi, and you could lose a good deal of points.

I didn't really mean the scoring system itself. I actually really like the medal-collection and upgrading system in Raizing games. I'm just really annoyed by the overall mechanics of the game that pretty much necessitate shit like suiciding in order to progress. I'm surprised so many people like that, but apparently they do.

[BIL]

Garegga tactical suicide is renegade and badass. No more graphic subversion of videogame rules than controlling a game with death itself. While bombing and shooting motherfuckers.

[Ed Oscuro]

No other game forces you to die in order to complete it!
-Paganitzu, Apogee, October 1991. It also helps to suicide in MAJOR STRYKER for grinding points.

[BIL]

Technically Garegga doesn't force anyone, it just makes suicide a fun and rewarding activity.

[jpj]

isn't there a guy here who bums technosoft games? this thread needs more indignation

[j^aws]

Garegga tactical suicide is renegade and badass. No more graphic subversion of videogame rules than controlling a game with death itself. While bombing and shooting motherfuckers.

This shit is as old as Stargate (circa 1981)...

[BIL]

I'm not sure where I implied that the mechanic originated with Garegga, jaws.

[Ed Oscuro]

Garegga tactical suicide is renegade and badass. No more graphic subversion of videogame rules than controlling a game with death itself. While bombing and shooting motherfuckers.

This shit is as old as Stargate (circa 1981)...

Shmups Forum had everything. Clear skies. Gentle surf. Warm water. People flocked there every summer. It was the perfect feeding ground.

You yell Stargate, and we got a panic on our hands on the Fourth of July.

[j^aws]

I'm not sure where I implied that the mechanic originated with Garegga, jaws.

You didn't, but Garegga seems to get all the kudos for it... If you like suiciding, also try Gunnail (circa 1993)...

[Rob]

Here's my list, it's messy because I didn't really think about what I was going for, so I think it ended up like "representative/influential games plus ones that I think should have been even though they weren't."

Looks like we're mostly in agreement, though I haven't played Cho Ren Sha, TSS and just bought WARTECH.

Galaga - Galaxian

Zanac - not as ridiculous and over-the-top and doesn't scream console shooter as loudly as Super Aleste. There must be one Compile shooter and it must be the one with eight screen-filling weapons you don't need. I'm totally changing my vote next year.

G-Darius - really needs two more screens for huge bosses, they dropped the ball. Darius 2 also makes the late 80s appear slightly more impressive and the music was always awesome. I wish I could play Darius 2 in the original cab. The background graphics were more swirly.

Absolutely agreed, well said. There's so many Cave games because Cave is the best and nearly all of their games are fantastic.

And the people who like 1 cluster vote for the entire catalog because thinking of 25 games is hard. Not that I didn't vote for 10 Psikyo games in a last minute edit of stupidity.

necessitate shit like suiciding in order to progress. I'm surprised so many people like that, but apparently they do.

I sure do. That's easily my favorite part of their games. They give you a steady amount of extends, so you can always be around 2-3 lives. That's standard. In a Psikyo game (as an example) the rank keeps going up and up. The only way to manage it is to power-down, which is awkward, or die. That isn't something you do on purpose since you only get one extend. In Raizing you also get the benefit of additional bombs. It really sucks losing a stock of bombs in other games. Bonus strategy and control vs. a low mental hurdle. I do like strategy and control.

[BIL]

You didn't, but Garegga seems to get all the kudos for it... If you like suiciding, also try Gunnail (circa 1993)...

In Garegga's case I don't think it's praise, so much as infamy. Garegga lovers view suicide as a tool, haters as a game-crippling thorn in the side. Cue shitstorm.

[Rob]

Gunnail - turning it into a 1 life game just because is not strategy so much as it is stupid and tedious.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

G-Darius - really needs two more screens for huge bosses, they dropped the ball. Darius 2 also makes the late 80s appear slightly more impressive and the music was always awesome. I wish I could play Darius 2 in the original cab. The background graphics were more swirly.

That would have been cool to play a three RGB screen setup of G-Darius as it would be a throwback to days of the earlier three-screen endowed arcade games from Taito. To view and battle the huge and might Queen Fossil in all it's purple armored glory would've been breathtaking with three monitors. Huge motherfucking beast of a fish...it's still breathtaking today in it's PCB incarnation. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[j^aws]

Gunnail - turning it into a 1 life game just because is not strategy so much as it is stupid and tedious.

I don't see it that way. Trying to 1-life it with fast bullets and snipers everywhere, gets the adrenalin going... You start with a 3 level shield (increases to 5 with extends), and this acts like 'bordering down'... The tactics/ strategy comes from experience as you learn to suicide earlier and earlier through stages (risk/ reward) for large bonuses...

EDIT:

You don't want to die at the bosses; you lose large multipliers there...

[Twiddle]

Yes and this is totally worth giving 70 times the points a normal play without the suicide trick would give

"I didn't pass the fourth stage but I got 10 times the amount some guy did without getting hit!"

[VorpalEdge]

No other game forces you to die in order to complete it!

ikaruga