really bad shmups

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 7:15 pm

suppose then that PC engine will be the first until i can afford to invest in all the cool computers that came before my time (MSX, Amiga, C64, X68K)

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 1:46 pm

Bumping this in case people want to see an ancient discussion of the topic of the day.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 1:50 pm

Good move. "really bad" is also more versatile than "worst"

EddyMRA · Post by **EddyMRA** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 2:01 pm

Gyrodine (Taito)
Toilet Kids

DC906270 · Post by **DC906270** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 6:42 pm

Skull Fang - because the bosses move out of the top of the screen, meaning they cant be hit, and stay there for like 30 secs before coming back into the screen... bore-ing, really hurts the flow of the game. other duff aspects are the end of stage score screens, which hurt the flow of the game even more.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 7:01 pm

DC906270 wrote:Skull Fang - because the bosses move out of the top of the screen, meaning they cant be hit, and stay there for like 30 secs before coming back into the screen... bore-ing, really hurts the flow of the game.

Actually, the idea is to use the "throttle" mechanic to speed yourself up (and in some cases slow yourself down) and chase the boss down to keep attacking it and defeat it before the stage timer runs out.

Granted, I'm not saying that Skull Fang is a top-notch game or anything, but I'd say it's far from "awful." I tend to think that at least some of the criticism it gets only exists because little info is out there as to how it actually works, and people get frustrated when trying to play it as a result.

DEL · Post by **DEL** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 7:19 pm

I used to play doubles with The Old Mills on Skull Fang in the arcade. - Royally pissed him off by holding the 'saved' High score on it

.

Its an ok game I suppose. I agree with BM.

NO BAN FOR BM!

tekneekz · Post by **tekneekz** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 8:00 pm

the worse iv'e played was sol divide.

doctorx0079 · Post by **doctorx0079** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 10:25 pm

The attempt to make Silpheed for TRS-80. Crappy graphics, crappy boring gameplay, no music, almost no sound, it just sucks. (For an example of a good TRS-80 shooter try Stellar Lifeline.)

Of course if we can list games that old we could be here all day. There are tons of 20-year-old home games that just aren't worth playing any more. Part of the reason the compilations are so popular these days is we can finally play the real arcade games the way they were intended.

DC906270 · Post by **DC906270** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 10:32 pm

BulletMagnet wrote:Actually, the idea is to use the "throttle" mechanic to speed yourself up

Oh, ill give this a try

or not

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 9:01 pm

I played some more Xenon 2, the Mega Drive port this time, and I have to take back what I said-it does actually get pretty fun! Unfortunately, AFIK, it was a PAL only release, and so probably wouldn't even work with a converter.

Philosoma has GOT to be the worst PS1 Shmup EVER. I've heard people talk about how horrible games like Air Grave are, but all I can say is that even Viewpoint and Shooter Space Shot make Philosoma look like Raidiant Silvergun.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 9:46 pm

dave4shmups wrote:even Viewpoint and Shooter Space Shot make Philosoma look like Raidiant Silvergun.

So those two are worse then?

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 9:58 pm

dave4shmups wrote:Philosoma has GOT to be the worst PS1 Shmup EVER. I've heard people talk about how horrible games like Air Grave are, but all I can say is that even Viewpoint and Shooter Space Shot make Philosoma look like Raidiant Silvergun.

Confusing remark. In any case note that the problem with Viewpoint is the port. The Neo Geo CD port of Viewpoint is excellent.

Fenrir · Post by **Fenrir** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 10:21 pm

dave4shmups wrote:Philosoma has GOT to be the worst PS1 Shmup EVER. I've heard people talk about how horrible games like Air Grave are, but all I can say is that even Viewpoint and Shooter Space Shot make Philosoma look like Raidiant Silvergun.

Tsk.
This is your point of view. I LOVE Philosoma and I even voted it as one of the most intriguing shmups I've ever played. So what. I find the stages interesting, good mechanics and VERY varied. The movies are excellent and the plot is awesome, not to mention the final (I've got the japanese version, BOUGHT THE SAME MONTH IT GOT RELEASED - and that's probably one of the reasons why it hit me straight in the face. Obviously 5/10 years later, totally out of context, it can't have the same grip.)
I'm really glad to like Philosoma, it still gives me really happy memories and I'm really glad to share my philosomalove with the other few philosomafans. Heck we could even build a philosoma fansite!!!!1

Oh and Xenon II on Amiga is one of the best shmups ever

The worst shmup I've ever played... I have to think about that, but maybe thunder cross is one of the worst. Bulky, slow and frustrating to say the least.

Shocky · Post by **Shocky** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 10:28 pm

dave4shmups wrote: Philosoma has GOT to be the worst PS1 Shmup EVER. I've heard people talk about how horrible games like Air Grave are, but all I can say is that even Viewpoint and Shooter Space Shot make Philosoma look like Raidiant Silvergun.

You're not making much sense

And even if Philosoma was the worst PS1 shmup, it still rocks, it's fun even if the gameplay is kind of "fuzzy".

The "worst shmups ever" are probably some 8-bit shit for the C64 that have luckily faded away from the pages of history. One of the very worst "known" shmups is Andro Dunos for the Neo Geo, it has totally hateful level design, gameplay, weapons and graphics.

I want to mention this one interestingly bad game: Rolling Blaster for the MSX Laserdisc. It was released in 1985. The backgrounds and interlude animations are sweet laserdisc quality, but the sprites are of course ugly one-color 8-bit stuff. What makes this game so crap is one of the most braindead weapons of all time: In level 2, the regular pea shooter changes to special bullets, which can be fired and then guided with joystick/keyboard. The trouble is, once you fire the slow moving shot your ship becomes unmovable until the bullet has disappeared. This makes avoiding enemy ships and fire supremely difficult, and very soon it's bye bye and back to the repetitious and boring level 1 and boring, painfully long and unskippable animations. Hmm.. so it's over twenty years of those infuriating unskippable animations in shmups!

Here are pics of the laserdisc covers:

http://www.msxarchive.nl/pub/msx/photos ... erdisc.jpg
http://www.msxarchive.nl/pub/msx/photos ... erdisc.jpg

ROBOTRON · Post by **ROBOTRON** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 3:45 pm

I might've posted here already...so many threads to look thru.

DEEP BLUE is terrible. Its maddning because no matter how good you are, your no match for the invading marine life. You cannot die...not even once, because you'll never be able to power up again to battle...at least not in time. I kept this game for its collectability, but I hate palying it. It made me pull out all my hair...thats why I'm a bald headed robot now.

Damocles · Post by **Damocles** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 7:35 pm

ROBOTRON wrote:I might've posted here already...so many threads to look thru.

DEEP BLUE is terrible. Its maddning because no matter how good you are, your no match for the invading marine life. You cannot die...not even once, because you'll never be able to power up again to battle...at least not in time. I kept this game for its collectability, but I hate palying it. It made me pull out all my hair...thats why I'm a bald headed robot now.

Seconded. Deep Blue was actually given to me with a bunch of other new-in-box PCE games a few years ago and I still feel dirty owning it.

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 1:27 am

Fenrir wrote:The worst shmup I've ever played... I have to think about that, but maybe thunder cross is one of the worst. Bulky, slow and frustrating to say the least.

If you're playing the american version, yes. The japanese version is pure pwnage. Konami America had this annoying habit of crippling the american port of their games, just look at Trigon/Lightning fighters, Aliens (The stages make more sense and feels more balanced) and Crime Fighters. If you are playing Crime Fighters with a life meter that goes down over time, you are being seriously screwed, and invisible radiation is making you sterile as you play. Avoid it at all costs.