Welcome aboard! Sengoku Ace, Strikers 1945 II, and Dragon Blaze are a decent beginning/middle/end timeline. They're all tough games, but their latter STGs (GB2, Strikers 1999, and especially their finale, DB) got decidedly hardcore. So it's probably a good idea to familiarise yourself with the earlier stuff.
You might also consider adding the unmistakably formative Sonic Wings, which Shin Nakamura directed before leaving to form Psikyo.
I'd say Strikers 1945 II has the best balance between their earlier and later titles. Good gateway title. Sadly it never got an accurate console port, though the Japanese PS1 release is a passable facsimile. (the Western localisation isn't recommended; it forces you to play in the rearranged 4:3 mode, which is only optional in JP)
Zero Gunner 2 is something of an outlier, both in game design and difficulty level. Quite approachable, as is its arena STG counterpart, Cannon Spike. (both of which, being Naomi hardware games, have excellent DC ports!)
btw, If Saturn's an option, give Hyper Duel and Blast Wind a look; easily recommendable to any fan of Tecno Soft's MD canon.
BareKnuckleRoo wrote: ↑Wed Jul 03, 2024 8:33 pm
Gruntled wrote: ↑Mon Jun 17, 2024 4:26 amHi All,
I've been playing shmups on and off since I was kid. The first one I really enjoyed was on the TurboGrafx - I don't even remember the name anymore, but you played as bugs/beetles. It was colorful and the upgrades awesome.
I was curious about this game and tried looking it up. Was it possibly Cyber Core by chance?
https://racketboy.com/retro/the-turbogr ... exclusives
Instantly thought Cyber Core, too. Which I'd somehow convinced myself was a Namco game... must've mixed it up with Final Blaster. Always interesting to see Alfa's pre-Shikigami days.
I'd appreciate it if you could provide some rare shumps or non-danmaku doujin shumps that can be played on various computers!!
!
Cool username btw!
