What game got you into SHMUPS?

Sundance · Post by **Sundance** » Tue May 24, 2005 10:39 pm

Wow...lookn' back... I'd have to say Galaga or Gyruss. I remember playing those on the arcade then on teh Atari. I reeeeeaally like Gyruss. It was def a cool concept. I liked Tempest for teh same reason. Something to do w/ that circular pattern....good times.

gs68 · Post by **gs68** » Tue May 24, 2005 10:46 pm

Gradius 3 (SNES version). Ironically I don't really like it anymore.

freddiebamboo · Post by **freddiebamboo** » Tue May 24, 2005 10:57 pm

I remeber loving R-type when I was young (even though I never made it off the 4th level) and then later playing Xenon (I think that is what it's called) on my friends PC.

I only really came back to the genre though after playing DDP on mame and being blown away by the intensity of the game.

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Tue May 24, 2005 11:44 pm

I loved shmups as a kid too, but what really got me into them as a genre were the late 32-bit Saturn releases like Silvergun, Soukyugurentai, Shienryu, Garegga, etc. I imported a lot of these from Game Cave (yeah, I feel old now) and it really struck me at some point that this genre just clicked with me for some reason.

Damocles · Post by **Damocles** » Tue May 24, 2005 11:52 pm

Anyone notice that emulators, namely Mame, contributed to a mini renaissance in shmupping? I know they did for me...

Nei First · Post by **Nei First** » Wed May 25, 2005 12:05 am

If it wasn't for MAME, I would have never got to play ESP RA.D.E or DoDonPachi.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Wed May 25, 2005 12:08 am

I was a young teen in the early 80s, and my favorite arcade shmups were Galaga, Defender, and Centipede. Then I didn't play any videogames for 15 or 20 years and my mind was completely blown away by how many incredible shmups had developed in the meantime. I've spent the last four years or so trying to catch up on what has happened since Centipede.

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Wed May 25, 2005 12:26 am

Not counting proto-shmups since I abhorred them, Raiden introduced me, Life Force made me interested, Raptor hooked me, and Batsusun gave me a longtime appreciation for shmups.

shiftace · Post by **shiftace** » Wed May 25, 2005 1:02 am

Recca (I thought I'd be the only one). I'd played some NES shmups before, even played a lot of the weird NES 1943 port, years ago; but Recca is what got me genuinely interested in the genre.

obxStorm · Post by **obxStorm** » Wed May 25, 2005 1:39 am

Space Invaders, Defender & Scramble robbed me of many quarters in the '80s. There were more than a few games in between that fed my monkey but it was TFIII on my beloved Genny that completely and purely fueled my addiction. There has been and will be no other....

Post by **Dave_K.** » Wed May 25, 2005 1:47 am

Stargate and Robotron. Both classic manic shooters (although not exactly the same as modern shooters today).

Post by **Ghegs** » Wed May 25, 2005 5:35 am

I'm much more recently converted that most: I saw a video of DDPDOJ on Arika's site and that was the start. I'm not sure if DOJ was the first shmup I ever bought, but it was certainly one of the first.

IlMrm · Post by **IlMrm** » Wed May 25, 2005 5:54 am

-Dragon Spirit in 1987? in a Hong Kong arcade. I had to go after school with my parents because they wouldn't let students wearing school uniforms in during school hours.

-Sky Shark. First NES game.

-Super R-Type. First SNES game.

-Strikers 1945 Plus. Had this game at my college. Spend a lot of time/money on it. I guess this game is my intro to "modern"(late 90's) shooters.

Zweihander · Post by **Zweihander** » Wed May 25, 2005 8:15 am

Back in the day before Game Boy (suffix), i played R-Type on the original Game Boy (which i still have, even though half the screen has dead pixels ^^; sentimental value i guess...) as well as Space Invaders, and Defender/Joust... But Espgaluda was the game that converted me into a shmupaholic. Gradius 5 and R-Type Final gave me a gentle nudge in the right direction, thanks to their accessibility. But yeah... i blame it on Espgaluda. XD

llaoyllakcuf · Post by **llaoyllakcuf** » Wed May 25, 2005 8:48 am

Nintendo version of ZANAC

then later on some MD shoot-em-ups, like:
Master of Weapon, AirBuster, Atomic Robo-Kid, etc.

dementia · Post by **dementia** » Wed May 25, 2005 9:08 am

Raiden Fighters and RF2. Once I saw the crazy ass toothpaste gun, I knew I had a new love. I guess it's also why I prefer modern shooters.

zinger · Post by **zinger** » Wed May 25, 2005 9:13 am

llaoyllakcuf wrote:Master of Weapon, Atomic Robo-Kid, etc.

Heh, those are original choices. I've tried to like them (as with all MD shooters), but it isn't easy :P

Layer Section and Gleylancer got me into the genre.

Dartagnan1083 · Post by **Dartagnan1083** » Wed May 25, 2005 9:27 am

It took multiple titles to create the level of interest I have now.

-Gradius III (SNES)
-Radiant Silvergun
-Thunder Force 2
-BioHazard Battle

RSG is probably the most significant since it really taught me to weave through bullet-walls rather than always trying to fly around them.
Once I learned to dodge, it made many more games in the genre MUCH more approachable.

llaoyllakcuf · Post by **llaoyllakcuf** » Wed May 25, 2005 10:17 am

zinger wrote:Heh, those are original choices.

they were among some of the very first MD/GEN games I owned as a kid,
so perhaps that has something to do with it

(MoW a gift, AR-K a purchase)

Sly Cherry Chunks · Post by **Sly Cherry Chunks** » Wed May 25, 2005 11:23 am

Salamander arcade.

ST Dragon · Post by **ST Dragon** » Wed May 25, 2005 11:33 am

It was several shmups that got me into the shmup genre for good.
Here are some of them:

Life Force (NES) The legendary 1st level Brain Boss was so cool & I still hum the boss music every once in a while.

Thunder Force III (Genesis) - Gameplay was incredibly good & felt nothing like I had played until then.(more like an arcade game). I was hooked after this one. I also remember starring at the cool cover art of the fire stage & the phoenix flying next to the ship. Can't get any better than this.

Project X (Amiga) - Best Graphics Money could buy at the time.
Those huge enemy ships, the purple nebula stage & the 2nd stage mountain scenery, just made me come back to it, no matter how many times I died due to its high difficulty level.

1945 Striker II (Arcades) - I've spent many quarters to master this with another mate.

R-Type II (AMIGA) I would play this game just for the 1st Boss & the cool music.

Gynoug/Wings of Wor (Genesis) One of my old time favourite. I got this back in 1992, after trading some old Genesis platform game I can’t even remember now, because my friend wanted to get rid of Gynoug as he hated it. Bad for him!

Raiden Project (PSX) I had been playing the original Raiden series on the Arcades before but this was a great improvement to the arcade, with it’s cool kick-ass Rock arranged soundtrack!

RayStorm (PSX) (1997) Best 2.5D Shmup imo. Nothing had looked nor sounded this good until then. Those Lock on lasers, the awesome music & the huge mecha Bosses were some of the reasons I got the PSX in the 1st place.

Axelay (SNES) I remember back in 1992, drawing the 1st Level Spider Boss, 2nd Level Mecha Walker Boss & 5th Level Flame Demon Boss in Deluxe Paint 3 in 64HalfBright Mode (A500OSC/ECS couldn’t handle 256) from a small gamepro ad, using my old A500+ when I got the A1200 & DP4AGA I updated them to look like the SNES. Just by looking at the incredible graphics on the mag, I knew I had to get this! 3 years later, a friend that had just gotten a SNES asked my advice of what games he should get & I encouraged him to get this of course!

We managed to complete it Hard mode to see the full ending.
5 years ago he gave me his SNES with all his games & Axelay!

It’s funny that for most it was Life Force (NES) that got them into the shmup genre & it wasn't even in the Top 25!

boom · Post by **boom** » Fri May 27, 2005 6:07 pm

Blazing lasers for TG16 (pc engine). The game has perfect action rhythm, and the tunes were the first time I heard real music in a shooter. Music good enough to listen to on its own, and music that really enhanced the action. I still play the game about once a month. Also, great creativity in powerups. Blazing lasers is genius.

The way bosses exploded in pieces was cool. The sfx for shooting brain creatures in level 4 was perfect.

Metal Gear Okt · Post by **Metal Gear Okt** » Fri May 27, 2005 6:16 pm

I'd say it's a tie between Life Force and Guardian Legend, but i didn't really get into it until i recieved a copy of Ikaruga when i was unemployed. After the amount of work it took to 1CC it, I was hooked.

Lyle · Post by **Lyle** » Fri May 27, 2005 7:11 pm

I started playing shmups roughly when I discovered videogames. Yet, I owe the Internet a lot - thanks to various websites, I released that it existed as a genre, complete with its own codes, vocab and devoted players. I discovered the tremendous, overwhelming depth of modern shmups, which I had dismissed as cheap arcade for years.

Tony Gradius · Post by **Tony Gradius** » Fri May 27, 2005 8:59 pm

Defender. The cab was in my fav snackbar and soon after I played it first I got a VCS 2600 with Defender and Space Invaders for Christmas. Later I bought Vanguard. Years later the same snackbar replaced one of the Defender follow ups with an R-Type cabinet and videogaming has never been the same for me after that....

aurang · Post by **aurang** » Mon May 30, 2005 8:00 am

Flying/Sky Shark

Last Guardian · Post by **Last Guardian** » Mon May 30, 2005 10:40 am

An MVS 2-slot with Alpha Mission II and Last Resort.

Platypus[gEc] · Post by **Platypus[gEc]** » Mon May 30, 2005 12:27 pm

Actually, i forgot my first shmups' name, but i do know i was hooked. Some kid in the building i lived in had it, and did not like playing it so he gave it to me (until he figured out what to do with it). I had one of those advance nes sticks (for the love of god, i don't know why i had that since i did not (and still do not) own NES shmups) and i absolutely LOVED that game. I played it for 3 weeks straight, until the kid wanted it back because he found someone who wanted to buy it. Now that i'm all grown up and strapped with cash (well, sort of) i'm wrecking my brain trying to remember the games name, trying to remember how it looked, searching the "interweb" for pictures of NES shmups... but alas.

I keep thinking that once i see the right picture i'll remember which game it was, but till now, no such luck... *sigh*

Anyway, after the NES i forgot about consoles (and games in general, actually) for about ten years, coming back with a Pentium 2 and buying a gamecube two years ago. Then i bought ikaruga, and i've been buying old consoles and shmupgames without looking back...

It's weird how an experience i had when i was 8 years old stuck with me until now, coming back when i played ikaruga for the first time about 1,5 years ago, and made me give up any other type of game since...

Accutron · Post by **Accutron** » Mon May 30, 2005 12:40 pm

Galaxian. First the arcade version, then the Atari 800 version.

MasterN8 · Post by **MasterN8** » Mon May 30, 2005 2:18 pm

i have been playing a while, but the first shmup i remember to just own my soul was Gaiares for the Genesis. i will forever have the title screen and first stage intro musics in my brain.

DUH! DUH! DUH! duh duh duh duh daa-----
DUH! DUH! DUH! duh duh duh duh da duhhhhhhh

duh DUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

the most irritating thing about that game is, i got it when i was about 15 when it first came out. i played it a ton for a month and couldn't get passed level 6. then i take it over to my friend's house. we leave it there to go play sf2 at arcade, and come back, and his little 8 yr old brother Beef was sitting there watching end credits! THAT LITTLE PUNK BASTA*D!

man i wish i still had my ugly ass orange t-shirt i got for free with that game.

happy shooting!
n8

ps this is my first post here, although i have checked the site out a couple times. i actually have quite a decent collection already and am starting to hanker down and actually master these bastards, so i am sure u will all see more of me in the months to come.