Recomendations for purchase SUPER NES Shooters---

[Rozyrg]

Hyperzone was indeed cool, although I mostly remember it for it's music (it is by HAL after all.)

[gs68]

Darius Fo--I mean, Super Nova is decent but you might be turned off by Darius II Syndrome.
Super Ale--I mean, Space Megaforce is a good buy.

Not sure if I'd recommend the SNES port of the arcade port of Thunder Force III (Thunder Spirits) since I've only played TFIIIMD and a little TFAC, plus you might as well be playing TFAC if you want the non-MD stages, unless you want a different Cerberus.

[DANMAKUMAN]

thunder spirits is slowdown-carnival..
in my opinion..the music is not compared to the original in thunder force iii

[XERO]

space megafore and axelay were the two games that made me buy a snes......

[louisg]

I vote for Axelay. Awesome side view levels, decent top view ones, cool effects, great music, very little slowdown.

[Shatterhand]

The only SNES shmups that are good which I remember are R-Type 3 and the three Parodius games.

Super Aleste isn't horrible, but I think it's one of the worst Compile games out there.

[jochen]

Cotton 100 % - for the fans of cute-shmups with little witches. Not as good as
the Paroidus-series ... but a nice try.

Cosmo Gang : Galaga-style game - I would have prefered a successor for
Galaga 88 on the SNES.

Rendering Ranger : not everyone likes the Run´and gun-levels in this game
.... but it´s interesting to see that graphics were possible on the SNES in
the shmup-levels. Before paying a lot of money ..... use other ways to test
this game.



Jochen.

[Riot Zone]

Always liked Blazeon the best horizontal game is U.N. Squadron.

[sunburstbasser]

Darius Fo--I mean, Super Nova is decent but you might be turned off by Darius II Syndrome.
Super Ale--I mean, Space Megaforce is a good buy.

Not sure if I'd recommend the SNES port of the arcade port of Thunder Force III (Thunder Spirits) since I've only played TFIIIMD and a little TFAC, plus you might as well be playing TFAC if you want the non-MD stages, unless you want a different Cerberus.

Super Nova isn't nearly as bad as Darius II. You get sent to a checkpoint, but you also usually have quick access to a weapon and shield powerup. Considering most of the game is pretty balanced, a silver shield is enough to make it to the end of the lower tiers, with the top tier being a little harder. Its not a bad game, but not a must-have unless you love Darius.

[greg]

Ugh, I can't stand Blazeon, Xardion, Raiden Trad, and Bio Metal (the repetitive early 90's generic techno music is terrible).

Gradius III on the SNES is still the best Gradius III, IMHO. I have the arcade port on the Gradius 3 & 4 for the PS2, and I'm trying to sell that. The SNES port is actually playable.

Macross, Cotton 100%, Pop 'n Twinbee, Sonic Wings, Space Megaforce, and Oshaberi Parodius are all great. Area 88/U.N. Squadron is my all-time favorite SNES/SFC shmup.

Thanks for the heads-up on Aero Fighters being so pricey. I have Sonic Wings, so I won't mind getting rid of my Aero Fighters for some extra cash. It was hard enough to track this one down in the mid 90's, so I'm not surprised that it goes for over $50, cart-only.

Didn't the end of Super Aleste have some sort of anime sequence that was removed in Space Megaforce? That game was mind-blowing how that one entire stage slowly rotates towards you from far below your ship. Amazing.

[bucklemyshoe]

I didn't even know so many shmups for the snes existed.

I've been wanting a saturn but who knows, maybe i'll explore the SFC world of shmupping first?

[sunburstbasser]

I didn't even know so many shmups for the snes existed.

I've been wanting a saturn but who knows, maybe i'll explore the SFC world of shmupping first?

Because the system was very popular, it did get a lot of shooters but you'll see the same 5-8 games mentioned time and time again. While the best really are good, overall the SNES/SFC didn't have the solid lineup that the Genesis/Megadrive and the PC Engine did at that time. Stuff like Axelay, Space Megaforce and R-Type III are all very well done shooters, but then you get shit like D-Force and a lot of very middling games like Darius Twin.

[Enhasa]

I didn't even know so many shmups for the snes existed.

I've been wanting a saturn but who knows, maybe i'll explore the SFC world of shmupping first?

I don't think there's much of anyone who would recommend SFC over Saturn, just letting you know. Maybe nobody in this thread even.

[greg]

Well, considering the price that Saturn shmups usually fetch, it would be cheaper to go with the SNES (assuming you're only comparing the SNES to the Saturn). There are decent shmups to be had for a real good price on the SNES. Plus it remains my favorite console ever, so there's plenty of other great games for it that aren't shmups.

[Riot Zone]

S.T.G Strike Gunner is decent.

[ST Dragon]

All these are worth owning:

Axelay (The Best Shooter on the SNES by far! Pity Axelay II never came out...)
Darius Force
Darius Twin
Gradius III
Gokujyou Parodius
Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius
Macross
R-Type III
Super R-Type
Super Swiv / Fire Power 2000
Parodius Da!
Pop 'n Twinbee
UN Squadron / Area 88

I would try them 1st in an emulator before buying them though.

[bucklemyshoe]

All these are worth owning:

Axelay (The Best Shooter on the SNES by far! Pity Axelay II never came out...)
Darius Force
Darius Twin
Gradius III
Gokujyou Parodius
Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius
Macross
R-Type III
Super R-Type
Super Swiv / Fire Power 2000
Parodius Da!
Pop 'n Twinbee
UN Squadron / Area 88

I would try them 1st in an emulator before buying them though.

Thank you sooo much for this list!

[ROBOTRON]

Absolute no-brainers:

Axelay
Space Megaforce

Thunder Spirits
EDF

[TG-16]

Axlay all the way!

[sunburstbasser]

Didn't the end of Super Aleste have some sort of anime sequence that was removed in Space Megaforce? That game was mind-blowing how that one entire stage slowly rotates towards you from far below your ship. Amazing.

In Super Aleste, you get different endings depending on the difficulty you chose. I believe they are all the same on Space Megaforce. Super Aleste also has a few extra music tracks, like Stage 3, that are missing from Space Megaforce.

And I agree that Compile's version of "Assault a Giant Battleship" is a fantastic design. This and Super R-Type were the only shmups I had when I was little, and I still compare every Assault to that one! Really uses SNES Mode 7 effectively.