Shmups in a barcade - The 1up (Denver Colorado)

[Aleksei]

Change effing Air Blade ALL night long!

[Frenetic]

So awesome you're doing this exidy. I suggest Espgaluda. It's accessible, the music is great, and it's Cave.

--F

[shmuppyLove]

Dangun Feveron is flashy and has cool music and MEOW MEOW disco mans!

[shaowebb]

I'm also gonna go with Raiden Fighters though on a personal note I say go with Raiden Fighters Jet over 2 since it has more ships to draw folks to it with. Soundtrack is just as awesome as 2.

I'd like to say go for Espgaluda as it is incredibly addictive and its mechanics make it far less intimidating than other bullethells, but for a barcade it may come off as too anime girl to draw in some of the crowds there as compared to how nice and neutral Raiden Fighters games will be towards any walk of gamer that shows up. If you want to test out the Raiden fighters thing and your barcade has a 360 kiosk with sticks you could always get the Raiden Fighter Aces collection and test it in the kiosk too. I just now found out the Faerie ship and slaves ship things were secrets in Raiden Fighters Jet and it was always a favorite anyhow.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

90's and newer

Here in Colorado I think Cave, etc are non existent on location or in any arcades.
so it would be cool to show people the progression of shmups, so games such as DDP would be ideal.

Jon

Back in 1995, my local arcade hangout based out of Modesto, CA, The Electric Underground, had gotten in an Atlus USA distributed Donpachi conversion kit + Jaleco USA distributed Strikers 1945 conversion kit. The owner was into arcade shmups, so it was nice & cool to give DP a spin every time I was there. Not to mention that DP was priced at a mere four nickels per credit and S-1945 priced at a mere two nickels per credit. Talk about bargin arcade shmupping back in '95! Eventually, the owner carried the Fabtek distributed Viper Phase 1 U.S.A., the really odd-ball Dooyong's R-Shark and Seibu Kaihatsu's Raiden Fighters before it closed for good in May of 1998. So yes, even though DP got a limited release in the American arcades, it was well known by American arcade shmuppers like myself.

It's just that the Atlus USA arcade subsidairy, for some reason, never properly distributed DDP for the arcades stateside (in the 1997-1998 timeframe) despite an International version DDP conversion kit being sold in other countries during that particular point in time.

If you want to showcase some of the newer arcade shmup titles, here're a few worth stocking:

NG-Dev's Fast Striker version 1.5 on MVS format is ace.

Cave's Dodonpachi Dai Fukkatsu version 1.5 or DDP-DFK Black Label PCBs are visually stunning in person (and not to mention Cave's DDP-SDOJ PCB as well). Despite all those arcade titles on the venerable Cave SH-3 hardware, the DDP-DFK 1.5 PCB seems to get chuggy at times with everything going on all at the same time including the kitchen sink -- it has it's quirks & charms nevertheless.

FYI: DDP-DFK 1.5 & BL PCBs use an 8-way digital joystick and four buttons per player scheme whereas with a DDP-SDOJ PCB, it's an 8-way digital joystick + three button affair at best.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[ookitarepanda]

ESPGaluda would be sweet. I would chuck dollars into that.

[stanski]

Giga Wing/giga wing 2/mars matrix type games seem like they would be a good fit here.

Dodonpachi is what got me hooked, but I'm not sure how many people will approach it cold.

[louisg]

One really nice thing about DoDonPachi is that it's a lot easier than it looks. It looks totally crazy, but you start playing it, and it's pretty manageable. It also has really nice, vivid graphics. Pretty much instant gratification, IMO.

[casualcoder]

Tiger Heli

But seriously, Espgaluda. I'm convinced that if it were somehow more widely available (and preferably localized), western gamers would know about a whole generation of STGs like they know Dance Dance Revolution.

[casualcoder]

Deathsmiles (or Mushi Futari 1.5)... popular with folk who like to make their credit go a long way, and the harder last stage means they won't get to beat it that easyily. Plus the fact it was one of the popular 360 stgs means they might play it at home too. .

Practicing at home may be good for competition but probably won't help operators, especially if we're talking about luring casuals. I always see this now for $10-$15 so its a hard sell to drop money on an arcade play (though I would, just for score).

[Cagar]

Another vote for Mushihimesama Futari 1.5
Or if you're cool guy, get dodonpachi saidaioujou.

[Eaglet]

Futari Black Label if you're rich.
Armed Police Batrider if you're marvellous.

[Deets]

Ohhh man yes the 1up is awesome, so glad you're doing this exidy.

(Raiden Fighters all the way.)

[Muchi Muchi Spork]

Tac/Scan

[ASilver76]

I'd sugggest Guwange if you want something odd and appealing - especially if alcohol is involved.

[exidy]

hehe.. Tac/Scan!!!

Wouldnt last a day without breaking.
Guwange would be too hardcore I think, but ill post some info once I finish the game to place there.

Jon

[zeroroute]

I'd say twinkle star sprites and raiden fighters.

[finisherr]

I'd say Futari would be a good choice because of the varying difficulty modes. Really easy for beginners to get into it and shooter fans definitely won't get bored with Maniac or Ultra.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Guwange would be too hardcore I think, but ill post some info once I finish the game to place there.

Guwange's shikigami mechanic would also feel very weird and have a steeper learning curve than a more 'standard' shmup. It's probably part of the reason it's one of Cave's least popular games (the music's also not very good, IMO).

[casualcoder]

Guwange's shikigami mechanic would also feel very weird and have a steeper learning curve than a more 'standard' shmup. It's probably part of the reason it's one of Cave's least popular games (the music's also not very good, IMO).

I find the stage 3 music To be the most sublime of any game releaded. Period.

[Crafty+Mech]

I was at the 1UP on Saturday, did not spot a new shmup yet. Gives me a good excuse to go back next week

[ASilver76]

The reason I suggested Guwange for the barcade is that, like Ikaruga, it works on multiple levels (though for different reasons then Ikaruga):

1) It looks cool, sounds good, controls well, is crazy gory, and anyone can enjoy it as a button-masher. And of course, that makes it work well with a beer n' booze crowd.

2) As a 2 player game, it can be played cooperatively or non-cooperatively. Again, a beer n' booze crowd makes this even more attractive.

3) It can be played for score (and/or finesse), which makes it more challenging and increases replayability, even (or especially) by those who choose not to drink (or drink as much).

4) As one of the less-popular Cave shooters, it can usually be purchased at a lower price then some of it's
siblings.

[sharpfork2]

I met Craftymech at 1up and was also hoping for a shmup.
+1 for Guwange recommendation. Raiden DX would be cool too.

[sladekravenT3]

Id like to place my vote for DDP or Espgaluda. Anything ever happen with this?? I was thinking about going down there but I only saw 1942 in the games list. Anybody know if any STG are at 1up or 2up?

[sharpfork2]

Any updates? I haven't seen anything other than old school Shmups at 1/2 up.

[Pretas]

1) It looks cool, sounds good, controls well, is crazy gory, and anyone can enjoy it as a button-masher. And of course, that makes it work well with a beer n' booze crowd.

Until they complain about the Japanese text and lose interest. It won't have any cultural resonance with an American bar crowd and they'll be easily confused by the shikigami system.

Dodonpachi and Feveron would probably be the best choices. The latter would at least get some laughs for its disco-themed audiovisuals.

[hermit crab]

How about Raiden 3 or 4 if you want modern?

[CapCom]

I will be in Denver this weekend. I was planning on checking out the 2up (in Colorado Springs), but if they have these at the 1up, may go there, too. Depends on what all is scheduled.

Oh yeah, the 1up used to have Super Contra and 1942, but they took those out last year. Sucks because I'd been practicing 1942 and was sure I could break 2 million...

[sharpfork2]

I will be in Denver this weekend. I was planning on checking out the 2up (in Colorado Springs)

2up is in Denver, on Colfax not too far from the capitol. It is a bike ride or longer walk away from 1up. I offer stop by both when going to play games.