16-Bit Shooter Difficulty Ranking

[Gamer683441]

Nice list, except when I saw Gaiares at number 5 difficulty, I said WHAT!? Anyone that has played it will tell you that every bit of progress you make in that game you earn. Scratching and pulling every step of the way, but loving it nonetheless.

[Perikles]

Yeah, not really. The shield is able to withstand five hits if you use the TOZ which means that you have a large margin of error. Bosses have very simple patterns which they repeat ad nauseam without any alterations. Some weapons (like the H-Laser) annihilate tougher enemies in a snap. Checkpoint recovery is not even all that bad, either, I intentionally sacrificed two lives in one of my runs to boost my score (at some of the arguably tougher checkpoints in the game) and still managed to beat the game without much hassle. You can adjust the speed of the ship at will without the need to take power-ups which allows you to always have the appropriate velocity available (instead of having to plan it out in advance). All it takes is a bit of familiarity, Gaiares' difficulty is vastly overstated. It is still moderately difficult for the length and some longer stretches where you have to work with that shield (like the boss parade at the end), but compared to several other games it is fairly lenient.

[pegboy]

I'm inclined to believe Perikles score rating even though I haven't play Gaiares myself. He's cleared literally hundreds of games (over 300+ according to restartsyndrome lol), he has a pretty good idea of where they stand relative to one another based on an insane amount of experience with the genre.

I'm still waiting for his "Universal shump difficulty guide" which includes both console and arcade games together

[Synnae]

Great list. I feel like 16-bit shooters are overshadowed, and don't get as much love as arcade shooters (especially CAVE or Raizing/8ing shooters), so it's great to see so much dedication coming from you into sorting this list out.

[Perikles]

I added two more little things:

- Made a note for Detana!! TwinBee regarding scoring. I personally feel like it's more or less a natural process in the Parodius games (and even in Pop'n TwinBee to some extent) to combine scoring and survival while it's an entirely different story in Detana!!. Not only do you constantly risk to slam into enemies (or getting shot by them), the rank also increases to frightening heights. Combine that with a huge hitbox and dire recoveries and you got a ruthless killer.

- I wanted to store my PCE away after getting the TwinBee score I longed for but I luckily decided to give the "Before Christ" mode that is exclusive to the CD Side Arms one last chance. I don't like this mode in the slightest and thus never put much time into it, now I had the incentive to finally beat that one as well since I did the same for Xevious' Fardraut mode, thus only leaving this one left to beat. I think it's about as difficult as regular Side Arms although it plays vastly different and can't be directly compared. You do get a ton of extends, but there's one boss in particular you don't want to die on no matter what since it's going to be a steep battle to recover (this mode has checkpoints), turning this into a medium difficulty affair in my book.


This will probably the last supplement, at least for a while. There's always a chance I might try (even more) subsequent loops in a few games, perhaps higher difficulty settings and/or a few outliers/hybrids (Sub-Terrania mayhap?). I'm very content with the current standings, however.

[Squire Grooktook]

"Before Christ" mode

Such a charmingly odd, yet monolithic name for an arrange mode. I love it.

[GGA_HAN]

@Perikles or anyone else that may know, how you you rate Abadox on this scale?

[Perikles]

I'd give it a 4 - checkpoint recovery can be rather rough in the final stages and sometimes the hit detection seems to be slightly off with those ectoplasm phoenix creatures, everything else is fairly simple. The spheres and shield soak up many hits and while Abadox is technically a memorizer it's so light on that aspect that you won't actually have to learn much in order to beat the game.

[Despatche]

How would you rate Gate's and Winds's higher difficulties?

[Perikles]

- Wind's higher difficulty modes on the Mega CD won't change that much, that's why I didn't even add a separate rating for Hard. I haven't played through Super on the PCE, but I've seen enough to say that it is decisively more challenging than its Mega CD equivalent, namely due to the suicide bullets. Thanks to your huge sprite and the confined areas you're in you might lose one or two weapon levels before you can nictitate, it's rough. I also don't think you're able to ignore many enemies either (as to avoid suicide bullets) since you really need the screen space. Fortunately, if you survive a stage you should have enough resources to get (nearly) maxed out again. My estimation for Super is a 7, although I'm not sure just how much harder the final stage might be. Don't know about Hard to be frank, does it add suicide bullets already or is this exclusive to Super?

- Gate of Thunder on Devil is comparable to Thunder Force IV on Normal I'd say. Difficulty is overall a bit uneven: for long stretches you can still take out enemies before they become a threat, especially bosses are considerably more demanding, though, and will probably require a few hits on the shield left. 6 for a Devil 1LC, 4 for a Hard 1LC, -1 for regular 1CCs, respectively.

[Austin]

I believe Super on the PCE is the only one that adds suicide bullets.

Hard on the PCE is probably equivalent to Super on the MCD.

[Jeneki]

It's been 15 years at least since I played PCE Winds, but from what I recall the final boss is not notably more difficult on super compared to hard, just extra homing eye lasers but the method for dodging is the same. The stages are the main difficulty spike, but as long as you can keep a good momentum and able to rebuy up to full it's possible (but one bad stage and that's pretty much it).

I did not make it past the final boss in Gate on devil, I think I remeber it having something extra to deal with. Probably should have gave that game more plays to finish it.

On an unrelated note I should probably give Nexzr another shot. I always got wrecked on stage 3. Borrowed it out to a buddy and he got stuck there as well.

[MommysBestGames]

Wonderful list! Games from my favorite era...
Plenty on there I'd not heard of, so it's lots fun to search around check them out.
I remember thinking Hellfire was the hardest game I'd played back then!

[Synnae]

Hey Perikles, I have a question and I'd like your opinion on the matter. Out of all your listed shmups that were originally for Arcade, which ones are better on console than their original Arcade counterparts (or at least just as good)?

[Perikles]

That's a fabulous question whose answer/overview would deserve its own thread at some point. I haven't cleared every arcade shooter which received a 16-bit port as of now, so whenever I'm mentioning those I'll put an asterisk behind them to indicate that I cannot compare the ports with the best possible conscience, too much of a crepuscular uncertainty for now.

Furthermore, I personally like to roughly separate 16-bit ports into three distinct categories in order to fully appreciate them:

1. Those that visibly strive for accuracy and only steer away in miniscule manners, usually for technical reasons. Commonly (only) slightly less difficult than their model, in rare instances harder.

2. The ad usum delphini ports where the developers try to maintain the spirit of the arcade game, yet drastically decrease the difficulty in some way or another to adapt the game for the console audience.

3. Autonomous conversions that - while still recognizable - drastically deviate from their source material and establish something genuine while harkening back to the brick-laying of the arcade game.

Naturally, there are overlaps, it's not always evident or binary. The reason why I even mention those different classifications has to do with relative justice: the MD Master of Weapons for example is not a game that will impress anyone. However, I wholeheartedly commend them for significantly reducing the difficulty of the arcade game which is not only terrible, but also needlessly hard. Better to have a rather deficient game which is at least somewhat enjoyable than a game that will have you wailing in mad despair, I say. As such, here's what I recommend (games in italic type I prefer over the arcade version, bolded games I love, the asterisk I mentioned already):

Category 1:
Aero Blasters/Air Buster (both the PCE and the MD port are excellent, I prefer the MD version which is already harder than the arcade game, but not as aggravating as the PCE port)
Darwin 4081* (not so sure about this one - I'm not overly enthusiastic about the port nor the arcade game, but I believe this is a solid conversion)
Forgotten Worlds (PCE CD)
Formation Armed F
Gradius (belongs to category 3 if you are prone to multi-looping/marathon sessions)
Gradius II (belongs to category 3 if you are prone to multi-looping/marathon sessions)
Heavy Unit (PCE, not the lackluster MD port which looks splendid and plays much worse - almost worthy for category 3)
Kiki Kaikai
Ordyne*
Raiden (MD)
R-Type (HuCard; this is for all intents and purposes arcade-perfect bar some negligible flicker and an additional boss after the crate rush (which is trivial to take out) which is a bit unfortunate, ironically, because you might as well play the arcade game at that rate...)
Side Arms (HuCard)
Sonic Wings
Super Darius
Task Force Harrier EX* (mostly for the music which I vastly prefer on the MD)
Tatsujin (both PCE/MD, my favourite being the former)
Xevious
Zero Wing (MD)

Category 2:
Atomic Robo-Kid* (as well as Special)
Detana!! TwinBee*
Dragon Saber
Galaga '88
Gokujou Parodius* (technically cleared the arcade game - with the exception of the blasted special stage, that is...)
Gradius III
Kyuukyoku Tiger (PCE)
Master of Weapon*
Uchuu Senkan Gomora
Vapor Trail*

Category 3:
1943 Kai
Area 88
Cotton - Fantastic Night Dreams
Darius II
Earth Defense Force: E.D.F.
Hellfire (MD)
Insector X (vastly superior to the arcade game despite the inherent mediocrity)
Kyuukyoku Tiger (MD)
Parodius Da! (SFC; this is also a clear case for category 2, the difference is so vast, however, that it feels like a different game to me)
Rabio Lepus Special
Salamander (the most important port on this list in my opinion)
Same! Same! Same!* (very similar to Parodius Da! - the 1P arcade game is great, but also notoriously difficult)
Senjou no Ookami II* (especially Original Mode)
Slap Fight (Special)
Super Raiden

Don't know why, but I somehow also feel compelled to mention Acrobat Mission, a peculiar port of a peculiar game. It has absurd & besmirching flaws as far as the porting job is concerned (the charged shot of one of the two weapons is bugged, for example, making it useless) but since the original game is so weird anyway I don't see a need to dehort from it. Certainly a recommendation for kusoge connoisseurs.

I was struggling with myself regarding the countless Daisenpuu ports. They are all rather good to excellent as far as the translation from arcade to console is concerned. However, I really feel the reduced screen space hurts a lot in this specific case. I don't find it problematic in other Toaplan games, this one is the exception. I would still recommend to give it a fair chance if you're interested in it. PCE Hellfire S is somewhat interesting insofar as it has a pitiful difficulty and no further loops which lends itself to risky score play (pick up all speed-ups and destroy carriers with the rear laser so that they drop three power-ups instead of one, a change which is exclusive to this port) but I don't think it justifies a mention, regardless, the MD port is superior in every regard.

Would've loved to include Dragon Spirit which is overall considerably easier than the arcade game and lovely on principle, they haplessly messed everything up right at the end, though, with the section before and the final boss itself - if you don't get a small power-up somewhere, you're finished. Such a crying shame.

Mr. Heli is also great if you can live with the flicker/slowdowns which can get so bad that you might have to turn the autofire off at particularly crowded sections. The port (that is, both modes therein) loop while the arcade game does not which I find very interesting. Quite a bit easier than the arcade game, too.

[Synnae]

Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom, I'd expect no less of you. It's pretty helpful and I will certainly use it as reference.

Something left me intrigued, though. I see you mentioned Super Darius but not Super Darius II. I assume the Darius II on Category 3 is the MD port. Did they mess up on Super Darius II?

[Perikles]

Always glad to be of assistance!

Darius II refers to the MD port, indeed. The PCE CD port is quite an unique experience, and a fairly solid one at that, I nonetheless think that the MD conversion is such a splendid effort that it easily overshadows its kin on the PCE. Like with the first Super Darius, Super Darius II has a much reduced playfield compared to the arcade game whereas the MD port is reshaped altogether to give a more "proportional" scope. Both ports are similar in the regard that difficulty is considerably lowered, yet the PCE game aberrates even further with a new soundtrack, numerous new (mid-)bosses and the altered gameplay that comes with the microscopic segment of the screen you're working with. MD Darius II on the other hand obeys the tenet that one can recreate the essence of the original while at the same time drastically adapting major factors - the increased ship speed in particular was a brilliant idea, it makes the game a lot more dynamic than the moreso methodical arcade game which I believe does not only work on its own, but is also in unison with the core idea of the series. Enthusiasts of the Darius games still can (maybe even should!) try Super Darius II and will most likely enjoy it, inasmuch as a direct comparison is concerned, however, the MD port is the one version to choose if you ask me, simply because it is so good.

[Vludi]

Something interesting about Toaplan ports is that the bullet patterns aren't as dense as the arcade, probably to rebalance it to yoko resolution.




In the case of Daisenpuu, the PCE port has more faithful patterns while the MD port has reduced bullet count.

What do you think of Raiden PCE, Perikles? personally I found it very inaccurate compared to the MD port, yet some people like to say it's "the best 16-bits port"

[Perikles]

In the case of Daisenpuu, the PCE port has more faithful patterns while the MD port has reduced bullet count.

Yet I still think the MD Daisenpuu (on Hard) is the toughest version of the game (not counting the arcade Twin Hawk) simply by dint of the reduced screen space. The MD Toaplan ports are usually a little bit to a lot easier than their arcade counterparts (with the exception of Hellfire where it seems to be a deliberate choice), not so in the case of Daisenpuu.

What do you think of Raiden PCE, Perikles?

The HuCard Raiden is in a somewhat woeful position - if it were the only existing port during the 16-bit era it would be shown deference on account of being a valiant effort overall. Easier than the arcade game (and the MD port at that), although still a serviceable challenge, and while indeed not as accurate as it could've been it still retains the spirit of the arcade Raiden well enough. Betwixt in a world that has the aforementioned MD Raiden (which is superior on every front as far as a faithful 16-bit conversion is concerned) and Super Raiden (which gives the available material its own twist, creating a new game altogether), it is rather a curiosity.

[Vludi]

Haven't tried PCE Daisenpuu yet but I agree with MD Daisenpuu, not only it feels much more cluttered but also the enemies have more HP from what I remember.

Super Raiden looks interesting, I might give it a try later.

[Ex_Mosquito]

Excellent thread Perikles, great insights to the 16bit shoot em' up difficulty. Have you thought about doing a revision of the list with the game set to their hardest difficulty? Soldier Blade, Nexzr and Toilet Kids especially have a huge jump in difficulty when set to the hardest diffuculty setting. So much so they easily rival that of an arcade shooter.

[Perikles]

Have you thought about doing a revision of the list with the game set to their hardest difficulty?

There won't be a complete list of that - some games I've no desire to revisit (say, Dimension Force, Xenon 2 Megablast, Uzu Geobukseon, Super Airwolf, Spriggan Powered, SFC Raiden...) and several other games either have no other difficulty settings (this is the case for a lot of PCE games) or don't change much upon selecting them (e.g. I've not even noted BioMetal's Hard difficulty because it is a rather negligible increase compared to the default settings). Having said that, I would love to see someone tackle Battle Squadron with the bullet speed and quantity turned to the maximum, not sure if you're even supposed to beat that on one credit.

However, I'll certainly add more entries when I do revisit some games and decide to play on higher/highest difficulties (provided I'm successful, that is) - Crying, Nexzr and Super Aleste immediately come to mind as potential candidates in the future.

[pegboy]

I will say that Dimension Force on hard is virtually identical to normal as far as I can tell. I believe the only difference is when you die, you lose more powerups on hard (and maybe you get less continues as well not that it would matter with a 1cc). So I think you are safe from revisiting that nightmare Perikles

[BIL]

However, I'll certainly add more entries when I do revisit some games and decide to play on higher/highest difficulties (provided I'm successful, that is) - Crying, Nexzr and Super Aleste immediately come to mind as potential candidates in the future.

I'll vouch for Super Star Soldier's hidden "Sugeeze" difficulty. Not sure how much staff SSS shared with Nexzr, but in this regard it absolutely prefigured the latter's excellent "Hideeze." It's absolutely relentless, epitomising the ideal of imperative movement you mentioned earlier this year. Would love to hear your thoughts on it sometime.

[Perikles]

I will say that Dimension Force on hard is virtually identical to normal as far as I can tell. I believe the only difference is when you die, you lose more powerups on hard (and maybe you get less continues as well not that it would matter with a 1cc). So I think you are safe from revisiting that nightmare Perikles

Which leaves us with the inevitable question whether to contemptuously sneer at the developers for hastily extemporising something together as to maintain pretence of different difficulties or to faintly utter a prayer that they didn't turn this monstrosity into another Strike Gunner S.T.G. with its Otaku setting.

Speaking of Strike Gunner: the SFC port is remarkable insomuch as it is drastically longer than the arcade game. While one can beat the latter in about 12, 13 minutes, the conversion has more than thrice that duration. There are numerous 16-bit ports with additional (Super Raiden, SFC Parodius Da!, PCE Zero Wing, Gradius, Gradius II...) or removed (PCE Parodius Da!, Detana!! TwinBee, MD Forgotten Worlds) stages, but this magnitude is quite unusual. The only other port that is comparably stretched is the MD Dangerous Seed which unfortunately turns a great little game into a rather dull, unexciting endurance race.

I'll vouch for Super Star Soldier's hidden "Sugeeze" difficulty. Not sure how much staff SSS shared with Nexzr, but in this regard it absolutely prefigured the latter's excellent "Hideeze." It's absolutely relentless, epitomising the ideal of imperative movement you mentioned earlier this year. Would love to hear your thoughts on it sometime.

I'll most certainly keep it (and Soldier Blade as per Ex_Mosquito's recommendation) in mind!

[OmegaFlareX]

The only other port that is comparably stretched is the MD Dangerous Seed which unfortunately turns a great little game into a rather dull, unexciting endurance race.

Dat BGM tho... amazingly good and I'd never really heard it until recently.

Would you be willing to record runs of some of these games for your YT channel? It's surprisingly hard to find videos for console ports that aren't tool-assisted, credit-fed, or have annoying commentary.

[Perikles]

Would you be willing to record runs of some of these games for your YT channel?

It's not entirely out of the question, but rather unlikely. I play all my 16-bit games on real hardware, yet don't own any recording equipment for those purposes. There's a chance I might record a few runs in the future (I discovered, for example, that there's an arcade version of Bio-Hazard Battle/Crying and was wondering whether it is completely identical to the console game or not), those are spur-of-the-moment decisions, though, I'm mostly very content with my results/scores for 16-bit shooters.

[trap15]

If someone were to donate a capture unit, would you do it then?

[Perikles]

If someone were to donate a capture unit, would you do it then?

"It" meaning going through every 16-bit shooter again, including monstrosities such as the ones mentioned above and some hour-long marathon runs? Hell no.


Jesting aside: with some of the more obscure 16-bit games you'll probably have more luck with nicovideo. I found, among other things, a very impressive scoring run of Sapphire (ending with over one million points) and a clear of Kiaidan 00's highest difficulty setting (which is another one of those games that gets considerably harder on upper tiers, the entire screen will be flooded with suicide bullets on the hardest mode).

[pegboy]

The only other port that is comparably stretched is the MD Dangerous Seed which unfortunately turns a great little game into a rather dull, unexciting endurance race.

Dat BGM tho... amazingly good and I'd never really heard it until recently.

Would you be willing to record runs of some of these games for your YT channel? It's surprisingly hard to find videos for console ports that aren't tool-assisted, credit-fed, or have annoying commentary.

I posted a bunch of SNES 1cc runs (all the US releases) on the highest difficulties back in 2015 if you are interested (check out my sig). No commentary and all are done on the original hardware. I intended on doing more but alas I don't have a ton of free time anymore and what I do have I'm currently losing my mind trying to beat the forum score for Strikers 1999.