Shmup stinkers

[R-Gray 1]

I like Axelay, and I have never read a review of it. That would be just plain stupid to only like a game because of positive reviews. If that were true, this whole forum would be "OMG Ikaruga"

This is supposed to be a list of shmups that generally suck, objectively. I believe it was originally compiled because the OP realized that most shmups tend to be fun, even if they are not top of their class.

So, this list, from what I've gathered, is supposed to be shmups that are pretty damn tough to enjoy on almost any level.

trust me, in some posts some guys talk about Axelay and talk about overrated, reviews and magazines and I read most of the posts in this thread
I liked Axelay too, My favourite snes shmup and I didn't need a review or magazine. In fact I started to play that game on 1999 just by curious because I remember in a friend's house his cousin was playing this awesome shmup, in the lava stage...maybe in 1994. If is overrated or not...is not concerning in this thread. is not a topic of discussion on this thread i think.
the other examples of games that i read here...,nes ports, tyrian, gradius III....oh well.

Even B- wings I remember has secrets during gameplay, like bonus stages or special secret weapons. And of course the possibilty to choose weapons at the begining.

Luckily I didn't see on that list or in comments Star Force or Galaga

[xbl0x180]

trust me, in some posts some guys talk about Axelay and talk about overrated, reviews and magazines and I read most of the posts in this thread
I liked Axelay too, My favourite snes shmup and I didn't need a review or magazine. In fact I started to play that game on 1999 just by curious because I remember in a friend's house his cousin was playing this awesome shmup, in the lava stage...maybe in 1994. If is overrated or not...is not concerning in this thread. is not a topic of discussion on this thread i think.
the other examples of games that i read here...,nes ports, tyrian, gradius III....oh well.

Even B- wings I remember has secrets during gameplay, like bonus stages or special secret weapons. And of course the possibilty to choose weapons at the begining.

Luckily I didn't see on that list or in comments Star Force or Galaga

You dis Galaga, you dis yourself

Actually, I used to play Exerion a lot as a kid, so even though it looks crappy nowadays, I'd still play it by virtue of it being a shoot-'em-up (and for nostalgic reasons).

[Herr Schatten]

Turbo Force is pretty shit as well.

I've not really played enough of it to comment, but you're probably playing it wrong. If Rob likes it, it can't possibly be that bad.

[mouser]

Who's the dude above DaVinci? He looks really familiar...

That would be Amon Goeth, as played by Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List. I'm not sure I want one of the most notorious Nazi death camp officers in my company when playing Bakraid....

And Bobby Fischer too...not that intelligence ever equated with morality, but still...

[IseeThings]

Turbo Force is pretty shit as well.

I've not really played enough of it to comment, but you're probably playing it wrong. If Rob likes it, it can't possibly be that bad.

I like it, maybe it has some bugs / balance issues which prevent it from appealing to proper hardcore players but it's a nice blast / alternate take on Aero Fighters. A shame it didn't get a sequel

Please note, there is apparently an undumped version of Turbo Force too, see the comment in the MAME source

"// there's also an undumped Turbo Force (new revision). Most notable thing in there is the points value of the rocks in level 6 (5.000 versus 500)."

If you happen to own the game (anybody reading) can you please check if you have this revision, and dump it if possible. It's possible there are other undocumented bug fixes in it, which may help with some of the issues people have with the game in general.

[Kiken]

I'm going to nominate the PS1 port of Viewpoint. I still can't fathom why anyone would want to make an already notoriously difficult game even harder... make the player movement sluggish, change the incredible soundtrack or replace the vibrant graphics with some shiny/metallic garbage. By comparison, the Genesis, X68k and FM Towns Marty ports fared much better.

[toaplan_shmupfan]

Genesis port is good if one is prepared for some missing animations (for example, the wasps nests do not pop up out of the ground before the wasps fly out of the nests, they are already above ground), frequent slowdown in many parts of the game, occasional graphics tearing, and some occurrences of enemy bullet flicker. Knowing that, it's quite respectable that the pulled off a 16-bit port of a 32-bit game. They even tried to get the soundtrack as close as possible to the arcade original.

[MathU]

Turbo Force is pretty shit as well.

I've not really played enough of it to comment, but you're probably playing it wrong. If Rob likes it, it can't possibly be that bad.

Rob thinks Biometal is the best shooter on the SNES.

[Drum]

Genesis port is good if one is prepared for some missing animations (for example, the wasps nests do not pop up out of the ground before the wasps fly out of the nests, they are already above ground), frequent slowdown in many parts of the game, occasional graphics tearing, and some occurrences of enemy bullet flicker. Knowing that, it's quite respectable that the pulled off a 16-bit port of a 32-bit game. They even tried to get the soundtrack as close as possible to the arcade original.

Neo Geo is 32 bit? Come come now.

[Kiken]

Genesis port is good if one is prepared for some missing animations (for example, the wasps nests do not pop up out of the ground before the wasps fly out of the nests, they are already above ground), frequent slowdown in many parts of the game, occasional graphics tearing, and some occurrences of enemy bullet flicker. Knowing that, it's quite respectable that the pulled off a 16-bit port of a 32-bit game. They even tried to get the soundtrack as close as possible to the arcade original.

Neo Geo is 32 bit? Come come now.

No, but it is 24 bit! Although, I guess you could use the exact same argument for the MD/Genesis hardware.

[stryc9]

Isn't it a 16 bit main CPU and a Z80 for sound? (So 16 + 8 = 24 bits). I think the whole 24 bit thing was a marketing ploy, much like MD's much vaunted blast processing.

[Razorblade1812]

-

[ChainsawGuitarSP]

Rob thinks Biometal is the best shooter on the SNES.

I like how he has Aero Fighters damn near rock bottom on that same list in spite of the fact it's an improvement on both the original arcade release, and on Turbo Force as well.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Er, it's ye olde list of stuff. As a man o grand statements, he must know the taste of humble pie all too well by now.

[Edmond Dantes]

Why the heck is Cho Aniki of all things on the front page's list of stinkers?

[Kollision]

Why the heck is Cho Aniki of all things on the front page's list of stinkers?

I didn't bother to look, but if it's Ai Cho Aniki you're talking about, then it MUST be in the list.
All other games in the series are fine though.

[mesh control]

Rob thinks Biometal is the best shooter on the SNES.

I like how he has Aero Fighters damn near rock bottom on that same list in spite of the fact it's an improvement on both the original arcade release, and on Turbo Force as well.

Bio-Metal is the best SNES shooter.

[Skykid]

Why the heck is Cho Aniki of all things on the front page's list of stinkers?

I didn't bother to look, but if it's Ai Cho Aniki you're talking about, then it MUST be in the list.
All other games in the series are fine though.

That is patently untrue, most (if not all) the games in the series are crap. The Saturn one in horrible, as is the PS2 one. I can't comment on the Wonderswan ver.

Not enough people disputed the original Cho Aniki for it to be removed from the list, but if someone else is willing to back up the fact that it's actually good (I haven't played it) then I'll take it down.

[Rob]

I like how he has Aero Fighters damn near rock bottom on that same list in spite of the fact it's an improvement on both the original arcade release, and on Turbo Force as well.

Turbo Force is their greatest achievement. I wish Psikyo would've made a spiritual sequel.

[Edmond Dantes]

Cho Aniki may be an acquired taste admittedly. Gameplay-wise its fairly standard--you have your shot, your bombs and your adjustable speed. What makes it shine is that its incredibly effed-up.

[ChainsawGuitarSP]

Rob thinks Biometal is the best shooter on the SNES.

I like how he has Aero Fighters damn near rock bottom on that same list in spite of the fact it's an improvement on both the original arcade release, and on Turbo Force as well.

Bio-Metal is the best SNES shooter.

R-Type III is the best SNES shooter.

Turbo Force is their greatest achievement. I wish Psikyo would've made a spiritual sequel.

Not denying Turbo Force is a cool game, but what exactly makes Aero Fighters a significant drop from it now?

[AntiFritz]

R-Type III is the best SNES shooter.

This

[andsuchisdeath]

Biometal is the best SNES shooter.

[Kollision]

nah they're good but the best one is Axelay hands down

[stryc9]

No, Axelay only looks like the best shooter for the Super Fami

[Kollision]

It IS.

[Battletoad]

It looks like, sounds like and also is the best.

[Gus]

I remember playing this really crappy game once on the Genesis. Your hitbox was huge, there was no scoring system, and the levels felt way too long. I think it was called Musha or something like that.

[third_strike]

... Your hitbox was huge, there was no scoring system, and the levels felt way too long...

I almost vomited only reading this.

[toaplan_shmupfan]

The post about MUSHA being a shump stinker is likely a troll post, but anyway...

MUSHA hitbox: legs are nondestructable. Pro tip: place options in the path of shots, although they can be destroyed when hitting a wall they can also take up to 11 shots before being destroyed.

Long levels? I think a case can be made for the first, second, and fourth stages being long, but so what? Every stage has near constant enemy attacks with minimal letup all the way to the boss, that's the way a shump should be. If there's any flaw, it's that the bosses are too way easy except for the last three stages and also provided one is playing on Hard difficulty.

Scoring system? It has one--it uses the classic scoring system of the more enemies destroyed, the higher the player's score. Beyond that, well, I know I got more points destroying the two shooting pagodas in the middle of stage 1 when I used the blue shield than I did with the green laser so maybe that's another scoring system depending on what secondary weapon is in use?