New to bullet hells

[OBSCVRA]

]
How many of us are there?

It's like I just found out I'm a COBRA footsoldier or something, sheesh...

Not enough.... yet...

[toaplan_shmupfan]

New to bullet hells I would recommend starting with Truxton--but not the Sega Genesis version unless a Game Genie is available to use code SANA-BNZY to start at loop 2 (*), because loop 1 on the Genesis version is reduced patterns and that Rainbow Circle Shot for red level 3 removes a lot of the risk of getting hit from the bottom of the screen entering ships.

Too easy? Then go to the other recommendations here. Too hard? I'd say stick it out and learn the dodging with fast aimed slightly narrower spreads and a full size hitbox before going to the more dense bullet patterns with the smaller hitboxes--good practice for Psikyo shumps like the Strikers 1945 series.

(* Sega Genesis Truxton start at loop 2: 1. Enter code SANA-BNZY; 2. Start the game with the Game Genie powered off; 3. Power on the Game Genie when the game first starts; 4. Power off the Game Genie when the loop 1 ending starts to play; 5. Enjoy starting at loop 2--play on Normal for the full effect because Easy is slower and Hard is too fast for loop 2.)

[SolderFace]

I have completely fallen in love with Guwange since it was released on xbox live. I highly recommend it

I searched for a guwange thread but this seems like a good place. I bought it and did not like it all that much. it is the cheapest cave game you can download in north america so you can't hate the price. I have 2 other cave games on xbox that I love. my two big problems are not knowing where or how big my hitbox is. there are lots of characters so its even harder to learn them all. the other complaint is that there is so much crap trying to kill me I hardly ever get to use the second attack where your main character can not move but can be killed in 0.1 seconds. maybe the only way to play it is to be pro and kill everything as soon as it shows up on the screen. shikigami 3 had the same controls but it was more usable IMO.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

^ For hitboxes in popular STGs just do a google image search. (shmup name) hitbox

[MrChiggins]

Here are some of my favorite lesser known-ish beginner-friendly games just so you have a bigger pool to choose from.
They're all fairly doable 1-ALLs:

*Kingdom Grandprix - A shmup/racing hybrid made by Raizing. Rank is either nonexistent or barely a factor. A bunch of different ships to choose from. Instantly became one of my favorite games.

*Blazing Star - A very pretty and well designed horizontal with, you guessed it, a bunch of different ships to choose from. "What Blazing Star did for shooters is like what Metal Slug did for run and gun, IMO, it is an absolute beauty." - Some reviewer

*Hyper Duel - A simple but great horizontal where your ship can transform into a robot and back again at will.

*Twinkle Star Sprites - A shmup/puzzle hybrid where every stage is a head-to-head battle.


And as for the more obvious choices I gotta back Espgaluda and Dragon Blaze.
Espgaluda was my first 1-ALL and I've never looked back. Very doable and scoring is a simple joyous pleasure.
Dragon Blaze is fairly difficult for a beginner but it's such a great game that you might just want to practice until you get that beautiful million point clear.

Down voting Battle Garegga because you said in your original post that you don't want difficult rank systems. Battle Garegga = THE difficult rank system. It is a great game and you totally might love it even though you're a beginner, but clearing it is an absolute monster. Try it if you want but I'm lumping it in there with Espgaluda II as a Great Game Not to Suggest to Beginners.

[SolderFace]

blazing star is sweet. the realistic 3d background animations that run in a loop are very nice for a game this old. has a similar feel to Rtype.

[Deca]

Can we please stop scaring new guys away from Garegga. Rank management really is not as hard as you people want it to be. You can approach the game with no rank control in mind and learn a ton without needing it, then when youre consistently clearing st5 you just add some control elements to your strategy which at that point aren't a big deal due to your familiarity with the game. St6 through to the end involves virtually no rank control whatsoever.

Yes the game is hard, but anyone can clear it if they want to. I can't comprehend considering it even half as obtuse and confusing as galuda 2. I'd say a beginner is more likely to have a good time learning Garegga than ketsui or even doj.

[Bananamatic]

I've been playing for a few years and I wouldn't touch a raizing game with a 10 foot pole

[Special World]

I've been playing for a few years and I wouldn't touch a raizing game with a 10 foot pole

too bad, they're really fun to play, even casually

and Battle Garegga has the best VG OST of all time.

[Obscura]

I dunno if I'd say that Raizing games are simpler than Espgaluda 2, from my experience.

Espgaluda 2's system is just "kill shit for gems, use gems to slow down time to turn bullets into gold, use gold + gems to slow down time and turn lots of bullets into lots of points". And, if you suck like I do, Zesshikai (or however it's spelled) really just becomes a "use this if you've got gold when you're about to kill a boss" thing.

On the other hand, I've pumped a few credits into Ibara (which is sort of a Raizing game), and had absolutely no fucking idea what was going on, even after reading the strategy threads and watching a few videos. Grab medals, don't drop any, and they increase in point values. Ok, I can do that. Oh wait, the ships move really, really slow so actually catching the damn things is really hard. Bomb buildings, they create medals... except when they don't. The ship selection is accomplished by pushing buttons while pushing the start button, instead of the game actually telling you "choose your ship!" like a normal game would. Your most powerful weapon is ramming an enemy while picking up a power up. Except you have to avoid most of the power ups. Most of your firepower, instead of shooting forward, aims at some random-ass direction that does basically no good.. And that's before even getting into the vagaries of strategic suicides. The highest I've ever scored at the end of the first level is around 300,000 points, and usually I'm at just over 200,000.

[SolderFace]

Dodonpachi on mame was probably one of the first cave shmups I ever played. it was cool but I just blasted through quarters to finish it one time. I went back after my love for shmups was more seasoned. definitely having more fun now that I have been playing every cave game ever. you get good at it and you learn it. then its really really fun. so the game did not change but I changed. this is also why I play more ketsui now too. both great games. playing mushihimesama futari BL GOD has lots of slow moving bullets. after that, you learn to use the same skills on faster but less dense patterns.

[Special World]

I dunno if I'd say that Raizing games are simpler than Espgaluda 2, from my experience.

Espgaluda 2's system is just "kill shit for gems, use gems to slow down time to turn bullets into gold, use gold + gems to slow down time and turn lots of bullets into lots of points". And, if you suck like I do, Zesshikai (or however it's spelled) really just becomes a "use this if you've got gold when you're about to kill a boss" thing.

On the other hand, I've pumped a few credits into Ibara (which is sort of a Raizing game), and had absolutely no fucking idea what was going on, even after reading the strategy threads and watching a few videos. Grab medals, don't drop any, and they increase in point values. Ok, I can do that. Oh wait, the ships move really, really slow so actually catching the damn things is really hard. Bomb buildings, they create medals... except when they don't. The ship selection is accomplished by pushing buttons while pushing the start button, instead of the game actually telling you "choose your ship!" like a normal game would. Your most powerful weapon is ramming an enemy while picking up a power up. Except you have to avoid most of the power ups. Most of your firepower, instead of shooting forward, aims at some random-ass direction that does basically no good.. And that's before even getting into the vagaries of strategic suicides. The highest I've ever scored at the end of the first level is around 300,000 points, and usually I'm at just over 200,000.

I can enjoy Battle Garegga without playing with rank/score. Can't say the same for Esp2, which has incredibly complex systems, imo.

[Vyxx]

On the other hand, I've pumped a few credits into Ibara (which is sort of a Raizing game), and had absolutely no fucking idea what was going on, even after reading the strategy threads and watching a few videos. Grab medals, don't drop any, and they increase in point values. Ok, I can do that. Oh wait, the ships move really, really slow so actually catching the damn things is really hard. Bomb buildings, they create medals... except when they don't. The ship selection is accomplished by pushing buttons while pushing the start button, instead of the game actually telling you "choose your ship!" like a normal game would. Your most powerful weapon is ramming an enemy while picking up a power up. Except you have to avoid most of the power ups. Most of your firepower, instead of shooting forward, aims at some random-ass direction that does basically no good.. And that's before even getting into the vagaries of strategic suicides. The highest I've ever scored at the end of the first level is around 300,000 points, and usually I'm at just over 200,000.

Lawl

Ibara felt overwhelming for me at first due to the fact that the stage 2 boss is a bitch until you learn the ways to avoid that unmentionable pattern. Also, Bond's speed is fine I don't know what you're upset about, Dyne is a damn truck though.

Ibara is brilliance, learn2play mah man.

[MrChiggins]

Can we please stop scaring new guys away from Garegga.

I mean they're all enjoyable games and any potential player may enjoy the shit out of them. But this being a suggestion topic I gave my two cents.
I have a fonder appreciation for Garegga and Espgaluda II now even though I'm still not great at them, and when I played them a year ago I still enjoyed them and they probably granted me more skill per hour than the other games I was playing, but my memories of playing them aren't nearly as fond as my memories of playing games like Espgaluda... games I could actually clear.
It's not this way for everyone but I think most need to get a few clears to really hit that next level of shmup lovin' and appreciation. So I'm trying to suggest based on my own experience.

That being said, imo Espgaluda II Arrange is another great suggestion for beginners.
The fairly complex scoring mechanic is still there but survival difficulty is turned waaayyy down, the graphics are even prettier than Arcade mode, and you slowly earn the right to make the game harder with your clears so you get an obvious sense of meta-progression which most shmups lack.
The meta-progression is pretty silly but kind of cool.

[Obscura]

For comparison, I just played a few rounds each of Ibara and Espgaluda 2.

In Ibara, I made it out of the first stage on three credits out of ten (seriously, who thought that having gray bullets with a blue outline was OK on a stage with blue and gray backgrounds?!?! WTF). On Espgaluda 2, I made it to stage three on four credits out of four. And got the extend on three of them (last credit, I totally biffed scoring on the stage 2 boss), as opposed to getting exactly one extend while playing Ibara (oh, hey, my Bond C bomb decided to target a building other than the one I'm sitting on top of, so now there's a medal shower I can't possibly catch. Wonderful.) Yeah, I definitely think Espgaluda 2 is more beginner friendly by a mile.

[Special World]

For comparison, I just played a few rounds each of Ibara and Espgaluda 2.

In Ibara, I made it out of the first stage on three credits out of ten (seriously, who thought that having gray bullets with a blue outline was OK on a stage with blue and gray backgrounds?!?! WTF). On Espgaluda 2, I made it to stage three on four credits out of four. And got the extend on three of them (last credit, I totally biffed scoring on the stage 2 boss), as opposed to getting exactly one extend while playing Ibara (oh, hey, my Bond C bomb decided to target a building other than the one I'm sitting on top of, so now there's a medal shower I can't possibly catch. Wonderful.) Yeah, I definitely think Espgaluda 2 is more beginner friendly by a mile.

Why are we even talking about Ibara? Ibara is Cave, not Raizing, and it's fucking ass hard. I wouldn't recommend Ibara to any newcomer. Hell, I wouldn't recommend Ibara to myself. Battle Garegga, on the other hand, is a very easy game to enjoy for any skill level player.

[Obscura]

Everything I've ever read says that Ibara is a sequel to Garegga in all but name, with basically identical systems and very similar level/boss designs.

Both were programmed by Yagawa.

[Special World]

Everything I've ever read says that Ibara is a sequel to Garegga in all but name, with basically identical systems and very similar level/boss designs.

Both were programmed by Yagawa.

If I were to recommend a newcomer Futari, it would be their own fault if they chose to play Ultra.

Garegga might be similar in a lot of ways to Ibara, but what you're primarily complaining about is the difficulty, which is absolutely monstrous in Ibara. I've played it a couple times, and I don't think I ever got past the second level. I was able to get through the second level in Garegga within my first few credits, and that was without trying to control rank or anything "higher-level" like that. Garegga's a pretty chill game if you want it to be, especially compared to most of Yagawa's games. There's a lot of esoteric knowledge (how to unlock ships, where to bomb, etc) but it's something that's really easy to ignore for your first couple of hours, and not a terrible chore after that. The game has great design (much better than Ibara's, imo) and there's a totally bumping soundtrack to keep you coming back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDdPz_itl-0

By all means, ignore Garegga based on how nightmarishly hard Ibara is. But, even though it's not my favorite STG, I can easily see all the merits that warrant Garegga winning the forums' #1 vote for best shooting game. We're all gamers here. We all have some extra time to spend on our hobby, looking for new experiences. Whenever you have a spare fifteen minutes, fire up Garegga and give it a credit. I think you'll be happily surprised.

[Obscura]

Well, I just gave Garegga a few tries. Same shit, different pile. Well, except the bullets are even more invisible.

[Deca]

I guess it's good at sorting out the riff raff

[spl]

Obscura,

You are probably just used to the easy to see pink/blue bullets from Cave shooters.

How exactly are you trying to play Garegga that you think it's hard?

Do me a favour and load up Raiden. Let's see your complaints about that.

[Obscura]

How exactly are you trying to play Garegga that you think it's hard?

What do you mean by this?

If you mean "how are you playing such that the bullets are almost invisible", I'm playing on a tated LCD monitor.

[Bee Cool]

I don't really want to add much to this argument except that I don't understand why people act like Garegga's bullets are near invisible. If you are using a monitor that isn't blurred to all hell, and you are a proper distance to the screen, you should be able to see the bullets without much trouble. I think the main problem is that everyone is so used to neon bullets being thrown at them that they are shocked when something that isn't over the top eye-catching hits them.

[spl]

I don't really want to add much to this argument except that I don't understand why people act like Garegga's bullets are near invisible. If you are using a monitor that isn't blurred to all hell, and you are a proper distance to the screen, you should be able to see the bullets without much trouble. I think the main problem is that everyone is so used to neon bullets being thrown at them that they are shocked when something that isn't over the top eye-catching hits them.

This is what I meant. Too used to Cave's colourful bullets.

Obscura,

If that is your only complaint - get the Saturn version which has an option to make bullets red dots which you can see clearly. Or just practice.

[Obscura]

The bullet visibility isn't my only complaint about Garegga (none of the ships "feel" right, and I'm not a fan of medal chaining); it's just the biggest one.

Also, I just gave Bakraid a try, and found myself liking it WAY more than Garegga. The Flame Viper ship feels good, the music is much better, and the bullets are actually visible!

[Deca]

The problem isn't with the bullets being visible themselves, it's that you're not used to filtering out all the explosions and debris yet. I have no trouble seeing Garegga bullets.

Try the Golden Bat (Select Wild Snail with A+B+C or let it time out on it), most people have pretty good luck with that ship.

[Illyrian]

I've been playing for a few years and I wouldn't touch a raizing game with a 10 foot pole

too bad, they're really fun to play, even casually

and Battle Garegga has the best VG OST of all time.

Garegga's OST is boring and dull, you're mad!

I personally wouldn't suggest Esp II or Ibara to newbies Esp II's scoring system is too complicated for newbie players and Ibara is...well...Ibara.
Garegga is fine for newbies as rank doesn't really come into it unless you're scoring loads of points quickly or get past stage 4, which takes a while to learn.

Garegga's bullets are hard to see initially though, having said that if you start with Garegga and then go onto Cave games, the Cave bullets will seem to jump out of the screen and punch you in the face!

[trap15]

Shameless plug: DoDonPachi Arrange

[SolderFace]

If I were to recommend a newcomer Futari, it would be their own fault if they chose to play Ultra

I think the massive slowdown in BL GOD makes it easier than ULTRA. I burn way more credits in ultra but a 1cc on stage 1 + boss in GOD is easy for a noob IMO.

[Kollision]

I was pleasantly surprised with Bullet Soul on the 360, and now I think it suits newcomers nicely.
The game clicked with my fiancée and she was gladly enyoing it.
"feels so good to kill these things", she yelled at one moment. But then stage 2 came and she couldn't cope with the boss, so I joined her and played one credit until the 5th boss.

Boss fights are long, yeah, but they're also great to practice dodging.
If you're new to the genre and want to have fun with bullet hell definitely try this one. Never mind complicated scoring systems or point blanking, worry about that later.