Shooters with weird atmospheres

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 8:11 pm

R-Type Final is probably going to be one of the first ones popping into everyone's head, but I've been playing some Paranoia (aka Psychosis) on the PCE lately, and I swear the developers must have been hopped up on SOMETHING when they made it, it's pure acid trip. Hard to believe it came from the same makers of Coryoon....

Your mind is not spared, already in the first stage. So there's a beach an ocean in the background, nothing special, right? But when the powerups warp in from another dimension, and as the stage scrolls by, the beach cracks and breaks up into oblivion... and even the ocean melts over the edge.. it creeps me out!! I don't know what's "real" anymore!. Weird eyeball things spawn out of a gigantic rotting apple. The whole package is downright disturbing....

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 8:27 pm

Most of the Parodius games could probably qualify for the "What were the developers smoking?" category...I know one of my friends nominated them straight off when I showed one of 'em to him.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 8:31 pm

I love psychedelic shmups! I guess we could call them shroomin' shmups. Was Fantasy Zone the first (1986, I believe)?

BUHA · Post by **BUHA** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 9:36 pm

biohazard battle is oozing with atmosphere

it290 · Post by **it290** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 9:39 pm

Darwin 4081. The third level has you flying over a circuit board, blasting ICs into oblivion.

The Bullet Dodger · Post by **The Bullet Dodger** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 9:51 pm

Darius Gaiden had me feeling like I was on acid the first time I played it. Some of those levels are really distracting.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 10:03 pm

Forgotten Worlds, X Multiply.

Dewclaw · Post by **Dewclaw** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 10:25 pm

Damn, R-Type Final was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the subject.

I was playing Abadox today and it's pretty creepy.

tehkao · Post by **tehkao** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 10:27 pm

Xexex, I never could figure out what the crap I was shooting at.

MadSteelDarkness · Post by **MadSteelDarkness** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 11:06 pm

You want creepy/gross?

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Chimera Beast.

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 11:11 pm

*horrid fascination*

Cool suggestions guys, I think I'll be trying some of these out now :D

tehkao · Post by **tehkao** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 11:22 pm

Chimera Beast is also a good choice for the "shmups where the roles are reversed" thread.

Andi · Post by **Andi** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 11:28 pm

Rob wrote:Forgotten Worlds, X Multiply.

I NEED X-Multiply! I just can't afford the expensive asking price for the Saturn release. Ugh. God, I'm sure it would be my favorite game ever though.

Skyline · Post by **Skyline** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 11:29 pm

Cho Aniki

Night Raid's pretty bizarre as well. With the whole abstract geometry throught the game, and Stage 4 looking like you're fighting against a demonic CLOCK.

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 11:30 pm

Skyline wrote:Cho Aniki

:shock:

Oh dear. I want to be creeped out, but not THAT much, heh...

Sly Cherry Chunks · Post by **Sly Cherry Chunks** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 11:41 pm

Try Galshell: Blood Red Skies. It has some proper wierd visuals and it's a pretty nifty game. I'm sure there's a link to it at Shootthecore.com.

gameoverDude · Post by **gameoverDude** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 5:02 am

Fantasy Zone II. The psychedelic factor in this one is 10x that of the first game at least. With a game like this, who needs acid?

Stage 5 in Giga Wing Generations is a bit Night Raid-esque also. The 4th stage boss is a bit on the weird side.

Rezon is worthy of a mention here considering it's inspired by R-Type.

IlMrm · Post by **IlMrm** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 6:24 am

Not that I've gotten there, but the last boss of Zero Gunner 2.

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 6:46 am

Metal Black feels really messed up in its bizarre sci-fi gibberish mixed with psychedelic colored backgrounds.

Marc · Post by **Marc** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 7:42 am

Last Resort is a 'moody' shooter, the first stage backdrop and music... awsome.

Gynoug on the Mega Drive... some of the music in that game was superb - stage 1, boss music, stage 3... and the intro music still makes the hairs on my neck stand to attention. Add in some SNES-beating graphical effects, such as the fifth round which is really gross and you have a winner. Classic IMO.

But yeah, for sheer atmosphere you can't really beat Final.

Davey · Post by **Davey** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 4:09 pm

That one freeware game where you shoot condoms over viruses and sperm is a bit out there. It's not a real shmup, though. The name, anyone?

RoninBuddha · Post by **RoninBuddha** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 4:17 pm

Salamander, Curse, again, ChoAniki...

prolly, most oft eh organic themed shmups..

on the positive note... Rez has a great feel to it..

Nuke · Post by **Nuke** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 4:56 pm

Davey wrote:That one freeware game where you shoot condoms over viruses and sperm is a bit out there. It's not a real shmup, though. The name, anyone?

Catch the sperm 2?

....I shudder to think how nr 1 was.....

BIG · Post by **BIG** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 6:01 pm

Download II

B-

Dewclaw · Post by **Dewclaw** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 6:07 pm

Here's another one that you might get a kick out of. Looks like what ID Software would do if they made a shmup.

sjewkestheloon · Post by **sjewkestheloon** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 6:14 pm

well after finally reaching the final stage on biohazard battle and getting my ass beat i've got to say it's pretty wierd.... maggots in what looks like poo, eyeballs that randomly appear, penises that grow (lvl3 boss anyone), flying sperm....

class game, and also great music. very atmospheric and pounding. enough to put you in a trance!

Post by **Ghegs** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 6:33 pm

Dewclaw wrote:Here's another one that you might get a kick out of. Looks like what ID Software would do if they made a shmup.

That does look rather cool in the freaky sense, but dodging red bullets against a background that's darker red?

mirkvid · Post by **mirkvid** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 8:33 pm

IlMrm wrote:Not that I've gotten there, but the last boss of Zero Gunner 2.

hahaha!! that dude totally looks like hulk hogan!

zinger · Post by **zinger** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 9:46 pm

Rob wrote:Forgotten Worlds

Yeah, this game has a pretty weird feeling to it, reminds me of Strider (which ofcourse, is by Capcom aswell).

I love the atmosphere in Metal Black (which has already been mentioned).
Gun Frontier (Gun & Frontier) and Darius Gaiden are also worth mentioning.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 4:18 am

Shikigami no Shiro I-- both the sound and the look-- seems to me drug induced.