The ultimate Best PC Shmup Ever thread

[PooshhMao]

Hi,

Sure, there have been similar threads before - somebody comes in here and asks something along the lines of 'so hey guys, could you recommend some great pc shmups for me plzkthx' and you people usually go like 'yeah this Touhou game is pretty good' or 'Tyrian rulez'

No. NO, THAT WON'T DO.

There are hundreds of shmups on the platform spanning well over two decades and what we really need is a permanently maintained top twenty (or hundred, whatever) of best. PC. shmups. ever.

So this would require voting, and making the topic sticky!
Maybe even add tiny little reviews.

And if there would be any kind of justice in this world, Siter Skain's stuff would be well up there!

Before I rant any further, I'd like to poll just how much enthusiasm you people would be willing to invest in such a project.

Thanks for reading.

[Fenrir]

Well, my idea of "best" shmup doesn't really go well with a thread with hundreds of titles. Kinda defies the puropose of a "all times best" thread right?

By the way, I guess we all agree that Robot Dinosaurs that Shoot Beams When they Roar is the best PC shmup, period.

[Zaarock]

Reviews are a good idea IMO, not sure about a list...
Since there are so many games to try out and hard to access, making a voted list of significance would be pretty hard.

[Observer]

WARNING: BIG WALL OF TEXT APPROACHING FAST.

I'm quite liking the recent PC schmkmup love in this place because, due to work circumstances, it's the only platform I can consistently use as my sacred gaming ground.

Plus I can play Super Aleste and DoDonPachi so I'm a happy person.

Anyway, I won't be repeating myself a lot but, personally, two games kinda hold the throne as "best PC schmukmup so far". And those two are Hellsinker (2004-2006, released in 2007) and Diadra Empty (2008). One is a vert, the latter is a hori so we cover both sides.

I won't go into little details but both have complex and deep scoring systems (Hellsinker actually is one of the most complex monsters ever), they are packed with secrets and additional stages, routes and difficulty modes. Hellsinker has 9 stages and two extras. A Full Sequence Order (the entire campaign, there is a "Short mission" mode) can take you over an hour. It's pretty much the doujin response to Radiant Silvergun but without the anal colour chaining and 1000% increased weirdness and inverted colours filter.

Diadra Empty has 8 chapters, it's a bit shorter (30 mins for the full campaign in Natural Level) but once you 1cc the 'normal level' things get even better. The True Level campaign might take a bit longer but where this game shines is on the Extra Level, an entire Extra campaign that was expanded through patches (it initially consisted of three chapters but icewind decided to add another two, for free, take that shitty paid DLC) that also improved the bullet patterns and cranked up the difficulty. Those two chapters of the Extra levels are simply awesome.

Then we have the weapons/options selection (there is enough shit available for pretty much all the tastes in both games), graphical quality (for doujin games, these beasts put to shame even some 'bigger' console shooters) and boss size (Diadra Empty wins here with its screen-filling, planet-sized bosses and Hellsinker takes the cake with bosses that tend to have a lot of different bullet patterns: try milking Rusted Dragon's options and you'll see the awesome variations it has, the Apostles of the Seed Dawn/Dusk are a visual overload as well).

Ok, I'm exaggerating. But they are really good. Their main problem is that it takes a while to get into them.

Anyway, next to these two comes Kamui and RefleX. Kamui and RefleX are the natural doujin successors of the Ray series. Fucking Taito won't release more Darius and Ray games? Fear not, Alltynex 2nd is coming to save the day. And we have these two for now.

Check the other PC threads for other honorable mentions like Samidare (colourful hell like Touhou but with mechs and ships, all hail Anareta and SMDx00, which is a tribute to Shinki, the final boss of Mystic Square), Cloudphobia (it's $15 bucks! Second best hori so far, fast and furious, full of 'manly-mecha-missile-barrage' and Macross memories), Hitogata Happa, Exception (it's getting an arcade port! Cubes of Doom win) and last but not least, Ether Vapor (it doesn't look like TFVI but I still think it's better) and Stella Vanity (Cave for PC, mishmash of Espgaluda, DoDonPachi and KETUI, excellent music but exaggerated slowdown effect, not released yet but the trial is out there and it's great).

Jeez, there are so many... And you even have the superior (at least for me, don't know the others) Raiden III port too.

Oh, agreed on the dinos. I recall there was an old SNES run 'n' gun game with heavy metal dinosaurs... Those were good days.

[Zaarock]

I agree with Observers views there pretty much, apart from the fact that I havent played Diadra Empty because my comp would be too slow to run it.

[PooshhMao]

Well at any rate, this forum appears to be the only hotbed of activity on shmups.com

Malc, where are you? b
The Xenocide files should be like a little wiki engine.
I'd be happy to contribute.

[lgb]

I wonder if someone besides me actually wants to turn that recent shoot 'em up wiki into something. Though I would like a private wiki, yes.

While I do not agree with every opinion provided by the site's owner, websites like this pretty much cover this thread's purpose.

[kengou]

By the way, I guess we all agree that Robot Dinosaurs that Shoot Beams When they Roar is the best PC shmup, period.

I might rank Blue Wish Resurrection or Eden's Aegis as #2 and #3, they're also very good. Can't top the dinosaurs though! ROOOAAAARRR

[Zaarock]

While I do not agree with every opinion provided by the site's owner, websites like this pretty much cover this thread's purpose.

Well shoot the core doesnt really have reviews and has short descriptions for each game. It's useful if you want a listing of various PC shmups but the OP already said he wanted something else.

and take for example hellsinkers description: "This one's a lot like Radio Zonde, and again, I'm not quite sure how everything works."

[LtC]

bwr, cho ren sha, hellsinker and kamui. and maybe zen-ichi and patriotdark

Better than 90% of commercially released arcade or console shmups. Yet people are too scared to take off their silk gloves to play them because lol pc shmup.

[redeyeguy_KIO]

Typhoon 2001.

'Nuff said.

[Afterbirth]

Personally i think Trouble Witches is the most amazing dedicated PC shmup. I love the secretism of Hellsinker as well. I think they've taken a few cues from Treasure as theres a ton of hidden secrets.

[captpain]

Major Stryker.

[Etrian]

Tyrian rulez

(where do you think the latter half of my name came from?)

[it290]

I still think Cho Ren Sha 68K is the most fun. There are a lot of PC shmups that are more refined, more well built, or whatever, but none of them have the instantaneous visceral appeal of CRS68K. That is all.

[Orochi.Kyo]

PC Shumps is a world apart, there are very good games on it.

I have an aproach to Samidare on my blog, but it's in spanish lenguage.
http://orochikyo.wordpress.com/2007/07/29/samidare/

There are tons of good games on PC, some are Kamui, Trouble Witches, Hitogga Happa, Angeraze 2, Zen-Ichi, Cho Ren Sha 68k, Ether Vapor, Cloudphobia, Air Rade Air, Warning Forever, Gundemonium Recollection, Gundeadligne, Bike Banditz.... and much more.

[Erinu]

DieFeen is my favorite PC doujin game. It's just so charming and the attention to detail is really nice. Samidare would be a close second.

[fogelmir]

War Machine Overload/Ether Vapor/Exceed 2nd and 3rd/Samidare


...and for all those that think trouble witches is easy. Get to stage 3.

Stupid Ice Chunks.

[Ed Oscuro]

Major Stryker.

MAJOR STRYKER

Also, Guxt is pretty good, though I need to beat it already and see what the extra mode is all about.

[Elaphe]

The problem with most doujin games for PC is that, although they are generally very nice from the point of view of playability and performance, the lack of any elaborated background graphics makes them really uninteresing, at least for me.

[Momijitsuki]

Tyrian rulez

(where do you think the latter half of my name came from?)

*thought your name was a reference to Etrian Odyssey*

Anyway, I'd say Perfect Cherry Blossom, Blue Wish Resurrection Plus, ChoRenSha 68k, and PatriotDark are the best PC shmups, but that's just my opinion...

[lgb]

The problem with most doujin games for PC is that, although they are generally very nice from the point of view of playability and performance, the lack of any elaborated background graphics makes them really uninteresing, at least for me.

Galaga just has a bunch of stars as a backdrop.

[A Black Falcon]

Raptor: Call of the Shadows is best, no question.

But yes, some kind of formal list thing would be cool... the problem really is just how many titles there are, with all the doujin games and such.

[Dragoforce]

Raptor: Call of the Shadows is best, no question.

I thought so too until I tried it again a couple of months ago. It's bland, slow and I don't like the "shop for weapons" thing. But it's good for a western shmup

[Warp_Rattler]

Raptor was fun in my childhood, on the most awesome 486DX2 (50MHz, baby!) with state-of-the-art Soundblaster audio. It's still purty, but the gameplay is a bit dated now.

ChoRenSha 68k is the OG of PC shmups. Kinda like Gradius, in a way: not the newest or flashiest kid on the block, but a solid title of yesteryear which still entertains.
Otherwise, I'm pretty partial to Imperishable Night, myself. I like that your scoring strategies have to change depending on the characters you select in order to take full advantage of their differences, and that if you're playing for score it's pretty obvious that the characters ARE quite different. At the same time, someone concerned with just a casual playthrough won't get completely boned because they don't know the difference. That's the mark of a good shmup, in my opinion--being equally accessable whether you're just playing it to keep entertained, or going for the WR.

[Mischief Maker]

Parsec 47 is the best Kenta Cho shmup, even though it gets the least attention. The high speed and frentic item grabbing make for an exciting good time.

The best Shanghai Alice Shmup is a tossup between Imperishable Night and Perfect Cherry Blossom. Both have great scoring systems, weapon variety, music, and beautiful bullet patterns. But I still don't get how anyone could find this game arousing. Latex fetishists make more sense to me.

RefleX I would say is one of the all-time must-play demos, but the additional levels of the full version just feel rushed and uninspired, relying on messy bullethell (that you just reflect with your shield) to cover up their lack of ideas for boss attacks. Even the graphics are a step down. Why isn't the blue christ ship's hexagram beam animated? Why couldn't they use the awesome effect they used to render the Sagittarius battleship's beams? The extra surprises at the end wouldn't mean anything to someone who hasn't played Kamui.

I love all Ketsupachis, including Solid State Survivor, Patriot Dark, and BWR.

But the best shmup on the PC I have to agree is Hellsinker. I think. I'm still not sure I understand everything going on in that game.

[Davey]

Parsec 47 is the best Kenta Cho shmup, even though it gets the least attention. The high speed and frentic item grabbing make for an exciting good time.

I've been creaming myself over this game for years, so of course I have to say I agree that it's Kenta Cho's best. IMHO it's also the best PC shmup. Although I wouldn't say it gets the least attention. On this site, it probably has the most active score board of all his games, FWIW.

Maybe there should be something like the Top 25, but just for PC shmups. Although then people might also want Top 25 hori shmups or Top 25 helicopter shmups or Top 25 early 90's shmups...

[Warp_Rattler]

The Top 25 Top 25 Shmups.

[Davey]

Top 25 Loli shmups would win by a landslide.

[null1024]

I'd have to vote for either Cho Ren Sha [finely tuned, very playable, very classic in look and feel, runs well on just about anything, even in Wine on Linux being emulated in VMware, using Mesa3d to do DirectDraw stuffs] or rRootage. I like Parsec47, but it doesn't play as well as some of his others [including Noiz2sa].