Most competitive shmup games?

[TarkanX]

Hello, I've been lurking this site for about 4-5 years now, on and off, and I want to put some of my scores in the high score board section (Gradius 2, Gradius 3, R-Type, and Salamander).

My question is, what are the most competitive shmup games? What I mean by most competitive, is that people are constantly fighting for the high score, and there are a large group of people competing against each other (and I'm not just talking about this site, but other places with shmup competition, such as GAMEST/Arcadia). Example of a highly competitive game would be DoDonPachi, example of a not so competitive game, I guess would be this: http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=495

Also, what is the verdict on console or handheld-only shmups (pre 32-bit era)? How are those compared to the competition of the arcade?

I have a list of a whole bunch of shmup games (arcade, console, and PC), but I think it would be too tedious to point out which are highly competitive and which aren't.

The reason why I ask, is that I want something more to play for, rather than getting a high score in a game no one cares about.

Edit: Also, what is the consensus on games that counter-stop (reach a score limit)? Does it make a game less competitive, since there can be multiple 1st place players?

[Voxbox]

The games of Cave and Raizing are definitly some of the most competitive out there.

[ROBOTRON]

The games of Cave and Raizing are definitly some of the most competitive out there.

Agreed.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Dunno about Compile. No one seems to play Seirei Senshi Spriggan competitively over here (I mean those funky Score & Time Attack modes).

[Plasmo]

Try Armed Police Batrider or Battle Garegga. Both very active scoreboards. (from time to time)

[Jockel]

Grab a buddy and play Twinkle Star Sprites in versus mode, as competitive as it gets.
Loads of fun, too.

[xris]

Stick to what you're good at. If you are good enough to start taking number one spots from people, then it will get competitive.

[EPS21]

If a game can be counter-stopped, just think of it like some accomplishment and thats the best possible you can do. I don't think there's any legitimate shmup thats an easy counter-stop, doing it in Mars Matrix for instance is no small feat. I agree it might kill some competition in a way that if one or a few people have done it, there's no point trying if you can't either. Just stick to whatever is the most fun for you, one of your favorites should have some activity here (pretty sparse all around here though unfortunately).

[Dragoforce]

Counterstop some Toaplan games with me

[Ruldra]

Counterstop some Toaplan games with me

Let's counterstop Tatsujin Oh!

[Sonic R]

Grab a buddy and play Twinkle Star Sprites in versus mode, as competitive as it gets.
Loads of fun, too.

a quote of truth indeed!
Twinkle Star Sprites is great competition among friends… we've had gatherings at my home where we played hours of Twinkle Star Sprites and it was non stop edge of the seat excitement and fun throughout! Our house rule however is that the fuzzballs (Nanja Monja) is banned from use

[TarkanX]

Actually, Twinkle Star Sprites is one of my favorite games (exclusively for versus-mode). In Neo gatherings in Minnesota, it gets some burn, and the occasional tournament.

Our house rule however is that the fuzzballs (Nanja Monja) is banned from use

You should ban Mevious and Memory instead, Nanja Manja is a good character, but nothing broken about them.

Stick to what you're good at. If you are good enough to start taking number one spots from people, then it will get competitive.

I think there is a certain thrill and achievement when you claim a top spot in a highly played game than one that isn't played as much, but I can agree with this statement.

If a game can be counter-stopped, just think of it like some accomplishment and thats the best possible you can do. I don't think there's any legitimate shmup thats an easy counter-stop, doing it in Mars Matrix for instance is no small feat. I agree it might kill some competition in a way that if one or a few people have done it, there's no point trying if you can't either. Just stick to whatever is the most fun for you, one of your favorites should have some activity here (pretty sparse all around here though unfortunately).

I agree, it shouldn't water the game down if it is counter-stopped, as long as it is very hard to do it. When I thought of a game that was relatively (using that term loosely) easy to counter-stop, I thought of Lode Runner, an arcade game made in 1984, where a whole bunch of people have the world record, sometimes using techniques that are quite simple. Pac-Man is a game that has been counter-stopped by 5 or 6 people, but it is one of the most competitive high score games out there.

[Aru-san]

Pac-Man is a game that has been counter-stopped by 5 or 6 people, but it is one of the most competitive high score games out there.

You can counterstop Pac-Man?

[TarkanX]

counter-stop would be the wrong word, but the game reaches its "limit".

[Davey]

Stick to what you're good at. If you are good enough to start taking number one spots from people, then it will get competitive.

Not necessarily. For example, I still have some Kenta Cho #1 high scores from years ago. It wouldn't be tough to top them, but most people have better things to do with their time. I'm sure some other doujin/console/old games are in the same boat.