Horizontal or vertical... Which do you prefer?????

[crackfox]

Just asking this as i tend to prefer vertical shooters but my 2 all time favourites Progear and Blazing Star are both Hori!! Weird.......

[clp]

Just asking this as i tend to prefer vertical shooters but my 2 all time favourites Progear and Blazing Star are both Hori!! Weird.......

I kinda sway like il go months of just verts and then some months of horis , atm im just getting into horis more Gradius 4 , gaiden , blazing star , metal black , salamander 2 , rtype leo and last resort !!! not progear though hate that game it just doesnt feel like a hori to me .

[crackfox]

played r type leo for first time today... pretty cool

[evil_ash_xero]

I like them both about the same. But yeah, "they don't make 'em like they used to". Gradius V and DeathSmiles being BIG exceptions. Most of the greats are from the 90's, while verts have had some strong titles all the way up to a few years ago.

But at the end of the day my favorite horis like Thunderforce IV, R-Type III, Gradius Gaiden, Gradius V, G Darius, Einhander, DeathSmiles..etc. can hold their own against it's amazing vert competition. But verts might have them on sheer numbers.

[Drum]

Pretty broad topic so I'm basically just talking in generalities here (read: everything I am saying is wrong).
I have more favourite horis, but also more that I absolutely hate - I can play just about anything vert and be at least amused.
I guess I maybe just have stronger opinions on horis/am more familiar with them. Verts tend to have more interesting scoring/hooks tho (if they didn't, they'd be as indistinguishable from each other as they must look to people on the outside looking in) and tend to have more satisfying shooting - wish some of that would rub off on horis so I wouldn't have to play verts :/

[clp]

Pretty broad topic so I'm basically just talking in generalities here (read: everything I am saying is wrong).
I have more favourite horis, but also more that I absolutely hate - I can play just about anything vert and be at least amused.
I guess I maybe just have stronger opinions on horis/am more familiar with them. Verts tend to have more interesting scoring/hooks tho (if they didn't, they'd be as indistinguishable from each other as they must look to people on the outside looking in) and tend to have more satisfying shooting - wish some of that would rub off on horis so I wouldn't have to play verts :/

Swings and round-a-bouts horis IMO seem to have so much more atmosphere to them and tend to make me full of tension which i like . Basically both have there plus points .

[Drum]

Yeah, most of my favourites have a cool atmosphere - Gradius Gaiden, Gynoug, Sexy Parodius, Biohazard Battle, Lords of Thunder, Dragon Breed, X Multiply. That is (almost) a list of my fave shmups period so it figures pretty large I guess.

[The Coop]

Horizontal.

They usually incorporate a healthy amount of parallax, along with landscapes that you can actually run into more often than not (verts don't do this as much, and I feel it detracts from the game... makes verts feel less immersive).

[sunburstbasser]

In general, I prefer horis. Darius Gaiden is one of my favorite shmups, and my favorite hori. Navigating through scenery as well as bullets is a great pleasure.

[Vyxx]

Vertizontal

[njiska]

Generally I prefer Vertical as for some reason it feels the most natural. But really it's more about the design than the perspective. Turn a vert, horizontal and i cannot play it. Turn a Horizontal, Vert and the same happens.

Vertizontal

Well hello Mr. Fancy Pants

[Drum]

Generally I prefer Vertical as for some reason it feels the most natural. But really it's more about the design than the perspective. Turn a vert, horizontal and i cannot play it. Turn a Horizontal, Vert and the same happens.

You can't play Progear or Super Aleste? :(

[njiska]

Generally I prefer Vertical as for some reason it feels the most natural. But really it's more about the design than the perspective. Turn a vert, horizontal and i cannot play it. Turn a Horizontal, Vert and the same happens.

You can't play Progear or Super Aleste?

Exception that proves the rule. I happen to really like playing Pro Gear.

[brentsg]

Vertical with no question.

The only thing I like about horizontal is that ports work well with my plasma.

[lgb]

isometric

[agustusx]

The only thing I like about horizontal is that ports work well with my plasma.

Stole my response.

I have quite a few verts I love, but the list is much smaller for horis. I like DS and Sengoku Ace ep2, but never could get into the gradius, darius, parodius type games. I wouldn't mind more horis, but I guess I just haven't stumbled upon many that hooked me.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

In general, vertical:
- although I'm not opposed to playing games where it's possible to run into objects (I do enjoy a game of Blazing Star or one of the R-types from time to time), I prefer the gameplay of vertical bullet hell shooters as they feel more dynamic to me (and they're more fun)
- I built a bartop with a vertical screen (stealth bragging ahoi) and changing the screen to horizontal feels like too much of a hassle. Same goes for a tated TV.
- my favourite games happen to be vertical danmakus

[Austin]

I am going to say Vertical, but truth be told, that's just because it seems like there are not as many awesome horizontal shmups as there are vertical ones. Gotta love Blazing Star though.

[emphatic]

Sometimes I play Progear in TATE.

[chempop]

Tough call. Growing up I preferred horis (Life Force, Thunder Force, Gates of Thunder etc), but these days there just aren't as many great ones being made. Although I do like Gradius V, Last Hope and Deathsmiles TONS... Overall I'd go with Vert because nothing is quite as great as playing a game in Tate.

I really miss parallax scrolling though' vert backgrounds are often just flat wallpaper

They are both awesome for different reasons, Hori are more epic and atmospheric,
While Vert are more manic and adrenaline inducing.

[Shuurin]

I like both for different reasons, but if I could only pick one I'd have have to say vertical. Horizontals are oddly less challenging to me and I can usually make it much further and have 1cc'ed more horis than verts. Horizontal games do have more atmosphere, although in my opinion vertical tend to have a more attractive scoring mechanic than horizontal games which keeps the replay value alive longer for me.

[PsychoGun]

Vert is the only way to play, unless we're talking deathsmiles...

[raigon50]

Tough question man...
I think I'd have to say Verti. I like my bullets, lots of bullets, all of them pink and coming at me from every angle. I do like Hori like Gradius, R-type, and Darius, they have cooler ships. lol

[Battletoad]

Vertical shooters by far meanwhile. Mainly because I prefer score shooters over classical ones, and I can´t think of a horizontal score shooter I really enjoyed. Of course I still adore some horis, especially the Thunder Force games and the according stages of Axelay. Additionally, horis often have better graphics (more parallax scrolling).

[Ed Oscuro]

I think it's important that we all take a step back and acknowledge that
Major Stryker
defies classification.
It dares you to try. (Comic book emphasis patterns.)
Stronger men than us have tried to classify that game, and it wasn't pretty.
(Pretty.)

God bless them all.

I prefer square games myself.

[krokodil_final]

Overall: Vertical. But I like Progear and R-type Leo pretty much. Akai Katana also looks fun.

[Obiwanshinobi]

(Comic book emphasis patterns.)

This thing is AMERICAN. NORTH American to be precise. In the REST of the world they don't NORMALLY do comic book writing like that. Well, maybe in the UK they do.
I SEE what you DID there, though. Reading Lone Wolf and Cub (DC edition) recently I caught myself THINKING emphasised LETTERS and WORDS a couple of times.

[the black_7]

Horis. Hands down. For some reason to me Verts have a limited feeling.

[emphatic]

Why is there not a poll attached?

Vertical games I say. Best invention since sliced bread.

[Sizzler7]

I'm fairly new here but I prefer vertical. But play whatever I can get my hands on! Deathsmiles has been a lot of fun.