New to shmups...where to start?

[Heartwork]

Hi forum. I signed up here awhile ago, and lurk occasionally. I'm pretty new to shmups, and I'm looking for some good ones to get started with. I've got a dreamcast, and an NTSC-U PS2, and a computer, but no arcade cab or anything. What can/should I play that's reasonably noob-friendly, and can be obtained on a budget? All I've really played is Ikaruga on dreamcast and some arcade stuff like Raiden III and IV and the old 194X games.

[rancor]

Check out my site in my sig. Go to the "Free Downloads" area and get everything in red. Great place to start for doujin PC shmups - particularly Blue Wish Resurrection. Also be sure to watch the "Top 20 doujin shmups" on the main page. Look for things that interest you.
For Dreamcast, the easiest place to start IMO is Fast Striker or Zero Gunner 2. PS2, I have no idea. Good luck, have fun, and welcome to the forum!

[Drum]

I say go with MAME. You might never need anything else. Too many great arcade shmups to recommend particulars, and it's more fun to explore on your own anyway. Have fun!

[Drum]

Check out my site in my sig. Go to the "Free Downloads" area and get everything in red. Great place to start for doujin PC shmups - particularly Blue Wish Resurrection. Also be sure to watch the "Top 20 doujin shmups" on the main page. Look for things that interest you.
For Dreamcast, the easiest place to start IMO is Fast Striker or Zero Gunner 2. PS2, I have no idea. Good luck, have fun, and welcome to the forum!

On that list, I especially recommend Genetos for somebody new. It's like a shmup history lesson!

[Heartwork]

Downloading Blue Wish and Genetos now. I didn't realize there was so many freeware PC shmups! Thanks for the recommendations, guys.

@Drum: I've fiddled with MAME before, as I've been a big fighting game player for years. I don't currently have it installed, but I probably should! I remember it being a bit of a hassle to get configured properly, so I'll have to take the time to get it all set up right ASAP.

[burgerkingdiamond]

Downloading Blue Wish and Genetos now. I didn't realize there was so many freeware PC shmups! Thanks for the recommendations, guys.

@Drum: I've fiddled with MAME before, as I've been a big fighting game player for years. I don't currently have it installed, but I probably should! I remember it being a bit of a hassle to get configured properly, so I'll have to take the time to get it all set up right ASAP.

Blue Wish Ressurection is awesome. Seriously, get MAME and you'll have way more than enough to get you hooked. Start with DoDonPachi. Don't worry about scoring/chaining though. Just play it for survival.

Like Carcass much?

[Magnalon]

Crimzon Clover is great - and free on PC iirc.

[Drachenherz]

Crimzon Clover is great - and free on PC iirc.

You remember wrongly.

Only the Trial is free. The full version is around 30 $, you can order it from Rancor here, he's got a tokyo-based online shop for everything doujin.

[burgerkingdiamond]

Crimzon Clover is great - and free on PC iirc.

The trial is a lot of fun. But if you want the full version buy it. Something that good deserves to not be pirated.

[mrsmiley381]

I've been nabbing Dreamcast shmups recently. Gunbird 2 and Mars Matrix come to mind. Bangai-O is OK if you want to play segmented levels in short bursts. Be warned that not every level is all shooting. Quite a few stages have puzzle elements.

Everything everyone else said is true. Crimzon Clover is pretty awesome. MAME has its perks as well. For PS2 I suggest Gradius V, just be prepared to get your shit slapped. Or at least that's what the game did to me first time I played it.

[Special World]

You have a very special console in that Dreamcast.

Start off by getting Mars Matrix. It's quite a difficult game, so it might not seem like the sort of thing to recommend to a new player, but it's probably the best game ever at getting people into scoring. An in-game shop lends it a lot of replay value, there's a wealth of content, and the core system is immensely satisfying. I blame it entirely for getting me to love scrolling shooters, and it remains a favorite of mine to this day.

Other than that:
Ikaruga
Zero Gunner 2
Gunbird 2
Twinkle Star Sprites (fantastic multiplayer on this one)

[BarfHappy]

Sexy parodius ! (arcade on mame, playstation or PSP).
It is a fantastic game, tons of fun, not difficult for a newcomer (and simultaneous 2P), gorgeous 2D graphics for the time, various paths based on objectives completion, a lot of different "ships", and the classic gradius-style weapons system.

[Treasurance]

TOUHOU OF COURSE

[Funen1]

Unlike Treasurance here, I actually do recommend Touhou, though considering how many games there are, getting all of them "on a budget" isn't exactly feasible (look around for vids, see which one or two games you like most, and consider just getting those at the start). But as someone who has played those games for over a year, I can vouch that they're very accessible for beginners at shooting games. If you don't mind its artistic differences from the majority of other shooters, I think you'll find Touhou to be very fun.

[dunpeal2064]

Unlike Treasurance here, I actually do recommend Touhou, though considering how many games there are, getting all of them "on a budget" isn't exactly feasible (look around for vids, see which one or two games you like most, and consider just getting those at the start). But as someone who has played those games for over a year, I can vouch that they're very accessible for beginners at shooting games. If you don't mind its artistic differences from the majority of other shooters, I think you'll find Touhou to be very fun.

I will vouch for this. I have a close friend that is into gaming, but not shmups so much. Got him into Castle Shikigami 2 a bit (which comes recommended from me) but the only games he ever got into were Touhou. He likes em though, so that must be a sign

Personally, touhou does not hit even one sweet spot for me. I can hardly stand them. Blue Wish is soo much more my taste. But, to each his own.

[Lance Boyle]

Get MAME with DoDonPachi, Armed Police Batrider, and the Strikers series.

You can relax and be free.

[hipgnosis]

Buy a 360 and Mushihimesama Futari and your good to go.

[Treasurance]

Unlike Treasurance here, I actually do recommend Touhou

I DO RECOMMEND touhou, but only for beginners. At the point you're a Hard/Lunatic player you should be moving on to something else

[burgerkingdiamond]

Buy a 360 and Mushihimesama Futari and your good to go.

I second this. My favorite game at the moment. I think Original is a good game to start playing for score. At least for me anyway. Something like DDP is way too hard to score in.

If you want to try something more old school give TwinBee a shot. Also, if you have a friend to pay with try some Twinkle Star Sprites. It's a competetive shoot em up. Kind of llike Tetris, if you do well you send attacks over to the other player.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

All of the above are great games to start out with it just depends what your tastes in shmups are

My advice would be DDP (DoDonPachi) on shmupmame v2.2 or v3 or Crimson Clover on PC which is very good.

If you want to get some easy 1CC before moving onto harder shmups like on mame try some PC indie / doujin shmups like Blue Wish Reserrection (i prefer that to BWR plus) Edens Aegis (easy if you learn how to bullet cancel) Demolition Gunner ISAD, Kamui, Samidare, Genetos (v easy) and "pratice shmups" like the games by Kento Cho (plus nomltest FS)

I dont play that many Horizontals but Hydorah and Gradius (NES version) is a good place to start

Other then that get yourself a half decent gamepad (or arcade stick) for yor PC shmups as most run of the mill PC pads are crap, the Sega Saturn USB pads from china on EBAY are good value for money.

[Heartwork]

Buy a 360 and Mushihimesama Futari and your good to go.

I totally have a 360, but I was under the impression that that game was only on NTSC-J PS2s? Did it get a rerelease on XBLA or something?

[drunkninja24]

Buy a 360 and Mushihimesama Futari and your good to go.

I totally have a 360, but I was under the impression that that game was only on NTSC-J PS2s? Did it get a rerelease on XBLA or something?

That's the original Mushihimesama. Futari is the sequel, which got a region-free 360 release in Japan, and recently went Platinum, so you can get it pretty cheap compared to other 360 import shmups:

http://www.play-asia.com/Mushihimesama_ ... -3yu5.html

Of course, that isn't the only region-free 360 shmup, there's also:

Espgaluda II (Standard Edition, Limited Edition is region-locked)

And the upcoming:
Muchi Muchi Pork/Pink Sweets
Eschatos
Bullet Soul (still not 100% confirmed if this will be region-free, but it's looking like it)

And Deathsmiles, Raiden IV, and Raiden Fighters Aces have all received US releases and can be found pretty cheaply.

[Wonderbanana]

Buy a 360 and Mushihimesama Futari and your good to go.

I totally have a 360, but I was under the impression that that game was only on NTSC-J PS2s? Did it get a rerelease on XBLA or something?

That's the original Mushihimesama. Futari is the sequel, which got a region-free 360 release in Japan, and recently went Platinum, so you can get it pretty cheap compared to other 360 import shmups:

http://www.play-asia.com/Mushihimesama_ ... -3yu5.html

Of course, that isn't the only region-free 360 shmup, there's also:

Espgaluda II (Standard Edition, Limited Edition is region-locked)

And the upcoming:
Muchi Muchi Pork/Pink Sweets
Eschatos
Bullet Soul (still not 100% confirmed if this will be region-free, but it's looking like it)

And Deathsmiles, Raiden IV, and Raiden Fighters Aces have all received US releases and can be found pretty cheaply.

Good shout. I'd go with Mushi Futari over Espgaluda II for your first personally, it's an easier game than Galuda and a great all round package too.

[BPzeBanshee]

A lot of the games recommended here are all in the bullet-hell aspects of the genre. It's good to hear you've had a crack at Raiden III and IV but II is the best (MAME wont emulate it so the Raiden Project is the go there) and the other Seibu titles (Viper Phase 1, Raiden Fighters series) are quite good too.
If you're simplistic and into blowing stuff up get any game in the Thunder Force series (II to V is considered the better ones in the series of six).

[burgerkingdiamond]

Buy a 360 and Mushihimesama Futari and your good to go.

I totally have a 360, but I was under the impression that that game was only on NTSC-J PS2s? Did it get a rerelease on XBLA or something?

That's the original Mushihimesama. Futari is the sequel, which got a region-free 360 release in Japan, and recently went Platinum, so you can get it pretty cheap compared to other 360 import shmups:

http://www.play-asia.com/Mushihimesama_ ... -3yu5.html

Of course, that isn't the only region-free 360 shmup, there's also:

Espgaluda II (Standard Edition, Limited Edition is region-locked)

And the upcoming:
Muchi Muchi Pork/Pink Sweets
Eschatos
Bullet Soul (still not 100% confirmed if this will be region-free, but it's looking like it)

And Deathsmiles, Raiden IV, and Raiden Fighters Aces have all received US releases and can be found pretty cheaply.

Did MMP and Pink Sweets get confirmed region free? Thats good news.

[Drachenherz]

Did MMP and Pink Sweets get confirmed region free? Thats good news.

Jep. Standard and Limited Edition are Region Free, as confirmed on Caves Facebook Page. *glee*

[Heartwork]

Good to know that there's a bunch of shmups that work on NTSC-U 360s. Gonna have to pick some of these up.

I just beat Genetos on normal difficulty. Super fun game, with surprisingly high production values for an indie freeware title. By the looks of the credits, the whole thing was done by a single guy, from the coding to the art to the music. Pretty impressive.

[Special World]

If you do ever get a 360, I will second Mushihimesama Futari. Absolutely my favorite scrolling shooter. If you but it, make sure to download Black Label. It's so good that it takes 1.5, which I thought was a perfect 10/10 game, and downgrades it to 9/10, just because I don't know what to do with that extra pound of goodness in Black Label.

[dunpeal2064]

Good to know that there's a bunch of shmups that work on NTSC-U 360s. Gonna have to pick some of these up.

I just beat Genetos on normal difficulty. Super fun game, with surprisingly high production values for an indie freeware title. By the looks of the credits, the whole thing was done by a single guy, from the coding to the art to the music. Pretty impressive.

Also, on xbla there are some goodies. Raystorm HD, Ikaruga HD (which has been messed with, but I was never good enough for it to bother me) Guwange (which is easy if you pick 360 arrange) Triggerheart Exelica, 1942 Joint Strike.

Also, Radiant Silvergun and Bangai-o are both getting releases on xbla next month or so if Im not mistaken

Edit: and as others have said, Mushi Futari is amazing. Plus, you can get the Mega Black Label in the states (although its $15, its worth it)

As for the ps2, there are a lot of ps1 and ps2 shmups that are dirt cheap and well worth it. Both the Mobile Light Force games are good (though totally different) Strikers 1945 for the psx is very fun, and I just got it for about $2 on amazon. Thunder Force V and Einhander are some really good ps1 shmups, but not quite as cheap

[evil_ash_xero]

I also recommend Mushi Futari, if you get an Xbox.

Anyway, for the NTSC-U PS2, go with Gradius V. Made by the folks who made Ikaruga. So, if you like it, you may like what they did with Gradius.

The Dreamcast doesn't have a lot of domestic shmups. Mars Matrix is probably the best one, but it's hard as a rock. Of course, you can always just turn the difficulty down.
Now, if you download your Dreamcast games, you can always get Zero Gunner 2, Under Defeat, and Border Down. They're all pretty good.

And DEFINITELY get Shmup MAME. Which is linked right here in this forum. It's the one you want for shmups. If you need help, just PM me.
It's especially great now, that it has games like ESPGaluda, Do DonPachi DOJ, and Ketsui playable on it now.