Best PSP shooters?

[Special World]

I've just started giving my GF's PSP a chance with Gradius Collection, and I'm really enjoying it. I was wondering if there were any other shooters (or games in general) you could recommend on PSP?

I was thinking of getting Salamander Portable and then maybe Darius Burst if I ever can afford it, and then also Ultimate Ghosts and Goblins and maybe Tactics Ogre or Growlanser IV at some point. Seems like a great system that I've been missing out on for a long time. Anything you can highly recommend?

[Ghegs]

Dariusburst isn't that unaffordable, just avoid eBay which has it for often ridiculously inflated prices. I got mine from YAJ via rancor, it was something like $60 (+shipping and such).

Ridge Racer 2 is good stuff if racing games strike your fancy.

[Special World]

Well, it's $73+shipping on Amazon but either way that's pretty expensive for a used game :O

I can only justify buying every Cave release at import prices, not sure about Darius Burst though. Maybe one day...

[Pretas]

While it's not a terrible game, I was disappointed by Darius Burst. There is a pervasive lack of imagination and variety in the stage design. I guess the same could be said of most of the Darius series, but the other games at least have their high difficulty level to fall back on. Burst doesn't have many bosses, they're all rather boring, and they take far too long to kill.

The visuals have lost that surreal, psychedelic quality that defined the Darius series, and many of Taito's greatest arcade works. It's all boilerplate aquatic and space settings that you'd find in any other shmup. Even the boss backgrounds are nowhere near as trippy. Apart from the incredible first stage track, the music is unremarkable, and not up to ZUNTATA standards.

It was developed by Pyramid, whose only other claim to fame is the Dragonball Z: Budokai games. That should set the tone for its quality pretty well. I haven't had the chance to play the arcade version, but I can't see it being that much of a step up mechanically, and I'm pretty sure it didn't add new bosses or stages.

The best PSP-exclusive shmup is probably Neo Geo Heroes: Ultimate Shooting, an expanded version of KOF Sky Stage. Sengoku Cannon is a neat curiosity, and features some great Jun Tsukasa art, but it plays like a bargain basement version of a Psikyo shooter. As far as ports go, you can't go wrong with Konami's Gradius/Salamander/Parodius collections, which are all luxuriously presented and have a plethora of options. The Salamander collection even includes the only home port of Xexex, discounting the one stage in Ganbare Goemon 2.

[Special World]

I think if I had full faith in Darius Burst, it would be a lot more easier to justify paying premium prices for it. But I think Darius as a series is simply extremely solid at best, with some great boss designs and a fun core system. I got into them just recently with Darius Gaiden and G.Darius on Taito Legends 2, and while Darius Gaiden was a ton of good qualities, G.Darius is more than a little annoying. I also have Darius Twin on SNES, but it seems even series fans don't really like that one.

Then there's also the lasering mechanic which sounds much too Border Down for my tastes. Never liked that game.

[Pretas]

The laser in Burst is really incomparable to Border Down. In BD, use of your laser must be carefully regulated to strategic moments, partly because it drains your shot power, partly for maximum scoring potential. Burst gives you tons of laser energy, and essentially lets you go crazy with it, indiscriminately frying enemies all over the screen with no penalty. This is a bit different in boss battles, where there's a "beam dueling" mechanic similar to in Metal Black and G-Darius, though it's not any more technical or refined.

[lilmanjs]

I'm sure not many here like to admit this, but Flying Hamster(not sure if still for sale) is on PSN for ps3 and psp and I still enjoy it to this day. A very good cute-em-up.

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

While it's not a terrible game, I was disappointed by Darius Burst. There is a pervasive lack of imagination and variety in the stage design. I guess the same could be said of most of the Darius series, but the other games at least have their high difficulty level to fall back on. Burst doesn't have many bosses, they're all rather boring, and they take far too long to kill.

The visuals have lost that surreal, psychedelic quality that defined the Darius series, and many of Taito's greatest arcade works. It's all boilerplate aquatic and space settings that you'd find in any other shmup. Even the boss backgrounds are nowhere near as trippy. Apart from the incredible first stage track, the music is unremarkable, and not up to ZUNTATA standards.

It was developed by Pyramid, whose only other claim to fame is the Dragonball Z: Budokai games. That should set the tone for its quality pretty well. I haven't had the chance to play the arcade version, but I can't see it being that much of a step up mechanically, and I'm pretty sure it didn't add new bosses or stages.

The best PSP-exclusive shmup is probably Neo Geo Heroes: Ultimate Shooting, an expanded version of KOF Sky Stage. Sengoku Cannon is a neat curiosity, and features some great Jun Tsukasa art, but it plays like a bargain basement version of a Psikyo shooter. As far as ports go, you can't go wrong with Konami's Gradius/Salamander/Parodius collections, which are all luxuriously presented and have a plethora of options. The Salamander collection even includes the only home port of Xexex, discounting the one stage in Ganbare Goemon 2.

WB, Estebang.

[Hibachi]

I think all the Konami collections are worth a go and the Parodius Portable collection in particular. Soldier collection is also worth it and the capcom compilations are good as they contain STG's.

I found Darius Burst to be overrated but I think that's because I still love the the older games.

SNK Arcade hits has Last Resort as well.

I've hacked my PSP and converted my PS1 stuff for use and that opens up a ton more but that's all I'm saying regarding that subject.

[Squire Grooktook]

I think if I had full faith in Darius Burst, it would be a lot more easier to justify paying premium prices for it. But I think Darius as a series is simply extremely solid at best, with some great boss designs and a fun core system. I got into them just recently with Darius Gaiden and G.Darius on Taito Legends 2, and while Darius Gaiden was a ton of good qualities, G.Darius is more than a little annoying. I also have Darius Twin on SNES, but it seems even series fans don't really like that one.

Then there's also the lasering mechanic which sounds much too Border Down for my tastes. Never liked that game.

I actually like G-Darius better then Gaiden. Boss and level designs feel better to me, and I think the capture balls add a lot of much needed variety to the otherwise straight forward weapon system of the series.

[Special World]

I think if I had full faith in Darius Burst, it would be a lot more easier to justify paying premium prices for it. But I think Darius as a series is simply extremely solid at best, with some great boss designs and a fun core system. I got into them just recently with Darius Gaiden and G.Darius on Taito Legends 2, and while Darius Gaiden was a ton of good qualities, G.Darius is more than a little annoying. I also have Darius Twin on SNES, but it seems even series fans don't really like that one.

Then there's also the lasering mechanic which sounds much too Border Down for my tastes. Never liked that game.

I actually like G-Darius better then Gaiden. Boss and level designs feel better to me, and I think the capture balls add a lot of much needed variety to the otherwise straight forward weapon system of the series.

Eh, I think the enemy design in G.Darius is extremely lacking. The bosses are cool, but the basic enemies are all so plain. It's especially bad when you're flying through a lush prehistoric jungle with awesome looking dinos in the background, and all you get to fight are the same chunky metallic enemies. I also think the charge ball isn't used to its maximum potential. Having played Blast Works, in which you can tell exactly what an enemy will fire when captured, I find it kind of weird that you can't do that in G.Darius. You pick up an enemy and it fires some random ass shot. I've only played it once or twice, so maybe I just wasn't paying attention. But I also really, really hate bosses that overstay their welcome, and some of the bosses took me AGES to kill. I don't know if it had anything to do with rank or if I just wasn't doing a good job, but they were entirely too long. And I hate that they don't unleash any small enemies to charge ball! I barely got any use out of that thing. It makes me really want traditional bombs.

[Damocles]

Buy my Salamander PSP reprint!

[Ed Oscuro]

for games in general, ultimate GnG is pretty cheap to get (hasn't hooked me though; still haven't sat down with it to beat stage 2 in a way I'd like to save progress with), and beyond that there's The Third Birthday, which I played the holy hell outta. So far that's been my only reason to own the system. I might check out the Darius game sometime. Ports of games on other formats don't excite me, although I think the Hudson releases might include an original game or two as well as good versions of various games.

[CID]

Here is a copy & paste from a past post I made about PSP STGs:

"I'm a huge portable gamer. While many are buying a Wii-U or looking forward to the next box or station I'm happily enjoying my Neo Geo X. That said, I have to heathy supply of handheld STGs.

Outside of possibly app and palm size emulation devices, the PSP far and above the best handheld for shoot 'em ups. (The next best handheld for shmups I would say goes to the GBA). Now a good lot of them are collection packs and as expected almost all of the titles only saw a Japanese release.

I have to say that Darius Burst is probably my favorite. The art style, music and over all presentation is unmatched. Unfortunately, out side of the two newer releases, it is the most expensive one to track down. Star Soldier is another made just for the PSP that is a must have. Played only is tate mode, it takes full advantage of the PSP's wide screen. Very easy to adapt to the rotated Lynx style of gameplay.

Most of the other stand alones for the system are mediocre at best. Like Cho Aniki Zero and Sengoku Cannon there is a lot lacking from what makes a good shmup. The collection packs by themselves make it a pretty hefty shmup machine though. Here's the complete retail list to my knowledge. I've been lucky to have found about half of these in the wild here in the states.

[Retail titles]
* Darius Burst (Must buy)
* NeoGeo Heroes: Ultimate Shooting (It's ok)
* Strikers 1945 Plus Portable (Excellent MVS port)
* Xyanide Resurrection (Not actually a shmup. Quite different form the Xbox game, EU & J Release)
* Strike Witches Shirogane no Tsubasa (Not too bad, not too good)
* Soreyuke! BurunyanMan Portable (Umm... the trailer was mostly panty shots, yeah...)
* PC Engine Best: Soldier Collection (Stellar collection, no pun intended, get it)
* Ginga Ojousama Densetsu Collection (PC Engine Best Collection) (Last game in the collection is an STG)
* Parodius Portable (Of course, a must)
* Cho Aniki Zero (Oily dudes and roses.... gameplay isn't any better either)
* Star Soldier (Must, must get this one)
* Sengoku Cannon: Sengoku Ace Episode III (meh)
* Twinbee Portable (Great collection pack)
* Salamander Portable (Everything that the Gradius pack is missing, this has)
* Gradius Collection (US) (Gradius Gaiden!)
* Platypus (US) (Really cool art style, super cheap game. Think Fantasy Zone. You might as well get it)

[Other collection packs that include a few shmups]
* Taito Legends
* Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded
* Capcom Classics Collection Remixed

Also! Kisou Ryouhei Gunhound EX for the PSP. It's very much akin to the Assault Suit series (Cybernator and Target Earth) and Metal Warriors like gameplay. With a bit more shmup like battles I would recommend importing this one. Play Ais has it for $38.90 with free shipping.

Hope that helps."

~ Edited a bit.

[Special World]

That was an incredibly helpful post and highlighted a number of games I wasn't aware of Thanks Cid! Anybody else have opinions on these games:

Darius Burst
Neo Geo Heroes
Strikers 1945
PC Engine Best Soldier Collection
PC Engine Best Collection
Parodius Portable
Star Soldier
Twinbee Portable
Capcom Classics Collections

In particular I was wondering about the Soldier games... I have Soldier Blade on Wii, and don't really like it as much as Star Parodier or Blazin Lasers. What games are in both PC Engine compilations and how are they?

In regards to Parodius, I've never actually heard anyone's opinion on the game. I assumed they were solid but uninspired shooters with nice visual design. I guess the way to go when making purchases is Gradius -> Salamander -> Parodius, right?

And can anybody else speak up for Star Soldier PSP? I remember people hating the downloadable Star Soldier (on Wii and PS3 I think?), and I was wondering how this one stacks up to older Star Soldier games. I do like them, but I'm not sure I'd get a ton of play out of them, considering Soldier Blade is regarded as one of the best and I simply think it's good but bland.

Also, are any of those Capcom collections good? I think I played one on XBOX and it had a lot of games but nothing standout.

[KennyMan666]

The Capcom Classics Collections have a few fun shmups between them.

Remixed has 1941, Legendary Wings, Last Duel, Section Z, Side Arms and Varth, and a third of Three Wonders is shooting. Reloaded has mostly forgettable ones: 1942, 1943, 1943 Kai, Exed Exes and Vulgus... as well as Eco Fighters.

In general, Remixed has the more obscure games (including the original Street Fighter) and Reloaded the more known ones (including three consecutive versions of Street Fighter II). Remixed is a bit more worth getting imo.

And while it's not a true shmup, you might want to check out Every Extend Extra, too.

[boagman]

And while it's not a true shmup, you might want to check out Every Extend Extra, too.

Absolutely, this. Surely the best $5 game I've bought for the system, and maybe the best $5 I've spent on the system, period. One could say that the PS3 version of the game is nothing better than a screensaver (I haven't tried it, myself), but I find the PSP game to be righteously entertaining. I still play it basically every time I go to the gym and use the stationary bike. It's deceptively simple to play, yet getting truly good is very tough, in part because of the random generation of enemies which sometimes works to your advantage, and more noticeably when it works to your disadvantage. It took me a *long stinking time* to unlock the extraneous bosses in the Boss Attack area, which is only done when you complete the game with an "A" rating or better on every stage, on a single run-through. I didn't cheat to do it (nor did I allow the use of the shoulder button "mines"...and I still don't), and it took an amazingly long time to achieve. I'm proud of that.

It may not be for everyone, but everyone should try it at least once. Love the stage themes and music, and when you start getting a bit better, you realize that it's only around Stage 3's boss that things are really starting to get hairy. Lots o' fun, and I'm pretty hard to impress.

[Damocles]

And can anybody else speak up for Star Soldier PSP? I remember people hating the downloadable Star Soldier (on Wii and PS3 I think?), and I was wondering how this one stacks up to older Star Soldier games. I do like them, but I'm not sure I'd get a ton of play out of them, considering Soldier Blade is regarded as one of the best and I simply think it's good but bland.

It's not bad, but pretty easy. The Tate mode is pretty neat, and works fairly well. Also, pretty sweet music mode.

[Special World]

Hey Damocles, how much did you want for Salamander? I assume there's no differences with the reprint?

[Squire Grooktook]

I think if I had full faith in Darius Burst, it would be a lot more easier to justify paying premium prices for it. But I think Darius as a series is simply extremely solid at best, with some great boss designs and a fun core system. I got into them just recently with Darius Gaiden and G.Darius on Taito Legends 2, and while Darius Gaiden was a ton of good qualities, G.Darius is more than a little annoying. I also have Darius Twin on SNES, but it seems even series fans don't really like that one.

Then there's also the lasering mechanic which sounds much too Border Down for my tastes. Never liked that game.

I actually like G-Darius better then Gaiden. Boss and level designs feel better to me, and I think the capture balls add a lot of much needed variety to the otherwise straight forward weapon system of the series.

Eh, I think the enemy design in G.Darius is extremely lacking. The bosses are cool, but the basic enemies are all so plain. It's especially bad when you're flying through a lush prehistoric jungle with awesome looking dinos in the background, and all you get to fight are the same chunky metallic enemies. I also think the charge ball isn't used to its maximum potential. Having played Blast Works, in which you can tell exactly what an enemy will fire when captured, I find it kind of weird that you can't do that in G.Darius. You pick up an enemy and it fires some random ass shot. I've only played it once or twice, so maybe I just wasn't paying attention. But I also really, really hate bosses that overstay their welcome, and some of the bosses took me AGES to kill. I don't know if it had anything to do with rank or if I just wasn't doing a good job, but they were entirely too long. And I hate that they don't unleash any small enemies to charge ball! I barely got any use out of that thing. It makes me really want traditional bombs.

I dunno, I think the enemies have more variety and are used better then they are in Darius Gaiden. As for the bosses, if they are overstaying their welcome, it's because you're not using Alpha Beams enough. If you play it right, you should be able to kill most of the bosses before they start looping patterns, with the exception of the last boss or two. Also every boss does in fact release enemies to charge/capture ball, it's those little polygonal yellow things, every boss releases them about midway through the battle, and you can use them to end the fight right there usually if you can win the beam war.

The basic structure of the bosses is that they do one of each of their attack, vomit out some yellow popcorns for you to capture, then commence the beam war. If you win it and get a fully powered up Alpha Counter, you instantly kill them. If not, they loop back to the beginning of the fight. The final boss, and some other stuff like the battleship raid vs the Fossils are a bit different though.

Not being able to know about shots before capturing is not that big a deal, especially once you play it more. Basically it's only partly about the shot, you also get a meat shield, a smart bomb, and an Alpha beam. All these things are absolutely vital once the game starts getting more intense. Also you can generally tell what kind of general shot you're getting by the size of the enemy. Tiny popcorn enemy = almost always weak pea shooter. Big mini boss type thing = Powerful crowd control tool.

I have played Blastworks though, it's a good game.

[Last_Dancer]

I played Darius Burst on my PSP-1000, but the loading times were simply horrible, dunno about Loading Times on Slim PSPs.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Zanac X Zanac and Sonic Wings Special (playable in tate if you remap the controls). Not sure how easy to buy if you don't have a PS3.
First UMD I'd like to purchase is Power Stone Collection.

[KennyMan666]

For other PSP games, all I can say is LocoRoco. Especially LocoRoco 2.

And if you like rhythm games, Patapon.

[CID]

That was an incredibly helpful post and highlighted a number of games I wasn't aware of Thanks Cid! Anybody else have opinions on these games:

Darius Burst
Neo Geo Heroes
Strikers 1945
PC Engine Best Soldier Collection
PC Engine Best Collection
Parodius Portable
Star Soldier
Twinbee Portable
Capcom Classics Collections

In particular I was wondering about the Soldier games... I have Soldier Blade on Wii, and don't really like it as much as Star Parodier or Blazin Lasers. What games are in both PC Engine compilations and how are they?

In regards to Parodius, I've never actually heard anyone's opinion on the game. I assumed they were solid but uninspired shooters with nice visual design. I guess the way to go when making purchases is Gradius -> Salamander -> Parodius, right?

And can anybody else speak up for Star Soldier PSP? I remember people hating the downloadable Star Soldier (on Wii and PS3 I think?), and I was wondering how this one stacks up to older Star Soldier games. I do like them, but I'm not sure I'd get a ton of play out of them, considering Soldier Blade is regarded as one of the best and I simply think it's good but bland.

Also, are any of those Capcom collections good? I think I played one on XBOX and it had a lot of games but nothing standout.

You're quite welcome Mr. Word. I did a lot of digging to find all the STGs on the PSP. Love to save others the time I had to put in.

To go into a bit more detail. PC Engine Best Soldier Collection is a great buy and it's not too expensive for what you get. It includes Star Parodier if I remember correctly. The other PC Engine collection pack I listed has 3 games, but only the last game is an STG and I wouldn't bother with it unless you want every shooter you can get your hands on (like me ).

Parodius I would say is the defining cute'em series. Not to be underestimated. Even hori haters love Parodius. That is one excellent lot from the series in that collection. Buy soon as it's the priciest of the collection packs and only getting higher.

I can't say enough about how cool Star Soldier in on the PSP. True it is probably the easiest one form the series, but it's still far more than a novelty on the system. Watch a youtube vid on gameplay. I know there is a vid up that shows how it is played.

The two Capcom packs are both worthy pick ups and they should be found cheap too.

None shumps that I'd highly recommend:
* Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (An obvious buy. Rondo, Rondo remake, SotN. 'Nough said).
* Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (Lots of extras from the PS1 original).
* God of War: Chains of Olympus
* God of War: Ghost of Sparta (both beautiful game. Still blow away it's on a PSP).
* LocoRoco (Seconded from the above mention).
* LocoRoco 2 (These may be the most fun I'd ever had on the system. BUY THESE!)
* Mega Man Maverick Hunter X (Excellent remake. You get to play as Vile!!!)
* Mega Man Powered Up (Don't let the chibi look fool you. Another excellent remake).
* Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero? (Top notch platforming) .
* Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! (More of the above).
* Sega Genesis Collection (Cause why not).
* Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins (It's already on your list. I second the motion).

Feel free to ask me to elaborate more if you like.

[Vyxx]

Is xexex on the Salamander psp game? I believe it is.

Awesome game, first ever port, plus they made your pod(s) or whatever you want to cal them not idiots (like they are in the pcb version).

[CID]

Is xexex on the Salamander psp game? I believe it is.

Yep, it sure is.

[lilmanjs]

I don't see how Strikers 1945 Plus Portable is supposed to be excellent. Whoever said that really hasn't spent much time with it. I mean it is nice to have an official port for the PSP, but its missing the boss music on all stages and that free play being in there really makes you loose the feel of trying for a 1cc.

[null1024]

Is xexex on the Salamander psp game? I believe it is.

Yep, it sure is.

Xexex was the only reason I even bothered to pick it up, and then I found out I liked the Salamander games.

[CID]

I don't see how Strikers 1945 Plus Portable is supposed to be excellent. Whoever said that really hasn't spent much time with it. I mean it is nice to have an official port for the PSP, but its missing the boss music on all stages and that free play being in there really makes you loose the feel of trying for a 1cc.

I said that and I've played both the MVS and PSP port plenty. Gameplay-wise besides the loop cycle and boss music you mentioned, the game is identical. With freeplay, I don't have an issue setting my own restrictions. You may have different standard, but I'll back up what I said, it's an excellent a port because it's an excellent game. Worth the retail pick up.

[Danny]

Remember that the PSP has some great PS1 titles which you can download. Sonic Wings Speical and R-Type Delta (if they are still available) are worth your time.