Shmups you really want to like but can't

[Bananamatic]

Einhander.

Great music, enemy design, weapon system, everything, except for gameplay.

Unbalanced as fuck(some weapons kill bosses before they attack, some run out of ammo halfway through one form and you get a random weapon after respawning at a boss), completely balls scoring(pseudo chaining without visible lifebars, most of the score coming from bosses) with a dose of Raiden(snipers) and Gradius(nothing but memorization and checkpoints). The bosses also rely way too much on tackling you rather than shooting you down. Stage 2 also feels way too damn long.

Gave it several tries but I really can't get into it. fuck oldschool, long live cave

[KAI]

Thunder Force IV, I've tried, but I can't love it.

[Bananamatic]

I tried TF V
same as Einhander, great presentation, music and everything but fuck playing it
shit smells of gradius too much

[shmuppyLove]

Einhander is old school?

wow

[Bananamatic]

Einhander is old school?

wow

The gameplay certainly is

[gs68]

RefleX.

Probably the best narrative of the three games, fun bullet reflecting mechanic, great soundtrack. But after ALL clearing it once I just see no motivation to play it again, due to the shitty scoring system.

[Jonst]

Border down.

[royalfan84]

Einhander is old school?

wow

My thoughts exactly...
I can't really think of any shooters I've played thus far that I really want to like but can't. I guess so far of what I've played I've either played what I figured I'd like or been pleasantly surprised. Although I don't think Axelay quite lives up to the praise it gets; I certainly did enjoy the stage2 boss and all of the horizontal levels.

[Kollision]

When I first started playing Einhänder I felt the same way.
When I cranked up the volume things finally "clicked". Being able to listen to that awesome soundtrack better made the whole difference for me. And, well... sticking ro grenades whenever possible.

[Sarethums]

Ikaruga, after the 3rd level it just becomes too hard for me.

Radient silvergun, its highly rated but i just dont like the style.

Space invaders infinity gene, looks cool but just feels rushed from the mid point on.

Space invaders extreme, again looks and sounds cool plus im a huge space invader fan but just cant enjoy these two titles.

R-type/gradius, I enjoy these but it really does my tits in when i get hit and loose all my power-ups, id rather just play a game where there are no power-ups at all or like in bug princess when you die you get given extra power as a secret fffffffuuuuu if you will.

[chempop]

Raiden Fighters series
Border Down
Radirgy/Karous
Raystorm/Raycrisis

[royalfan84]

I absolutely detested Gradius 3 the first time I gave it a go...then I tried it again a couple weeks later and gave it a 2nd chance. Learning the power-up system a bit better helped me enjoy it quite a lot more. It's still a very challenging and frustrating game; but also very rewarding. That being said; I highly doubt I'll ever complete it...as much as I appreciate it.

[gs68]

Armed Seven, which I made the mistake of getting from the Groupees bundle. I like that there are devs who are still making 90's-style shmups, but the overall experience just feels empty and lacking in polish.

[soprano1]

Space Invaders-esque shmups.

[gs68]

Space Invaders-esque shmups.

That reminds me, I've tried playing Space Invaders Extreme 1 and 2 for score.

Yeah no this is the dumb kind of stage milking

[soprano1]

Space Invaders-esque shmups.

That reminds me, I've tried playing Space Invaders Extreme 1 and 2 for score.

Yeah no this is the dumb kind of stage milking

I tried those on DS. The game's looks and music are really good, but the gameplay isn't for me.

[broken harbour]

Ikaruga
Layer Section/Raystorm (whole series)
Anything R-Type

Basically anything with a giant hitbox or anything memorization heavy.

[emphatic]

Space Invaders-esque shmups.

Try Majestic Twelve, it's awesome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCJEilBG0Qc

[matrigs]

non-danmaku shmups

[nZero]

danmaku shmups

[shmuppyLove]

Touhou

[Udderdude]

Skub.

[KAI]

HellStinker

[PAPER/ARTILLERY]

Saidaioujou. The way it fucks you for any tiny mistake just grinds my gears. I'm determined to get the clear though, after that i'll probably launch the disc out the window.

[Cagar]

DoDonPachi DaiOuJou
And sadly... SaiDaiOuJou too....

[gs68]

Ether Vapor. Like the perspective changing, but enemy patterns and formations are generally uninteresting, plus the game chokes on my machine for some reason, while games of similar or higher visual quality run better.

[Naut]

Anything Psikyo. I like fast paced games. I like the art. I like dodging fast bullets. Score system is always simple and intuitive. But... The absolutely necessity of memorization and lack of any significant randomness sucks all the fun out of it for me. It's not that I can't memorize or execute the same exact thing every time... It's just not fun.

Dimahoo. Cool system. Great art. Love the music. Grocery shopping.

Ketsui. Dunno about this one. Everything in it seems to be things I like, but I just don't. Might be things like empty locking or the requirement of perfection for Ura... Or suicide bullets. I generally don't like those. Perhaps the combination of all three was enough to make me dislike it. Would've thought all the other awesome things in it would outweigh those... But nope.

[Iaspis]

Sine Mora. Lots of eye candy, uninteresting gameplay..

[soprano1]

Space Invaders-esque shmups.

Try Majestic Twelve, it's awesome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCJEilBG0Qc

Thanks, i'll give it a go.

[EmperorIng]

I can't seem to find the joy in Battle Garrega. I know I'm playing it wrong (because no one knows how to play it right), and can't get a single extend no matter how much rank wanking I attempt to do.

Batrider is a bit more fun to get in to, despite having the same type of unintuitive scoring system.