Which shmup line-up is best?

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 1:57 pm

An obvious topic, I know, but I don't really know what the consensus is on this issue. Note that I'm not asking which 1 machine would be the best to have. You might think that PS2 is the obvious choice here without thinking that it has the best line-up when you subtract the PS1 titles. Note also the absence of any Nintendo consoles.

If I've left off you're favorite option, then I'd be happy to add it (if I can figure out how to do so).

freddiebamboo · Post by **freddiebamboo** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 2:14 pm

PS2 gets my vote purely for the volume of modern shooters it has that I like.

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 3:20 pm

My first response would be PC-Engine since it has the largest shmup catalogue of any console (109 shmups to be exact). However, there's also a lot of crap on there, and the games are stricly oldschool.

Therefore my vote goes to Saturn. Countless excellent Arcade ports and some killer system exclusives. Also a nice bridge between oldschool gaming and "modern" manic shmuppage, IMO.

Damocles · Post by **Damocles** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 4:51 pm

Probably the PCE. Not only are many of the games killer, but there's something about 16-bit era graphics that heighten the experience for me. A close contender would be the PS2, of course.

sjewkestheloon · Post by **sjewkestheloon** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 5:04 pm

i've gone for the ps2 for the fact that it has the best quality titles:reasonable price ratio. i could say the saturn or such but value is always an issue for me and the ps2 has or will soon have ports of many games from the other platforms at a lower price.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 10:50 pm

For me it's either the Saturn or the PS2...the latter gets sort of an "unfair advantage" though, because it also has the PS1's catalog available...judging the two "on their own" I'd probably give the edge to the Saturn.

There's definitely no "consensus" on this though, and there never will be, but that's not a bad thing, imo.

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 11:45 pm

sat or PS2, PS2 wins because it also includes the whole PSX library...

but if say the DC could play SAT game then hell yeah it would be a winner.

none compare to real arcade games tho.

Zweihander · Post by **Zweihander** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 7:22 am

I'd have to say PS2, with DC falling in at a photo-finish second. If CAVE put their games on DC as well, though, it'd be no contest...

Which makes me wonder: why did CAVE go with Sony and the PS2? The PS2 is a horrible system to put a 2-D game on (why do you think Bangaioh was never ported to PS2?), and porting their gems to DC would have avoided the PS2-esque slowdown, so... Why, Cave? Just... why?

EDIT: yes, gems, NOT a typo of 'games'.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 7:42 pm

BulletMagnet wrote: There's definitely no "consensus" on this though, and there never will be, but that's not a bad thing, imo.

Yeah, I suppose that's pretty clear to me as well. My own view is that a plausible argument could be made for each of these platforms.

I'm surprised that NO ONE has yet voted for PS1. (I'm going to do so in just a moment.) I find this surprising because it has a very large catalog of shmups, and the top tier is truly top tier. All of the following are arguably the best in their respectiver series:

Zanac Neo
Gradius Gaiden (though I slightly favor V)
R-type Delta
Raiden DX

Add to these the likes of Harmful Park, Einhander, Gaia Seed, Xevious 3D, and you have some truly INCREDIBLE exclusives.

But, again, I think reasonable arguments along similar lines could be offered in favor of ANY of the above consoles.

Post by **nZero** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 7:51 pm

I'd have voted for the PS1 if not for the fact that my PS2 happily plays all of the PS1 shooters I own, thereby vaulting the PS2's effective lineup to the top.

If that wasn't the case, then yeah, PS1 gets the nod from me too... with DC and Saturn fighting for second place I'd say.

Super Laydock · Post by **Super Laydock** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 8:03 pm

Ooh, I hate to say this but in the end it would have to be PS2, but only because of diversity and number of shmups available (especially counting in the PSX1 games you can play). DDPDOJ, Mushi, Harmful Park are my faves here.

Giga Wing and Border Down are two of my fave shmups ever and are DC exclusives so DC is my number 2.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 8:35 pm

Yeah, I was counting PS1 and PS2 as distinct platforms. If the question was: what one console is best to have, my answer would probably be PS2. But I'm not yet convinced that the PS2 is a better platform than PS1. True Cave fans will surely have a different take on the issue.

LSU · Post by **LSU** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 9:55 pm

Saturn all the way for me...

Post by **Shatterhand** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 10:18 pm

Saturn for me too.

But in 2nd place it would be the MSX. I always thought the MSX to be the system for shmups of its generation, the PC-Engine in its generation, the Saturn in its generation and the PS2 in this current generation.

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 10:47 pm

Hah! Including ps1 and ps2 in the same survey without stating ps2 library only seems to have killed the ps1 option.

IMO, the PS1 line-up is quite a bit stronger than the ps2, and perhaps one of my favorites; despite being a smaller line-up than many of the 16 bit systems. It would really be a tie for me between psx and saturn.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 12:13 am

Had to vote for the PC Engine!

Serioulsy, I have owned and played everthing else in that poll, (plenty of people on here can attest to that!) and NONE of those other consoles even come close to the level of shmupping enjoyment I get out of my PC Engine Core Grafx-and I will be getting a Super CD Rom 2 add-on soon!

Absolutely the most amazing shmupping console (or consoles if you want to count the CD Rom 2) ever made, IMO.

ROBOTRON · Post by **ROBOTRON** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 9:23 pm

Gosh what a hard question. Saturn gets the nod.

Zweihander · Post by **Zweihander** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 10:37 pm

professor ganson wrote:But I'm not yet convinced that the PS2 is a better platform than PS1. True Cave fans will surely have a different take on the issue.

Why Cave went with the PS2 instead of the Dreamcast is beyond me.

shmups.system11.org

Which shmup line-up is best?

Which platform has the best shmup line-up?

Which shmup line-up is best?