Best PS3/PSN shmups?

[Special World]

What are the best shmups of PS3? I have the vanilla versions of Caladrius and Raiden IV for 360, as well as Under Defeat HD. Velocity is a really fun PSmini. Castle Shikigami 2 and Zanac X Zanac are good, while Metal Slug X and Gradius V are great. Soldner X-2 is terrible imo, despite the praise I've heard for it. I think most of the R-Types got taken down, including Delta, which I wanted to play. I don't think Gundemonium Recollection is still up, either. What about...

Shienryu? Mamorokun Curse? Dezaemon Plus and Dezaemon Kids? Sonic Wings Special? 1942 Joint Strike? Cho Aniki? Gaia Seed? Alpha Mission 2? Xevious 3D/G+?

Do any of these rate higher than "it's okay"? Like, I wanna know if any of these games hold a legitimate place in your heart. I was actually surprised at how many good shooters are on PS3, though. At least if you look through PSN. I really thought there was only Caladrius, Raiden, Under Defeat, and a bunch of garbage.

[BulletMagnet]

The PS3 versions of Caladrius and Raiden IV have some extra stuff, you if you like either of those you might want to look into those versions. There's also Ketsui, though IIRC that one's pretty much identical to the 360 version.

Mamoru-kun's PS3 version also has some additional stuff not found on the 360 edition, and IIRC had its price dropped pretty fast - it's definitely an oddball (for one thing the screen doesn't auto-scroll), but I'd say it's worth the handful of dollars it goes for these days if you don't mind weirdness and silliness.

Gaia Seed is okay, IMO, though nothing essential - the PSN version is loads cheaper than a physical copy, though, so if you want to play it that's definitely your best option.

The Dezaemon titles are "shooter builders", in case you weren't aware, though they have some pre-made shmups available to play included - I know one of Kids' editions had around 100 player-submitted ones on it, though I don't know if that's the one on PSN.

Shienryu on PS1 lacks tate, but has some additional modes compared to the Saturn/PS2 editions. Don't know which version of Sonic Wings is on the PSN, but the PAL release had no save feature - if you've never played the series it's like Psikyo, but easier.

Alpha Mission 2 has limited-ammo weapons, you can try it in MAME if you're curious. Haven't played the other ones you listed, but Cho Aniki and Joint Strike weren't received very well around here, but 3D/G+ is supposed to be decent (and can also be sampled in MAME).

Hope that helped a bit.

Haven't played

[drunkninja24]

Raiden IV Overkill is really good if you liked the original. The overkill mode adds some nice excitement to the game.

Mamoru-kun is fun, I've not put a lot of time into it myself to give a detailed opinion, but it kinda gave me a lot of cute-em-up Outzone-ish vibes, so if that's up your alley, its worth a look.

[Special World]

Yeah, I want to play Raiden IV Overkill, but not enough to justify a $20 double dip. And I'm thinking about picking up Mamurokun, mostly because I really like how the scoring items look.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Sonic Wings Special is one of my favourite console tate shmups, but if (as I was told) PSX games lag when played on PS3, you had better play it on Vita or PSP.

Don't know which version of Sonic Wings is on the PSN, but the PAL release had no save feature - if you've never played the series it's like Psikyo, but easier.

Depends on the difficulty setting, doesn't it? Hard on PSX makes a huge difference as soon as the prologue stage boss arrives (I also think Areo Fighters 3 European ROM defaults to a harder setting than the other versions, at least in MAME).

[CStarFlare]

I think all you really need is Harmful Park.

[Strikers1945guy]

If you are willing to import you could get Ketsui?

[Special World]

Already have it for 360! Just forgot PS3 Ketsui was even a thing.

[Special World]

I'm going to have to revise my opinion of Zanac X Zanac. Zanac Neo is pretty good, but I feel like the difficulty balance isn't 100% there on any difficulty mode, and I don't think the graphics 100% gel with the game. But NES Zanac? Holy shit this game is great. Best powerups ever, love the randomization, and those challenge stages are just too good. I don't even know what the difference is between disk/rom/special versions, but hot damn this is a cool game.

If I didn't know better, I'd say this was Yagawa's NES game instead of Recca.

[copy-paster]

Ketsui is region free, and it has limited continues?

[Special World]

Ketsui is region free, and it has limited continues?

IIRC every PS3 game is region free except Persona 3 Arena. I think it gives you nine continues but I don't remember really.

[cj iwakura]

I wasn't that impressed by Mamoru-kun. It's cute, but wears out its welcome fast.

Under Defeat and Shikigami 2 dominate for me(though I have the PS2 version of the latter).

[Special World]

Ah, looks like I'm gonna have to buy Gradius V on PSN. My blue-backed PS2 copy is making my PS2 chug and it won't run :\

[HydrogLox]

My blue-backed PS2 copy is making my PS2 chug and it won't run :\

When you have a chance try that copy on other PS2/PS3 (with PS2BC) consoles. Typically people blame the PS2 laser going. I purchased Gradius V used in 2011 and back then it worked like a charm - but when I tried it recently before the PSN release I was faced with the red "Please insert a Playstation or Playstation 2 format disc" screen "19 out of 20 times" on my aging SCPH-79001 and on my barely used SCPH-90001. The disc didn't fare much better on my (partially PS2BC) CECHE01 PS3. All those consoles do not have any problems with CD-based (i.e. blue-backed) Raiden III, Gradius III & IV, and Silpheed: The Lost Planet game discs. So it seems that the blue-backed discs can degrade for no apparent reason.

[Special World]

I actually got it working today, and it worked twice in a row. Not sure why it failed to work 10 times in a row last night. But yeah, it's pretty spotty whether it'll work or not. The disc itself looks fine, though.

[ACSeraph]

Theres actually some really essential stuff in the JP PS1/2 classics sections, and being able to put them on a PSP or VIta is a huge plus too.

G-Darius
Harmful Park (dont ignore this even though it looks uninteresting)
Donpachi
Dodonpachi
Raiden
Psyvariar (PS2)
Gate of Thunder (PCE)
Zanac x Zanac (Which you already have)

theres lots of others too, many of them good depending on your tase, but these are the ones I play often.

As for Caladrius Blaze, I can tell you its a very significant upgrade of the 360 version, and much much better. However, if you aren't into Vanilla it probably wouldn't do much to change your mind.

[ArmoredCore]

Ps2 ports on psm store suffer from lag like the ps1 classics?

[HydrogLox]

Yes - but some people find it more noticeable than others. The lag that is introduced by the (presumably at least partially software based) de-interlacing/upscaling stage in the PS3 can be reduced somewhat - basically hook up a component/S-Video/composite cable and set the video to 480i (or 480p with a component cable if the game originally supported progressive display) - that should avoid any de-interlacing/upscaling lag (making it your display's problem).

The disc itself looks fine, though.

I know - but if your PS2 console doesn't have any problems with other (blue) CD-based PS2 games discs then the Gradius V disc has likely degraded (rather than the PS2's laser).
I also had a Xbox 360 MechAssault DVD-disc fail on me this year - looks perfectly fine too (that disc however was stored for a couple of years in a white Atlantic 60 Disc POD (not enitrely opaque) - so I have to wonder if some filtered sunlight got it's degradation process going).

[Doctor Butler]

Under Defeat HD is excellent, and I think the PS3 port has some content over the 360 ersion.
Same applies to Caladrius and Raiden IV

Mamorukun Curse is pretty decent - it's in the vein of Pocky & Rocky, and Heavenly Guardian.

There's also a really solid hori cute-em-up called Flying Hamster in the PS Minis section.
And Galaga Legions, probably the best twin-stick game I've ever played.

And this is to say nothing of the PS1/2 classics section - there is frame-lag caused by upscaling, but that can be rectified by playing on a SDTV.

[Special World]

I remembered Harmful Park looking like butt, but apparently my brain is butt because I'm checking out screenshots of it now and this game looks incredible. Will pick this up for sure.

ED: Ah, crap. I thought this was released as a PSOne Import title on PSN. I assume downloading things under a Japanese account is a huge pain in the ass and not worth doing, right? I remember people talking about switching over to download Dodonpachi and it didn't sound ideal... If you create a JP PSN account, can you only play the games under that account? And can you transfer them to Vita without creating a separate JP account on there, too, or what? Would love to be playing Harmful Park and Dodonpachi.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Seen or a CRT with RGB colour, Harmuful Park looked the wrong kind of ugly to me, but I haven't played it for long enough to diss the gameplay.

[BulletMagnet]

I assume downloading things under a Japanese account is a huge pain in the ass and not worth doing, right? I remember people talking about switching over to download Dodonpachi and it didn't sound ideal... If you create a JP PSN account, can you only play the games under that account? And can you transfer them to Vita without creating a separate JP account on there, too, or what?

I've downloaded demos and such on my PS3's JP account, and you can play them via any account on the system; of course, if you're buying something you'll need some JP PSN cash. As far as the Vita's concerned, since you can only have one profile on that system at a time you'd need to do the separate memory card/reformat the system thing, which I haven't tried myself.

[Special World]

Good to know—I'd find it too much of a hassle to switch back and forth between accounts, but I'd gladly make a separate account and buy some JP points online since the games are shared. Especially since they send the points to you via email. It sucks that I'll (probably) have to buy two point cards to download Dodonpachi and Harmful Park but... eh whatever.

[Special World]

Any tips on how to find Harmful Park and Dodonpachi? I'm in the PSX section but there's a lot of games <_<

ED: Found it! Haven't found Dodonpachi yet but that's not a big deal atm.

[Special World]

Yeah, I don't think it's humanly possible to not like Harmful Park. This game rules.

[BulletMagnet]

It's a personal favorite of mine, though it never has caught on quite so much with the community at large...and if you think it's too easy, try it at anything above "Normal" difficulty, it puts up a good fight!

[Special World]

Nah, I get my butt kicked by everything. Took me three credits (I thought it was much more, honestly) to beat it on easy. The first few stages have some of the best theme-ing I've ever seen, and I loved the music in the last stage. The weapons are awesome too, though it seems like they each have their own scoring criteria? Pie chains via its explosion, Dessert chains via how many enemies it kills per laser beam, and the other two I haven't figured out yet. Really love it though. That score attack stage really brings the hurt quick >_>

[BulletMagnet]

The "jerry" beans can put chains together if you just toss one out at those little loopy chains of weak enemies; the potato gun itself isn't much good for score, but its bomb can clear the screen of popcorn, which can bring the multiplier pretty high if things are crowded (and you're willing to sacrifice the bomb, of course). Someone here (I forget who offhand) put one or two impressive Score Attack runs on YouTube and does that a lot.

[Sier]

Both R Type I & II are still up there for PS3 / PSN (across most regions), I'm absolutely sure of - under the guise of R Type Dimensions.
Fancy graphical update aside, options for the "base" of both games remain within settings & options.

Resogun, of course & Titan Attacks.

The latter, I've really enjoyed on the PS3 this weekend & loved it - quite fun.
I think these two see cross PSN platform options also... Vita / PS4, I'm sure.

[Lord Satori]

Oh, Titan Attacks is a GREAT one! Any game by Puppy Games is a sure buy, imo.