What are the Best Handheld Shooters

[PowerofElsydeon]

Currently the only Handheld STG I own is Twinbee Da!
Wich is fully fledged twinbee Game on a portable format and not a half assed port like some ignorants say
But I confess it didn t improve or change anything for the series (aside from portability and black and white visuals) and it's very easy for a Twinbee game since you get a chance to get ur power ups back after death and the game feeds you with a lot of lives

I will get a copy of Solar Striker soon since it s a bargain

But lets get to the point
1)What handheld shumps would you recomend me and which of them suck?
2)Wich Handheld is the best for shumps?
3)Wich Stgs are half assed spin offs from a real franchise?
4)How about Run n Guns(side scroling) ;Ikari Warriors styled games and Smash Tv rip offs?
5)Tell me about regional diferences if they re not just aestetical
6)Make a Top 10 Handheld Stg's pls
7)Does anyone know if Jap Castlevania Adventure has regional diferences gameplaywise

[qmish]

Please include WonderSwan to poll because Judgement Silversword and it's spin offs are awesome

[BIL]

I have a small but much-loved GB collection which does indeed have some shooting! Going with JP versions because that's what I have:

You can't go wrong with Nemesis I & II on GB. First is more of a no-nonsense mini Gradius, second is a super cool seamless arcade adventure.

4)How about Run n Guns(side scroling) ;Ikari Warriors styled games and Smash Tv rip offs?

GB Contra is excellent. Earns its niche in the series by combining FC action/platforming with SFC autofire, plus some neat original bosses and a rampant pace. If you even vaguely enjoy the FC ports you'll find it well worth playing.

Bionic Commando (CTRL+F that post) is one of the best grappling hook sidescrollers ever. Easily rivals its arcade and Famicom predecessors. Note that it's called "Bionic Commando" in all regions, using the series' overseas name.

Finally, Totsugeki! Ponkotsu Tank ("Trax" overseas) is a great topdown tank shooter. For the love of god, note that you can quick-rotate the turret by button-tapping; holding the button is slooow. That sorted, it's a tiny marvel of town and city-razing destruction. One of my favourite little action games to blaze a quick credit through, usually immediately followed by another. Addictive!

7)Does anyone know if Jap Castlevania Adventure has regional diferences gameplaywise

Dracula Densetsu is pretty much identical to CVA. Sadly. :[ Grindingly slow and very basic, albeit with some decent precision leaps and a killer OST. Play the sequel instead. That one is significantly different between regions: JP has Cross subweapon, US has Axe. I think I'd prefer the latter but oh wellz rofl. Soundtrack is insanely, unbelievably good.

[Strikers1945guy]

Psp by far. Gradius collection is amazing. Only real port of Xexex. Best part is they fixed the AI of the pod thing in Xexex.

Ds has ketsui death label and I use to rock that game during commute for my old job.

[Kollision]

2)Wich Handheld is the best for shumps?

PSP, hence all my answers being about it

1)What handheld shumps would you recomend me and which of them suck?

- Dariusburst, just because
- Let's Go! Burunyanman Portable - imo makes really good use of the PSP screen, with danmaku mechanics that actually work for a hori
- Space Invaders Extreme - I don't really like the split that you have to live with in the DS version; plus the shoulder buttons are great for weapon preserve in the PSP ver.
- exclusive remakes for MSX Parodius and Gradius II (need to try the latter someday)
- lots of retro compilations for the PSP with many old shumpz
- Sengoku Cannon kinda sucks when complared to Sengoku Blade, but it has some charm I guess

6)Make a Top 10 Handheld Stg's pls

not ready to do that yet, sorry

[Harpuia]

I don't think any of them have particularly great shmup libraries, but I'd have to go with the PSP for DariusBurst and the Gradius/Salamander collections. It only gets better when you consider the built-in PS1 emulation and (because who honestly owns an unmodded PSP anymore?) emulators for other systems.

[qmish]

Not only Gradius and Salamander, but Parodius too.

And there is Ginga Sapphire bundled with two visual novels.

[PowerofElsydeon]

I forgot to mention Ports and Compilations don t count since ur not suposed to play shumps on a tiny screen unless you ve got no option
So id rather play Gradius on the Saturn since it s the way it s meant to be but i think I can add an expetion if the game you mention you lacks good home or pc port like Xexex
And I think remakes count for me
So stop talkin mentioning the Konami PSP stuff unless it s just for Xexex and the remakes


Can anyone recomend me a game in Smash Tv vein even if it s not on a handheld format

Also do u think that Solar Striker;Project S-11 and Aerostar are cool?

[qmish]

We can't stop talking because they are very good You can even listen to soundtracks

[Kollision]

Can anyone recomend me a game in Smash Tv vein even if it s not on a handheld format

Strike Witches

[AxelMill]

Can anyone recomend me a game in Smash Tv vein even if it s not on a handheld format

The Binding of Isaac, ~6$, PC
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, ~18$, PC PS4 PSV
Hyper Princess Pitch, free, PC
Age of Zombies, various prices, iOS Android PS3 PSP PSV (the latter being a remaster IIRC)

[Kollision]

Can anyone recomend me a game in Smash Tv vein even if it s not on a handheld format

Any of those awesome twin stick shooters developed by radiangames will also keep you happily entertained.

[ACSeraph]

Popping in here real quick to plug Sagaia on the original gameboy. Really enjoyable mostly unique Darius game in the style of the original game. I agree totally with BIL about the two Nemesis games, and I think Sagaia can also stand up there with them in terms of quality.

Kollision noted the often forgotten PSP Burunyanman and I will second that one. If you can get past the visual style and the fact that you can't actually play it portably in public if you don't want to be arrested, you will find that the mechanics and scoring are actually quite good. I wrote a system guide for it in the strategy section. This game really shot itself in the foot, because had it gone for a pure cute 'em up route rather than the eroge route I'm sure it would be well loved here.

Lots of other great suggestions in the thread too; I think I'm gonna need to hunt down a copy of Bionic Commando...

[Obiwanshinobi]

Konami Collector's Series: Arcade Advanced/Game Collection/Classics for GBA comes with pretty good ports of Time Pilot and Scramble - Konami Code enables auto-fire in Time Pilot, which makes for some particularly enjoyable handheld gaming.

Solar Striker is a strong contender for the best first-party Nintendo shmup's crown.

[HardcoreOtaku]

Best Handheld Schump evar!!!!

[Austin]

You know the thread is serious when there are nine votes for a handheld whom's only shooters are crap ports of Defender and Centipede.

[louisg]

Cotton on NGPC for me

Actually, scratch that, my heart belongs to GG Aleste 1 & 2

[DMC]

Austin, it's just one vote (9%).
Is there any good text/video review of portable shmups out there?

[trap15]

>WonderSwan not on list

[CStarFlare]

To be fair, the Wonderswan has like two shmups if you don't have a Witch and only one of them is good.

But to be fair to you, the list includes the fucking game.com

[qmish]

What do you dislike Run=Dim Return to Earth ? ( i never played so i'm asking)

[trap15]

RUN=DIM's a truly amazing turd of a game. It's a wonder it ever got released.

[qmish]

Oh, and there is also GP32 with Wizard Slayer (bad Cotton clone?) and Tomak Save the Earth, Again

has like two shmups

Most handhelds seem to be like that.

[BrianC]

Another topic where the title and poll don't match. Title asks for games and poll asks for systems. The b/w GB fared well as far as exclusives go with Aerostar, Konami shmups, Solar Striker, and Sagaia (a GB remix of Darius rather than a port of Darius II). Most other handhelds have a handful of shmups with one or two really good games. GG has few shmups, but GG Aleste is good stuff (and heard good things about GG Aleste II, as well). Judgement Silversword is one of the better handheld shmups, but the system it's on doesn't have many other shmups.

Best Handheld Schump evar!!!!

I know you are joking here, but some of those things really are good stuff. I like Coleco's Galaxian quite a bit, though it doesn't play that much like the arcade game.

Edit: I have actually played that game, but under a different name, Galaxy II. Very fun game that plays like a mix of Galaxian and Moon Cresta. It even apes Moon Cresta's jingle.

[Skykid]

Why do you keep making topics where the thread title and seemingly obligatory poll are different questions?

[gray117]

Why do you keep making topics where the thread title and seemingly obligatory poll are different questions?

Haha

Serious pc engine gt if those count as originals.... Or just save the moneyto buy regular shmups/ports. And then second answer would probably be just your phone.

[Pedro Lambrini]

The GBA can play all of the GB and GBC games as well as its own games and the SP screen isn't too bad.

Aerostar, Nemesis and Sagaia are great. Chikyuu Kaihou Gun ZAS is pure GB eye candy and is pretty fun to boot (though realistically you'll need a flash cart for that one). R-Type DX isn't bad for a portable version. Iridion 3D II, Gradius Galaxies and Steel Empire are great on the GBA. Darius R is often maligned because there's too little screen space for the big sprites but I kinda like it... the music's good if nothing else.

If you want to got real old school the GBC version of Space Invaders is awesome. It's my favourite official SI and that includes home console and computer versions. The pace is good, there's a lot of variety in the enemies and the music is ace. Of course, you've got your vanilla SI too and then there's Galaga and Galaxian. There are another few that I can't think of at the moment. Of course there are the NES shmup ports too (Star Soldier, Xevious etc), but, yeah, the GBA is often overlooked these days in favour of trendier systems.

[Harpuia]

The GB does have a better library than I initially thought, with good versions of Gradius, Darius, and R-type. I think DariusBurst might be the best original shmup on any handheld though.

[BrianC]

Of course, you've got your vanilla SI too and then there's Galaga and Galaxian.

It's worth mentioning that the exact same ports of Galaga and Galaxian (though the SGB borders are different) are also in Namco Gallery 1 (Galaga) and 2 (Galaxian) for GB. JP only, but cheap. First Namco Gallery for GB has Battle City, Galaga, Mappy, and a golf game named Namco Classic. The second one has Dig Dug (even has the New Dig Dug mode from the original GB version intact), Galaxian, a Family Stadium baseball game, and Tower of Druaga. There's also a third GB b/w collection with Sky Kid, Babel, some mahjong game, and Family Tennis.

edit: Galaga/Galaxian is one of those games that plays the sound incorrectly on early GBC models. If I remember correctly, the Namco Gallery versions have the same issue. Some music cuts off early and some sounds don't play. I think some other Namco games like Pac-Man have the same issue. Thankfully, this isn't an issue with the original GB, GB Pocket, later GBC models, or GBA.

[d0s]

Why is there no pc engine gt/turbo express in this shit poll

e: the gameboy port of r-type is a travesty