Gamest Awards - the Best Shooting

[oxtsu]

Each year Gamest magazine (predecessor of Arcadia) awarded their picks of best arcade game and others. Here are the results for shooting only. This is complete, except for '86-'87 and the individual game point rating. Also, I've added the Western names in parentheses, where I thought it would be useful. Non-STGs in black.



-edit- Thanks to Gamest mook The Best Game 2

Point tallies added through to '96!

BTW, I don't know how the numbers are calculated, only that they are a representation of votes received.




_________________________________12/1988 (mag publish date)

1. Gradius II (Vulcan Venture) ` 162 pts
2. Lost Worlds (Forgotten Worlds) ` 151
3. Ordyne ` 130
4. Kyuukyoku Tiger (Twin Cobra) ` 83
5. A-JAX ` 67
6. Galaxy Force [rails] ` 36
7. Sky Soldiers ` 35
8. Rabio Lepus ` 34
9. Assault [arena] ` 21
10. Sonic Boom ` 17




_________________________________12/1989

1. Area 88 (U.N. Squadron) ` 201
2. Darius II ` 172
3. Image Fight ` 153
4. Tatsujin (Truxton) ` 90
5. Phelios ` 54
6. Plus Alpha ` 46
7. Night Striker [rails] ` 41
8. Thunder Cross ` 37
9. XMULTIPLY ` 31
10. Metal Hawk [?] ` 30

_________________________________12/1990

1. Parodius Da! ` 247
2. Raiden ` 131
3. Gradius III ` 113
4. Air Buster ` 60
5. 1941 Counter Attack ` 42
6. Vapor Trail ` 40
7. Trigon ` 37
8. Gigandes ` 31
tie. G-LOC [rails] ` 31
tie. Same! Same! Same! (Fire Shark) ` 31


__________________________________12/1991

1. Detana!! Twinbee ` 181
2. Dragon Saber ` 175
3. U.S. Navy (Carrier Airwing) ` 93
4. Cotton ` 81
5. Gun Frontier ` 75
6. StarBlade [rails] ` 54
7. Chariot <Wonder 3> ` 51
8. Thunder Cross II ` 47
9. ASO II (Alpha Mission II) ` 32
10. Steel Gunner [gun] ` 31

__________________________________12/1992

1. Sonic Wings (Aerofighters) ` 235
2. Xexex ` 155
3. Metal Black ` 97
4. Macross ` 81
5. Tatsujin-Oh (Truxton II) ` 76
6. VARTH ` 56
7. Wolf Fang [shoot/platform] ` 49
8. Cosmo Gang: The Video ` 46
9. Last Resort ` 41
10. Hacha Mecha Fighter ` 23

__________________________________12/1993

1. Sengoku Ace ` 358
2. Mahou Daisakusen (Sorcerer Striker) ` 129
3. Macross II ` 59
4. V.V ` 58
5. R-Type LEO ` 49
6. F/A (Fighter & Attacker) ` 39
7. Kaitei Daisensou (In the Hunt) ` 37
8. Viewpoint ` 34
9. The Great Ragtime Show (Boogie Wings) ` 29
tie. Dogyuun ` 29

__________________________________12/1994

1. Gokujou Parodius ` 263
2. Rayforce ` 148
3. Darius Gaiden ` 85
4. Gunbird ` 74
5. Sonic Wings 2 ` 67
6. Batsugun ` 61
7. Raiden DX ` 29
8. Wing War [rails] ` 22
9. Shippu Mahou Daisakusen (Kingdom Grandprix) ` 20
10. Virtua Cop [gun] ` 16

__________________________________12/1995

1. Twin Bee Yahhoo! ` 218
2. Donpachi ` 210
3. Strikers 1945 ` 163
4. Ultra Keibitai (Ultra X Weapons) ` 80
5. Pulstar ` 76
6. Cyber Command [3D shoot] ` 53
7. Viper Phase 1 ` 35
8. P47 Aces ` 6
9. Akkanvader ` 5
10. Sega Net Mark [??] ` 2

__________________________________12/1996

1. RayStorm ` 252
2. Battle Garegga ` 110
3. 19XX :the War Against Destiny ` 98
4. Sengoku Blade (Tengai) ` 88
5. Soukyugurentai ` 80
6. Game Tengoku (Game Paradise : the Master of Shooting) ` 44
7. Virtua Cop 2 [gun] ` 42
8. Sexy Parodius ` 37
9. Gunblade N.Y. [gun] ` 31
10. Sonic Wings 3 ` 21

__________________________________12/1997

1. Dodonpachi
2. G.Darius
3. Twinkle Star Sprites
4. none
5. Sol Divide
6. Raiden Fighters
7. Solar Assault [rails]
8. Sonic Wings Limited
9. Macross Plus
10. Tobe Polystars [rails]

__________________________________12/1998

1. Esprade
2. Radiant Silvergun
3. Strikers 1945 II
4. Armed Police Batrider
5. Blazing Star
6. Raiden Fighters JET
7. Dangun Feveron
8. Space Bomber
9. Raiden Fighters 2
10. G.Darius VER.2

[DC906270]

interesting, thanks for sharing this oxtsu, there seems to be a lot of shooters on there. a few choices look kind of strange to me, Sengoku Ace best arcade game of '93?? and games like Final Fight arent listed , WTF?

[oxtsu]

dc - This is shooting only. They had other categories for best fighting, action, etc. :)

[jpj]

wow. how shit are those rankings.

[DC906270]

ok, thanks, how stupid of me

[Ord]

Wow. 1998 was a bloody great year for shooters eh?

[Vincere]

What is this ranking seriously? I assume the maker was totally on crack.

[jpj]

Wow. 1998 was a bloody great year for shooters eh?

radiant silvergun #2 !!?? must be a typo.......

[Turrican]

Awesome info oxtsu, truly interesting.

Wow - Japanese do really have fine tastes, seeing how many cute'em ups won! Compared to their, our annual top 25 looks sorta mind-narrowed.

[undamned]

Big wins for konami! That's a neat expose, oxtsu!
-ud

[Ghegs]

Props to oxtsu.

Definately a list with some seemingly odd names and winners there. I'm guessing (read: hoping) the choices were selected only from games released in that particular year instead of every arcade game available at the time.

'Cause hell, Sol Divide #5 in '97?

Nice to see Sengoku Ace and the Sonic Wings series (every entry got in there!) get a lil' respect, though.

[Turrican]

It's also interesting to see how Psikyo entered with a bang with Sengoku Ace, an exploit that was not repeated later. This is bizarre, as many (even among supporters of Psikyo "1st batch" like llabnip) would argue that Ace is far too basic. Then again, it's probably due to the lack of competitors in that specific year.

edit:

also interesting: Raiden gets its entry, and then Raiden DX. No love for Raiden II, odd.

[Ghegs]

It's also interesting to see how Psikyo entered with a bang with Sengoku Ace, an exploit that was not repeated later. This is bizarre, as many (even among supporters of Psikyo "1st batch" like llabnip) would argue that Ace is far too basic.

Well, every year after there's a Psikyo game in the Top 5, so that's not bad by any means.

[Turrican]

Well, every year after there's a Psikyo game in the Top 5, so that's not bad by any means.

yes, of course, I didn't mean that. I meant, it's weird to see that only Ace got the first place, which is almost never the favorite game when it comes to Psikyo fans.

Edit: Had I to choose my favorite year according to these lists, I'd go with 1994.

[AAA]

1995 pleases me - I always rated Twinbee Yah-ho

[system11]

This is bizarre, as many (even among supporters of Psikyo "1st batch" like llabnip) would argue that Ace is far too basic.

Seeing it in the list pleased me - I've always thought Ace was one of their best.

[Turrican]

Oxtsu, does it explain anywhere in the magazine why some specific positions like '97 no° 4 haven't been assigned?

Also did you get the original Gamest magazines, or was this info collected in the latest Arcadia?

[llaoyllakcuf]

I think the rankings look alright, partly because a lot of my favorites are contained in the lists up till '93 :o

thanks for posting this, oxtsu

[oxtsu]

Thanks for the kudos, guys. I should also point you to where I was able to get half of this stuff: super!!

Oxtsu, does it explain anywhere in the magazine why some specific positions like '97 no° 4 haven't been assigned?

Also did you get the original Gamest magazines, or was this info collected in the latest Arcadia?

I don't know why, sorry. I'm pretty sure that the results came from player surveys, but it's unclear if the editor's also contributed for this category.

This info comes only from the Gamest issues. Arcadia trimmed down the categories in their awards and never re-published Gamest's (many of the Arcadia editors came from Gamest, but the publisher is different). Some other Gamest award categories:

Overall (top20)
best action
best fighting
best graphics
best music
best production
best character
favorite manufacturer
operator's ranking/picks
Hit game- best 20 during the year (two lists: one for income, one for player popularity)
Arcades with most high scores

[oxtsu]

-added point tallies-

[Twiddle]

1. RayStorm ` 252
2. Battle Garegga ` 110

why

[JJG]

Some games take more than a year for people to really give them the play time they deserve in order to truly appreciate them.

[Acid King]

ESP Ra.De. over Batrider? Icarus must be rolling over in his grave.

[Davey]

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Blazing Star beat out Dangun Feveron, but it still made me cry.

4. none

Nice to know that doing nothing at all is better than playing half the games from that year.

Icarus must be rolling over in his grave.

He died? My condolences to namakoteam.

[Limbrooke]

Icarus must be rolling over in his grave.

He died? My condolences to namakoteam.

rofl

[Icarus]

ESP Ra.De. over Batrider? Icarus must be rolling over in his grave.

Doesn't surprise me at all.
Raizing is the Devil incarnate, remember? （｀ー´）

How Space Bomber is ahead of RF2 is anyone's guess.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

For oxtsu,

So what is Arcadia's best "Shooting" (shmup) arcade titles for each year leading up to December 2005? (I'm curious as what the best December 2006 arcade shmup titles will be chosen since that's just in a few weeks away...) ^_~

I'm sure other fellow shmuppers would to know about Arcadia's arcade shmup picks of the year in chronological order... ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[oxtsu]

So what is Arcadia's best "Shooting" (shmup) arcade titles for each year leading up to December 2005?

Arcadia hasn't had a "best shooting" category in their awards. Shooters have to compete against everything. :o

Here is what made it in 2005:

-Reader's Most Popular Game-

1. Idolmaster
2. Sangokushi Taisen
3. GGXX SLASH
4. Melty Blood Act Cadenza
5. Gundam Seed: Alliance vs Z.A.F.T.
6. Tekken 5 (version 5.1)
7. Samurai Spirits Tenkaichi
8. Quiz Magical Academy II
9. NeoGeo Battle Coliseum
10.Senko no Ronde
11.Key of Avalon
12.Pop'n Music 12
13.BeatmaniaIIDX12 Happy Sky
14.Pop'n Music 13
15.Mushihimesama
16.Capcom Fighting Jam
17.DrumMania V
18.Guitar Freaks V
19.IBARA
20.BeatmaniaIIDX?

-Reader's Favorite Game Maker-

1. Sega
2. Konami
3. Namco
4. SNK Playmore
5. Capcom
6. Bandai
7. Taito
8. G.rev
9. CAVE
10.Arc System works

-Top Income (top 20)-

1.Tekken 5 (+5.1)
....................
...............
............
13.Mushihimesama
......

[PC Engine Fan X!]

For oxtsu,

Thanks for the 2005 Arcadia arcade ranking info...very interesting info regarding the Japanese public's taste in arcade gaming when it comes to arcade shmup titles. ^_~

And how did the Taito G-Card versions of Psyvariar Medium Unit and Psyvariar Revision arcade shmup titles fare in Gamest and/or Arcadia's arcade game rankings of 2000?

The Taito G-Card ver. of Psy-MU sure caught my attention when I was able to try it out a couple of times during my stay in Japan primarily for the Spring 2000 TGS expo back in late March 2000...the BGM tunes created by Tetsuro Sato & friends really added some nice "techno" ambience to the Psy-MU & Psy-R arcade titles as well..... ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[jehu]

Bringing you an interesting thread from the grave...

I was looking into Mystic Warriors' reception from back in the day, and got interested in the Gamest Awards. Found this here gem of a thread for STGs, but also found a few other good resources to link you all up to below if you're into this like me.

Here's another solid article by Heidi Kemps, aka Gaming.Moe, on Gamest's readership's favorite characters. Notable is how well Cotton hangs with the Streetfighter cast in '91 and the absolute ascendency of Bravoman. The ACA port might be worth another crack... if you're into arcade gaming for the characters.

http://gaming.moe/?p=2203

Best of all, though, is this brilliant post from an Argentinian forum that summarizes the award winners in all categories from 1986 to 1998.

https://www.retrogaming.com.ar/forum/vi ... =6&t=15709

Enjoy!