VGCollect Forum

General and Gaming => Classic Video Games => Topic started by: dreama1 on October 06, 2014, 11:50:16 am

Title: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: dreama1 on October 06, 2014, 11:50:16 am
Best shoot em up games ever?
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: maximo310 on October 06, 2014, 12:29:16 pm
Hmm, that's tough considering the numerous choices out there. Out of the ones I've played, I'll have to go with Radiant Silvergun,Xexex, DoDonPachi, and U.N Squadron.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: dreama1 on October 06, 2014, 12:39:39 pm
Hmm, that's tough considering the numerous choices out there. Out of the ones I've played, I'll have to go with Radiant Silvergun,Xexex, DoDonPachi, and U.N Squadron.
U.N Squadron is nice it's based off an anime.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: Limeface on October 06, 2014, 12:44:21 pm
I don't own many bullet hell shooters but Deathsmiles and Akai Katana on 360 are 2 awesome ones.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: breezer0029 on October 06, 2014, 01:06:43 pm
One of mine is Einhander for ps1
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: maikaal on October 06, 2014, 01:12:43 pm
Max Payne games.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: koemo1 on October 06, 2014, 01:15:01 pm
Blazing Lazers ^^
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: byron on October 06, 2014, 01:21:45 pm
I love the Parodius series. Why be a spaceship when you can be an octopus or a penguin?
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: kingrat101 on October 06, 2014, 02:17:39 pm
There are tons out there, these are just my favorites:
Bullet Hell- Espgulda, Dodonpachi and Battle Garegga
Traditional- Fire Shark, Truxton, Gradius, R-type

Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: dreama1 on October 06, 2014, 02:23:02 pm
There are tons out there, these are just my favorites:
Bullet Hell- Espgulda, Dodonpachi and Battle Garegga
Traditional- Fire Shark, Truxton, Gradius, R-type
Oh god fire shark and truxton are soo good.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: evilnick on October 06, 2014, 02:31:58 pm
Blazing Lazers ^^

Blazing Lazers is outstanding, and one of the most well-balanced shmups I've ever played, and one of the strongest stand-outs.  My only issue with it is the hard direction change of the final level where enemy movement and attack patterns are so drastically different than the rest of the game that my brain apparently can't adjust to the change.

But my favorite is probably still Ikaruga.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: koemo1 on October 06, 2014, 03:16:09 pm
Blazing Lazers ^^

Blazing Lazers is outstanding, and one of the most well-balanced shmups I've ever played, and one of the strongest stand-outs.  My only issue with it is the hard direction change of the final level where enemy movement and attack patterns are so drastically different than the rest of the game that my brain apparently can't adjust to the change.

But my favorite is probably still Ikaruga.
Wow i forget about Ikaruga!
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: zenimus on October 06, 2014, 03:21:59 pm
Of what I've played, these are my top ten favorites:

1. Life Force (aka "Salamander")
2. Gun.Smoke
3. Viewpoint
4. Gradius: The Interstellar Assault
5. GunBird 2
6. Elemental Master
7. Gaiares
8. Aero Fighters 2
9. GigaWing
10. Blazing Lazers
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: bikingjahuty on October 06, 2014, 05:04:32 pm
1. Radiant Silvergun (Saturn)
2. Ikaruga (Dreamcast/Gamecube)
3. Musha (Genesis)
4. Dodonpachi (Saturn)
5. Mars Matrix (Dreamcast)
6. Geometry Wars Galaxies
7. Mushihimesama Futari (XBOX 360)
8. Raiden II (Arcade)
9. Under Defeat (PS3/Dreamcast)
10. Raystorm (PS1/Saturn)
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: doncosmo on October 06, 2014, 05:48:29 pm
Cave/Touhou that is all.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: burningdoom on October 06, 2014, 07:21:49 pm
Too many. I can really get into a good shoot-em up.

I'm not into bullet-hell games, though, I just don't have the skill to enjoy those.

A list of some of my favorites:
-Blazing Lazers
-Darius Gaiden & G-Darius
-Dragon Spirit: The New Legend
-G-Darius
-Gradius series
-Lords of Thunder (greatest video game soundtrack EVER!)
-Raiden series
-Ray Storm
-Star Soldier
-Thunder Force V
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: maximo310 on October 06, 2014, 07:51:13 pm
I have a few more to add to my list from earlier: Border Down, Zero Gunner 2, Armored Police Batrider, Battle Garegga, and Terra Diver
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: GrooDWanderer on October 06, 2014, 08:30:27 pm
How appropriate that this thread comes about when I've been on a "shoot-em-up" buying spree as of late. I just got Platypus for the PSP and recently got Silpheed on PS2. I'll probably be putting most of the ones listed on this thread on my wish list.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: argyle on October 07, 2014, 10:24:08 am
I've always been a sucker for R-Type.  Close runner-ups would probably be the Life Force series & Gun.Smoke (NES ver.) - if that last one counts. 
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: evilnick on October 07, 2014, 10:34:20 am
I've always been a sucker for R-Type.  Close runner-ups would probably be the Life Force series & Gun.Smoke (NES ver.) - if that last one counts. 

I've never been able to accomplish much of anything in an R-Type game.  I think the slow pace is just something that my brain can't grasp. 
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: turf on October 07, 2014, 10:57:33 am
I'm not a fan of shooter.  That's mainly because I suck at them.  However, I just got Terra Cresta and I'm enjoying it so far.  Probably not the best ever, but I like it.

I like Legendary Wings too.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: maximo310 on October 07, 2014, 10:38:36 pm
I'm not a fan of shooter.  That's mainly because I suck at them.  However, I just got Terra Cresta and I'm enjoying it so far.  Probably not the best ever, but I like it.

I like Legendary Wings too.
I like the game as well too  as one of Capcom's earliest shmups( I believe 1986)with its mix of shmup and side scrolling platformer to prevent the game from getting too boring. I have the original emulated arcade version on my Capcom Classic Collection for Xbox and I love the art style of the game as well. Do you play it on the NES version?
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: maximo310 on October 07, 2014, 10:39:54 pm
Also, here's a cool guide for people who want to get into bullet-hell shmups as well called The Full Extent of the Jam. Its not for everyone, but it's worth a look if you're interested: http://forum.shmupemall.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=431#p9243
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: dreama1 on October 07, 2014, 11:30:46 pm
Also, here's a cool guide for people who want to get into bullet-hell shmups as well called The Full Extent of the Jam. Its not for everyone, but it's worth a look if you're interested: http://forum.shmupemall.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=431#p9243
You notice the ps3 has hardly any shoot em ups? Why xbox owners get them no one cares about xbox.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: maximo310 on October 07, 2014, 11:46:29 pm
Also, here's a cool guide for people who want to get into bullet-hell shmups as well called The Full Extent of the Jam. Its not for everyone, but it's worth a look if you're interested: http://forum.shmupemall.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=431#p9243
You notice the ps3 has hardly any shoot em ups? Why xbox owners get them no one cares about xbox.
The reason behind it was that the xbox 360( and maybe xbox live online arcade) is easier to develop games for the ps3, and in most territories( Especially in Japan with CAVE), most of the shmups were released in the early years of the xbox 360 as exclusives for the system, which brought some people to the xbox 360 because of exclusivity, but not as many as they hoped with their exclusives. Microsoft spent quite a bit of money getting these exclusives for the console for the early to mid part of the 360 for physical releases, especially since they thought it would help their sales in Japan, despite the fact the 360 did worse in Japan than the original Xbox. Now, the xbox 360 has the majority of shmups, some of them were region free, some were region locked to japan, and a few were localized to North America, although for ps3, you can get Under Defeat HD for NA, and Ketsui and Caldarius Blaze for a region free Japanese release for physical PS3 releases. I did see that Raiden V is going to be a Xbox One exclusive since Moss has generally supported Microsoft's consoles since the 360, and PS4 is getting Ubusana as an exclusive, which is being made by the guy who created Gradius V, Radiant Silvergun, and Ikaruga, so right now considering the shmup market's state and the early part of the 8th generation for home consoles, its going to be a while before we see more shmups on the market.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: burningdoom on October 08, 2014, 12:12:53 pm
I'm not a fan of shooter.  That's mainly because I suck at them.  However, I just got Terra Cresta and I'm enjoying it so far.  Probably not the best ever, but I like it.

I like Legendary Wings too.

Yeah, Legendary Wings is very cool. Love the fantasy style of it.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: evilnick on October 09, 2014, 09:21:58 am
I'm not a fan of shooter.  That's mainly because I suck at them.  However, I just got Terra Cresta and I'm enjoying it so far.  Probably not the best ever, but I like it.

I like Legendary Wings too.

Yeah, Legendary Wings is very cool. Love the fantasy style of it.

I keep seeing this game lately.  I guess I should finally pick it up.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: turf on October 09, 2014, 09:37:21 am
I'm not a fan of shooter.  That's mainly because I suck at them.  However, I just got Terra Cresta and I'm enjoying it so far.  Probably not the best ever, but I like it.

I like Legendary Wings too.

Yeah, Legendary Wings is very cool. Love the fantasy style of it.

I keep seeing this game lately.  I guess I should finally pick it up.

It's an odd duck, but for the money it's a great game.  You should easily find it for $5-$10. 

I really need to make a list of games that are high VALUE.  It may be some type of Fun/$ type rating.  This would fit perfectly in there.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: BarbaricAvatar on October 10, 2014, 06:49:55 am
In some form of order:
Crimsonland (PC)
Beat Hazard (PC)
Chicken Invaders 4 (PC)
Llamatron 2112 (PC)
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: maximo310 on October 10, 2014, 10:51:50 am
In some form of order:
Crimsonland (PC)
Beat Hazard (PC)
Chicken Invaders 4 (PC)
Llamatron 2112 (PC)
How is chicken invaders 4? Is it a more diverse game than its predecessors?
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: BarbaricAvatar on October 10, 2014, 02:13:27 pm
In some form of order:
Crimsonland (PC)
Beat Hazard (PC)
Chicken Invaders 4 (PC)
Llamatron 2112 (PC)
How is chicken invaders 4? Is it a more diverse game than its predecessors?

Nope. :D It's much the same as CI3 but with more weapons and upgrades.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: maximo310 on October 10, 2014, 02:57:11 pm
In some form of order:
Crimsonland (PC)
Beat Hazard (PC)
Chicken Invaders 4 (PC)
Llamatron 2112 (PC)
How is chicken invaders 4? Is it a more diverse game than its predecessors?

Nope. :D It's much the same as CI3 but with more weapons and upgrades.
I used to play the CI3 demo a lot back in the day, but I just kept forgetting to purchase the full game. Maybe its time to finally get an installment of the series.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: burningdoom on October 12, 2014, 09:09:32 pm
I'm not a fan of shooter.  That's mainly because I suck at them.  However, I just got Terra Cresta and I'm enjoying it so far.  Probably not the best ever, but I like it.

I like Legendary Wings too.

Yeah, Legendary Wings is very cool. Love the fantasy style of it.

I keep seeing this game lately.  I guess I should finally pick it up.

I think a big reason I have a soft-spot for the game, too, is because I've always been a comic book fan as far back as I can remember. And in my head as a little kid, I thought I was playing Hawkman the game.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: gokurin on October 14, 2014, 12:45:31 am
Jamestown is the best western shump I've played.
Very high production values, great music, graphics, and gameplay.

Otherwise, Touhou (any of them).
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: maximo310 on October 14, 2014, 01:05:24 am
Jamestown is the best western shump I've played.
Very high production values, great music, graphics, and gameplay.

Otherwise, Touhou (any of them).
Is Touhou any good? I've heard that it has alot of really slow and dense bullet waves compared to some of the other shmups on the market today.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: gokurin on October 14, 2014, 01:15:37 am
Jamestown is the best western shump I've played.
Very high production values, great music, graphics, and gameplay.

Otherwise, Touhou (any of them).
Is Touhou any good? I've heard that it has alot of really slow and dense bullet waves compared to some of the other shmups on the market today.

I like it, but that may not reflect the shump community.
Touhou may be slower, but the pattern design makes up for it. Oh, and the music and art design are both pretty good.
...plus it's free, that always helps.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: maximo310 on October 14, 2014, 01:38:30 am
Jamestown is the best western shump I've played.
Very high production values, great music, graphics, and gameplay.

Otherwise, Touhou (any of them).
Is Touhou any good? I've heard that it has alot of really slow and dense bullet waves compared to some of the other shmups on the market today.

I like it, but that may not reflect the shump community.
Touhou may be slower, but the pattern design makes up for it. Oh, and the music and art design are both pretty good.
...plus it's free, that always helps.
Oh they are free?! I guess I'll download some and try them out and see how I like it.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: evilnick on October 14, 2014, 03:36:57 pm
I'm not a fan of shooter.  That's mainly because I suck at them.  However, I just got Terra Cresta and I'm enjoying it so far.  Probably not the best ever, but I like it.

I like Legendary Wings too.

Yeah, Legendary Wings is very cool. Love the fantasy style of it.

I keep seeing this game lately.  I guess I should finally pick it up.

It's an odd duck, but for the money it's a great game.  You should easily find it for $5-$10. 

I really need to make a list of games that are high VALUE.  It may be some type of Fun/$ type rating.  This would fit perfectly in there.

I did indeed find it for about $5.  I'm not sure how I feel about it.  After cleaning my NES and getting the game running as it was supposed to (you know, not glitchy), my son and I played it for about half an hour or so, and I found it to be extremely difficult.  The side-scrolling levels are interesting (my kid stumbled into that, I managed to avoid them), but I think player movement is too rigid compared to enemies. 

I have to agree, it really is an odd duck.  And the man has wings, so that makes this a pun.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: betelgeuse on October 15, 2014, 08:36:58 pm
Some of my favorites in no particular order. These were the type of games I use to play in the arcades.

R-Type
Lifeforce
Twin Eagle
Silk Worm
UN Squadron
Side Arms
Twin Cobra
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: abe on October 15, 2014, 08:58:34 pm
Astebreed on the PC is pretty awesome. You pilot an awesome mecha with projectile weapons and a sword. The perspective also changes frequently throughout each level, so you often go from sidescroller to top-down and back in the middle of a level. I'm not sure how it compares to some of the other stuff in this thread though. My experience with shmups is pretty limited.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: breezer0029 on October 19, 2014, 10:54:45 pm
One of mine is Einhander for ps1 ! great game :)
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: badATchaos on October 25, 2014, 09:29:44 pm
I enjoy Crisis Force (http://vgcollect.com/item/16381), Aero Fighters/Sonic Wings 1 & 2. I love the unique special bombs for each craft.
Hard to say whats 'best.' Can't really compare older games with newer ones, and some people like more difficulty while others like less.

Edit: forgot GunNac
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: koemo1 on November 06, 2014, 06:23:28 pm
How about galaga? Or doesn't that game count?
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: maximo310 on November 06, 2014, 06:39:10 pm
How about galaga? Or doesn't that game count?
Yep, that works as a fun early shmup.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: pordox on November 18, 2014, 06:10:34 am
Axelay was and is still one of my favorites. Interesting Weapon System and great variety in stage design and gameplay (alternating between vertical and horizontal stages). And the music, aaahw such beautiful tunes ^^
The only downside are the sound effects for the weapons. They sound so weak and puny.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: dashv on November 18, 2014, 12:03:08 pm
I love the Parodius series. Why be a spaceship when you can be an octopus or a penguin?

I second Parodius and add Phoenix for the Atari 2600.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: burningdoom on November 18, 2014, 01:10:52 pm
I love the Parodius series. Why be a spaceship when you can be an octopus or a penguin?

I second Parodius and add Phoenix for the Atari 2600.

One of the few games I actually enjoyed on the 2600. It had a sense of progression (even if that progression doesn't go all that far). Also the enemy patterns were more erratic than other shooters at the time. And for an Atari game, that UFO boss looked pretty cool.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: sin2beta on November 18, 2014, 06:39:12 pm
Star Jacker is a favorite of mine. It can be found on the SG-1000 and Saturn for home ports. Star Force was a very popular one in the early 80s in Japan. I haven't quite figured out why though.

I love Galaga as well.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: burningdoom on November 18, 2014, 06:44:36 pm
Star Jacker is a favorite of mine. It can be found on the SG-1000 and Saturn for home ports. Star Force was a very popular one in the early 80s in Japan. I haven't quite figured out why though.

It's unofficially the first game in the Star Soldier series. Play Star Force, and then play the original Star Soldier and the similarities are more than obvious.
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: dashv on November 19, 2014, 02:54:22 am
I love the Parodius series. Why be a spaceship when you can be an octopus or a penguin?

I second Parodius and add Phoenix for the Atari 2600.

One of the few games I actually enjoyed on the 2600. It had a sense of progression (even if that progression doesn't go all that far). Also the enemy patterns were more erratic than other shooters at the time. And for an Atari game, that UFO boss looked pretty cool.

Exactly!

Why this game never got remade/revamped is beyond me!
Title: Re: Best shoot em up games ever?
Post by: turbogenesisphil on November 20, 2014, 11:34:37 am
My three favorite shoot 'em ups on the Genesis/MD (and three favorites ever probably) are M.U.S.H.A., Thunder Force IV and Gleylancer. Some of my favorite titles on other consoles: Gate of Thunder and Lords of Thunder on the Turbo CD, Blazing Lazers and Soldier Blade on TurboGrafx-16, Galactic Attack on Sega Saturn, The Raiden Project and Sonic Wings Special on PS1....