PCE shooters have lost their magic for me...

[ddd1234]

I recently got into Sega Saturn, and started collecting shmups for it.
I must say, after playing games like Darius Gaiden, Sōkyūgurentai, Dodonpachi, Batsugun and Battle Garegga, I am having hard going back to the PCE shmups.
They seem dated to me now in terms of presentation and game play. Anyone feel the same?

[Necromancer]

Anyone feel the same?

Nope, not at all.  Newer shooters may look better in terms of more colors, resolution, etc., but their play mechanics are no better than older shooties (worse in the case of bullet hells).

[ddd1234]

Don't get me wrong, I still love some shooters like Sapphire, Lords of thunder, Nexzr and various other CD shmups.

But Hucard games seem to suffer the most for me.

I guess PCE shmups are more fair in terms of difficulty and gameplay, whereas Saturn shmups throw everything at you but the kitchen sink.

[Black Tiger]

Post 16-bit shooters have lost some of their magic for me as time goes on. I only apreciate 8 & 16-bit shooters all the more. Even the best 32+-bit shooters feel clunky and unweildly compared to 16-bit games. It seems like they are made by people who don't understand the feel of 16-bit shooters that makes them so special and most seem to be designed for arcades. The tweaks made for console play make most shooters that much better. Super Darius 2 is a good example, which is so much more enjoyable for than the arcade and Saturn versions and even has nicer visuals in many places.

Aeroblasters is a good example of a HuCard game. It's one of my favorite shooters of all time and the arcade and arcade faithful Genesis versions just don't feel the same, even though they are technically superior in may ways.

[Arkhan]

I think Star Soldier for MSX rules.

[SamIAm]

One thing I can appreciate about older PCE shooters is that for most of them, once you memorize a few tricky spots and general play techniques, you can kick back and just enjoy the game. Not only can you probably finish it, but the simple scoring systems make it a lot easier to deal with mistakes. When I play shmups from the mid-90's forward, no matter what the so-called difficulty level is, I'm always on the edge of my seat trying to exploit the scoring system to whatever extreme I can.

I'm pretty good at Radiant Silvergun, but I can screw up an entire run so badly with a single split-second mistake that I'll just reset the game. In Lords of Thunder, I can usually recover a little goof well enough to finish the game and still score pretty well.

[Digi.k]

I'll always put on parodius.. and if you got it Tatsujin I think still looks amazing as well as hucards: raiden, hana taka daka and pc dengin

[Bonknuts]

PCE shooters have lost their magic for me... 

ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

[RegalSin]

I understand, but the Saturn is one big censored flip-flop system, that breifly took the place of the PCE, along with the Playstation. The Saturn is a 3d system, with two proccessors. The PCE can do every single 2d feet the Saturn gave to us, if they only tried. Look at the N64 and Resident Evil 2.

With a 2d game, each proccessor does a seperate job. With the PCE you have one 8-bit proccessor doing most of the work, with a small amount of memory.

However honestly I was into Saturn games, but I got sick of it. I wanted less 3d and more 2d. Then when I discovered that most of the Saturn games were on the PCE, I said so long Nights, and hello Deneb.

[ddd1234]

I understand, but the Saturn is one big censored flip-flop system, that breifly took the place of the PCE, along with the Playstation. The Saturn is a 3d system, with two proccessors. The PCE can do every single 2d feet the Saturn gave to us, if they only tried.

What? Not possible! Let me see Pc-Engine handle stage 2 of Galactic attack/Layer Section.

[dq333]

Bah  I got my Jap Sega Saturn 10 years ago and I've got all those games plus more (have since appreciated in price)  You MUST get RS and Layer Section(best on SS).  But having said that, I got my PCE about 2 years ago and absolutely LOVE the shooters.  There is just something about them and the media, love them f'ing HUs!  The SS and the PCE are a shooter fans heaven so consider yourself privileged.  Nothing like playing some RS, then Layer Section Then finishing up with......... Violent Soldier

[dq333]

Jumped too fast, I suppose you already have Layer Section, but what a frigging game, the music is just crazy (good).  I strongly believe you will find a need for Hu shooters again.  They may look simple but they will always have a certain magic.  I mean look at Soldier Blade and Parodius, they certainly warrant some attention.

[ddd1234]

Oh ya, I will go back to them eventually, because I love shooters and teh PCE. But these days I am totally hooked on the Saturn, and I do enjoy the crazy "edge of your seat" type game play.

[Tatsujin]

It's so apples vs. oranges.

SS shewties are mostly arcade ports of that time/era, so are most of the PS1 shewties. PCE also had a lot of arcade ports of its time/era, but also tons of exclusive console only shewties.

Just generally saying that they're outdated due to technical limitations is BS.

If you can't appreciate 'em anymore, then it's your very own beef. But i doubt that most of the peeps thinking that way.

[dq333]

I hear ya.  If you had not previously experienced the Saturn and are an avid shooter fan, getting hooked on it right now is completely understandable.  If you love shooters, you owe it to yourself to try a Saturn one day guys. What sux is the prices going up.  Man, i love shooters, my "best" genre of them all.