2-D shooters SHMUPS

[turboswimbz]

so i have never been much into the 2-D shooters.  I have tried to really get into them, but idk I never seem to find one I love, I like many of them, and even cleared a few, air zonk, fantasy zone, deep blue.  Yeah i know I'm not a huge fan yet I dodged my way through deep blue, silly right?.  anyway, recently got SSS and so far I do actually love it, I can't get past stage 3 yet, but I figure that's due to my lack of shmup skills thus far.  So I was wonder from some of the fans out there, what is your favorite part of the 2-D shooters, and what game got you hooked, how did you find out about that game?  What games do you feel offer the best experience?  (also i don't see why we can't talk about PCE shooters as well, since they will be bound to come up, and there is no sense in starting two separate threads)

[KingDrool]

I got into shmups in a major way a few years ago after not really thinking about them much previously. What inspired it, beyond my love of the Turbo consoles, was meeting some people who were REALLY into them and REALLY f*cking good at them. Most of them hang out at the shmups.com forums.

They showed me Cave games like Mushihimesama, Espgaluda, and DoDonPachi. I became mesmerized by the bullet patterns, and was amazed by how skillful they were at these games. So I began snatching up the imports on Saturn and PS2 and investing a lot of time (and money) into them. I'm still not great at them, but I can at least clear handfuls of levels without continuing.

Anyway, this made me go back and have more appreciation for the Turbo/PC Engine shmups. I always loved Gate and Lords of Thunder, but I really dug deeply into the rest of the catalog.

As far as my favorites, I already mentioned Cave, but I'll also buy anything by Treasure (Radiant Silvergun, Gradius V, and Ikaruga). For Turbo-specific games, Gate and Lords of Thunder are still my favorites. I'll never forget the first time I plugged in my brand new Turbo Duo and booted up Gate of Thunder. Mind blown.

[galam]

... I'll never forget the first time I plugged in my brand new Turbo Duo and booted up Gate of Thunder. Mind blown.

Ditto. I never quite got into Lords, but I'm also not great at shmups, so maybe that's why. Anyway, lately I've been collecting NES shmups and having a ball with them. Some are great and some are downright terrible. For some reason, my opinion on specific games seem to differ from most. For instance, I can't stand aero blasters or dead moon and others love them.
I am a huge gate fan, blazing lasers, galaga, sidearms, and sinistron for TG.
For NES... gyruss, guardian legend, stinger, and gradius have caught my fancy.
Finally, I would say Radient Silvergun is quite possibly the best shooter I have ever played. The music is majestic.

[Sadler]

I love Lords of Thunder! I think the music and settings are better than Gate. Entering a boss battle and hearing the initial ROAR! of the boss is just awesome! Also, I suck at shooters and have actually beat Lords, which is more than I can say for Gate.

Like you said, the Soldier series is awesome. I still think SSS > SB > FS, but the margin between SSS and SB is incredibly thin.

Other shooters? Check out the Download games, I love the cyber punk theme to them. Sapphire is cool too, but it's more cool from a "holy shit, the PCE can do this?!" angle than from a gameplay standpoint. That's not to say Sapphire is weak in gameplay, I just think other games do a better job.

EDIT: Yeah, Sinistron is really cool and I don't think it gets near enough credit. Sidearms and Forgotten Worlds have yet to grab me, I just can't get into the mechanics.

[KingDrool]

Finally, I would say Radient Silvergun is quite possibly the best shooter I have ever played. The music is majestic.

One of my all-time favorite games. Bliss.

[SignOfZeta]

I've found that when you stop using the term "shmup" they become a lot more apealing.

[turboswimbz]

I don't use the term actually, I just like calling them shooters, my brother just calls them those "old" ones

[PunkicCyborg]

shooters! that's why we all like PCE, right?
I horizontal shooters because they are memorization based and I like setting small goals. I get the same kind of satisfaction when I clear a good shooter as when I solve a hard puzzle or finish a small but satisfying project. I also like them because I don't have a lot of time in one sitting to play games so they are perfect.
For PCE I like almost all the shooters. Even the bad ones i can still get some kind of enjoyment over conquering them and their flaws. I especially like Download, W-ring, the soldiers, Rayxanber II and all the cute em ups are great too.

[KingDrool]

I've found that when you stop using the term "shmup" they become a lot more apealing.

  Whatever...

If anything, it helps differentiate them from what all the young whippersnappers refer to as shooters these days (FPS), without having to say "2D shooters".

[galam]

... Also, I suck at shooters and have actually beat Lords, which is more than I can say for Gate.

Really? What the hell is wrong with me then?  I have tried all of the levels that you can select from, and I am yet to even see a boss. I must not be "getting it" somewhere along the line.

What about genesis?  I haven't played any shooters on the genny that I remember standing out. I have a few for sega cd, but what about carts? Any recommendations?

[futureman2000]

I was not a big fan of the genre until I played Batsugun on the Saturn. It's really short, but the art and music really got me hooked. It was my gateway shooter.

[Sadler]

... Also, I suck at shooters and have actually beat Lords, which is more than I can say for Gate.

Really? What the hell is wrong with me then?  I have tried all of the levels that you can select from, and I am yet to even see a boss. I must not be "getting it" somewhere along the line.

Stick with one level, don't keep swapping between them. Honestly doing them "in order" (around the ring) I think works well. Other than that, it's pretty standard shooter. Keep your weapon powered up (at least level 2) and you'll do fine. I prefer Earth and Wind, pretty much for everything.

[galam]

... Also, I suck at shooters and have actually beat Lords, which is more than I can say for Gate.

Really? What the hell is wrong with me then?  I have tried all of the levels that you can select from, and I am yet to even see a boss. I must not be "getting it" somewhere along the line.

Stick with one level, don't keep swapping between them. Honestly doing them "in order" (around the ring) I think works well. Other than that, it's pretty standard shooter. Keep your weapon powered up (at least level 2) and you'll do fine. I prefer Earth and Wind, pretty much for everything.

Thanks, I'll give it another go sometime. It was my first VC purchase a while back when I didnt want to spring for the disc.

[KingDrool]

I was not a big fan of the genre until I played Batsugun on the Saturn. It's really short, but the art and music really got me hooked. It was my gateway shooter.

Batsugun kicks ass! Was obsessed with that one for several months.

[Drakon]

Batsugun special is the best.  I've played a batsugun special arcade board (unfinished beta version but it's playable).  I'm also big on certain cave shmups, ketsui, mushihimesama, espgaluda.

I also think gate of thunderforce is an amazing somewhat hacked game (I prefer the music over the original gate of thunder)

The first shmup I ever got into was the first raiden in the arcades.  Now I think the game is total garbage but back in 1990 it was such an awesome concept to me.  Some years later I played raptor on the pc and again I was totally sucked in, but now I think it's a terrible game.  My personal favourite shmup of all time is ketsui, I'm okay at ketsui but definitely far from the greatest ketsui player ever.  I discovered ketsui at a shmupmeet, some dude owned the board (years before it came out on xbox 360).  I played ketsui and instantly I was hooked on the game.  I like how ketsui requires a lot of memorization therefore the more you play it the better you get at it (very rewarding for time put in).

Anyone who's interested in ketsui here's a 1cc recording I made:


Other shmups I think rock are....

megadrive:
thunderforce 4
verytex
V-V / V-five

famicom:

crisis force
recca (even though I can't get anywhere in this game)