SHMUPS List

nakanenui

nakanenui

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Hey all, just trying to put together a list of desireable shoot em up games. I am trying to compile a list of people's favorites so I can look into them. Please list which games (with system) so that I can keep an eye open.

For example:
Ikaruga - Gamecube - under $20
R-Type Final - PS2 - under $20

Thanks. US or Import, doesnt matter as long as they are fun and worth buying. Please list the cheapest youve seen them.
 
Gradius III --- SNES
R-Type Delta --- PS1
R-Types --- PS1

Those are all I could think of off the top of my head, though I'm sure there's a lot more I should mention...I love shmups.
 
Ikaruga (GC and DC)
Shikigami no Shiro II (PS2 and DC)
Aero Fighters (SNES)
U.N. Squadron (SNES)
R-Type III (SNES)
Super R-Type (SNES)
Strike Gunner (SNES)
Axelay (SNES)
Gradius III (SNES)
Gradius III and IV (PS2)
Gradius V (PS2)
Einhander (PS1)
Gigawing 1 and 2 (DC)

quite a few Psyvariar games for DC and PS2
Zero Wing (Genesis)
Super Turrican 1 and 2 (SNES)

I know I'm missing quite a few, I'll update this list later.

I should say that the SNES ones are probably the best ones, typically a lot of cheaper ($$$) too.
 
hmm there is a site that basiclly list all the shmups ever made + review. Let me try to find a link.
 
I imagine there alot of japanese shmups that never made it here. How easy/hard/costly is it to mod a PS2 to play imports? And can you mod a PS2 without opening it up?
 
I'm pretty sure there is a SneakyPenguin-made SHMUPS master list thread somewhere on the site, similar to punq's Light-Gun thread.
 
are these imports any good?

dodonpachi daioujou - ps2
psikyo shooting collection vol 1,2,3 - ps2?
psyvariar complete edition - ps2
yokushin giga wing generations - ps2 (i liked gigawing in arcades)

and these us release
silpheed the lost planet - ps2
raiden dx or project - ps1
raystorm - ps1
castle skikagami 2 - ps2
 
[quote name='nakanenui']are these imports any good?[/QUOTE]

dodonpachi daioujou - ps2 - $60 a must
psikyo shooting collection vol 1,2,3 - ps2? - $35-60 OK ports but nothing special I've heard
psyvariar complete edition - ps2 - $55 great game but hard to find and probably cheaper to just get Medium Unit and Revision separately
yokushin giga wing generations - ps2 (i liked gigawing in arcades) - $55 no tate, 30fps, supposedly a poor port of a mediocre game

and these us release
silpheed the lost planet - ps2 - $5 boring as hell, one of Treasure's weakest moments but generally blamed on the lack of time Game Arts gave them
raiden dx or project - ps1 - $15 excellent games (DX is a just a remix of 2) but the US version of Raiden Project is highly priced
raystorm - ps1 - $5 pretty good
castle skikagami 2 - ps2 - $10 great deal
 
[quote name='chickenhawk']I imagine there alot of japanese shmups that never made it here. How easy/hard/costly is it to mod a PS2 to play imports? And can you mod a PS2 without opening it up?[/QUOTE]

Modding will cost at least $40 for just the chip. If you aren't familiar with how to solder and don't know your PS2 insides well, forget about it.

The alternatives (besides buying a JP system) are Swap Magic (which are further split to slide card, fliptop, and solderless chips) and DMS4 EZI, the non-swap solderless chip.

Beware of DMS4 EZI; it's rumored to cause longterm damage to the PS2.

Solderless chips that require swapping are OK but you could accidentally damage your tray ejection if you snap it in wrong. Slide cards are a huge hassle every time you want to play and generally believed to cause some wear to your PS2 tray motor. Fliptop is still the most preferred swapping method and can be installed in roughly 10 minutes. All options cost about $35 total (the device and the Swap Magic discs you'll need to swap) but you can make a slide card yourself if you wanted.
 
I love me the shmup action. Great thread idea, OP, although I'm sure something like this has been made before as someone else mentioned. Although I typically stand by Gradius as the best shmup series ever, my favorite shmup of all time is probably Raiden Fighters Jet 2002 in the arcades. Perfection.

For the PSone, I have Einhander, G. Darius, Gradius Gaiden, R-Type Delta, R-Types, and Raiden DX. Out of those, I would personally recommend Gradius Gaiden, R-Type Delta, and either Raiden DX or Raiden Project. I've also been meaning to try RayStorm/RayCrisis and ThunderForce V since I've heard good things, but haven't yet. I also really want Gradius Deluxe, but its price is way too high for my blood.

For the PStwo, I have Gradius V, R-Type Final, and Silpheed. I haven't tried Silpheed yet due to the mediocre word of mouth I've heard on it, but I can't recommend Gradius V and R-Type Final enough. R-Type Final, in particular, has some crazy replay value. There are 99 ships to unlock, weapon and enemy logbooks to fill up, a gallery to discover; all kinds of extras.
 
Just look at the page that I posted. It has reviews and stuff. Almost every shmup available for most systems.

Also, get Parodius for SNES.
 
Einhander was the shit. It was really easy compaired to a lot of shumps (Ikaruga...) but it had a lot more strategy involved in the gameplay than the simple 'die until you memorize the patterns' of many games in this genre.

Also no one's mentioned Border Down on Dreamcast yet, or Zero Gunner 2!

Zero Gunner 2 I am especially a big fan of due to the ship rotation dynamic which really puts a new spin (heh) on the shump formula.

I don't know where you could purchase these games outside of ebay at this point, (though I've heard rumors of these mysterious torrents of shump Dreamcast games floating around).

In any case get yourself a cheap ass dreamcast off of ebgames.com for $20, and get copies of all the good shumps that came out on it, Zero Gunner 2, Ikaruga, Border Down, Psyvariar 2, etc.
 
If you in it for the shmups and don't have a Dreamcast yet: GET ONE NOW. I'd say at least 10-20% of all the games for DC, especially Japanese ones are shmups, and most of them (Psyvariar, Zero Gunner, Ikaruga, Border Down, etc) are average at worst. Also, I agree about Parodius -- if you can find it get it, the Gradius style gameplay and crazy Japanese humor are great.
 
R-Type III is also on GBA, but unfortunately, it was a horrible port.

A few that haven't been mentioned yet:

Gekioh: Shooting King (PSX) - Awesome shmup with various bonus game modes, my favorites being the pocket and comical modes. It goes for $10 new and much cheaper used at EB.

Space Megaforce (SNES) - One of the best shmups on the SNES imo, if not the best. A little hard to find, and may be pricey too depending on where you find it. If you find a copy at Gamecrazy though, it should be $4.99 there.

Mobile Light Force 2 (PS2) - This is the first Castle Shikigami. Apparently XS Games thought slapping on the Mobile Light Force name instead of "Castle Shikigami" would help the game sell better (that's my guess, anyways). It should be easy to find a used copy for around $5 or so.

R-Type DX (GBC) - This has the GB versions of the R-Type 1 and 2 in color, and you can play the originals in black and white as well. Also, there's DX mode which combines 1 and 2 together for "the ultimate challenge!" I got my loose copy for $6.
 
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