What are your favorite shoot em ups?

[RH | 4,903]

I'm a simple man-- Galaga has been my favorite since I first played it as a 4-5 year old at some unrecallable arcade with my Dad. Always has been, always will be.

But, other than that, I enjoy shmups.  I've enjoyed Gradius, Star Fox 64, Einhander, and Sky Force Reloaded.  Those are probably the top 3 I've played, regarding hours put in, besides Galaga.

I can't say what any favorites would be though.  I tend to honestly like any shmup that comes my way unless it's truly "impossible" for me.  I don't think I've ever beat a single one, but I still love the experience.

[AverageOliver98 | 719]

Thunder Force III/AC

Lightening Force

Recca

Raiden III

Darius Twin

Gleylancer

Bosconian

[Philosoraptor | 468]

Bullet Hells are one of my favorite genres. I'm a huge fan of pretty much anything made by Cave and Treasure, the Strikers series, Psyvariar, Parodius, and Touhou to name a few.

I'm also a fan of unique SMUPS. The most unique ones I've played, outside of the ones covered above, are Shippuu Mahou Daisakusen: Kingdom Grandprix (SMHUP Racing game), Twinkle Star Sprites (a vs. SHMUP), the Pocky & Rocky series (and other games like it), and Dimension Drive (you teleport your ship between two separate screens).

Edit: Forgot to add Rabi-Ribi, a metroidvania with bullet-hell-esque boss fights, and Rym 9000, which probably has the craziest visuals I've seen in a SHMUP to date. 

Rym 9000 (epilepsy warning, for reals):

 

Edited November 19, 2019 by Philosoraptor

[Gloves | 11,776]

Just now, Philosoraptor said:

Bullet Hells are one of my favorite genres. I'm a huge fan of pretty much anything made by Cave and Treasure, the Strikers series, Psyvariar, Parodius, and Touhou to name a few.

I'm also a fan of unique SMUPS. The most unique ones I've played, outside of the ones covered above, are Shippuu Mahou Daisakusen: Kingdom Grandprix (SMHUP Racing game), Twinkle Star Sprites (a vs. SHMUP), the Pocky & Rocky series (and other games like it), and Dimension Drive (you teleport your ship between two separate screens).

Twinkle Star Sprites is a good shout-out. If you can find someone local to you who's roughly equally good at shmups it's a blast.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,104]

Not sure if Gun.Smoke or Guerrilla War on the NES count as a shoot em ups, but those are two of my favorites.

Edited November 19, 2019 by Bearcat-Doug

[Tulpa | 3,492]

10 minutes ago, Bearcat-Doug said:

Not sure if Gun.Smoke or Guerrilla War on the NES count as a shoot em ups, but those are two of my favorites.

Gun.Smoke, yes, it scrolls. It basically uses a modified 1942 engine.

Guerilla War is a run and gun, IMO.

[ap123 | 112]

16 hours ago, BortLicensePlate said:

Big fan of the Parodius games on Super Famicom, they're funny, but also well made shooters

I haven't played the SNES version, but Paridius on the NES is definitely up there as one of my favorites. Also 1942 as I used to play a lot on a table top arcade version as a kid.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,104]

1 hour ago, Tulpa said:

Gun.Smoke, yes, it scrolls. It basically uses a modified 1942 engine.

Guerilla War is a run and gun, IMO.

I like Gun.Smoke better anyway lol. I didn't see it mentioned earlier, but Gradius III on the SNES is another one I really enjoyed. Since you mentioned 1942, I'll throw 1943 in there too.

Edited November 19, 2019 by Bearcat-Doug

[hyrulevyse | 151]

20 hours ago, Gaia Gensouki said:

Anyway, I'm still not good at this type of game, but I still casually enjoy it every now and then. I personally like

PCEngine: Image Fight I and II

Don't worry if you aren't good at these two, they're hard as balls.

 

Most of my favorites are on the Turbo/PCE, a few of them are.....

Final Solider

Lords of Thunder

Sapphire

Spriggan

W-Ring 

Rayxanber II

Override

Star Parodier (if you like Parodius check this one out)

Sylphia 

No exaggeration, I could probably name another 30 that I enjoy.  If you like shooters you owe it to yourself to check out this library.  As far as non turbo goes, I will always consider Radiant Silvergun special, and I've really been into Mars Matrix lately.

 

 

[T-Pac | 7,534]

I'm laughably inept at shoot-em-ups, but spaceship shooters are my all-time favorite genre of games. I've only played a handful considering how many are out there, but here's some of my favorites:

Abadox (NES) - my favorite NES game. I love the graphics and the emphasis on planning the most strategic route through each level. Turbo fire and unlimited continues are a must for the fun-factor on this one, though.

Star Soldier / Star Force (NES) - these two go hand-in-hand. They are really bare-bones shooters, but that's what makes them so enjoyable. It's like the halfway point between classic arcade shooters (Galaga) and level-based, progressive shooters (Gradius). These also benefit from auto-fire, and they're great to play in short bursts.

Burai Fighter (NES) - a really diverse take on space-shooters. It scrolls in multiple directions, changes to Bosconian-style gameplay every third level or so, and has an interesting upgrade system where you have to grab powerups at just the right time to get the one you want.

Blazing Star (Neo Geo) - I love the super-detailed, pre-rendered look of this one. The amount of stuff going on in this game is overwhelming in the best way, and the boss battles are just too cool.

Arrow Flash (Genesis) - the only Genesis space-shooter I've ever played, but I enjoy it so much that I really want to dive into the rest of the system's library. The option to play in mech-form is the best part, and I've always thought the level where you're free-falling is neat.

Super R-Type (SNES) - a solid shooter that focuses on strategy over reflexes. I like the slow-pacing and effects in this one, and I appreciate the 'amateur' option that makes it possible for me to play through the whole game despite my sup-par shooter skills.

-CasualCart

 

[AstralSoul | 502]

Not my favorite genre because I'm mostly terrible at them. That said....
Ikaruga - Dreamcast/GameCube/Switch
UN Squadron - SNES
Gradius III - SNES
Star Fox 64 - N64 (Okay, I know, not technically a shmup)
Einhander - PS1
 

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

Have you guys been really "into" shooters since you were kids in arcades or did something bring you into the genre?

Besides single screen and multidirectional shooters, which are kind of different genres, I only really got interested in shooting games when my friend got Ikaruga for Gamecube and we would play it laughing at how hard it was. Then I got more seriously interested when I started collecting games when the Wii came out and learned Ikarua's predecessor was so highly prized by collectors, which led me down the rabbit hole.

Edited November 20, 2019 by DefaultGen

[cj_robot | 540]

46 minutes ago, DefaultGen said:

Have you guys been really "into" shooters since you were kids in arcades or did something bring you into the genre?

I've enjoyed shooters since I first played Life Force on the NES way back in the day. For some reason, I rarely saw any in the arcades, except for Raiden which I used to play a whole bunch. I tried to play as many as I could find for my Genesis, SNES, and PS1, but once bullet hells started taking over the genre, I kinda lost interest. That's my story, anyway.

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

Classic arcade -- definitely a fan of Galaga

On the NES -- I have always had a soft spot for Dragon Spirit

[ookii_risu | 206]

On 11/19/2019 at 11:51 AM, Gloves said:

Twinkle Star Sprites is a good shout-out. If you can find someone local to you who's roughly equally good at shmups it's a blast.

I'd say Twinkle Star Sprites is my favorite Shmup. I used to play it all the time at the arcade, and I love firing it up on MAME every now and again. I love the versus aspect of it.

[Philosoraptor | 468]

1 hour ago, DefaultGen said:

Have you guys been really "into" shooters since you were kids in arcades or did something bring you into the genre?

My introduction to the genre was picking up Ikaruga from a GameStop back in the late 2000s. Even then, what really got me hooked on them was buying games and consoles I wanted as a kid but couldn't buy, especially stuff for the SNES, Genesis, Saturn, and PS1. I ended up buying so many good SHMUPS that I missed out on that it quickly became one of my favorite genres. 

[Tulpa | 3,492]

26 minutes ago, arch_8ngel said:

 

On the NES -- I have always had a soft spot for Dragon Spirit

I like that one because the controls are smooth. It's fun to dodge stuff.

[Tulpa | 3,492]

1 hour ago, DefaultGen said:

Have you guys been really "into" shooters since you were kids in arcades or did something bring you into the genre?

 

I've definitely had an interest in them in the arcade and in looking at consoles that I didn't own that had a lot of shooters.

Definitely got into a lot of NES shooters just from liking 8 bit NES graphics in general.

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

9 minutes ago, Tulpa said:

I like that one because the controls are smooth. It's fun to dodge stuff.

And it is hard to beat the thrill of being a 3-headed green dragon melting everything in your path.

Edited November 20, 2019 by arch_8ngel

[hyrulevyse | 151]

2 hours ago, DefaultGen said:

Have you guys been really "into" shooters since you were kids in arcades or did something bring you into the genre?

To me, shooters are essentially the purest form of a video game, or an evolution of it at least.  Which is to say kill stuff and don't get killed.  And since shooting things was exponentially more satisfying than jumping on/over them, those were games I gravitated to in the arcades.

So I'd be more likely to play Galaga and Asteroids, than Donkey Kong or Pac-Man. Then Konami's Time Pilot came out as sort of a bridge between the multi-directional game I think you're describing and the Xevious/Gradius more traditional model that was prevalent for years afterwards.  Progress to the end of a level, defeat a boss, start a new level.

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

2 minutes ago, hyrulevyse said:

To me, shooters are essentially the purest form of a video game, or an evolution of it at least.  Which is to say kill stuff and don't get killed.  And since shooting things was exponentially more satisfying than jumping on/over them, those were games I gravitated to in the arcades.

I think that way about rhythm games. Beatmania is literally just a bunch of falling bars and you press the button when it gets to the bottom. It does not get much simpler than that, and it can infinitely scale in difficulty. It's perfect.

[peg | 370]

3 hours ago, DefaultGen said:

Have you guys been really "into" shooters since you were kids in arcades or did something bring you into the genre?

Besides single screen and multidirectional shooters, which are kind of different genres, I only really got interested in shooting games when my friend got Ikaruga for Gamecube and we would play it laughing at how hard it was. Then I got more seriously interested when I started collecting games when the Wii came out and learned Ikarua's predecessor was so highly prized by collectors, which led me down the rabbit hole.

I can say for a fact that yes, I was into these games since the very beginning of my life.  One of the first video games I ever played (maybe even the first?) was Parsec for the TI-99, I know my dad played that with me at a very young age.  After that when I was actually old enough to know what the hell I was doing I got into Life Force on the NES and Nemesis on the gameboy.  Also Gunsmoke and MagMax (am I the only one who actually owned this?) on the NES is in there somewhere too.  Later I moved on to UN Squadron, Firepower 2000, Starfox, and Gradius III on the SNES, and Raptor for the PC.  The only arcade shoot em up I really had exposure to back during this time was Raiden, which I would always play whenever I found it.

When the PS1 came around I was still playing some of them like Einhander and also the PS1 port of Raiden.  Took a long hiatus from the genre for about a decade before coming back to the Gradius series in 2010 or so.

 

My favorite games are Ketsui, DoDonPachi, Gradius V, Strikers 1999

Edited November 20, 2019 by peg

[MuNKeY | 241]

I guess I entered in as a kid playing Asteroids, Space Invaders, Defender, and to and extent Centipede in Arcades back in the day. Then came along NES and I am pretty sure my first shmup on it was Tiger Heli then later Lifeforce and it evolved from there. I own several but I really wished I had started collecting them way earlier than I did as some I would like a legit copy of are totally fucking mental on prices now. (thank gods for emulation/modded consoles) 

[ookii_risu | 206]

4 hours ago, DefaultGen said:

Have you guys been really "into" shooters since you were kids in arcades or did something bring you into the genre?

I've always loved the genre. My first shmups were Space Invaders and Defender on Atari. I LOVED Defender... played it all the time. In the arcade, I played Galaga, R-Type, (later on Raiden, Aero Fighters 2, and Twinkle Star Sprites). On the NES I played 1943, Gradius, Life Force, etc.

Edited November 20, 2019 by ookii_risu

[Dragonwarrior83 | 16]

On 11/19/2019 at 9:40 AM, JamesRobot said:

Blade Buster NES!

Hmmm, blade buster? Nes you say? It's great that I'm still learning about nes games I've never played!