Beginner Shoot 'Em Ups?

[catcan]

I really enjoyed playing Magical Chase for the GBC. It was cute with just enough forgiveness to not feel insulting, but also not a complete enemy and bullet hell. I was wondering if there were any others people would recommend that are considered on the easy end for the genre, since it's pretty new to me. Are the Parodius ones on an easier difficulty level?

 

[Cu-Neo]

Bullet Soul is pretty good

The game rewards you for playing aggressively, so you don't need to worry about getting hit a lot.

 

[RanmyakuIchi]

Home console shmups like SNES Gradius 3 (Not Arcade!) are usually more manageable. Touhou is reasonably beginner friendly by Danmaku standards.

 

[werewolfx]

try harmful park on ps1 and keio flying squadron on sega cd

 

[Glimbo]

Lot of beginner Sega Genesis shmup suggestions here.
https://retrogametalk.com/threads/shmup-4-beginners.1104/

The Parodius games have selectable difficulty levels to make them more approachable. At least the ones on SNES do.

 

[Prism_Red]

I'd say Striker 1945 on arcade or PS1, it is not too hard not too easy, just right in the middle, perfect if you want to slowly sharpen your skill.

 

[hazys]

I found Batsugun pretty accessible. I've heard some newer indie shmups like Blue Revolver are also very beginner-friendly.

 

[bjork]

There's always Magical Chase on TG16.
For a vertically scrolling one, I've always found Fireshark on the Genesis to be kind of mellow when I want to play that kind of game without having to concentrate 1000%

 

[NOA]

Cosmo Dreamer and Like Dreamer are pretty okay games for beginners. They're on PC and Switch.

 

[Jeanfranc]

I really enjoyed playing Magical Chase for the GBC. It was cute with just enough forgiveness to not feel insulting, but also not a complete enemy and bullet hell. I was wondering if there were any others people would recommend that are considered on the easy end for the genre, since it's pretty new to me. Are the Parodius ones on an easier difficulty level?

Cute 'em ups like Parodius and especially Twinbee are really hard.
I suggest you play Touhou Imperishable Night but If you want something horizontal and more on the easy-side try Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams for the Turbografx CD, it's also a cute 'em up.

 

[Deean]

Try Sengoku Blade/Tengai (Arcade/Saturn/PS2)

It's the second game of Psikyo's Sengoku trilogy and the easiest IMO

it also unique that the person is flying instead of using airplane.

 

[RockinACup]

May I recommend Gun.smoke? A fun little cowboy autoscroller shooter. Collect power ups like different guns, speed boosts and even your trusty steed.

Fun and challenging bosses each with their gimmicks, I don't wanna go into too many details.

Just play it.

 

[Yousef]

Zero wing. Someone set us the bomb.

Bullet Soul is pretty good
View attachment 17059
The game rewards you for playing aggressively, so you don't need to worry about getting hit a lot.

This is why you’re my goat.

 

[MononokeDS]

May I recommend Gun.smoke? A fun little cowboy autoscroller shooter. Collect power ups like different guns, speed boosts and even your trusty steed.

Fun and challenging bosses each with their gimmicks, I don't wanna go into too many details.

Just play it.

Gun.Smoke on the NES is great, but the arcade game is bloody hard.