Where are my Arcade shmup fans at?

[Viviana Santos]

what would be some shoot em up games you would recommend to someone new to the genre?
the only shoot em up game i distinctly remember playing was gradius iii on the super famicom and that game was pretty neatzors

Ikagura

 

[Varyag]

I may have a ton of personal recommendations, but I'd suggest you check out this video by ShmupJunkie where he goes through several good games with reasons for each. My favorite out of the bunch that he recommends is easily Batsugun (Special) though.

In the end though, you should really just go for whichever game really caught your eye. If you like the game a lot, you won't really mind how hard it may be to learn.

what would be some shoot em up games you would recommend to someone new to the genre?
the only shoot em up game i distinctly remember playing was gradius iii on the super famicom and that game was pretty neatzors

I mentioned this a few posts ago, but there's a lot of cool shmups that are nice to get into. If you liked Gradius, try Parodious! Darius Gaiden is also really good. Gleylancer is not hard to get through, and Drainus is a great modern hori shmup. I'm not too into those ones, usually preferring bullet hells, but there's plenty of options.
Oh, I also forgot to mention Thunder Force!

 

[bigstinkie]

thanks to you two, i will put these on my to do list

 

[Deleted member 3339]

i enjoy psyvariar 2

 

[Your_Homie_Gale]

Only played a few but those games to me were definitely special. The first obvious one is Touhou Project because of the music and charming visuals. Before I discovered that I remembering seeing an old video of this other SHMUP for the Famicom called "RECCA Summer Carnival '92" which intrigued me enough to give it a shot. It even came to the 3DS eshop one day and I instantly bought it. As for the SHMUP that left the biggest impact on me it has to go to Einhänder on the PS1. Always played the demo growing up and finally gave it a shot when my brother got a physical copy. It was harder than I anticipated but definitely satisfying to play and beat. There's also Gradius V for the PS2 but I honestly didn't play that one as much. Only at my uncle's house and I could never find it anywhere.

 

[sadgrrly]

Always love a shmup. I got the chance to play Cave's Deathsmiles on an actual cabinet a few months ago with a friend and it was a borderline religious experience.

 

[SpcDaicon]

I've been playing some Psikyo's shmups but I keep truggling. These bullets are just so damn fast and I can't keep up.

I'm trying some of Cave's library now.

 

[Varyag]

Psikyo games are cool, but they're really hard and have some design elements taht aren't really explained. Like how in some of them, powerups have an invisible ammo counter(!) that depletes if you fire too much before picking up the next one, reducing your DPS significantly. Or how after the 4th stage they stop being nice with life ups and respawns. Still, good games, just need to keep that kind of stuff in mind. I came close to 1CCing Samurai Aces.

CAVE is a whole another universe, they're very very hard in different ways but they're some of the best in the whole genre.

 

[SpcDaicon]

Just finished couple of runs of ESP Ra.De. Psi for Switch. It was on Super Easy tho, but it counts to learn the game

Awesome game with great music and incredible presentation.

 

[Amakuchi]

I really enjoy the Darius series (pretty much all of them), although Gaiden has a special place in my heart since it was a childhood game, I've been thinking of attempting to 1CC it one of these days.

Other ones I really enjoy are the Raiden Fighters series, the Mahou Daisakusen series and the Strikers series. I also have a soft spot for CAVE bullet hells.

 

[Leon]

I really enjoy the Darius series (pretty much all of them), although Gaiden has a special place in my heart since it was a childhood game, I've been thinking of attempting to 1CC it one of these days.

Other ones I really enjoy are the Raiden Fighters series, the Mahou Daisakusen series and the Strikers series. I also have a soft spot for CAVE bullet hells.

I personally consider darius gaiden: silver hawk to be one of if not the best side scrolling shooter ever made, period.
Not technically my favorite but it's definitely in the top 5, not to mention the amazing music.

 

[Amakuchi]

I personally consider darius gaiden: silver hawk to be one of if not the best side scrolling shooter ever made, period.
Not technically my favorite but it's definitely in the top 5, not to mention the amazing music.

I still haven't found a side-scroller that has quite captured the vibe of Gaiden, even its peers/competitors of the time didn't quite match up to it. I remember the arcade and console ports both being on par with each other.

I am really glad they added the Gaiden ship on the newest Darius title, it was really cool seeing it have the same power up route as it originally did (although the Black Hole Bomb was a pretty nerfed visually lol).

Definitely a Top 5/Top 10 for me as well!

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

I really enjoy the Darius series (pretty much all of them), although Gaiden has a special place in my heart since it was a childhood game, I've been thinking of attempting to 1CC it one of these days.

I really should get more into Darius myself. I love G-Darius.

 

[Varyag]

Yeah absolutely, Darius Gaiden and G-Darius are the best in their franchise, and some of the few horio shmups I actually really like (even if they're still hard as balls)

 

[Amakuchi]

I really should get more into Darius myself. I love G-Darius.

Absolutely! I think most of the games strike a good balance of difficulty imo, the newest entry Chronicle Saviours is also really solid and pretty beginner friendly as well. They are much less daunting 1CCs than other shmups.

 

[nattybohman]

Gradius and Ikaruga! I love the Gradius ports on almost every console it was ported to, even Ikaruga on Dreamcast is great!

Ikaruga on the Dreamcast is the best port of the game! It's the closest to the naomi arcade version.

 

[PurpleShoes]

Since last posting, I've gotten super into Batsugun Special and the Touhou games. Last night, and don't ask me how, but I woke up at three in the morning in a cold sweat, got out my arcade stick, and unlocked the special level in Lotus Land Story! I then almost immediately died.

 

[DG!]

what would be some shoot em up games you would recommend to someone new to the genre?
the only shoot em up game i distinctly remember playing was gradius iii on the super famicom and that game was pretty neatzors

Fantasy Zone 2 W! It was my personal entry to schmups. Not too hard but not a total walk in the park. That version added widescreen, analog movement which gives it an incredible level of control and included a few extra things (Link Loop Land, The Coin Bank)

 

[Carlnshake Carlnshake]

Since last posting, I've gotten super into Batsugun Special and the Touhou games. Last night, and don't ask me how, but I woke up at three in the morning in a cold sweat, got out my arcade stick, and unlocked the special level in Lotus Land Story! I then almost immediately died.

I should really start using my arcade stick for shmups. I have the Hori one that was released when the newest street fighter came out. Does it make a big difference? I've been using a controller

 

[Varyag]

Since last posting, I've gotten super into Batsugun Special and the Touhou games. Last night, and don't ask me how, but I woke up at three in the morning in a cold sweat, got out my arcade stick, and unlocked the special level in Lotus Land Story! I then almost immediately died.

hell yeah! Batsugun Special is one of my most favorite shmups of all time, and Touhou were the games that got me into this whole business over a decade ago!

 

[PurpleShoes]

I should really start using my arcade stick for shmups. I have the Hori one that was released when the newest street fighter came out. Does it make a big difference? I've been using a controller

Yes and no.
I also feel I should say: I'm still using a Sanwa JLF lever in my arcade stick and I'm by no means an expert. That all said, I totally see it as a matter of what you're most comfortable with. To me, the stick is for the experience just as much as precision. The feel of the buttons, the clicky lever, the heft and weight. I often find my venerable Saturn pad more 1:1 with my intentions if anything, but some swear by sticks. Even more, I find the prospect of playing Shmups on a keyboard horrifying, but to many it's the only way. I think you can get great results with whatever input method you practice. Maybe I'll change my tune when I eventually get a Seimitsu lever.
In my opinion you should totally get a stick, but mainly because it's a lot of fun!

hell yeah! Batsugun Special is one of my most favorite shmups of all time, and Touhou were the games that got me into this whole business over a decade ago!

It was a long wait between knowing of Batsugun Special and actually playing it, and it really exceeded my expectations! I was expecting to simply appreciate the game symbolically for being the first danmaku, but WOW is this game good! The levels are all so well designed and lively, and all three ship types rule! I haven't cleared a full loop yet, but I'm hyped to see what else is in store.
Touhou rules. I got into it because of Japanese Donald McDonald, but it's taught me so much about how to Bullet Hell. AND IT HAS CIRNO!

 

[Carlnshake Carlnshake]

Yes and no.
I also feel I should say: I'm still using a Sanwa JLF lever in my arcade stick and I'm by no means an expert. That all said, I totally see it as a matter of what you're most comfortable with. To me, the stick is for the experience just as much as precision. The feel of the buttons, the clicky lever, the heft and weight. I often find my venerable Saturn pad more 1:1 with my intentions if anything, but some swear by sticks. Even more, I find the prospect of playing Shmups on a keyboard horrifying, but to many it's the only way. I think you can get great results with whatever input method you practice. Maybe I'll change my tune when I eventually get a Seimitsu lever.
In my opinion you should totally get a stick, but mainly because it's a lot of fun!

It was a long wait between knowing of Batsugun Special and actually playing it, and it really exceeded my expectations! I was expecting to simply appreciate the game symbolically for being the first danmaku, but WOW is this game good! The levels are all so well designed and lively, and all three ship types rule! I haven't cleared a full loop yet, but I'm hyped to see what else is in store.
Touhou rules. I got into it because of Japanese Donald McDonald, but it's taught me so much about how to Bullet Hell. AND IT HAS CIRNO!

That does it then, I'll have to try using the stick.

 

[stoicvampirepig]

The purest expression of gaming that there is imo...vertically scrolling shoot em ups are mana from the Gods.

Raiden, ESP Ra de, Donpachi...toaplans entire catalogue, and their final form of Cave.

My skills are waning in recent years, but I still remember when I 2cc'd Dangun Feveron at full ship speed...I still pop up in top tens on RA from time to time but I'll never do that again.

 

[SpcDaicon]

Since last posting, I've gotten super into Batsugun Special and the Touhou games. Last night, and don't ask me how, but I woke up at three in the morning in a cold sweat, got out my arcade stick, and unlocked the special level in Lotus Land Story! I then almost immediately died.

This is EXACTLY how I picture Thouhou players to be. It still baffles me how a niche shmup form a very niche japanese PC got so popular and still is a conerstone of japanese otaku culture and internet meme culture around the world

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

This is EXACTLY how I picture Thouhou players to be. It still baffles me how a niche shmup form a very niche japanese PC got so popular and still is a conerstone of japanese otaku culture and internet meme culture around the world.

Maybe the propagation of Internet, people discovering the insanity of Danmakus and finally the whole moe/cute girl cast is what helped a lot.