All purpose SHMUP thread

guwange looks great

you said you didn't like omega 5 or triggerheart exelica didn't you?

Triggerheart is okay. It has such a weird scoring mechanic though, where you kind of have to hook onto other ships, swing them around you and launch them into other ships instead of shooting. I just never got my head around it. Never felt compelled to more than dabble with it so far. I only barely played Omega 5, so I can't really say - I should probably give it another try. My snap judgement was that I didn't like the size of your guy and hitbox (which I think was your whole body?) and the slow crawl through corridor gameplay, R-Type style.

s1ocki - I don't know if you have a wii or gamecube, but if you do, good quality used copies of ikaruga are selling for around $30 US. Not a bad price. If you have a good computer, people are saying it runs okay in the Dolphin emulator (though I haven't tested it myself). REZ for ps2 can be found for around $20 US

Thank you all for your mail.
Here are the results of our Xbox Live Arcade survey.

1. Guwange
2. Esprade
3. Dodonpachi
4. Progear
5. Pink Sweets
6. Mushihime-sama
7. Dangun Feveron
8. Muchi Muchi Pork
9. Espgaluda
10. Ibara

We have received many requests from our overseas users for region-free versions of our games.

"Death Smiles" was released only for Asia, but the region for "Mushi-hime sama Futari" has not been decided yet. I believe it will be decided around the time of Tokyo Game Show 2009.

We are very happy to have received so many e-mails from overseas.

Thank you.

09/01/09
Cave
Makoto Asada

pls be region free, pls release guwange, esprade and dodonpachi on xbla

what are the best ps2 shmups besides gradius 5?

1. Mushihimesama
2. Dodonpachi Daioujou
3. Espgaluda
4. Castle of Shikigami 2
5. Psyvariar 2

Don't sleep on Castle of Shikigami - great game & can be found for around £8 used (on amazon.co.uk). The others stayed and in Japan though & are quite expensive to insanely expensive.

Not as good as the above, but if you can find them cheap (and you can)... Gunbird 2, and Strikers 1945 1 & 2 both got a UK release

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXEHXeBmS-s

jeff no luv for r type final!!!!! u have def played more ps2 shmups than me but thatd be in my TOP 5

I'm not much of an r-type fan, but yeah, I guess it should at least be mentioned

how do you not like r-type?!

I don't know exactly... I feel like it's kind of slow and cramped & I always feel a little awkward playing them? I like the atmosphere, especially in the early games, but the way you move vs the way enemies move, dealing with the shooty pick up thing (whatever it's called) and the way you restart back a section when you die are the main things, I guess. I own four of 'em(!) though!!! So it's not exactly hate...

2 additional DSi shmups, 200 points each
http://www.genterprise.jp/gg/index.html

To me those look less interesting then the Mihara designed one, but for a $2.00 game, I guess I wouldn't expect much. Aa Mujou Setsuna is 500 points, which is still pretty cheap & makes me think it's probably not a "great" game either. It seems like all three should make it out of Japan, but no news on that front, right?

The main problem with these DSi shmups is, why would I want to play them, when I could be playing this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf9IVoetZkk

no news, so far

I'm this close to pulling the trigger on castle of shikigami, 1941: 1&2, r-type: final and psyvariar but i. I don't have a PS2 arcade stick and ii. I have the DMC series winging its way to the back of my already unholy backlog

prices for shmups on ebay are ridiculous btw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J9X-Fr5bKY

Harmful Park is a decent, Japan only, cute 'em up for PSX that runs fine in ePSXe. Worth checking out.

There should be more news on this game during the Tokyo Game Show, which starts in a couple of hours. I guess it's an XBLA exclusive?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19jr8ejNqBY

woah, looks great

BIG NEWS today regarding Mushihime-Sama Futari... it's going region free
http://kotaku.com/5368190/bullet-hell-shooter-creators-cave-going-region+free-for-next-xbox-360-game

Still will be a quite pricey import, about $70 US via play-asia

Novemebr 26th is the release date! GOTY

bold claim!

More big (almost) news from Cave boss Makato Asada
http://kotaku.com/5370354/cave-wants-to-bring-its-manic-shooters-global

Notably..

" Cave is looking at global releases of its games, full-fledged Xbox Live Arcade titles of certain titles and Valve's Steam service as a means of distribution."

"But before Guwange or any other XBLA ports arrive—Asada hinted at the possibility of an Xbox Live Arcade remake of chubby shooter Muchi Muchi Pork with a revamped gameplay system—Cave has some more disc-based titles planned."

"Right now, we're working on a few titles for localization," Asada said. Again, take caution. "This is currently all in talks. With regards to Death Smiles, we can say that it's currently in progress and hopefully soon we'll be able to give overseas users news about its release."

I played some Blazing Lazers on my TG-16 over the weekend. Still a classic.

I don't like DLC but I'll take it

Blazing Lazers is also available on the Wii VC for 600 points (I'm not really a fan though).

why pay six bucks for something I've owned for 19 years?

Wasn't directed towards you bro, just making a general comment that it was available - not everybody here is lucky enough to own a working TG-16

got this in the post today - so awesome
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws5ujH65hfg

199X tokyo city looks like the same city as that terrible nes tmnt game

Hey Zappi - I'd never heard of Crisis Force before, so I tried it out (via Nestopia). Not bad for a Famicom shmup! It does seem overly generous with the speed-up bonuses - I had to start avoiding 'em. It's pretty cool when your weapon gets completely powered up / I wish it lasted longer. How many levels are there? The first seemed awfully long, as did the first boss fight, but the second level seemed to go by much quiker. I only made it to level 3 though (97,300 points) in my two tries. Will play more.

yeh its not the hardest game, but great for that zoning out zenlike state that shmups are so good at providing. i think there are 7 stages, but i haven't got to the end yet. my famicom collecting has become a sickness.

Askys has announced they're releasing Cho Aniki Zero in the States in spring 2010, "Cho Aniki Zero will be oiled up and ready to thrust its way onto your PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system! Sold exclusively as a digital download through the PlayStation®Store." Very surprised this is getting a US release!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuDswjoGTPc

haha, that Muscle March game is getting localised as well apparently.

It looks really weird:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_s7iCOj9HU

New trailer for Ilvelo... looks like it has been pushed to 2010 :(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srtflfP8DOc&fmt=18

huh it's like 20 flash shmups in one

ketsui death label: anyone know the difference between the 4 colors of ships u can choose? i did a summarily search but eh , + i am not that involved in the game yet . sure i could learn a few thing from the all-japanese specials.

on a related note: Nomltest FS ver.1.0.1http://www.vector.co.jp/soft/dl/win95/game/se345999.html
i probably got that reference from this board but it's worth reposting.
minimal but great playability; the way you can shift speed, shield and fire depending on the situation.
it's been a few months since i played but yeh you have 3 types of fire /speed/shield : let's say A for wide but thin rate of fire*/very fast/next to no shield, B for average and A+B for dense rate of fire / slowest speed and largest shield.

extra explanation screen : bullets going within the shield without hitting you are eaten for points, there is no powerups or bombs but you have an extra life over so many points. the bullet pattern is typical to each waves but the pattern changes significantly over each i forget , 100 000 points? - i briefly checked youtube and it is more likely about levels. i think i saw the pattern change 3 times and the last time must have been around level 100, the action was so fast, different and across the board i couldn't last long enough to learn much for the next game.

* not sure if i have the right military terminology it's +weird from a pacifist perspective

I thought Ketsui DL (the DS game?) just had two different ships? As good as I can remember they both had a different firing pattern. I don't recall any kind of consensus on one being better than the other. Or are you asking about the arcade game?

the ds game have 2 ships: type-a and type-b but you can unlock different colors for em. it looks like it's just for show but i thought it might make a little difference in speed or range. just unlocked death label yesterday and wow i will have to raise the bar or else this is were i'll stay. probably will watch a few videos.

Mind blown - I never noticed you could change the ships colors before! I also never got past the Death Label mode (can get to area 9, but that's it), though I didn't spend a ton of time working at it. As far as I know all that unlocks is the mode that you play in two players into one player, which is cool, but not breaking my heart too much that I've been unable to unlock it (since I did play it in two players). Correct me if I'm wrong again. I'm definitely planning to go back to this game after picking up a DS XL next year. The bigger screen should really help!

A 360 port of Senko no Ronde Duo has been announced for Spring 2010
G.Rev has some videos of the hybrid STG/Fighting game on their youtube channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/GREVchannel

(the first Senko no Ronde was ported to the west as WarTech)

whoa, did not hear about mushihimesama going region free. awesome news. just placed my pre-order.

there's still so much out there for the j360 that I'm a little tempted to buy one. I suppose I can wait and see what happens.

The 360 port of Cave's Espgaluda II has been dated for February 25th 2010. No word on region encoding, but with the apparent success of Mushihimesama, I would expect it to be region free as well.

radilgy noa coming to wii
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2009/12/02/radilgy_noa_wii/

here's hopin for espgaluda 2. the first one might be the shmup I've logged the most time with on my ps2. that or gradius 5.

and have you actually gotten to play the xbox 360 mushihimesama, jeff? mine hasn't shipped yet.

been playing radiant silvergun for the the first time in years lately. I could never get fully behind ikaruga (too fussy) but I'm having a lot of fun with RS. they way your ship levels up as you log playtime is really satisfying.

Alan - bummer you copy of Mushihimesama Futari 1.5 hasn't shipped. I got mine last Friday and I'm REALLY loving it. Definitely my idea of a perfect game. So beautiful and satisfying and challenging.

Still getting my head around the different modes and scoring systems. Ultra 1.5 is absolutely insane (I've yet to make it to the first boss - LOL). Watching the leaderboard replays of perfect runs on those levels just blows my mind. Arrange Mode is also a lot of fun and a much easier way to work yourself through a version of the game - as if normal Arrange Mode wasn't easy enough, they've added in a "Novice" Arrange Mode that I was able to 1CC & no deaths on my very first try. Maybe that's too easy. Normal Mode 1.5 is probably the most balanced and satisfying. of course. I've yet to make it to the 4th level there, but I'm working on it.

Such a gorgeous game!

oh, man. I foolishly picked up some other stuff w/mushihimesama and it's holding my order back. :-/

glad to hear you're really into this game. I am PSYCHED for it.

my understanding is that he has somewhat un-retired and has been posting here occasionally, but under a different, considerably shorter name...

lol who is that masked man
Grev have some new games, an HD version of the Dreamcast game Under Defeat juat came out for PS3/360, and there are games coming soonish for 3DS and Vita. these are all JP only at the moment though. picked up Senko no Ronde for £3(!) the other day, what a strange game.

yeah, would love to play HD under defeat...

lol jcl btw

lol!

Ahhhh Under Defeat. Is it Japan only?

actually, it seems like the ps3 one might not be?
http://digiex.net/general-discussions/gaming-hangout/10236-under-defeat-hd-released-xbox-360-region-locked-ps3-region-free.html
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/648086-under-defeat-hd/62040982

doesn't help me since I don't have a ps3. oh well!

Bodacious. I don't have an X360 and have missed out on all the amazing XBLA re-releases.

I just caught the "Under Defeat" pun, that is such a bad pun that is like rapper-from-Leeds level punning

I'd love to see a Shmups poll hey I'd love to see that

Personally I love 3D rails shmups like Starfox 64 more than anything in the world, sad it didn't become a genre, but my faves in this genre otherwise are Galaga, Radiant Silvergun, Gradius V, Einhander and Life Force.. no Olympic-style workouts for me

The Switch port of DoDonPachi DaiOuJou by M2 is incredibly well done. Went several more miles than it needed to, loaded with stuff.

I still absolutely suck at it, shit is hard, but rad game and port.

Japanese only so far, probably easier to order a physical copy than creating a Japanese Switch account and buying digital Japanese Nintendo eShop cards like I did.

The “Very Easy” mode is a nice addition, though it made me want a “Moderately Easy” mode. Want to still sweat a little. But great way to engage with and learn the chaining system, which I’ve never paid much mind cuz I’m too busy trying not to die.

yeah, you know you're in good hands with M2. still have to play their (relatively) new aleste game!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15piEvZg0mE

^^ I found the proper Black Label version of DaiOuJou in the (mostly Japanese) menus and it’s right on and perfect.

Been playing a lot of old console shmups these days thru Mister, most of em for the first time. Love the chunky 2D/3D ones from the PSX/Saturn era. R-Type Delta, Darius Gaiden, G-Darius, Einhander. Keep coming back to those in particular.

ok back on doj and it’s wonderful

is there a better resource than “vg streamer talking for 40mins on youtube” for info on the different modes and how mechanics change?

https://shmups.wiki/library/DoDonPachi_DaiOuJou

sick, TY!

For real. Handy.

I picked up my old Xbox 360 when I went to visit my folks a few weeks ago. Decided to import a copy of Mushihimesama Futari. Not sure I’ve ever played it? The OG Mushi has always been a favorite, so pretty stoked.

you're in for a treat but I probably do prefer the first one (high bar - probably my fave cave game)

Yeah, Futari totally rules. Was not immediately smitten, high expectations to live up to, but it’s grown on me significantly. Wouldn’t argue with someone who prefers it.

Espgaluda 2 and Dodonpachi DFK to be delisted from Switch in December. Grab em while you can.

I had DFK, picked up ESP2. Played the first, new to the sequel. Unusually complicated mechanics on this one lol. Haven’t quite got my head around it yet but it’s been a lot of fun playing it like an idiot so far.

“is there a better resource than “vg streamer talking for 40mins on youtube” for info on the different modes and how mechanics change?”

This never ceases to kill me. Shmup YouTubers are a rare, uniquely tedious breed incapable of being succinct.

only 40 minutes? how about 160?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHZ088RtIjQ

1 hour for the basic gameplay system, the rest for scoring and 1cc strats

this is not a dunk, the video is actually quite well made and the creator was considerate enough to add the info to the shmups wiki entry https://shmups.wiki/library/Espgaluda_II

Ha! I definitely came across that one last night. I am in full support and appreciative of this kind of long ass YouTube shmup content to be clear. Doing the lord’s work.

I got a modded PS2 here in the corner with Espgaluda 1 on the hard drive. Thinking I should probably get more familiar with that one first.

heh same. it’s just that sometimes you wanna, you know, play a dang shmup instead of watching all of that!

i hate information that could have been plaintext spread out over several minutes of video "content" more than anyone but tbf run replays (either native ingame or captured to video) are a good learning tool since getting good at these games involves straight up copying the routes other people have already figured out and adapting them to your playstyle and execution limits

but for basic system info, wikis and forums and gamefaqs is where it's at. the shmups wiki is excellent but started in 2020 iirc and rn it's probably lacking a lot of games that are covered in the ST and GD threads of the shmups farm for instance

discords can fuck off

let's try again: shmups farm

ok wtf https://shmups.system11.org/viewforum.php?f=5

Yeah, if you’re just looking for a quick rundown of mechanics, YouTube ain’t the place. Was the angle I was coming from. You’re scrolling through a 45 minute video looking for about 3 minutes of content. I appreciate the comprehensive ones that are long for a reason.

I fired up Espgaluda 1 this weekend and it’s a blast and more manageable mechanically. Definitely gonna spend more time with it before getting deeper into 2.

Also finally spent a proper amount of time with Gunvein. Really a thrillingly fun game. And I get why it’s frequently recommended to people looking to get into the genre. Tutorials that can translate to STG’s in general, loading screen tips that are useful, ability to spend points on an extra life or continue. Feels like it’s rooting for you to figure it out. Pleasant mission statement.

My sound system is acting up, so rather than dealing with shitty TV speakers I plugged in a nice pair of headphones.

Have to say, kind of a revelation? Such a music and sound dependent genre, having it piped directly into your ears at a volume I couldn’t get away with on speakers really fucking slaps.

Had a particularly transcendent experience with Batsugun. Soundtrack is so goddamn good.

Any shmup soundtracks that hit particularly hard for y’all, the three people who look at this thread? Gonna be revisiting a lot of stuff.

i remember really liking the dodonpachi saidaioujou ost, but it’s been a while and can’t remember specifics, even whether regs or arrange is the way to go…

danmaku unlimited 3 has a pretty djent-ey metal + splashes of techno one that works quite well in the context of a bullet hell game. stage 3 or 4 or so was a banger iirc

Saidaioujou is one of the Dodonpachi's I don't own. Looks like it's 360 only and copies ain't cheap, so I'll have to wait on that one.

DU3 does have some rippers, might fire that up tonight.

Armed Police Batrider has some killer shit. Love the boss music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzOrq3lgtag

track at 19:40

sick