Everyone's Shmup preferences?

[nakamura]

The problem with modern shooters is they're just not fun any more. Though that's a problem with modern gaming in general really. I tried all those latest Cave games on 360 and they were just a chore to be honest, and even the latest Raiden on PS3 left me cold. Bullet hell disgusts me the most, I genuinely despise them and don't see the point. They're more movement games than shooters. I think the last truly great shmup was probably Gradius V, though Sturmwind on DC deserves a special mention in my opinion, though obviously that started life long ago on the Jaguar.

For the record, my personal top five shmups ever are probably -

Soldier Blade (PCE)
R-Type (Arcade/PCE)
Zero gunner 2 (DC)
Spriggan (PCE)
Gunhed (PCE)

I have put an insane amount of time in to all of these. Others that get close are Gradius V, Nexzr, 1943, Sturmwind, V-V, Parodius, Magical Chase and Ikaruga. God I love old shooters!

While I'm no expert, this all over is how I would sum up my feelings. I hate bullet hell with passion. Also scores you can't ****ing say because the number is so stupidly large.

[speedlolita]

Ah, you must be referring to Giga Wing!

[Black Ridge]

Not sure why but Vertical shooters have always been my preference. Have played a lot of Psikyo stuff recently and really enjoyed them. Been a fan of their stuff ever since I played Gunbird 2 on DC as a kid.

Steam do offer a lot of decent stuff. Jamestown has been mentioned and is worth checking out.

[fuse]

I like bullet hell; mainly as I enjoy weaving in between huge curtains of bullets just as much as I like the actual shooting. I like a lot of older shooters too, though. At a mechanical level, I like systems that maintain a good balance between risk/reward, and am less fond of those that allow you to build up huge amounts of power but then strip it from you when you die.

[nakamura]

I can appreciate the design that goes into them, my cousin describes them as puzzle shmup games which I can kinda understand.

[speedlolita]

Ikaruga is what I'd call a puzzle shmup. The concept In itself is astonishingly simple and yet difficult to master. Quite a masterpiece.

[JazzFunk]

I'll have to give Ikaruga another chance. It just seems so brown and black and white. In all honesty, I had it on the GC and gave it away and had the digital download on XBL for years. I'll give it a blast again tomorrow.

[Darwock]

I'm not a traditional fan either, but some shoot-em-ups (shmup schmup!) have really hit the mark with me over the years.

Notably:

Dragon Spirit
X-Out (fairly sure this was a naff R-Type clone but I played the hell out of it when I was little)
Ikaruga
Parodius Da! <- this is the big one for me. What a game!

[JazzFunk]

Yeah, actually, X-Out was pretty good for an Amiga shooter. I think Z-Out (iirc?) was OK too. And I really liked Armalyte on C64...though god knows how it plays now!

[Anpanman]

I'm into the older stuff too, Galaxians is my all time top pick and prefer that and the early ones like say Asteroids over any others though I also like the likes of Raiden, Gradius etc.

Agree with others about the bullet hell type, not for me. They seem more like driving games than shooters, but horse for courses,

[Darwock]

Yeah, actually, X-Out was pretty good for an Amiga shooter. I think Z-Out (iirc?) was OK too. And I really liked Armalyte on C64...though god knows how it plays now!

Amiga Schmamiga! I played it on the ZX Spectrum. There was a cheat where you could shoot some part of the scenery to boost your funds without limit and then buy all the best bits for your ship in the store. I still never beat it, but I enjoyed seeing how far I could get.

[JazzFunk]

Yeah, lol.

I had a C64 demo of it, played real well too. Quite slow paced liked R-Type. Got me remembering Chronos on the Speccy now...maybe not the best shooter but the music on the title screen!

Penetrator!!!!! Now that was fun!

[eastyy]

few games i remember playing in the 80s and 90s

Saint dragon ...pretty cool shooter i thought

Xenon 2 ...god i loved that soundtrack

atomic robokid

Project x ....again great sound track

Agony very good looking game and again nice music

[dvdx2]

Yeah, actually, X-Out was pretty good for an Amiga shooter. I think Z-Out (iirc?) was OK too. And I really liked Armalyte on C64...though god knows how it plays now!

Nice choice with armalyte - i loved the thalamus stuff, especially Delta and sanxion. I grew up with shooters like nemisis, salamander, time pilot, etc in the arcade. Its definitely my favourite genre.

[paulus]

Still adore & play both Uridium & Paradroid on C64 now. Best modern ones for me are the new R-Type on the 360, Resogun on Ps4 & pretty much all of the Geometry Wars Games