ONE time favourite horizontal shooter?

[eastyy]

pro gear

[AllYourBase]

Blazing star by a country mile!

Then of course the original R-Type!

[muddy]

Thunderforce III purely for the awesome MegaDrive memories.

[Dirty Sanchez]

Scramble for pure nostalgia, a true chip shop cab if there every was one.

[fuse]

pro gear

This gets my vote too, surprised to see it's taken till page 4 for its first mention!

Honourable mention goes to Gradius V in second

[Oh_Mutants]

R-Type or Gradius Gaiden for me. If it had to be 1, R Type.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Gotta be a gradius of some vintage

I agree, if only to differ from the R-Type fraternity (even though the PCE HuCard conversion was awesome in its heyday!!)

My pick would be Gradius II: Gofer no Yabou (coin-op, PCE Super CD-Rom, Sharp X68000 & on PSP Gradius Portable/Collection)

A great challenge, superbly-balanced gameplay and an awesome synth-based soundtrack.

Admittedly, other Gradius titles afterwards bettered this, but it stands out for me whenever I think of Konami's flagship shmup series.

[Ryo Saeba]

Ah.. difficult.
I have to admit that I didn't experience the golden ages of shmups in the 80s.
But although not the same, I played most of 'em via emulation.
For me it really started with the SNES and continued with PS1 and PS2.
Parodius, Einh?nder, G-Darius, Gradius V, R-Type Final are all worth a mention.
Harmful Park also comes in mind, as one of the very best cutesy shooters, every bit as detailed and lovely as the best Parodius moments.

But the shooter that captivared me the most has to be R-Type Delta. When everyone thought Irem was dead and the R-Type series days were over, they managed to update and refine their classic. The wonderful level-design, the possibility to use three completely different ships and forces and the ingenius "Delta Attack" kept things fresh, while still staying true to the R-Type formula.
It was still hard as nails, it played like a dream (setting the speed of your ship on the fly? no problem) and it looked and sounded absolutely stunning.
My first encounter in the snowy third stage with the gargantuan mecha has to be one of my most memorable gaming experiences ever.

[CMcK]

Probably R-Type with honourable mentions for TFIV, Blazing Star and Darius Gaiden.

[Skull Commander]

I'm going area 88. One of my faves on the snes and still plays brilliant today.

[Leon Retro]

I really love a lot of the games mentioned. Area 88 is totally excellent, Parodius is sheer insane fun, and Last Resort is really powerful.

I'll go with the Mega Drive title ' Bio Hazard Battle ' known as ' Crying ' in Japan



The music is very eerie, and the visuals deeply effective. Such a brilliant creation, and one that doesn't get enough respect.

[Klatrymadon]

Gradius Gaiden. Everything about it is just brilliant, apart from the fact that the first loop is too easy, hehe. It has the same visual and aural richness as SotN (it was released around that time, too), and I love Heaven's Gate, the extra boss you get on loop 2.

" The music is very eerie, and the visuals deeply effective. Such a brilliant creation, and one that doesn't get enough respect."

Not enough at all, mate. I can't believe how many people seem to think it's utter ****...

[JazzFunk]

It's a toss-up between Gradius, R-Type Delta and Gradius V for me. I like the slicker Gradius 'feel' better than R-Type but Delta's got so many good points in its favour, especially some fahkin stunning music, its hard to choose.

Really want to play Gradius Gaiden but can't be arsed buying a PSP for the Gradius collection. I wish Konami would do a PS2 version.

PS: And Crying is a very decent game.

[Team Andromeda]

Oh there's so many classic's , but if I had to pick one it would be Thunder Force IV

[Kousoku]

R-Type