Recently I’ve been looking into expanding the number of shmups in my library.

Which games should I prioritise getting? Any that I should avoid?

      • Okay, but you can just pick a few games that look interesting there. It’s not different than random people recommending random stuff here.

        • SEGA AGES Thunder Force IV
        • Tengai
        • Samurai Aces
        • ESP Ra. De. Psi
        • Mushihimesama
        • Espgaluda II
        • Deathsmiles I & II
        • DoDonPachi Resurrection
        • Dodonpachi DaiOuJou Blissful Death Re:Incarnation

        These are pretty good, either from my personal experience or from reading lot of recommendations through forums and friends. The best Shmups on the Switch are mostly ports of existing older games. I’m not sure if you play on another platform too, I just read you have a Switch. I played on emulators on my PC and on Steam, there are a few more games I am not sure if they exist on Switch.

  •  tal   ( @tal@lemmy.today ) 
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    42 months ago

    Do you have any examples of shumups that you like and any you dislike? That might help give a better idea of what you like.

    I mean, if you just want “good shmups”, it’s easy to go to Steam, search for games with the “Shoot 'em Up” tag, and sort by user reviews.

    But if you’re looking for something in particular, a list like that might help.

    • I don’t have much to go on, it has been more than 30 years since my arcade days. I’ve been making a list and am trying to prioritise purchases. I think Ikaruga will come first as soon as it is on sale again (which isn’t very often).

      I don’t have a Steam account, but I’ll try your method anyway to see how it compares to what is already on my list.

      Thanks.

  • Crimzon Clover’s really fun. It’s similar to Dodonpachi. Another good one is Ikaruga. It has an interesting mechanic we’re you switch colors to absorb bullets.

    Avoid Sine Mora and other “euroshmups”, they just suck to play.

  • @bbbhltz, depending on what you’re craving.

    Here’s a list of horizontal ones…

    Defender-like:
    • Aqua Kitty UDX – cute, fun
    • Black Bird – dark-cute

    R-Type-like:
    • R-Type Dimensions EX (and the others)
    • Rigid Force Redux – ❤️

    Classics:
    • Blazing Star
    • Thunder Force IV
    • Cotton Fantasy

    Other hori:
    • Azure Reflections – Touhou fan game
    • Sine Mora – time-mechanic ❤️ , not for everyone though
    • Astebreed – switches orientation flawlessly ❤️
    • ProtoCorgi – cute, hard
    • Rolling Gunner – ❤️

    • @bbbhltz, on the vertical side…

      Oldskool:
      • Batsugun
      • Dragon Blaze ❤️
      • Gunbird 2
      • Anger Force – kinda
      • Missile Dancer
      • Moon Dancer – ❤️
      • SophStar – ❤️

      Danmaku:
      • Crimzon Clover
      • Caladrius Blaze
      • Espgaluda II
      • Mushihimesama – ❤️
      • Danmaku Unlimited 3 – bullet grazing ❤️

      with a twist:
      • Pawarumi – rock-paper-scissors mechanic ❤️
      • Dimension Drive – teleport
      • Sisters Royale – ❤️
      • Eschatos – ❤️
      • Shoot 1UP – multi-ship
      • Cosmo Gang the Video – Galaga-like
      • (Downwell)

      • @bbbhltz and neither hori nor vert really…

        • Zero Gunner 2 – proto-twin-stick arcade
        • Galak-Z: the Void – strategic zero-G twin-stick, rogue-like-elements ❤️ (not to be confused with Galak-Z: Variant S, which is to be avoided)
        • Assault Android Cactus – one of **the** best twin-sticks ever ❤️
        • Jet Lancer – like Luferausers, maybe better ❤️
        • Nitro Ball – classic proto-twin-stick arcade

      •  bbbhltz   ( @bbbhltz@beehaw.org ) OP
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        2 months ago

        Someone is selling Mushihimesama on my local marketplace. I know it is no longer in production or on the Switch estore. Is €55 worth it for this game? It is used of course.

        Update: I see that it can be purchased new for 43 on different sites, so I suppose not…

        • @bbbhltz , it is my favourite CAVE game so far.

          That said, personally I am not willing to pay that much for a STG (sorry). But I know others would and do pay even more for a PCB of it.

          It is a very quality game and has several modes. If that is worth it for you, it’s up to you.

          Several other Cave games (and Crimzon Clover, which is not by Cave, but like a spiritual successor) have similar modes, so perhaps try one of those first.

          • I was thinking of getting it, trying it, and holding onto it to resell. But, someone might be able to talk the seller down. Judging by the other items they are selling, not just games, it looks like this person caught the “import stuff from abroad” bug and it now unloading loads of merch at rather high and prices. I’m not going to barter though since it is available on play-asia for less.

              • I’m tracking sales on dekudeals for the moment but I did get copies of Raiden IV (which is definitely something I enjoy), Ando Dunos II ( still can’t beat the boss rush to unlock the last levels) and GreyLancer.

                I’ll probably pick up Strikers 1945 II this week since it is on sale.

                I’m just patiently waiting and also considering grabbing some physical copies of games that I’ve seen for sale on local marketplaces (Sophstar and Mushihimesama).

  • Crimzon Clover, any version’s good but World EXplosion is the most recent. It’s a fairly difficult and chaotic bullet hell, but the novice mode should be reasonably approachable as long as you’re willing to learn, and the design is superb.

    Similarly, the whole CAVE backlog. Not all of them have novice modes or the like, and there’s quite a few games not really available outside of MAME. The original DoDonPachi is/was considered the best starter bullet hell for a long, long time and still holds up pretty well, but is more difficult than a lot of modern games on their respective novice modes.

    On the indie side of things: Star of Providence (formerly Monolith) is an indie roguelite bullet hell twin-stick-ish shmup with a pretty good amount of depth. ZeroRanger is a much more story-based game that I really enjoyed.