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Here's a topic for discussing shmups, old and new. Although there's no single definition for what a shmup is, these games generally have the following qualities (summarized from wikipedia): Usually viewed from a top-down or side-view scrolling perspective A large number of enemies to shoot while dodging their fire Stage-based progression, usually with a boss character at the end of each stage When one thinks of "shmups" these days, some examples that come to mind include horizontal scrollers like Gradius and R-Type, vertical scrollers like Raiden and Gunbird, and so-called "bullet hell" games like Mushihimesama and Dodonpachi. Of course, there are earlier games that don't play much like these games, but are definitely shmups, such as Asteroids and Centipede. --- Anyway, with that out of the way, feel free to discuss general stuff about shmups here. What are you playing now? Have any strategies to share? Have you finally got the 1CC (one-credit-clear) or even 1LC (one-life-clear) for that one difficult game you've been playing and practicing for weeks or months? Talk about it here!

Before I begin, this will focus on original titles, and not arcade ports. -Zenithian Khei (Mega Man X meets Super Turrican 2) -Ginnan (Actraiser with an Old English/Anglo-Saxon twist. Part of the Middanyeard series.) -At least three shmups/space shooters. -At least two more Middanyeard games. -At least two titles in the Demon Lands series. -One Isometric game.

Hello there! Please take a look at my stuff. All prices are inclusive of international (WORLDWIDE) shipping with tracking. Payment via PayPal. If you need more information or more pics, please, e-mail me before you buy. Thanks for watching. Regards, Alex. 1. Very rare "Dendy Junior II (2)" 8-bit console Famicom compatible by famous russian company "Steepler". Made in Taiwan in 90's by "TXC Corporation". The console has been tested and works with all Famicom and Famicom compatible cartridges. PLEASE NOTE! PAL region console (50Hz, Input AC 220V, Output DC 9V 850mA!). This lot includes: - original box (used condition, please see pics); - original foam (cracked, please see pics); - console with two gamepads (very good condition, please see pics); - RF unit (acceptable oxodized condition); - RF cable; - AC power adaptor (PLEASE NOTE! INPUT AC 220V, OUTPUT DC 9V 850mA!); - manual/instruction and warranty card. Price: $250 $230 $200, including international (WORLDWIDE) shipping with tracking. Payment via PayPal. 2. Very rare "Subor SB-225" 8-bit console Famicom compatible by famous russian company "Steepler". Made in China in 90's by "Subor". The console has been tested and works with all Famicom and Famicom compatible cartridges. PLEASE NOTE! PAL region console (50Hz, Input AC 220V, Output DC 9V 850mA!). This lot includes (Full ultimate bundle): - original box (used condition, please see pics); - original foam (good used condition, please see pics); - console with two gamepads (very good condition, please see pics); - light gun (good condition); - game cartridge (good condition); - RF unit (good condition); - RF cable; - AC power adaptor (PLEASE NOTE! INPUT AC 220V, OUTPUT DC 9V 850mA!); - manual/instruction and warranty card. Price: $400 $350 $320, including international (WORLDWIDE) shipping with tracking. Payment via PayPal. 3. Very rare "Dendy Classic II (2)" 8-bit console Famicom compatible by famous russian company "Steepler". Made in Taiwan in 90's by "TXC Corporation". The console has been tested and works with all Famicom and Famicom compatible cartridges, BUT GAMEPADS DON'T WORK (board replacement required). PLEASE NOTE! PAL region console (50Hz, Input AC 220V, Output DC 9V 850mA!). This lot includes: - NO CARDBOARD COVER! - original foam (cracked, please see pics); - console (very good condition, please see pics); - two gamepads (PLEASE NOTE! GAMEPADS DON'T WORK! Board replacement required); - RF unit (good condition); - RF cable; - AC power adaptor (PLEASE NOTE! INPUT AC 220V, OUTPUT DC 9V 850mA!); - manual/instruction and warranty card. Price: $450 $400, including international (WORLDWIDE) shipping with tracking. Payment via PayPal. 4. Brand new & factory sealed "Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Nintendo Classic Mini)" console in European PAL design. First 2017 revision. Price: $200 $190 $180, including international (WORLDWIDE) shipping with tracking. Payment via PayPal. 5. Brand new & factory sealed PS Vita games & memory cards. European versions, including for Russia. All prices are inclusive of international (WORLDWIDE) shipping with tracking. Payment via PayPal. - Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed - $45 $40; - Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate - $60 $55; - Resistance: Burning Skies - $65 $60; - Wipeout 2048 - $65 $60; - Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time - $55 $50; - The Jak & Daxter Trilogy - $60 $55; - Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition - $55 $50; - Invizimals: The Alliance - $30 $25; - LittleBigPlanet - $45 $40; - Rayman Origins - $40 $35; - Lego Legends of Chima: Laval's Journey - $40 $35; - Lego The Lord of the Rings - $40 $35; - Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 - $70 $65; - Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two - $65 $60; - Memory Card for PlayStation Vita 4GB - $25 $20; - Memory Card for PlayStation Vita 4GB - $40 $35. 6. 8-bit Famicom compatable BIG TV GAME cartridges. All prices are inclusive of international (WORLDWIDE) shipping with tracking. Payment via PayPal. - 16 (4?) in 1 - $30; - 21 (4?) in 1 - $30; - Super Hik 23 (6?) in 1 - $30; - Super Hik 23 (6?) in 1 - $35; - Super Hik 23 (6?) in 1 - $35; - 96 (7?) in 1 - $25; - 1000 (8?) in 1 - $30; - 1500 (15?) in 1 - $30; - 9999999 (7?) in 1 - $30; - 2 in 1: Joe & Mac, Sonic Prince (Banana Prince hack) - $35; - 2 in 1: Adventure Island, Mickey Mouse - $35; - 2 in 1: Prince Of Persia, The Little Mermaid - $25; - 2 in 1: Batman, Kickmaster - $35; - 3 in 1: Battletoads, NBA, X-Men - $40; - 3 in 1: Battletoads & Double Dragon, X-Men, Metal Gear - $45; - 4 in 1: Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers 2, Samurai Pizza Cats, Darkwing Duck, Tiny Toon Adventures - $40; - Super Hik 4 in 1: Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, TMNT 1, Red Pig (TaleSpin hack), Yo! Noid - $35; - 4 in 1: Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers 2, Darkwing Duck, Samurai Pizza Cats, Tiny Toon Adventures - $25; - 4 in 1: Darkwing Duck, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers 2, Tom & Jerry & Tuffy, The Ren & Stimpy Show - $25; - 4 in 1: TMNT Tournament Fighters, NY Nyankies, Darkwing Duck, The Young Indiana Jones - $35; - Super Hik 6 in 1: Contra, 1944, The Little Mermaid, DuckTales 2, Super Contra, 1943 - $45; - Castle Of Dragon - $25; - Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers - $40; - Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers 2 - $40; - Chip 'n Dale 3 (Heavy Barrel hack) - $40; - Darkman - $35; - DuckTales - $35; - Elevator Action - $35; - RocoCop 3 - $45; - Samurai Pizza Cats - $30; - Street Fighter VI 16 Peoples (Bootleg fighting game) - $40; - Strider - SOLD; - The Flintstones The Surprise at Dinosaur Peak! - $50; - The Little Mermaid - $35; - TMNT - $40; - Warpman - $20; 7. 8-bit Famicom compatable game cartridges. All prices are inclusive of international (WORLDWIDE) shipping with tracking. Payment via PayPal. - 7 in 1 - $20 $15 - 12 (4?) in 1 - $20 $15; - 21 (4?) in 1 - $25 $20; - 35 (5?) in 1 - $30 $25; - 35 (5?) in 1 - $25 $20; - 58 (6?) in 1 - $20 $15; - 64 (5?) in 1 - $20 $15; - 150 (8?) in 1 - $35 $30; - Super Hik 300 (5?) in 1 - $35 $30; - 300 (7?) in 1 - $25 $20; - 500 (6?) in 1 - $20 $15; - 500 (6?) in 1 - $25 $20; - 600 (8?) in 1 - $20 $15; - 999 (4?) in 1 - $25 $20; - 999 (4?) in 1 - $20 $17; - 9999 (5?) in 1 (From Lifa Famiclone bundle) - $35 $30; - 9999 (5?) in 1 - $35 $30; - 2 in 1: The New Ghostbusters 2 & Felix Vs. Jerry (Tiny Toon hack) - $40 $35; - 2 in 1: Blades Of Steel & Castlevania (Broken board holders, without the ability to save - no battery) - $40 $35; - 2 in 1: Blades Of Steel & Prince Of Persia - $35 $30; - 2 in 1: Blades Of Steel & Trojan - $35 $30; - 2 in 1: Blades Of Steel & Castle Of Dragon - $35 $30; - Chip 'n Dale 3 (Heavy Barrel hack) & The New Ghostbusters 2 - SOLD; - The Addams Family & Panic Restaurant (Japan version) - $55 $50; - 4 in 1: Hogan's Alley, Macross, Wild Gunman & Duck Hunt - $35 $25; - 7 in 1: Street Fighter 2010, Alien 3, Contra Force, Moster In My Pocket (Batman & Flash sprites), TMNT Tournament Fighters, Captain America and the Avengers, Joe & Mac - $50 $45; - 1945 (Sky Shark hack) - SOLD; - Aladdin (SNES hack) - $40 $35; - American Gladiators - $25 $20; - Attack of the Killer Tomatoes - $35 $30; - Barbie - $25 $20; - Batman - $30 $25; - Captain America and the Avengers - $25 $20; - Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (japanese version) - $35 $30; - Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers 2 - $40 $35; - Contra 4 in 1 (with the ability to choose weapons) - $40 $35; - Contra 4 in 1 (with the ability to choose weapons) - $25 $20; - Contra 6 (Contra Force) - $45 $40; - Digger T. Rock - $30 $25; - The Fantastic Adventures Of Dizzy - SOLD; - DJ Boy (Roller Games hack) - $25 $20; - Disneyland Adventures 2 (Doki! Doki! Yuuenchi: Crazy Land Daisakusen) - $40 $35; - Double Dragon 2 - $25 $20; - Double Dragon 2 - $20 $15; - Double Dragon 3 - $15 $10; - Bram Stoker's Dracula - $40 $35; - F1 Hero 2 - $20 $15; - Godzilla - $30 $20; - Great Tank - $25 $20; - Home Alone 2 - $25 $20; - James Bond Jr. - $30 $25; - Jungle Book - $25 $20; - Nekketsu Kakuto Densetsu - $25 $20; - New Ghostbusters 2 - $30 $25; - Ninja Gaiden 3 (japanese version) - $40 $35; - NY Nyankies - $30 $25; - Prince Of Persia - $40 $35; - RoboCop - $25 $20; - Spartan X 2 - SOLD; - Tecmo World Cup Soccer - $25 $20; - The Flintstones The Surprise at Dinosaur Peak! - $60 $55; - Tiny Toon 4 (?) - $25 $20; - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project (broken board holders) - $40 $35; - Tom & Jerry and Tuffy - $25 $20; - Top Gun 2 - $25 $20; - Werewolf - $30 $25; - World Games (broken board holders) - $15 $10; 7. Rare brand new PC games (shmup's). All prices are inclusive of international (WORLDWIDE) shipping with tracking. Payment via PayPal. - Imperishable Night - $40 $35; - Phantasmagoria Of Flower View - $40 $35; - Subterranean Animism - $40 $35; - The Embodiment Of Scarlet Devil - $40 $35. 8. Rare brand new & sealed Sega Dreamcast region free games (shmup's). All prices are inclusive of international (WORLDWIDE) shipping with tracking. Payment via PayPal. - Dux Version 1.5 - $75 $70; - Fst Striker - $90 $85; - Last Hope: Pink Bullets - $90 $85; - Sturmwind - $75 $70.

I finally decided to announce something that I have been working on: Heofonfīr. (O. E. for Heaven Fire) Genre: Space Shooter (Vertical) Levels: 5 I was thinking about Sting's Baroque spinoff called Baroque Shooting, and decided to do something similar for the 7800. So, I decided to re-read Steve Engelhart's 7800Basic tutorials, and started to code. However, I hit numerous roadblocks during the process, such as figuring out how to do vertical scrolling, enemies that attack, power-ups, bosses, endings, and other things not covered in the 7800 Basic tutorial. To prove that I am not pulling people's chains, I'll even post some of my graphics. Update: Functioning ROM file can be found in the last two posts. After loading it up in your favorite emulator, push fire and try it out. Update 02: The latest version of the ROM can be found in the latest post.

While I was working on my vertical engine, I also decided to make some other demos out of boredom. The first is a horizontal shooting demo, and the second a platformer. The .78b files are included in their respective .zip files. Horizontal Shooter 12-27-2020.zip Horizontal_Shooting_demo.78b.a78 Horizontal_Shooting_demo.78b.bin Horizontal_Shooting_demo.78b.list.txt Platformer Demo 3-18-2021.zip platformer_demo_v01.78b.a78 platformer_demo_v01.78b.bin platformer_demo_v01.78b.list.txt

Rabio Lepus Special -- a cute 'em up, a SHMUP, or both? The PC Engine Files No. 96!

Other games besides platformers and ports that I might make for the 7800: -At least two horizontal shooters. -At least one overhead adventure game. -At least one other vertical shooter. However, not until Heofonfir is done.

Hi Guys, Just wanted to let you know my new switch SHMUP, Horizon Shift '81 was just launched on the Switch eShop. It's basically a mix of all my favorite 80's arcade games squashed into one, to make something that hopefully feels a bit fresh. Here's the trailer: It's been reviewing surprisingly well so far too. Defunct just reviewed it and had this to say "This is one of the best shoot 'em ups available on the Nintendo Switch"! Here's his video review: I also knocked up an Atari 2600 version of Horizon Shift, you can grab the off my website www.flumpstudios.co.uk

I'd just thought I'd keep a complete list of every shoot 'em game I own. I'm only including physical copies and digital copies that I paid money for. I'm only counting games with auto-scrolling and/or weapon power-up systems. *denotes a reproduction copy. I'm going to give each game a score S+ being best, F being worst (in my opinion). Game that I have not really spent much time with won't be rated. Systems ordered from oldest to newest. V = vertical H = horizontal B = both O = other NES/Famicom: 1943 [V] | A | A solid shmup on the system, but I prefer 1943 Kai (which I don't own yet) on the PC Engine. Abadox B+ | Really freakin hard... music is composed by the same guy that did the music for Contra. I can't get past the second stage. Did I mention it's hard? lol Adventures of Dino Riki [V] |no rating| I've owned this since the early 90s. I haven't played it much as it was originally my brother's game. It's a running shmup, but you can jump! Alpha Mission [V] | D+ | A pretty forgettable port of an arcade game from SNK. Capitan Skyhawk [O] | C | Has an interesting sorta isometric perspective but the gameplay is rather bland. Dragon Spirit: The New Legend [V] | A- | Not really a port of the arcade game, more like a remix. It's pretty forgiving with continues, unlike Dragon Spirit on PC Engine/TG-16 which has none. My only issue is the lack of drums in the stage music. Gun-Nac* [V]| SSSSS+ | My favorite shmup on the system also favorite game on the entire NES/Famicom library. Love the fact there are infinite continues (something most Compile shmups have in common). 4th favorite shmup of all time. Gradius [H]| A+ | A classic for sure. I just suck at horizontal shmups (except for Air Zonk), so I don't play it much. Gun.Smoke [V] I haven't played enough to rate yet. Seperate fire buttons for left and right side of player is a unique feature of this game. Gyruss [O]| S | Not a traditional shmup but it does have a basic power up so I'm including it. I prefer this to the arcade original. Also love the chiptune Bach music... Image Fight [V]| A- | A solid port of the arcade game by Irem. Legendary Wings [V]|no rank| I've owned this game for like 15 years but not really played it much. Can't get past the first stage. MagMax [H]| D+ | Cool as hell cover art, but the game is boring. But hey you can turn into a giant mech by collecting parts, so there's that. Section Z [H]| C+ | a convoluted maze of a shmup. I wanna blow stuff up not go through a maze. Seicross [H]| D | A sort of shmup/racing game hybrid though it falls short of being a solid game. Sky Shark [V]| A- | One of the hardest vertical shmups I've ever played. Port of a Taito arcade game. Has music composed by legendary chiptune composer, Tim Follin. I've never seen stage 2 but the music is great so I don't mind getting stuck. Star Force [V]| C+ | Pretty much the same game as Star Soldier but it's a Tecmo game. Super Spy Hunter (Battle Formula) [V]| S+ | An amazing game by Sunsoft. Not really a Spy Hunter game, but it was branded so in the west. This game has some of the best music on the NES. That Sunsoft bass! Super Star Force [V]| I have no idea what to do in the game. It's like an adventure game with shmup gameplay. Does not help the text is in Japanese. Star Soldier [V]| C+ | The first game in Hudson Soft's legendary Soldier series, but this game is kinda bland. Though, every series must start somewhere. Stinger (Twinbee 2) | A+ | I don't love it as much as the other Twinbee games but it's still really good. Tiger-Heli [V]| C | It's okay, but with the other games I own, why play it? Thundercade [V]| B | Perhaps the only solid Micronics shmup on NES. There's aren't too many motorcycle shmups. lol Twin Eagle [V]| D- | The animation of water tiles make me nauseous so I don't play this game. I'm sure there's better ports of this game elsewhere. Twinbee [V]| S+ | I don't own the actual cartridge but it's on a bootleg cart. I'll make an exception for this one. Twinbee 3 [V]| S+ | I absolutely love this game. Shame it wasn't released in the west. It's currently the only console shmup I've ever beaten. Xevious [V] [D] I just hate this game. I appreciate it's significance to the genre. But that 2 second music loop in the game drives me up the wall. Zanac | A- [V]| a great shmup on the system, but the AI system can sometimes make a level impossible. Otherwise a pretty good game. I love the title screen music. PC Engine/TG-16: Dragon Spirit [V]| A | Overall a great port of the arcade game. Has great music and gameplay. My only issue is the lack of any continues. Final Soldier [V]| S | The third game in the Soldier Series. I like it more than Super Star Solider. Great music and gameplay. Only issue is some minor slowdown. GunHed (Blazing Lazers) [V]| S+ | This game is similar to Super Aleste (Space Megaforce) both are made by Compile. Shares a title with a movie and a manga but has nothing to do with either of them. Heavy Unit [H]| B+ | A pretty hard horizontal shmup. At least it has infinite continues. You can also transform into a mech. Override* [V]| S+ | Some think this game is too fast. Sure it takes some time to get used to but I like it. PC Genjin: Punkic Cyborgs (Air Zonk) [H]| S+ | My favorite horizontal shmup. It's silly and crude, but I love it! Has amazing music! Psycho Chaser [V]| A | An interesting shmup where you play as a running android. You can switch weapons that have different firing effects. I haven't really got into it yet. Soldier Blade [V]| SSSSSSSSSSSS+ | My favorite game of all time! The music... the boss fights... EVERYTHING IS PERFECT! Super Star Soldier [V]| A+ | The first Soldier game released on the PC-E/TG-16. I always get stuck on Stage 2. I think it's to hard for just a second stage. You might as well start the game over if you die in it as you really need the powerups from the first stage. Genesis: Grind Stormer* [V]| S | A great game! I tend to prefer playing it in V-V mode. (power ups work kinda like Gradius) Task Force Harrier EX [V]| S | The first shmup I bought on Genesis. Much more forgiving than Grind Stormer. Twin Cobra [V]|B-| The second shmup I bought for the system. A bit of a disappointment. Not bad, just not amazing. Game Boy: Nemesis [H]| A | A great shmup on the Game Boy, even if it pretty much is the same game as Gradius. R-Type DX [H] | S | That title screen music! (which sounds a lot like something from one of the Ninja Gaiden games) Not been past stage 1 in R-Type !. Technically A GBC game but works in the original Game Boy. Game Gear (I own no shmups for this system) SNES/Super Famicom: Earth Defense Force [H] I've not played enough to rate. But the first stage is really hard. Gradius III [H]| A | It's a Gradius game so it's a classic. Suffers a bit from slowdown. Super Aleste (Space Megaforce) My favorite game on the system. This game is pretty much is a sequel to GunHed (Blazing Lazes). Super Nova (Darius Force) | A+ | This game should have just been called Darius Force in the west. I like it more than Gradius III. Has less slowdown. Super R-Type [H]|no rank| I've not played this much. I've heard it suffers from some pretty terrible slowdown. UN Squadron (Area 88) [H]| A | Sort of like a shmup RPG. You can level up. I've not played it too much. Western title is stupid though. PS1: Gekoih: Shooting King [V]| SSSSSSSSS+ | My second favorite shmup and latest in my collection. Also my only shmup for the system. Saturn: (I own no shmups for this system) N64: (I own no shmups for this system) PC (DOS) Making an exception here as I did not buy these games but I need to include them because they are some of my favorites. Overkill [V] | A+ | Love the soundtrack! Great Adlib sound. A controller with turbo is a must! Tyrian 2000 [V] | SSSSSSS+ | My third favorite shmup of all time. Amazing soundtrack! Great upgrade system... and so many levels! The last episode is downright silly... and BEER! PS2: R-Type Final [H] |no rating| I haven't played enough of this game to rate it yet. Great graphics though. Game Boy Advance: Iridion 3D [O] [B+] Has a weird fake 3D perspective. I've heard the second game is a standard vertical shmup. I should look into it. Xbox: (I own no shmups for this system) Game Cube: (I own no shmups for this system) DS: Nanostray [V] | S+ | My only shmup on DS. I've gotten pretty far in this game. Kind of like Pshyco Chaser with weapon swapping. Though I would kill for a standard forward spreadshot. Xbox 360: (I own no shmups for this system) Wii: BlastWorks [H] |no rating| Very weird game where you collect the remains of enemy ships. I've not played it yet. PSP: (I own no shmups for this system) PS3: Raiden IV: Overkill [V] | A | I also on this on PC. My only shmup on the system. Sound was too loud for my speaker system so I had to turn it down. Great game though. 3DS: (I own no shmups for this system) PC Windows (modern) 1917 - The Alien Invasion (haven't played yet) Astro Avenger III [V] Was a budget title. But it's not bad for what it is. I've not played it in years so I won't rate it. It's my only physical copy of a shmup for PC. Deltazeal [V] | A+ | A great game. Not played it much. Would not be out of place along side late 90s arcade shmups. Demon Truck (haven't played yet) Fire Arrow Plus (haven't played yet) HellStar (haven't played yet) Jet Buster (haven't played yet) Phoenix Force (haven't played yet) Raiden III [V] (haven't played yet) Raiden IV: Overkill [V] | A | similar to PS3 version RefleX [V] haven't played enough to rate Satazius [H] | A | similar to Thunder Force III/IV Sine Mora [H] haven't played enough to rate Sine Mora EX [H] (haven't played yet though it must be similar to the standard game) Velocty Ultra (haven't played yet) Xiizeal (haven't played yet) Zanggeki Warp (haven't played yet) Zenodyne R (haven't played yet) Zenohell (haven't played yet) So 65 titles (64 if you don't count Raiden IV (PC and PS3) as two separate titles.)

What---in your opinion, are the best SHMUPS? I've played a few over the years but realize this is a deep genre with many games I probably haven't played. What, across all classic systems, are your favorite shmups from decades past up to recent history? Thanks in advance.

I play alot of shmups. Not as many, or as well as the regulars of shmups.com, but I play quite a bit. I find myself gravitating to Vertical perspective games the most, such as Raiden or the Strikers series. I truly have a more difficult time playing the horizontal style, like Gradius or Blazing Star etc... I really think the perspective affects my play, I just don't get the natural smooth strafing action using the up and down motion (don't be perverted) on a game like Gradius, my brain doesn't seem to process it as well. When I play a vertical shmup, I'm more naturally inclined to just play it better and have better reactions with the controls. I kind of also tend to like the graphical style of the top-down perspective of destroyed cities and landscapes that come with a vertical shmup. Horis are cool, I have nothing against them other than I'm not as good at those.

Earlier today I uploaded a video talking about and ranking 19 SNES shooters (shmups) released in the United States. What are your favorites on the system? If you have played all of them, how would you rank them? Video: https://youtu.be/Fl9Y13XR3cM

Hey there everyone. Of all the game genres out there, one of my absolute favorites is vertically scrolling shoot 'em ups (AKA "shmups"). While there's no shortage of websites dedicated to this genre of game, I'm in a bit of an odd spot when it comes to finding new shmups to try out because I seem to have some pretty peculiar preferences when in regards to these type of games. You see, the kind of shmups I enjoy the most are vertical scrolling ones with simple gameplay mechanics, relatively low difficulty, and not too much happening on the screen at once; which is pretty much the exact opposite of what most shmup fans look for in a game. To give you an idea of what I mean, here's a current list of my Top 9 (because I have yet to find 10 that I really like ) favorite vertical scrolling shmups: 9. Star Soldier (NES) 8. Truxton (Genesis) 7. Iridion II (Game Boy Advance) 6. Project S-11 (Game Boy Color) 5. River Raid (Atari 2600) 4. 1942 (Arcade & NES) 3. Raiden Trad (Genesis) 2. Xevious (Arcade & NES) 1. Solar Striker (Game Boy) I love all of those games for their relatively low difficulty curve, simple and approachable power-up mechanics (if they have any at power-ups at all), and the fact that none of them almost ever clutter up the screen with too many enemies/bullets/power-ups/hazards flying around at once. I've tried playing lots of vertical scrolling shmups that get almost universal critical acclaim, such as Raidant Silvergun (Saturn), M.U.S.H.A. (Genesis), Space Megaforce (SNES), Zanac (NES), and Ikaruga (GameCube) and found all them to be either too "busy" on screen to keep track of what is happening or just plain too difficult to have fun playing them. With that in mind, I'm starting to get a little tired of wasting boatloads of money on critically acclaimed shumps that end up being not quite my cup of tea and having to resell them shortly after purchase; so I'm hoping that the fine folks here at AtariAge might be able to recommend me some simplier vertical scrolling shmups that could be a little more to my liking. For reference, the systems that I currently own are an Atari 2600, NES, Genesis, PS1, Wii, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance SP; though I'm completely open to the idea of purchasing other systems at some point if there are lots of games I might enjoy on them. Any suggestions?

*Edit - Ending today! Somebody bid on Mushihimesama HD and Espgaluda 2 please, lol Here is the second wave of stuff! Have some nice limited edition CAVE stuff, a few homebrews, a crazy rare Hori VLX arcade stick and some blu ray movies.Let me know if you have any questions Thanks! CIB XBOX 360 Hori VLX premium limited edition R4P arcade stick (RARE) eBay Auction -- Item Number: 300909485601 CIB Dodonpachi Resurrection Xbox 360 REGION FREE with bonus soundtrack! eBay Auction -- Item Number: 290920146759 Sega Genesis HOMEBREW Hangman SG with box (no instructions were made for this game) eBay Auction -- Item Number: 290920152815 CIB Mushihimesame HD LIMITED EDITION for xbox360 with soundtrack and custom Box! eBay Auction -- Item Number: 300909416177 CIB Espgaluda II LIMITED EDITION for xbox 360 with faceplate and custom box eBay Auction -- Item Number: 300909468754 Giant Blu Ray collection (lot of 16) sci fi, action, 80's, etc all MINT eBay Auction -- Item Number: 300909497712

[#006] in 2013, i've programmed three PC games (via Qbasic) that i'm proud of and it's only the middle of May! check them out: Blitz (Jan '13) port of the classic Vic-20 game http://atariage.com/forums/topic/207093-blitz-vic-20-game-port/ TapKey RPG (Apr '13 - May '13) loosely based on the game mechanics of 'Theatrythm: Final Fantasy' http://atariage.com/forums/blog/495/entry-10174-tapkey-rpg/ and coming very soon: Chameleon (May '13) a space shooter that nods to the Virtual Boy, Adventure Vision, and a handful of classic shmups! http://youtu.be/88C-DU89DmU i will also be returning to my 2011 epic, MicroDungeon. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/185908-microdungeon/

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Ok, I know I'm late to the party, but I had taken an extended break from the X360 in 2011, so I'm just now investing more money in the system again. Just bought Espgaluda 2 on Amazon today, and Mushihimesama Futari 1.5 last week. So, my shmup collection on 360 so far is: Mushihimesama Futari 1.5 Espgaluda 2 Black Label Guwange Raiden Fighters Aces Raiden IV Deathsmiles LE R-Type Dimensions All those games are awesome I think. I've probably only got half of the available titles that will play on a US 360 right? I was looking at Muchi Muchi Pork/Pink Sweets but that thing is already about $100 and out of print it looks like, so I don't know if I'll get that one. And Otomedius Excellent seems to get below average reviews, so I'm not sure that one is worth the money. That HRAP stick I bought for SF4 years ago sure is paying off for me gameplay wise, I don't know if I'd be having as much fun with the standard pad. At least all these shooters have rapid fire nowadays. Thinking back to the days of Genesis and TG-16, rapid fire was rarely programmed in. Modern shooters are much more user friendly I think, but the scoring systems seem rather complex. All these cave games I have to search online to figure out the scoring system, because I never know what all the counters and sub-counters mean. Awesome, awesome games and really fun though.