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Post by Ex on Jun 3, 2021 15:36:49 GMT -5
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Post by paulofthewest on Jun 3, 2021 15:48:51 GMT -5
I actually haven't played that many so I'm interested in other people's list. My favorite is Ikaruga with its simple design an varying difficulty.
Others I've played: Gradius 1 and 3, R-Type, Soldier Blade, Super Star Soldier, Galaga (if that counts), Gunbird, and 1942/1943.
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Post by Sarge on Jun 3, 2021 17:49:24 GMT -5
Immediate games that come to mind are The Guardian Legend and Soldier Blade. As far as bullet hell goes, DoDonPachi is fantastic.
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Post by EasyHard on Jun 3, 2021 19:17:11 GMT -5
My favorites are the Touhou series, pretty much. I've put the most time into Embodiment of Scarlet Devil and Imperishable Night. I also love for U.N. Squadron on the SNES. I think after these its starts becoming a longer list of "played and liked", but not a clear "favorite" tier. Ikaruga is a pretty neat one in that category though.
I also like a lot of free PC downloadable shmups that at one point or another I was fully into, but I rarely hear them mentioned on the internet: Blue Wish Resurrection (which is roughly in the style of many Cave or other vertical arcade shmups), Hydorah (which is in the style of Gradius), and Jigoku Kisetsukan: Sense of the Seasons (which is in the style of Touhou/Len'en/doujin shmups).
A more recent niche title that I've come across is HyperDot, which is a more minimalist game just about dodging. It has lots of different "rulesets" that modify the stages. It can also be played in a very brisk multiplayer matches (up to 4 players, I think). To be honest, this is the only one I've mentioned so far that I haven't devoted any effort towards clearing, but I think it is cool and I've had fun with the multiplayer.
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Post by Sarge on Jun 3, 2021 20:37:49 GMT -5
Forgot Radiant Silvergun, derp. Great game.
U.N. Squadron is indeed really good, and I prefer that version over the arcade one.
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Post by dunpeal2064 on Jun 3, 2021 23:58:38 GMT -5
My favorites are the Touhou series, pretty much. I've put the most time into Embodiment of Scarlet Devil and Imperishable Night. Hell yeah, I'm glad to see another Touhou fan here! I hadn't played the series until a few years back, and decided to try to 1cc them on Normal in chronological order. I'm on Subterrainian Animism now, which is kicking my ass. I'm a big fan of the two you mentioned, and also really enjoyed Lotus Land Story and Mystic Square on the PC-98, and Perfect Cherry Blossom. Imperishable Night is the only Touhou game I've cleared on Hard, the death-bomb timing in that one makes for a pretty forgiving game, and its probably the best introduction to Touhou, in case anyone else ever wants to dig into the games! Its really hard for me to pick a favorite, I really love the genre, especially in its bullet-hell variety, but if I had to pick, my favorites would be Mushihimesama Futari, Muchi Muchi Pork!, and Ketsui. Of those, I'd probably say Ketsui is the "best" game, but I couldn't give up any of these, and play all 3 on a regular basis. If I made a top 10, or even a top 20, it would almost entirely consist of CAVE and ZUN games, with some other doujins scattered about. I still enjoy classic shmups, but bullet hells were my gateway into the genre (Castle Shikigami II, in particular), and have always been what I am particularly attracted to.
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Post by Ex on Jun 4, 2021 13:37:41 GMT -5
My top twenty favorite shmups (in no particular order) that are at least 10 years old: 19XX: The War Against Destiny | Arcade | 1995 The Guardian Legend | Nintendo Entertainment System | 1989 Protip: If you just want to play this game as a pure shmup, enter the password "TGL" at the password screen and press END. You then will play the entire game skipping all the walking portions. At the and of a stage you are awarded power-ups and automatically advance to the next stage. Summer Carnival '92: Recca | Famicom | 1992 Crisis Force | Nintendo Entertainment System | 1991 Blazing Lazers | TurboGrafx-16 | 1989 U.N. Squadron | Super Nintendo Entertainment System | 1991 Axelay | Super Nintendo Entertainment System | 1992 GG Aleste II | Game Gear | 1994 Chikyuu Kaihougun ZAS | Game Boy | 1992 Harmful Park | PlayStation | 1997 Einhänder | PlayStation | 1998 Lords of Thunder | TurboGrafx CD | 1993 Steam-Heart's | PC Engine CD | 1996 Iridion II | Game Boy Advance | 2003 Gradius Galaxies | Game Boy Advance | 2001 Battle Mania: Daiginjou | Mega Drive | 1993 Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa | Master System | 1987 Power Strike II | Master System | 1993 Astro Warrior | Master System | 1986 Vanguard | Atari 2600 | 1982 Heartily recommended to all genre enthusiasts.
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Post by EasyHard on Jun 4, 2021 13:49:43 GMT -5
dunpeal2064 : I really like Perfect Cherry Blossom as well. Besides EOSD+PC+IN, I've also put a lot of time into Shoot the Bullet. Your PC98 reviews make me interested in going backwards in the series more. Subterranean Animism is the most recent one I've played, although I have only played moderate amounts of SA, UFO and Mountain of Faith. I probably should approach the series more like you, since my style is to relentlessly stick with one game until I can get really good, and then I would continue to pick away at improvements among a small handful of games for years afterwards. That was appealing during my early fandom at least (which started with importing Imperishable Night, I was completely ga-ga for it). I've played them gradually less over time and then I have been off the train for while. I've gotten to the point where usually normal 1cc is something I can do right away, hard 1cc feels within reach with practice (although it might take a while), and then lunatic 1ccs or even half-decent clears feel like an endless quest that is beyond me. I am super in love with playing and completely mastering the "Extra" modes though. They are the perfect difficulty and size for my tastes.
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Post by toei on Jun 4, 2021 17:00:44 GMT -5
I've actually never played a true bullet hell. What's a good one for a beginner?
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Post by EasyHard on Jun 4, 2021 17:29:51 GMT -5
toei Back in the day I did fine jumping right into Touhou and starting with 'easy' difficulty. The difficulty of Touhou scales down very far, and I wasn't even into playing shmups of any variety when I started with bullet hells. If you want something for free that you can play right now would recommend either Blue Wish Resurrection or Jigoku Kisetsukan: Sense of the Seasons that I linked above.
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