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?
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.
Well that depends what you have.
Ikaruga for starters
This is at the top of my list, so it will come sooner or later!
I don’t have anything substantial except fond memories or R-Type and Raiden, and a copy of Raiden IV that I tend to play on loop when I have days off.
Second Ikaruga. A unique way to play a shmup.
I would also give Jamestown+ a try.
https://www.nintendolife.com/guides/best-nintendo-switch-shmups has a 5 pages full of recommendations. Scroll down the list just before the comments, to see the list of pages you can open.
Sorry, but this is not what I need. I’ve seen this list and many similar to it. Just want a few names of games. Nintendo Life is a good resource, though.
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.
Which system(s) are you playing on?
Switch probably, but emulation is an option.
Warning Forever, but not sure if you can play that on switch
Doesn’t appear that it is… But I’ll look it up anyway.
There is a new game with a very similar mechanic, I think I saw it on Yahtzees new channel. But WF is a real gem
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.
Haven’t heard the term “euroshmup” before. Also haven’t seen Sine Mora on any lists that I’ve been looking at either.
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.
Touhou series? Some of them are pretty good. The music are also superb.
Like bullet hells?
I really like exceed 1-3.
Gundeadgnline is good.
Kinda can’t get away from Touhou.
