Shoot'em up (not to be confused with FPS)

[Somebody'sPet]

What are shoot'em ups(aka shmups) you ask? Shmups are basically games like Gradius V, Ikaruga, R-Types Final, metal slug, and the Radiant Silvergun. They can be vertical or horizontial when scrolling, and can be EXTREMELY addictive.

Much better information is located: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shmup

I've only listed a fraction of whats out there. But I've played several insanely hard shmups that would make Ikaruga look like a walk in the park. There is this sub-genre of shmups called manic shmups. These types of games earned the nickname "bullet-hell or curtain-fire". Why the two nicknames? Because, these games have a mind-numbing amount of bullets coming at you. One game that I know of that severlly over does this is DoDonPachi: Dai Ou Jou(translated to something like Angry Queen Bee: Peaceful Death), and another even harder on is Mushihime Sama(Insect Princess). Many Japanese say that manic shmups are sometimes impossible to beat without losing atleast one or two lives. Seriously, thats how brutally hard these games are.

Its truly sad that this genre is all but dead in the west.

There are some great super-play videos of different shmups located here:

http://www.super-play.co.uk

The sites is kind-of down right now but should be back up in a day or two(hopefully).

[Godly Paladin]

Ah...shmups. Insanely hard and the best ones are almost always rare and expensive. I like them on my Genesis, but other than that, no. It's too bad that they're dead in the US, since the genre definitely had some great titles. (Radiant Silvergun, Thunder Force, Ikaruga, etc.)

I don't think Metal Slug is a shmup, by the way - it's technically a run 'n gun.

And do you actually own RS? That's quite a bit of cash you must have dished out.

[Somebody'sPet]

And do you actually own RS? That's quite a bit of cash you must have dished out.

Oh lord no man. I've actually played it though an emulator. There is a guy I know that owns the actually cartidage that went to the arcade board. The cartidage alone is worth like $6 grand, and he only paid about $500 for it. The actual PCB of Mushihime Sama is worth quit alot(and two grand). The DDP: DOJ board is worth like close to $10 grand these days, but it is possible to find the Saturn/Playstation version. Of course any shmups developed by companies like Treasure or Cave are going to be expensive.

[GrubbTheFragger]

shmups are indeed addictive ala contra and gradius to name two and also a fadding gamming catigory but still is the home of the metal slug games <-----some of my personal favs

[Mr. SmartyPants]

metal slug and ikaruga are AWESOME

ikaruga is insanely insane

can I get a "SPACE HARRIER!"

[Myoti]

I love [good] Shmups. Though, I still can't find Ikaruga anywhere. -.-;


BUT! Has anyone played Pop 'n' Twinbee? Wacky, yet great Shmup, along with Parodius (prepared to be disturbed if you try out this one @_@ ).

[CookinLikeSanji]

No one has mentioned Gunstar Heros. Possibly one of the most addictive games of all time. Is it not classified as a Shmup?

[GrubbTheFragger]

no it is and i can't beleave i 4got about that

[Godly Paladin]

Gunstar Heroes, Metal Slug, and Contra are not shmups. They're classified as Run 'n Guns. Why? Because you run and gun things, as opposed to being in a spaceship/plane and blasting mobile targets. They also have limited platforming, and are not forced movement.

Still, they all *own*.

SPACE HARRIER!!! Wow, that game is great. Almost as good as Afterburner.

[Myoti]

Maybe we should change it to "Shmups and Run 'n' Guns"... XD

And yes, Gunstar Heroes = teh AWESURMNESS (both old and new versions, though moreso on the old).

[Godly Paladin]

I can't believe they took out the weapon combinations in the remake. Not fair!

[Myoti]

I can't believe they took out the weapon combinations in the remake. Not fair!

And many of the newer bosses aren't as entertaining (Pinky's fight was just plain crap on the now one, as was the big block dude ;_; ).

[Yojimbo]

I love Shoot em ups! Panzer Dragoon, Ikaruga, R-Type, Einhander all those are awesome. Yeah I think Radiant Silvergun might be the most valuable game ever created, well at least inflated that way anyway.

[chibiphonebooth]

hm, ive never heard of this before. interesting.

i would like to try it out some time! :p
although, im not the best at shooting games.
except killzone. for some odd reason im good at that. er anyway, can you find these games at any game store?


EDIT: OOHH!! PANZER DRAGOON? OMGOSH I REMEMBER THAT GAME! wow i loveeddd that game!!! hahahah! we had it for sega saturn. wow! LOL. aw man..i miss that game so much. thats a shoot 'em up??

[Yojimbo]

hm, ive never heard of this before. interesting.

i would like to try it out some time! :p
although, im not the best at shooting games.
except killzone. for some odd reason im good at that. er anyway, can you find these games at any game store?

I'm sure you've played some before you just don't know it. The old old school kinda are like Galaga and Space Invaders. Of course they are and incredibly cheap too.

[chibiphonebooth]

[quote="Yojimbo"]I'm sure you've played some before you just don't know it. The old old school kinda are like Galaga and Space Invaders.]


yeah, hense the reason i edited after you posted... dumbutt. :p

XDD

[Myoti]

Einhander... would that have happened to be for the PS1?

[Somebody'sPet]

Einhander is excellent!! I can't believe I forgot about Gunstar Heroes/Super Heroes! That was flat-out dumb that I did that.

There is actually a game that was released only in Japan and also was developed by Treasure and is somewhat similiar to Gunstar. You can actually play it online at gametap.com. Its called Alien Soldier. I had the great pleasure of playing it at an import shop a year ago. Guys, that game is a freakin' boss fest, even more so than Silvergun. The bosses in Alien Soldier just get bigger, faster, and nastier with each level.

Some info about it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_Soldier

http://www.bogleech.com/sega-aliensoldier.html

http://www.mrmonkeyman.com/treasure/alien.html

I like the game's solgan, "VisualShock, SpeedShock, SoundShock...Now is time to the 68000 heart on fire!"

[Godly Paladin]

I like the game's solgan, "VisualShock, SpeedShock, SoundShock...Now is time to the 68000 heart on fire!"

Only funny because of the awful translation. From what little I've seen, though, this game kills GH in the graphical department. It looks like some sort of insane tech demo...

And Panzer Dragoon is a shmup: it's in the 'rail' subclass since you don't have full control over movement, I believe.

[Myoti]

I need to play Alien Soldier again. The first time I tried, I died on the second boss. ._.

And I believe I've played Einhander. If it was a PS1 game where you could move the positions of the weapons on your ship and if there was a giant, walking boss that had a huge claw thing coming out of the front, then I've played it (or the demo, anyways).

[Godly Paladin]

Alien Soldier is terribly hard on a keyboard, so maybe that's your problem. I didn't find it overly difficult, but I was using a gamepad, if I remember right.

[Myoti]

Savestates work wonders, my friend. Especially when there's only two difficulties:
Superhard and Super'easy' (LIES!!).

But where, praytell, did you manage to get a copy? It's like on the rarest Treasure games out there. O_o

I've made it to Stage 22 so far. Treasure is the god of action of games.


EDIT: Done. The final boss was a bit... lacking, to me, though that laser move was pretty cool.

Also, anyone planning to play this, here's a tip on the final fight:

Use the Counter Force move (double tap B) on his face. It damages him, and hitting the fireball he shoots out with it will cause ALOT of hurt to him.

[Fireproof]

The world needs an online Shoot-'Em-Up.

[Myoti]

The world needs an online Shoot-'Em-Up.

Wait... an MMORS (Rail Shmup)? O_o

Or MMORR (Run 'n' Gun)?

[Fireproof]

Either one, really. They'd be unbelievably fun, IMO.

[Myoti]

Actually... that does sound fun.

*begins work on one*

[Godly Paladin]

But where, praytell, did you manage to get a copy? It's like on the rarest Treasure games out there. O_o

You can get them on eBay if you don't care about that whole 'steward of God's resources' bit ( ), but I must confess that I emulated it. Sorry, but I don't believe in paying the amount of money it takes to buy such games.

[Midori]

Does Star Fox count as a Shmup?

[Myoti]

You can get them on eBay if you don't care about that whole 'steward of God's resources' bit ( ), but I must confess that I emulated it. Sorry, but I don't believe in paying the amount of money it takes to buy such games.

Hypocrite!

Does Star Fox count as a Shmup?

Actually, I was just thinking about that, so yes, I'd say it is.

[Godly Paladin]

Hypocrite!

What, for talking about emulating after talking about stewardship?

Does Star Fox count as a Shmup?

I would say not, because of the lack of high enemy and gunfire count. You have to have insanity to be a shooter.