Your system for shmups...

I'm not asking which is the best (quantity). I mean which is your personal favorite system for shmupping.

Mine, by far, is the Genesis. So many great shmups to have at rock bottom prices. I have (in no particular order):

- MUSHA
- Thunder Force 2
- Thunder Force 3
- Lightening Force
- Trouble Shooter
- Gaiares
- Arrow Flash
- Vapor Trail
- Wings of Wor
- Truxton
- Atomic Robo Kid
- Forgotten Worlds
- Zero Wing
- Darwin 4081
- Curse
- Panorama Cotton
- Space Harrier 2
- Burning Force
- Fire Shark
- Twin Cobra
- Twin Hawk (Daisenpu)
- Air Buster
- Biohazzard Battle
- Steel Empire
- Grind Stormer
- Subterrania
- Phelios
- Raiden Trad
- Sagaia
- Super Fantasy Zone
- Super Thunderblade
- Whip Rush

The Duo comes in as a close second for me. The best version of the original Fantasy Zone on a console, Download, Blazing Lasers, etc. The only drawback, albeit a small one, is availability. Some of the best Duo shmups are Japanese-only or are very hard to find cheap. I'm still longing for a copy of side Arms Special. :(

does MAME count?

Unless you are a diehard oldschool shmup fan, the Saturn has a great lineup. DDP, Souky, Battle Garegga & RSG make up in quality what it may lack in quantity when compared to the 16-Bit systems. It gets my vote.

JM

Does "arcade" count?

if not, I'll second the megadrive

I second the Genny, mostly cause of the Thunderforce series, Phelios, and Space Harrier 2.

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Originally Posted by JM

Unless you are a diehard oldschool shmup fan, the Saturn has a great lineup. DDP, Souky, Battle Garegga & RSG make up in quality what it may lack in quantity when compared to the 16-Bit systems. It gets my vote.

JM

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All those games are arcade ports

edit: Phelios yes! character shmups on MD are tops. +Undeadline +Twinkle Tale

Melf, there's a Saturn version of Fantasy Zone that's supposed to be arcade-perfect.

MAME #1

Followed by Genesis, Saturn (mostly because of Layer Section), Turbo, then Dreamcast.

What's your pick Zeed?

It's hard to pick. I'll go with the Duo.

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Originally Posted by NeoZeedeater

Melf, there's a Saturn version of Fantasy Zone that's supposed to be arcade-perfect.

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Really? I did not know that.[/Johnny Carson]

I'll have to check that out.

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Originally Posted by Cookie Monster

Space Harrier 2.

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yeah um, i know nothing about Space Harrier 2. it's a shmup?

Sega Saturn

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Originally Posted by Lucas Barton

yeah um, i know nothing about Space Harrier 2. it's a shmup?

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http://www.vgmuseum.com/pics5/spaceharrier2.html

I thought you was the Sega Kid?

well, that's definitely not a shmup.

and what the hell gave you the idea that i was the Sega Kid around here? there's quite a few developers that i like a lot more than Sega. must be thinking someone else. since there's a good chunk of people here that love Sega much more than me.

Why isn't it a shmup? I always thought that games like SH, Thunderblade, Panorama Cotton, and Burning Force qualify. The only thing that's different is the perspective. All the other key elements are there.

Yup, MAME indeed.

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Originally Posted by Melf

Why isn't it a shmup? I always thought that games like SH, Thunderblade, Panorama Cotton, and Burning Force qualify. The only thing that's different is the perspective. All the other key elements are there.

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i dunno, i always figured a Shmup was strictly a horizontal or vertical shooter like Gradius or Dodonpachi.

if Space Harrier is a shmup just because it's a shooter, then why not Quake? or Time Crisis? they're also shooters technically.

i think Mode7 said it best a long time ago. it was something along the lines of "if you have to think about whether it's a shmup or not, then it's not a shmup"

i'll go with the ps1. i've always liked shmups growing up but the ps1 made me love'em even more with the ray series, gradius gaiden and r-type delta. pluss the port of thunder force 5.

ill have to say mame also because of ESP Ra De

but system wise hmmm
i guess for now ill have to say PS2/X since its what i have the most shumps on

For me without a doubt PC Engine.

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Originally Posted by Melf

Why isn't it a shmup? I always thought that games like SH, Thunderblade, Panorama Cotton, and Burning Force qualify. The only thing that's different is the perspective. All the other key elements are there.

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Perspective is exactly the reason why it isn't a shmup. Once you change the axis of movement, the entire style of gameplay shifts.

My supergun is my #1 shooting machine, and gets a lot more play than anything else. Once you're freed from the constraints of console ports & MAME, shooting takes on a whole new dimension.

Turbo Duo:

Fantasy Zone, Psychosis, Dragon Spirit, AeroBlasters, Galga 90, Blazing Lasers, Air Zonk, Dead Moon, Sinistron, Super Star Soldier, Orydne, Magical Chase, Soldier Blade, R-Type Complete, W-Ring, Atomic Robo Kid, Rabio Lepus Special, Dragon Saber, St. Dragon, Twinbee, Coryoon, Cloud Master, Mr. Heli, Metal Stoker, Override, Final Soldier, Gates of Thunder, Lords of Thunder, Cotton, Terraforming, Rayxanber 2, Rayxanber 3, Super Darius, Super Darius 2, Side Arms Special, Zero Wing, Gradius 2, Sylphia, Ai Cho Aniki, Cho Aniki, Star Pariodia, Psychic Storm, Spriggan, Spriggan 2, Super Raiden, Macross 2036, Forgotten Worlds, Nexzar


...and that's such the ones I've tried. Genny and Saturn are good too. *-neo

JAMMA. No contest.

Where do you guys buy your JAMMA shmups from?

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Originally Posted by Lucas Barton

if Space Harrier is a shmup just because it's a shooter, then why not Quake? or Time Crisis? they're also shooters technically.

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By and large, all other shmups feature control of a singular ship/person/what have you in a locked playing field on a predetermined course. Space Harrier fits in that, whereas Quake and Time Crisis (which also requires extra peripherals and doesn't give direct control of movement) don't.

...Space Harrier isn't a shmup. I mean, it's just not.

It's a 3D shmup, I think.

guys, seriously, stop being so retarded. i can't believe people on this board are actually arguing other wise.

like really, what's next? Gran Turismo fits in the casino genre?

I'd say the DC, but I believe that I'll go with the PS2 next year.

Supergun/JAMMA.

Not counting conversions of arcade games, the PC-Engine family gets my vote for fave home system(s).

Toaplan 2 arcade hardware.:) Isn't that what Dogyunn, Truxton 2, Batsugun, and all of Raizings games(apart from Souky) run on?

I am a shmup noob. I own more shmups for Dreamcast than any other console and I have enjoyed them more, so that's my pick.

I enjoy modern shmups more than Genny/PCE ones. There are a bunch of Saturn/PS1-2 shmups I want to get and that could sway me eventually.

Saturn.

This genre arguing is another reason I refuse to use the term "shmups". Back when they were called by their perfectly fine original name of shooters, rail shooters like Space Harrier could be spoke of in the same sentence. Why did everyone have to follow ECM like the pied piper and rename the genre? I know he didn't invent the term but it seems like he popularized it.

I picked "shmup" up from Malc of Shmups.com fame. I think people felt the need for a different term for the genre since "shooter" had been usurped by FPS and such.

There's no reason you can't still use shooter to mean shmups, run'n'gun, and Space Harrier-like games. At least on this forum, people would understand what you meant.

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Originally Posted by NeoZeedeater

This genre arguing is another reason I refuse to use the term "shmups". Back when they were called by their perfectly fine original name of shooters, rail shooters like Space Harrier could be spoke of in the same sentence. Why did everyone have to follow ECM like the pied piper and rename the genre? I know he didn't invent the term but it seems like he popularized it.

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The problem is that since the advent of Doom, the term "shooter" has come to mean so many different things. Now, flight sims, various platformers, FPSes, gun games, etc. It's tough to differentiate between them without having dedicated vocabulary for each. "2D shooter" works fine, but "shmup" is easier to type.

I didn't pick up the term from ECM either. Actually, this is the first time I've heard of him being given credit for it. I suppose he used to hang out at the Shmups website at the time, so it's not surprising, yeah?

Mind you, "shmup" is a ridiculous sounding word when spoken out loud, so I only use it in writing.

I do wish the term "corridor game" stuck for the FPS genre to make things less confusing. I didn't mean to imply that everyone using the term "shmup" is copying ECM but it just seems like it stuck because of him. Back at GameGO! he mentioned the term originating in the C64 mag Zzap.

Even before Doom and all the 3D mucked things up, people were misusing the term "shooter"...for example I remember people calling games like Contra or Ikari Warriors "shooters"...

a lot of people still do.

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Originally Posted by Lucas Barton

guys, seriously, stop being so retarded. i can't believe people on this board are actually arguing other wise.

like really, what's next? Gran Turismo fits in the casino genre?

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Umm, I know it's hard for you to accept, but people do have opinions different than your own. ;)

How then, would you classify games like Space Harrier or Thunderblade? The axis of movement is different, yes, but so what? The axis of movement is different for vertical shmups than it is for horizonatal ones. What's the difference? You fly a ship/person thingie and shoot everything that moves, collecting powerups along the way, until you reach a boss. You dodge bullets and obstacles too. The whole twitch thing is there. It's the same thing.

They told me in the other thread Twinkle Tale didn't count as a shmup :(

I just say shooter when the bitch starts mouthing off at me.

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Originally Posted by Lucas Barton

guys, seriously, stop being so retarded. i can't believe people on this board are actually arguing other wise.

like really, what's next? Gran Turismo fits in the casino genre?

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You might have a point if any of the games you're bringing up had any sort of close relation to what you're pairing them with. However, unlike anything you've said, Space Harrier is arguably relevant.

I've yet to hear a classification that satisfies all concerned. But, my working rule: if you have to ask, it's probably not.

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Originally Posted by Melf

How then, would you classify games like Space Harrier or Thunderblade?

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On-Rails Shooters. Precursors to Panzer Dragoon, Rez, etc. I believe games like this belong in the overall "shmup" category, but they are different and need distinction as such.

The PC-Engine gets my vote for best shooter system. Price of software was definitely a factor in my choice - Saturn's great and everything, but I only own a few shooters for it 'cause they're normally expensive as hell. I've acquired about a dozen for my Duo, all of them bargain-priced except for Star Parodier.

Japanese PS2 with Saturn a close second. You have a back catalog there from the PS1, there are some shmups out now (Psyvariar Complete, DDP-DOJ, Gradius III & IV, XII Stag to name a few), and Gradius V will probably hit sooner in Japan (The NA release date of 2/11/04 is a bit far off for me).

I'll be boring and say Saturn...

Battle Garegga
Dodonpachi
Radiant Silvergun

What more could a boy want?

MAME, but my fave console for shmups is actually my DC. Small selection, but impecable quality. Can't wait for Border Down.