Absent from this list is Einhänder for the PS1, which was definitely a thing to experience. SE would have no trouble remaking that title today... the theme, gameplay, aesthetics...everything about that game is just as fresh today as it was in the 90's. It's like some kind of 5th Element WW3 Bladerunner kamikaze space opera, it's only and hour long but it's just beautiful. Considering how long and exhaustive this video is, it's also excellently categorized. Great work as always, every time I watch your videos I learn something new.
Einhander was a very good game, though I had to choose the one playstyle from the selection screen that made it most like a traditional shooter to fully enjoy it. Can't remember which one that was called.
If you get a chance, I'd recommend trying Darius Gaiden. Intense, well-balanced, varied gameplay, and it looks like the bombastic fever dream of a side-scrolling shooter. Either way, excellent video!
On top of these (ESPECIALLY Einhander), I'd recommend Espgaluda. Comfy steampunk/sci-fi setting, unique gameplay mechanics, satisfying scoring system, and killer soundtrack.
Raiden II is still my favorite of all time. I love the hand-drawn art style, the loving attention to detail evident in the destructible enemies and backgrounds, the fantastic sound track, and the very consistent design language around projectiles.
very cool to see you covering so many shmups! I dont always agree with your takes on many but still think its a great job and would love to see more shmup discussion! 😎
Wow, the production value of this video is out of this world while covering a game topic I really enjoy. Thanks, Pam, for preparing this wonderful video. Looking forward to playing some of the recommended games as my Steam Deck hopefully arrives next week!
I got Tyrian 2000 a few years ago on GOG and I still play the hell out of it. When my Anbernic RG280V came, Tyrian was already installed on it! Serendipity:)
@@mistersanford Ross' Game Dungeon tipped me off to that one years ago, and for a hot minute GOG had it up for free... tbh they still might, I haven't looked into it heh I always find the coolest stuff buried in there - last time I shopped CDPR's little online storefront there, found IOI's FREEDOM FIGHTERS on sale for like 4.99 or something. Played the hell out of that one on my GameCube back in the day. Gameplay wise, it's still pretty ok! Story's hilarious in retrospect 😆
Based on Pam's description of her preferred shmups (good ramp, lots of weapons, wacky elements) I think she would LOVE Tyrian 2000. Also sad not to see it on the list!
I'm with y'all. Tyrian is one of my favorite games from my childhood, and based on her description near the beginning of this video, I think she'd really like it. Pam, if you're reading this, give Tyrian 2000 a try. It's available, for free, on GoG, and that's not cause it's on sale or anything; it'll always be free. I think it was that IP was abandoned, so it's in the public domain now.
@@Kyrrial Oh word! I thought that might be the case - thanks for confirming that (Tyrian is still free)! Been like three years or so since I acquired it (along with Shadow Warrior Classic) for free on GOG one night while quite baked... woke up like "what the f is this stuff on my desktop?" Lol
Very fun! It's nice to see someone else who doesn't fully enjoy the Konami shooters 🙂 I'd recommend checking out Outzone from Toaplan as a very interesting combo of shooter/run and gun and Gun Bird or Samurai Aces (really any of the early Psikyo games) as a few other arcade shooters to check out. Thunder Force is a worthy series that I think is as good as Musha (I know many prefer Thunder Force IV or Lightening Force but I prefer 3 as my favorite) and both Elemental Master and Undead Line are fun Genesis shooters that are not space shooters and there are just so many other good shooters to check out. It's really a great genre to get into.
My favorite has to be Mushihimesama. I always come back to it, it's such a joy! Futari is probably even better but I haven't played enough of it to make a solid opinion. Great ranking! As usual it's very personal, you probably don't give a shit what the snobs think (I bet they would choke a bit after seeing your Radiant Silvergun ranking, ha ha!).
I tried Gleylancer over the weekend (a Genesis shmup ported to Switch, Xbox and PS4) and am having a great time with it so far - it may be in my top 5 genesis shooters, although I will have to revisit that on completion. I recommend it! Great video btw, M.U.S.H.A is my favourite.
ahhhh Genesis shooters, Lightening Force (Thunder Force 4 in some regions) is my personal fave. Also MUSHA, Thunder Force 3 get honorable mention from me.
Hell yeah, glad you shouted out Jamestown. That's a personal S for me. Love that game. Didn't know they had an updated/remastered version too! Definitely getting that tonight. You gave me a ton of other games to look into as well.
I've always enjoyed Biohazard Battle for the Sega Genesis. It's kind of wierd and the difficulty curve is fair. I'm always surprised most people have never heard of it.
Hi Pam, I like this kind of format, with the gameplay and references included in the information box, very nice work. Do you usually play RPGs?, as an idea for future videos it could be nice a ranking with the RPGs you have played. Regards,
Kingdom grand prix, sol divide, soukyugurentai, in the hunt, battle garegga, galaga 90, shoot 1up, snops attacks zombie defense, border down, psyvarier 2, sub rebellion, soldner x2, soulstar, super stardust, mamorukun curse, blast factor, tesla vs lovecraft, alienation, chou anikki, harmful park, shikhondo, trouble witches, Zero gunner, space invaders xtreme, batman animated (genesis), sturmwind
Pam, judging by your taste, you might really like Over Horizon for the NES. Like Recca, it really pushes the hardware. It has very unique customization, no UI unless you pause, and awesome presentation. It truly is a "hidden gem" to use a cliche. Elemental Master for Sega Genesis is also a really cool walking style shmup made by Technosoft with a very good presentation and a very fun, approachable difficulty curve.
I like Over Horizon too, fun game, and not too difficult - I love the option customization and made mine to my liking to block bullets from certain directions
If you like console-style shmups (i.e. since you're a Compile fan), I recommend a few made-for-console shmups that are some of my favorites: Gate of Thunder, Lords of Thunder, and Axelay. I highly recommend an indie game called "Raging Blasters." It's designed like a Compile game and I actually love it even more than any of the Aleste games that inspired it. Super Aleste / Space Megaforce and Star Parodier are actually my other 2 favorites, then MUSHA and Gun Nac are also great Compile games of course.
I loved this list! Even though I COMPLETELY disagreed with it lol. Great thought out choices here. I LOVE the Gradius games and its off shoots. I find them all very enjoyable. R-Type III is one of my all time favorite shooters and as such the R-Type games are always something I look forward to. Earth Defense Force is another shooter I really enjoy playing (a "B" tier game for me) that I didn't see here. Under Defeat that originally came out on Dreamcast and got re-released as an HD version for the PS3 is also one of my all time favorite games. Any shooter that got released on TurboGraphx 16/PC Engine is an "A" at a minimum easy. I haven't played one I didn't thoroughly enjoy with a few exceptions here and there. Lastly Lords of Thunder is an "S" by a mile in my book. It's my all time favorite shooter. That game is PERFECT. The music is outstanding, the play is amazing, difficulty is just right, the strategy between levels in buying powerups is awesome, and the setting is terrific! Gate of Thunder is easily an "A" and might even be an "S" depending on how I'm feeling that day as a game that plays very similar to it.
I kinda get what you are saying with the Konami games with exceptions, when Konami did the vertical/horizontal mix in games like Axelay, Life Force/Salamander (I know its really a Gradius game), but those were IMO their best shmups. Axelay is one of my all time faves in the genre.
Axelay had one of the best and almost overpowered weapons in a shmup. The Round Vulcan. There's a game called Sturmwind that straight up stole the power up. And it's the main weapon I used in that game too. It requires a certain amount of finesse and satisfying hitting those enemies tucked away in corners.
Impressive list, a lot of shmups I've never heard of before. The one I put the most in was Novastorm (Psygnosis) on MS-DOS (actually a FMV based rail-shooter). Other favorites were Tyrian (MS DOS), Darius Gaiden (emulated Sega Saturn / MAME), Raystorm HD (windows / MAME). The first shmup I've ever played was Battle Squadron on the Amiga (also released on Sega Megadrive).
Wow Novastorm, played on Mega CD rather than DOS but have great early memories of it, gonna watch a Let'sPlay just now for a bit of pre-sleep nostalgia
Ooooh, nice. Though curiously Psikyo shooters are totally absent. And yes R-type is slow, but it is a methodical game with a certain coreography ( knowing when to change the positioning of the orb, or send it out ), and I like it for it in contrast with the bulletthell shooters and their twitch movement style.
Dang, I didn't know I could agree with a ranking video so much. (For the 50% of 'em I've played, anyway.) Only one I'd change is, Lords of Thunder, up from A to S tier (although I played the turbografx version on wii vc). The soundtrack is sick, the shop adds a lot of strategic decisions, the un-ordered stages make it really beginner friendly, the melee is uniquely satisfying, I like how the level geometry matters (without being annoying--its ok to touch walls), and the gameplay is hectic but fair. ...And I kinda have no complaints about it. Perfect shmup IMO!
Would love to hear your thoughts on Desert Falcon from 1987. Unfortunately, I've only ever seen it on the Atari 7800, an underrated system that didn't get nearly enough love. It's an isometric shooter where you play a falcon in Ancient Egypt that shoots arrows. The 8-bit version's graphics are surprisingly good for the time. You pick up ankhs off the ground (oh and while on the ground you can stop moving) to gain a variety of power-ups. We would write down what each combo did, as it's a mystery at first, i.e. I think Cane, Bowl, Bowl allows you to warp to the end of the level. At the end of each level you battle a howling sphynx, which can shoot projectiles at you. You have to hit it in the face (eyes?) to blow up its head and move on. The game is essentially Zaxxon in Egypt, only not so ridiculously difficult. If you can find it, I think you'll enjoy it for what it is. 😊
RADIANT SILVERGUN is, in my humble opinion, possibly the best shmup ever made, in both gameplay and music. I would kill for a remake, because yes, it's not the prettiest game out there. Even so, I'm surprised you panned it. And as many here hae said, EINHANDER is also superb. I rank it 2nd only to Radiant Silvergun. It's not a bullet hell shooter, so you should enjoy it. Lastly, you really should try GRADIUS V. It was made by Treasure, and is tied for 2nd place as my favorite shmup. You can grab it on PS2.
I think the reason you have a hard time telling Cave games apart is because you don't pay attention to the scoring systems. I'm not score chaser either but when going for 1 credit clears the score comes into play because it's the mechanic that gives you extra lives to avoid getting a game over. The different scoring mechanics can make surprisingly deep changes in the ways you are encouraged to play, from bullet cancelling to delaying enemy kills to keep a chain going, or learning a stage for destroying them as fast as possible, medalling, grazing bullets, etc.
Hi Pam, amazing video, was really fascinated with your fantastic overview of each game. Shmups is favourite gaming genre along with racers (especially racers from Sega & Sony). Your input here was really invaluable, thank you :)
Very nice video It's time I check Blazing Lazers Also, if you want a shmup that generates music according to your actions but it works, try Rez It was released for the Dreamcast then later PS2
Still love booting up Galaga every now and then. Love the later Gradius titles, the powerup system provides a lot of tactical choice and replayability. Xanac is one of the few FDS games I own and you definitely have to sink some time into it, but when you get in the zone, it hits different.
Great Topic. My favorites, to name a few, are Donpachi, Lords of Thunder, Giga Wing and Arrow Flash (female pilot with a ship that has a robot mode. That was enough for me as a kid).
I wonder that there are no Psikyo games on your list, because there are so many other arcade games. If you get the change to play any of them - Strikers 1945, Gun Bird, Samurai Aces - you should do it, they are all good. As you like Sky Force Anniversary, you definitely should check out its sequel Sky Force Reloaded. It's just bigger and better and more the same, which is a good thing. My last recommendation is a fairly recent game named Drainus, that has an interesting absorb/reflect mechanic.
Rare not seeing Tyrian 2000 here on this list, its my personal MS-DOS game of all time, an amazing and diverse Shmup with a wide arsenal and many shipts to choose from, some even being available on certain scenarios only, there's even a carrot ship! im not joking! And the OST is just... Incredible, i still cant believe its MIDI until this day. Also if you want also a very "underground" side scroller shmup that came on PS3 that is very challenging yet fun, look for Soldner X and X2, but gotta say... Even with some shmup experience i had to put it on the easiest difficulty, and the devs even had to make a "Begginer" mode since it was so hard for most people. With so many Remakes coming out, Tyrian definetly DESERVES ONE
(Dating myself here…) 1:01:51 Zanac… …for me, while I got my Shmup start with Space Invaders before the original NES was released (STILL an all-time favorite), Zanac (…for me) is pretty much the one that set the standard for me and is one of my all-time favorites that I still play to this day. The R-Type series is insane (the ‘Dark Souls’ of shmups), Ginga Force, Natsumi Chronicles, the Darius and DariusBurst Chronicles series and most games from the ‘Aleste’ series are also amazing. Great list - refering to it to catch up on other shmups I’d missed… cheers! \m/, 😊 ,\m/
An interesting overview and perspective on what you prefer in a shmup. You definitely seem to prefer vertical shmups (I'm quite the opposite & love Konami and R-Type)! You mention your love of OSTs and the dearth of 'A' & 'S'-tiered titles. I offer a hypothesis for both: there are very few 16 & 32-bit titles on here and I believe this timeframe is the apogee of the genre for gameplay and OSTs. Everyone has favorites that get snubbed on these lists, but there are some heavy hitters you may enjoy to fill in the gaps. I'm curious to hear your takes on G-Darius/Darius Gaiden, Thunder force III-V, Soukyougurentai, Gleylancer, Wings of Wor, GrindStormer, Harmful Park, RayForce/Storm/Crisis, Zanac Neo (you love Compile!) NightRaid, Cotton 2/Boomerang, Gaiares, In The Hunt, Viper, Macross DYRL, Bokan to Ippatsu, and perhaps a few others not of that era like Kokuga, Steredenn, Power Strike/II, and even the R-Type offshoot Command/Tactics.
I agree with the inclusion of Sky Force, that game is awesome. Though you should also include the game that inspired it, 1942, and its sequel, 1943. I would also add Defender and Stargate (arcade versions). Defender, 1980, might be the first bullet hell game ever made.
A few of my favorites weren’t listed :( I know it’s your list and games that you played but you should look at Darius Twin, Firepower 2000, R-Type 3 & U.N. Squadron!!! (I also have a special place in my heart for the 8-Bit sleeper, Sqoon!)
No Thunder Force?! You should really fix that. Metal soundtrack, a bunch of cool weapons, you never lose your back shot so you can always hit guys behind you. it's a great series, though 2 is rough around the edges as a Genesis launch title. There's a great version of 4 (the best one) on Switch, and it's not expensive. I'm not sure how different our tastes are, but we sure have different experiences. I've only played a handful of the games on here. Keio was adorably goofy and I liked the strategy of choosing when to use the baby dragons or keep them. Lords of Thunder is amazing, especially the risk/reward of getting close for sword attacks. Radiant Silvergun was fun, but I can't think of anything special to say about it. I grew up with R-Type on Master System, so I'm kinda inoculated to it, but yeah, I've never beaten it. That game is brutal. And that's about it! I've played little bits of a couple others, but not enough to form real opinions on them. I recommend you try out Biohazard Battle and Forgotten Worlds. (and of course anything Thunder Force) And maybe the last part of Ecco the Dolphin where you explode aliens with your sonar because... WTF?! (seriously, go to the password select and fill it with NNNNNNNNNNNNN to skip the non shmup parts of the game.)
46:08 - Note to myself: don’t talk too much with Pam. :D. This has been an enjoyable video to watch on a Sunday evening before going to work the next day. Thanks, Pam!
Not played many shumps so good to hear your ranking. My two favourites (Bangai-O Spirits & Sin and Punishment Successor of the Skies) didn't make your list, possibly they don't fit the genre.
Ranking Trouble Shooter but not Battlemania(the sequel) is an absolute travesty! It's my favorite shmup and probably my favorite Genesis game. Do yourself a favor and try it out ASAP. I enjoyed your list a lot!
Great vid! Been wanting to get more into shmups, but wasn't exactly a huge fan of the basic gameplay of Defender for instance. Though found Gaiares recently and whew.. your ship has a hovering module to shoot at enemies that destroys & absorbs that particular enemy's power-up, but also gets stronger if you hit the same enemy type 3 times w it. Soo good.
Pam absolutely Great video,I'm 80s, teenager show shooter,shumps, Bullet heavin games but the arcade shooters and console shooter games and the arcade 70s,80s90s cabinet shooters are absolutely my favorite games,just wondered have you players any 70s,80s,90s arcade games,thank you so much for the video 👍
Great video. A shmup i love and recommend is Gley Lancer for Genesis. It's japanese exclusive but there's a translation patch and they re-released him for Playstation and Xbox recently.
Oh my goodness. You look amazing. Love the dark hair. Not only on it's own, but how it compliments your skin tone. I usually check myself if I'm going in this direction with a comment, but whatever. I'll allow it today. Haven't even watched the video yet, so I may be commenting twice.
Try Downwell. It's not really a shmup but still kind of is. Great game either way. Also. Since you liked Sky Force you should try Sky Force: Reloaded. It got more ships and stuff and while it's a bit grindy it's a lot of fun to play.
Seconding the recommendations on Darius Gaiden, it's probably my favorite shmup of all time. Also, if you're interested in more body horror type shooters I'd definitely say check out X-Multiply by Irem. Easier than other Irem games (like R-type) and thematically very creepy and well designed. My final recommendation is another Taito arcade shooter called Metal Black. It's not for everyone but I found it stands out visually and is pretty different from most horizontal shmups in that you don't lose your ship power level when you die. Plus, the soundtrack is one of the best of the era, in my opinion. Great video, I really enjoyed it!
What a great breadth of shoot'em ups in this list. I can recommend two of my favorites, which didn't appear - Forgotten Worlds (arcade version, or Turbo Duo version, or Genesis version) and Section Z (NES version - very different from arcade version, and much more interesting). Both Forgotten Worlds and Section Z are Capcom shooters. The former has all directional shooting; the latter lets you shoot either left or right. Forgotten Worlds has lots of fun powerups and a compelling Egyptian theme, and great Capcom music. Section Z is perhaps brutally difficult, but it has a fun variety of section scrolling speeds. Some zoom by really fast, so all you do is dodge terrain. Some scroll terribly slowly, forcing you to slog your way past enemies that absorb incredible amounts of damage. It also has bopping Capcom music setting the mood. There are also LOTS of 8-bit and 16-bit home computer titles I could recommend. I'll just suggest one weird one, because it's obscure and you wouldn't even know to try it: Sea Dragon, TRS-80 Model 1 version. Sea Dragon is an underwater Scramble clone; you control a submarine. All of the different versions are very different from each other, and you would have no idea that the black and white TRS-80 Model 1 version is possibly the most fun to actually play. It definitely looks crude compared to the others, with low resolution blocky pixel graphics. But there's something about the pace of the game, the density of the enemies, the size of the spaces you need to try and navigate ... I think the other versions don't have quite the same magic.
@@harrihaffi2713You're in for one helluva ride when you play 4 for the first time. Gameplay, GFX, and music, all God tier. 16-bit shooters don't get more epic than TF4.
If recommendations are still wanted I give my voice in for Einhander, R-Type Delta, UN Squadron, Darius Gaiden, Thunder Force V, Gradius Gaiden & Metal Black too! And while at it: ProtoCorgi, Allytnex Second and Eschatos are some of my favorite shmups existing around and they are availible on say Steam and are rather tame for what they want to be with fitting difficulty selections and great OSTs!
Did you play Jets n Guns? I love that one. Insane number of different weapons that you can load onto various hard points on your ship, as well as a big variety of other accessories to reduce heating on the weapons, protect you from impacting the ground, shields, armor, etc. Great sound, really colorful, long campaign.
ambitious video as the STG, shmup, shoot-em-up genre is soooo old and has soooo many games could make a long tier list for each console of the 80's and 90's. I mean the Turbografx-16/PC Engine that was like the main genre for that console. NES, SNES, Genesis, Neo Geo were all loaded with these games too. Also bullet hell shooters could get their own video too as many were arcade games from over 2 decades ago.
Interesting to hear you like Sky Force so much. Having put over 20h in that game I can say that the biggest draw of this game is to unlock more stuff and power-up your ship. But before you actually are powered up and get to the more fun later stages, the game is just way too boring, and feels like a grind. Enemy and bullet patterns are really simple and not exciting at all. At the end of it all I cannot say I really liked the game, but somehow still kept playing until I reached the end (?). I would rank it a D. It was one of my first shmups though, and having played many more, I would not recommend it to anyone. Something like Drainus is so much better on all fronts, and very welcoming to newer players. Ouch at putting Crimzon Clover so low. I love that game so so much. But you mentioned you liked games with powerups and different (sub) weapons. And yeah Crimson Clover has none of that. Which is why I also like it so much. You are as powerful at the start of the game as you will ever be, and taking a death is not punishing because of that. But please try out Drainus, as it has all of the stuff you are looking for! A final note on scoring systems. Try at least to understand it well enough to be able to get the extra extends. Typically playing the first 2 levels over an over might get boring, as they become too easy. Trying to score better on the those stages, can shake things up, and you might actually start to enjoy the game even more. It was not fully clear to me if you typically try to 1CC these games or not. Doing so has, at least for, greatly increased the appreciation and pleasure I have in playing these types of games. Anyway, thanks for the great video.
I want to recommend Axelay on SNES. If you're looking for a feast for the eyes then it's probably far and away the most technically and artistically impressive of the 16-bit era It's also a Konami game that surprisingly isn't slow and doesn't have any weird upgrades, or powerups at all for that matter!
Gun Nac is heavily underrated. Love it. Sad to see you hate on Gradius man!! I love those games and i still play Gradius 1-3 and Lifeforce to this day. Some of my favorites shmups. Game Tengoku Cruisin Mix Special is fun as hell. Glad to see someone else mention it. I have been desperately trying not to suck at Ikaruga lately. Failing mostly lol
Great video! Love the genre! I picked up Guardian Legend based on your previous review, it’s fantastic! Found a few new games in this list. Some of these can get pricey…Recca, whoa! Will be emulating that! A few people in the comments mentioned Dangun Feveron. Think you’d like this Cave shooter. It has a comical disco vibe and soundtrack. Doesn’t take itself too seriously 💃🏻🕺🏻 If you liked Lords of Thunder, you should check out the Thunder Force series. Specifically 3-4 on Genesis, but 5 on Saturn is also amazing. Sad to see Radiant Silvergun so far down but we can disagree 🤷🏻♂️. I like that you start with all the weapons and “mixing” them added depth to the gameplay. Looking forward to part two of this video when you play more shumps 😃
Great video as always Pam, its certainly interesting the titles played depending on where you grew up, a lot of games I was expecting as they were everywhere in the UK when I was growing up just arent here, but I know Pal territories got different games and certainly a lot of budget titles that I saw either on the Megadrive/Genesis or the Amiga may not have been popular elsewhere.
Try Raiden II and DX, I much prefer the earlier entries over the later ones. Soldier Blade cannot be missed for any SHMUP fan! IMO the most perfectly balanced game. Great video!
Raiden, Raiden 2, and DX... man those are the perfect trio of classic vertical shmups (apart from the Toaplan stuff)! I didn't care for the later Raiden Fighters series either..
Hi, Pam. I'm curious. What are your thoughts on the shmups that are behind your vessel? I'm talking games like Panzer Dragoon, Rez, or StarFox, games which are like dogfighters except you're locked on a specific course. I guess they're the middle ground between pure shmups and pure flight games.
Pam you have to play the Turbografx-16/PC Engine classic SOLDIER BLADE. Super Star Soldier series, easily the best one, easy to understand power ups, fast fun action, great chip tune soundtrack, difficulty gradually amps up, it has almost no slowdown flicker whatsoever except for a little bit in a robot dragon boss. Even has a competitive caravan mode all the way back in 1992. Any fan of the genre MUST Play this game.
some of my favorite shoot'em ups are on the TurboGrafx 16/PC Engine.. Blazing Lazers, Super Star Soldier, Soldier Blade, Gate of Thunder, Star Parodier, Spriggan, Sapphire, Salamander, Vegiues Tactical Gladiator, Air Zonk.. so much fun to be had and most are on the mini.. all are As and Ss... anyway thanks for the vid fun to see your appreciation of the genre.
For some of the horizonal ones do you ever switch it to Tate mode in the options and flip your monitor?? I specifically bought a rotatable stand just for shmups :D
Your annoyances with Gradius are pet peeves of mine when I see them in other shmups. The slow ship speed, the contact damage with the environment, the pea shooter, etc. When I make my own shmup, it's definitely not going to have any of that. Blecch! 😝 Recommendations... have you played NeverAwake? It's my favorite twin-stick shmup. It plays great and it has such a unique and gorgeous dark but playful aesthetic. Also, I'd like to recommend the latest Cotton game, Cotton Fantasy. Each character plays differently (some even have their own unique mechanics). Lastly, Graze Counter GM is a solid one too. It's almost like a Cave-lite as it's a bullet hell, but you're given 2 hyper meters to clear the screen of bullets. You bullet graze to charge one meter and use the first hyper meter to charge the second one. So, you're constantly clearing the screen. It's just so much fun. 🎮😄👍
Really enjoyed that. There’s a bunch of those Xbox Cave releases on the Switch now too, including Japan-only ones like Mushihimesama. Worth looking up because they have a ton of modes, including beginner which is really useful if you’re serious about learning to play these.
We have some overlap in terms of what we look for in a shmup. I don't like when things get too complicated and I don't care about score. Glad to hear you loved MUSHA as much as you did. I really love that one too, and agree it is gorgeous with amazing sound. It looks a lot better than most games coming out on the Genesis in that era. I do recommend you play Lords of Thunder on PC Engine/TG16 as it is better in most ways. For one, the Sega CD version is super easy by comparison, and not in a good way. The one problem I have with the PCE version is that the hit box is too far forward so you have to allow for a bit more difference in front. The nice thing is, it's more forgiving for stuff behind your character as a result. It's not hard to compensate, but it's worth mentioning as a warning in advance if you do play it. Also I recommend Dragon Saber, whether arcade, PC Engine, or PS1. That's another good one. And while I like Truxton a lot more than you(it speaks to my soul), I'd still recommend trying Toaplan's Grind Stormer and Dogyuun. They came out later on so they are more refined. Dogyuun has some excellent music, and both look beautiful. And they have more reasonable difficulty than Truxton. I couldn't get into Blazing Lazers, unfortunately. The power-up system isn't my favorite, but worse than that there is a parallax effect between the sprite layer and the background layer that is rare to see in a vertical shmup. That means dodging shift the bullets in relation to the background and it messes with my perception. I have a similar problem with games like Radiant Silvergun and Raiden V(fully agree with you about the chatty character) that do weird background effects like zooming and diagonal scrolling which I find distracting. I'll leave it there. I like your review style and enjoyed hearing your take on such games, and interesting to hear where we agree and differ.
Hello Pam. If you like Shmups and you have a PlayStation, I can't recommend enough Resogun. It was a launch title for the PS4. It was released by Housemarquee, the same people who made Returnal. Resogun is the best shoot em up on PS4. It plays like defender and it feels like a feast of fireworks. I hope you play it end enjoy it.
@@Cannotbetamed1 Too bad. Well if you are not getting a PS5, then the next best thing you can do is to enjoy some gameplay footage from Resogun and Returnal
No Lightening Force? They even misspell the title as if to beckon you in. It’s arguably the best horizontal shooter of its era and I’d consider it and MUSHA top tier Genesis. The inherent ability to shoot behind you and adjust the ship’s speed fixed the most annoying aspects about the Gradius series and felt fresh at the time. Plus the parallax was beautiful and they really let loose with it.
Absent from this list is Einhänder for the PS1, which was definitely a thing to experience.
SE would have no trouble remaking that title today... the theme, gameplay, aesthetics...everything about that game is just as fresh today as it was in the 90's. It's like some kind of 5th Element WW3 Bladerunner kamikaze space opera, it's only and hour long but it's just beautiful.
Considering how long and exhaustive this video is, it's also excellently categorized. Great work as always, every time I watch your videos I learn something new.
Indeed Einhänder is such a good game, combined with the music it's very atmospheric
Thanks!
An hour is actually pretty long for a shmup. Really really cool game!
Einhander was a very good game, though I had to choose the one playstyle from the selection screen that made it most like a traditional shooter to fully enjoy it. Can't remember which one that was called.
Eh, I played it recently and feel that it aged pretty poorly.
If you get a chance, I'd recommend trying Darius Gaiden. Intense, well-balanced, varied gameplay, and it looks like the bombastic fever dream of a side-scrolling shooter. Either way, excellent video!
Also give Hyper Zone on the snes a run
That's still my favorite game in the Darius series; played that one a lot on the Saturn.
I'd recommend Einhänder, Sagaia (Darius Twin), Axley and Un Squadron (Area 88), these games were top notch at the time. 😊
On top of these (ESPECIALLY Einhander), I'd recommend Espgaluda. Comfy steampunk/sci-fi setting, unique gameplay mechanics, satisfying scoring system, and killer soundtrack.
Einhander was great, the gfx and music were great, and the ship designs were SO COOL!
I always wanted to play U.N squadron back in the day. Maybe I'll have to give myself a retro present.
Raiden II is still my favorite of all time. I love the hand-drawn art style, the loving attention to detail evident in the destructible enemies and backgrounds, the fantastic sound track, and the very consistent design language around projectiles.
Gradius is synonymous with heartbreak. That feeling of dying after fully powering up your ship.
Oh yeah!
Good stuff!
Great content as usual. I wish more RUclipsrs laid out their judging criteria at the start as clearly as you do.
Total Biscuit did it and he was the best
very cool to see you covering so many shmups! I dont always agree with your takes on many but still think its a great job and would love to see more shmup discussion! 😎
Wow, the production value of this video is out of this world while covering a game topic I really enjoy. Thanks, Pam, for preparing this wonderful video.
Looking forward to playing some of the recommended games as my Steam Deck hopefully arrives next week!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great video! Sad no Thunder forces games you should try 3 and 4 at least.
Good games!
Or 3 is at least. Haven’t played 4, but will soon
@@harrihaffi2713 4 is amazing but much, much harder than 3.
Gradius V says hi
giving a sick a shmup (sine mora) a C for the story? you wild for that lol. Great list.
Appreciate the long list! It's fun listening to everyone's personal takes on various shmups. Definitely helps me out as a new player to the genre.
I got Tyrian 2000 a few years ago on GOG and I still play the hell out of it.
When my Anbernic RG280V came, Tyrian was already installed on it! Serendipity:)
I was disappointed by the lack of Tyrian on this list
@@mistersanford Ross' Game Dungeon tipped me off to that one years ago, and for a hot minute GOG had it up for free... tbh they still might, I haven't looked into it heh
I always find the coolest stuff buried in there - last time I shopped CDPR's little online storefront there, found IOI's FREEDOM FIGHTERS on sale for like 4.99 or something. Played the hell out of that one on my GameCube back in the day.
Gameplay wise, it's still pretty ok! Story's hilarious in retrospect 😆
Based on Pam's description of her preferred shmups (good ramp, lots of weapons, wacky elements) I think she would LOVE Tyrian 2000. Also sad not to see it on the list!
I'm with y'all. Tyrian is one of my favorite games from my childhood, and based on her description near the beginning of this video, I think she'd really like it. Pam, if you're reading this, give Tyrian 2000 a try. It's available, for free, on GoG, and that's not cause it's on sale or anything; it'll always be free. I think it was that IP was abandoned, so it's in the public domain now.
@@Kyrrial Oh word! I thought that might be the case - thanks for confirming that (Tyrian is still free)!
Been like three years or so since I acquired it (along with Shadow Warrior Classic) for free on GOG one night while quite baked... woke up like "what the f is this stuff on my desktop?" Lol
Very fun! It's nice to see someone else who doesn't fully enjoy the Konami shooters 🙂
I'd recommend checking out Outzone from Toaplan as a very interesting combo of shooter/run and gun and Gun Bird or Samurai Aces (really any of the early Psikyo games) as a few other arcade shooters to check out. Thunder Force is a worthy series that I think is as good as Musha (I know many prefer Thunder Force IV or Lightening Force but I prefer 3 as my favorite) and both Elemental Master and Undead Line are fun Genesis shooters that are not space shooters and there are just so many other good shooters to check out. It's really a great genre to get into.
my favorite genre!! I'm all about Shmups!! can't wait to watch this :D
My favorite has to be Mushihimesama. I always come back to it, it's such a joy!
Futari is probably even better but I haven't played enough of it to make a solid opinion.
Great ranking! As usual it's very personal, you probably don't give a shit what the snobs think (I bet they would choke a bit after seeing your Radiant Silvergun ranking, ha ha!).
I tried Gleylancer over the weekend (a Genesis shmup ported to Switch, Xbox and PS4) and am having a great time with it so far - it may be in my top 5 genesis shooters, although I will have to revisit that on completion. I recommend it!
Great video btw, M.U.S.H.A is my favourite.
ahhhh Genesis shooters, Lightening Force (Thunder Force 4 in some regions) is my personal fave. Also MUSHA, Thunder Force 3 get honorable mention from me.
Hell yeah, glad you shouted out Jamestown. That's a personal S for me. Love that game. Didn't know they had an updated/remastered version too! Definitely getting that tonight. You gave me a ton of other games to look into as well.
Very cool, thank you so much for ranking them Pam! 🙆♀️
I was surprised by Axelay's absence. You should check it out, it's an SNES game and a classic of the genre.
I've always enjoyed Biohazard Battle for the Sega Genesis. It's kind of wierd and the difficulty curve is fair. I'm always surprised most people have never heard of it.
The first level music hits hard, love it.
Hi Pam, I like this kind of format, with the gameplay and references included in the information box, very nice work.
Do you usually play RPGs?, as an idea for future videos it could be nice a ranking with the RPGs you have played.
Regards,
There's this one: ruclips.net/video/jGT0YlNYpmQ/видео.html
I'll probably do JRPGs next.
Kingdom grand prix, sol divide, soukyugurentai, in the hunt, battle garegga, galaga 90, shoot 1up, snops attacks zombie defense, border down, psyvarier 2, sub rebellion, soldner x2, soulstar, super stardust, mamorukun curse, blast factor, tesla vs lovecraft, alienation, chou anikki, harmful park, shikhondo, trouble witches,
Zero gunner, space invaders xtreme, batman animated (genesis), sturmwind
Pam, judging by your taste, you might really like Over Horizon for the NES. Like Recca, it really pushes the hardware. It has very unique customization, no UI unless you pause, and awesome presentation. It truly is a "hidden gem" to use a cliche.
Elemental Master for Sega Genesis is also a really cool walking style shmup made by Technosoft with a very good presentation and a very fun, approachable difficulty curve.
I like Over Horizon too, fun game, and not too difficult - I love the option customization and made mine to my liking to block bullets from certain directions
Over Horizon is great, but more of a Gradius/R-Type kind of slow game. I like that type of shooter a lot, but it doesn't seem to be her type.
U.N. Squadron on the SNES was always a fave. And i didn't mind Super R-Type & R-Type III but you are right they were pretty hard and frustrating B)
an hour long video from Pam means a dope Sunday morning!
Thanks so much for sharing, Pam! There's a lot here that I'll have to check out! A fair amount that I wasn't previously aware of.
Glad it was helpful!
If you like console-style shmups (i.e. since you're a Compile fan), I recommend a few made-for-console shmups that are some of my favorites: Gate of Thunder, Lords of Thunder, and Axelay.
I highly recommend an indie game called "Raging Blasters." It's designed like a Compile game and I actually love it even more than any of the Aleste games that inspired it. Super Aleste / Space Megaforce and Star Parodier are actually my other 2 favorites, then MUSHA and Gun Nac are also great Compile games of course.
No Raptor - Call of the Shadows ...? T_T
so sad she didnt know it. Its so good
I loved this list! Even though I COMPLETELY disagreed with it lol. Great thought out choices here. I LOVE the Gradius games and its off shoots. I find them all very enjoyable. R-Type III is one of my all time favorite shooters and as such the R-Type games are always something I look forward to. Earth Defense Force is another shooter I really enjoy playing (a "B" tier game for me) that I didn't see here. Under Defeat that originally came out on Dreamcast and got re-released as an HD version for the PS3 is also one of my all time favorite games. Any shooter that got released on TurboGraphx 16/PC Engine is an "A" at a minimum easy. I haven't played one I didn't thoroughly enjoy with a few exceptions here and there. Lastly Lords of Thunder is an "S" by a mile in my book. It's my all time favorite shooter. That game is PERFECT. The music is outstanding, the play is amazing, difficulty is just right, the strategy between levels in buying powerups is awesome, and the setting is terrific! Gate of Thunder is easily an "A" and might even be an "S" depending on how I'm feeling that day as a game that plays very similar to it.
I love, love, love R-Type.
I kinda get what you are saying with the Konami games with exceptions, when Konami did the vertical/horizontal mix in games like Axelay, Life Force/Salamander (I know its really a Gradius game), but those were IMO their best shmups. Axelay is one of my all time faves in the genre.
Axelay had one of the best and almost overpowered weapons in a shmup. The Round Vulcan. There's a game called Sturmwind that straight up stole the power up. And it's the main weapon I used in that game too. It requires a certain amount of finesse and satisfying hitting those enemies tucked away in corners.
Impressive list, a lot of shmups I've never heard of before. The one I put the most in was Novastorm (Psygnosis) on MS-DOS (actually a FMV based rail-shooter). Other favorites were Tyrian (MS DOS), Darius Gaiden (emulated Sega Saturn / MAME), Raystorm HD (windows / MAME). The first shmup I've ever played was Battle Squadron on the Amiga (also released on Sega Megadrive).
Wow Novastorm, played on Mega CD rather than DOS but have great early memories of it, gonna watch a Let'sPlay just now for a bit of pre-sleep nostalgia
Ooooh, nice. Though curiously Psikyo shooters are totally absent.
And yes R-type is slow, but it is a methodical game with a certain coreography ( knowing when to change the positioning of the orb, or send it out ), and I like it for it in contrast with the bulletthell shooters and their twitch movement style.
Yeah, R-type is all about memory recall, the 1st one is a very unforgiving game, ruthless, lol.
You'd be surprised by how many bullet hells are methodical like R-Type. Play some Touhou, you'll love it.
Dang, I didn't know I could agree with a ranking video so much. (For the 50% of 'em I've played, anyway.)
Only one I'd change is, Lords of Thunder, up from A to S tier (although I played the turbografx version on wii vc). The soundtrack is sick, the shop adds a lot of strategic decisions, the un-ordered stages make it really beginner friendly, the melee is uniquely satisfying, I like how the level geometry matters (without being annoying--its ok to touch walls), and the gameplay is hectic but fair. ...And I kinda have no complaints about it. Perfect shmup IMO!
Would love to hear your thoughts on Desert Falcon from 1987. Unfortunately, I've only ever seen it on the Atari 7800, an underrated system that didn't get nearly enough love. It's an isometric shooter where you play a falcon in Ancient Egypt that shoots arrows. The 8-bit version's graphics are surprisingly good for the time. You pick up ankhs off the ground (oh and while on the ground you can stop moving) to gain a variety of power-ups. We would write down what each combo did, as it's a mystery at first, i.e. I think Cane, Bowl, Bowl allows you to warp to the end of the level. At the end of each level you battle a howling sphynx, which can shoot projectiles at you. You have to hit it in the face (eyes?) to blow up its head and move on. The game is essentially Zaxxon in Egypt, only not so ridiculously difficult. If you can find it, I think you'll enjoy it for what it is. 😊
8:32 "it's not overly challenging" --> shows an unsurvivable bullet maelstrom. 😄
RADIANT SILVERGUN is, in my humble opinion, possibly the best shmup ever made, in both gameplay and music. I would kill for a remake, because yes, it's not the prettiest game out there. Even so, I'm surprised you panned it.
And as many here hae said, EINHANDER is also superb. I rank it 2nd only to Radiant Silvergun. It's not a bullet hell shooter, so you should enjoy it.
Lastly, you really should try GRADIUS V. It was made by Treasure, and is tied for 2nd place as my favorite shmup. You can grab it on PS2.
I think the reason you have a hard time telling Cave games apart is because you don't pay attention to the scoring systems. I'm not score chaser either but when going for 1 credit clears the score comes into play because it's the mechanic that gives you extra lives to avoid getting a game over. The different scoring mechanics can make surprisingly deep changes in the ways you are encouraged to play, from bullet cancelling to delaying enemy kills to keep a chain going, or learning a stage for destroying them as fast as possible, medalling, grazing bullets, etc.
Good point.
Legendary wings is awesome. Played it at the arcade a lot.
Love your channel, it's a wonderful vacation from life bs.
Here on your channel has beautiful opinions and from you bring genuine and fun personality.
Great video and list!!! I am just shocked that s.c.a.t on nes didn't even get a mention!!? My fav nes shooter!!!
Hi Pam, amazing video, was really fascinated with your fantastic overview of each game. Shmups is favourite gaming genre along with racers (especially racers from Sega & Sony). Your input here was really invaluable, thank you :)
Glad you enjoyed it!
Very nice video
It's time I check Blazing Lazers
Also, if you want a shmup that generates music according to your actions but it works, try Rez
It was released for the Dreamcast then later PS2
Informative vid! I added Zero Ranger to my library. Kinda want to check out Abadox sometime cuz of the body horror aspect.
Cool Shade statue too!
Still love booting up Galaga every now and then. Love the later Gradius titles, the powerup system provides a lot of tactical choice and replayability. Xanac is one of the few FDS games I own and you definitely have to sink some time into it, but when you get in the zone, it hits different.
Great Topic. My favorites, to name a few, are Donpachi, Lords of Thunder, Giga Wing and Arrow Flash (female pilot with a ship that has a robot mode. That was enough for me as a kid).
I wonder that there are no Psikyo games on your list, because there are so many other arcade games. If you get the change to play any of them - Strikers 1945, Gun Bird, Samurai Aces - you should do it, they are all good. As you like Sky Force Anniversary, you definitely should check out its sequel Sky Force Reloaded. It's just bigger and better and more the same, which is a good thing. My last recommendation is a fairly recent game named Drainus, that has an interesting absorb/reflect mechanic.
Rare not seeing Tyrian 2000 here on this list, its my personal MS-DOS game of all time, an amazing and diverse Shmup with a wide arsenal and many shipts to choose from, some even being available on certain scenarios only, there's even a carrot ship! im not joking! And the OST is just... Incredible, i still cant believe its MIDI until this day.
Also if you want also a very "underground" side scroller shmup that came on PS3 that is very challenging yet fun, look for Soldner X and X2, but gotta say... Even with some shmup experience i had to put it on the easiest difficulty, and the devs even had to make a "Begginer" mode since it was so hard for most people.
With so many Remakes coming out, Tyrian definetly DESERVES ONE
I like these tier list videos. They are so long and thorough, very good.
Glad you like them!
(Dating myself here…)
1:01:51 Zanac…
…for me, while I got my Shmup start with Space Invaders before the original NES was released (STILL an all-time favorite), Zanac (…for me) is pretty much the one that set the standard for me and is one of my all-time favorites that I still play to this day.
The R-Type series is insane (the ‘Dark Souls’ of shmups), Ginga Force, Natsumi Chronicles, the Darius and DariusBurst Chronicles series and most games from the ‘Aleste’ series are also amazing.
Great list - refering to it to catch up on other shmups I’d missed… cheers!
\m/, 😊 ,\m/
An interesting overview and perspective on what you prefer in a shmup. You definitely seem to prefer vertical shmups (I'm quite the opposite & love Konami and R-Type)!
You mention your love of OSTs and the dearth of 'A' & 'S'-tiered titles. I offer a hypothesis for both: there are very few 16 & 32-bit titles on here and I believe this timeframe is the apogee of the genre for gameplay and OSTs. Everyone has favorites that get snubbed on these lists, but there are some heavy hitters you may enjoy to fill in the gaps. I'm curious to hear your takes on G-Darius/Darius Gaiden, Thunder force III-V, Soukyougurentai, Gleylancer, Wings of Wor, GrindStormer, Harmful Park, RayForce/Storm/Crisis, Zanac Neo (you love Compile!) NightRaid, Cotton 2/Boomerang, Gaiares, In The Hunt, Viper, Macross DYRL, Bokan to Ippatsu, and perhaps a few others not of that era like Kokuga, Steredenn, Power Strike/II, and even the R-Type offshoot Command/Tactics.
my top 3 would be:
1. DoDonPachi / ZeroRanger sharing #1 cause they're both so good :D
2. Mushihimesama
3. Perfect Cherry Blossom
I agree with the inclusion of Sky Force, that game is awesome. Though you should also include the game that inspired it, 1942, and its sequel, 1943. I would also add Defender and Stargate (arcade versions). Defender, 1980, might be the first bullet hell game ever made.
A few of my favorites weren’t listed :(
I know it’s your list and games that you played but you should look at Darius Twin, Firepower 2000, R-Type 3 & U.N. Squadron!!! (I also have a special place in my heart for the 8-Bit sleeper, Sqoon!)
No Thunder Force?! You should really fix that. Metal soundtrack, a bunch of cool weapons, you never lose your back shot so you can always hit guys behind you. it's a great series, though 2 is rough around the edges as a Genesis launch title. There's a great version of 4 (the best one) on Switch, and it's not expensive.
I'm not sure how different our tastes are, but we sure have different experiences. I've only played a handful of the games on here. Keio was adorably goofy and I liked the strategy of choosing when to use the baby dragons or keep them. Lords of Thunder is amazing, especially the risk/reward of getting close for sword attacks. Radiant Silvergun was fun, but I can't think of anything special to say about it. I grew up with R-Type on Master System, so I'm kinda inoculated to it, but yeah, I've never beaten it. That game is brutal.
And that's about it! I've played little bits of a couple others, but not enough to form real opinions on them. I recommend you try out Biohazard Battle and Forgotten Worlds. (and of course anything Thunder Force) And maybe the last part of Ecco the Dolphin where you explode aliens with your sonar because... WTF?! (seriously, go to the password select and fill it with NNNNNNNNNNNNN to skip the non shmup parts of the game.)
Forgotten worlds is a recommendation? Never really got into it myself, but maybe the ps2 port on Capcom classics ain’t that good?
Yes, this exactly the kind of video I was looking for! Thanks Pam!
You are so welcome!
46:08 - Note to myself: don’t talk too much with Pam. :D. This has been an enjoyable video to watch on a Sunday evening before going to work the next day. Thanks, Pam!
Not played many shumps so good to hear your ranking. My two favourites (Bangai-O Spirits & Sin and Punishment Successor of the Skies) didn't make your list, possibly they don't fit the genre.
Ranking Trouble Shooter but not Battlemania(the sequel) is an absolute travesty! It's my favorite shmup and probably my favorite Genesis game. Do yourself a favor and try it out ASAP. I enjoyed your list a lot!
I do like R Type and R Type 2 with Salamander.
OH YEAH‼️😎👍🏽 aka Lifeforce
Great vid! Been wanting to get more into shmups, but wasn't exactly a huge fan of the basic gameplay of Defender for instance. Though found Gaiares recently and whew.. your ship has a hovering module to shoot at enemies that destroys & absorbs that particular enemy's power-up, but also gets stronger if you hit the same enemy type 3 times w it. Soo good.
Pam absolutely Great video,I'm 80s, teenager show shooter,shumps, Bullet heavin games but the arcade shooters and console shooter games and the arcade 70s,80s90s cabinet shooters are absolutely my favorite games,just wondered have you players any 70s,80s,90s arcade games,thank you so much for the video 👍
Great video. A shmup i love and recommend is Gley Lancer for Genesis. It's japanese exclusive but there's a translation patch and they re-released him for Playstation and Xbox recently.
Oh my goodness. You look amazing. Love the dark hair. Not only on it's own, but how it compliments your skin tone. I usually check myself if I'm going in this direction with a comment, but whatever. I'll allow it today. Haven't even watched the video yet, so I may be commenting twice.
Try Downwell. It's not really a shmup but still kind of is. Great game either way.
Also. Since you liked Sky Force you should try Sky Force: Reloaded. It got more ships and stuff and while it's a bit grindy it's a lot of fun to play.
Dude this was an amazing video. I really recommend checking out Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire one day; i think you’d dig it
Thanks so much!
Seconding the recommendations on Darius Gaiden, it's probably my favorite shmup of all time.
Also, if you're interested in more body horror type shooters I'd definitely say check out X-Multiply by Irem. Easier than other Irem games (like R-type) and thematically very creepy and well designed.
My final recommendation is another Taito arcade shooter called Metal Black. It's not for everyone but I found it stands out visually and is pretty different from most horizontal shmups in that you don't lose your ship power level when you die. Plus, the soundtrack is one of the best of the era, in my opinion.
Great video, I really enjoyed it!
Thanks!
SPACE MEGAFORCE by Toho on the SNES is my most memorable one.
2 games that come to mind that you should play that are great are Einhander, Fast Striker and Sturmwind.
Einhander👍🏽
What a great breadth of shoot'em ups in this list. I can recommend two of my favorites, which didn't appear - Forgotten Worlds (arcade version, or Turbo Duo version, or Genesis version) and Section Z (NES version - very different from arcade version, and much more interesting).
Both Forgotten Worlds and Section Z are Capcom shooters. The former has all directional shooting; the latter lets you shoot either left or right. Forgotten Worlds has lots of fun powerups and a compelling Egyptian theme, and great Capcom music.
Section Z is perhaps brutally difficult, but it has a fun variety of section scrolling speeds. Some zoom by really fast, so all you do is dodge terrain. Some scroll terribly slowly, forcing you to slog your way past enemies that absorb incredible amounts of damage. It also has bopping Capcom music setting the mood.
There are also LOTS of 8-bit and 16-bit home computer titles I could recommend. I'll just suggest one weird one, because it's obscure and you wouldn't even know to try it:
Sea Dragon, TRS-80 Model 1 version. Sea Dragon is an underwater Scramble clone; you control a submarine. All of the different versions are very different from each other, and you would have no idea that the black and white TRS-80 Model 1 version is possibly the most fun to actually play. It definitely looks crude compared to the others, with low resolution blocky pixel graphics. But there's something about the pace of the game, the density of the enemies, the size of the spaces you need to try and navigate ... I think the other versions don't have quite the same magic.
The shmup peaked with Thunder Force 5, IMO. 4 will always he my favorite, though. Why none of the TF titles are on this is beyond me.
Probably hasn’t played em.
Only had the pleasure of playing thunder force 3 myself. Love it though. Does so many ghings right
@@harrihaffi2713You're in for one helluva ride when you play 4 for the first time. Gameplay, GFX, and music, all God tier. 16-bit shooters don't get more epic than TF4.
If recommendations are still wanted I give my voice in for Einhander, R-Type Delta, UN Squadron, Darius Gaiden, Thunder Force V, Gradius Gaiden & Metal Black too! And while at it: ProtoCorgi, Allytnex Second and Eschatos are some of my favorite shmups existing around and they are availible on say Steam and are rather tame for what they want to be with fitting difficulty selections and great OSTs!
Did you play Jets n Guns? I love that one. Insane number of different weapons that you can load onto various hard points on your ship, as well as a big variety of other accessories to reduce heating on the weapons, protect you from impacting the ground, shields, armor, etc. Great sound, really colorful, long campaign.
cool vid
forgot to mention... your private eye costume was cute/hilarious !
ambitious video as the STG, shmup, shoot-em-up genre is soooo old and has soooo many games could make a long tier list for each console of the 80's and 90's. I mean the Turbografx-16/PC Engine that was like the main genre for that console. NES, SNES, Genesis, Neo Geo were all loaded with these games too. Also bullet hell shooters could get their own video too as many were arcade games from over 2 decades ago.
Interesting to hear you like Sky Force so much. Having put over 20h in that game I can say that the biggest draw of this game is to unlock more stuff and power-up your ship. But before you actually are powered up and get to the more fun later stages, the game is just way too boring, and feels like a grind. Enemy and bullet patterns are really simple and not exciting at all. At the end of it all I cannot say I really liked the game, but somehow still kept playing until I reached the end (?). I would rank it a D. It was one of my first shmups though, and having played many more, I would not recommend it to anyone. Something like Drainus is so much better on all fronts, and very welcoming to newer players.
Ouch at putting Crimzon Clover so low. I love that game so so much. But you mentioned you liked games with powerups and different (sub) weapons. And yeah Crimson Clover has none of that. Which is why I also like it so much. You are as powerful at the start of the game as you will ever be, and taking a death is not punishing because of that. But please try out Drainus, as it has all of the stuff you are looking for!
A final note on scoring systems. Try at least to understand it well enough to be able to get the extra extends. Typically playing the first 2 levels over an over might get boring, as they become too easy. Trying to score better on the those stages, can shake things up, and you might actually start to enjoy the game even more.
It was not fully clear to me if you typically try to 1CC these games or not. Doing so has, at least for, greatly increased the appreciation and pleasure I have in playing these types of games.
Anyway, thanks for the great video.
Mad respect for putting Blazing Lazers and Lords of Thunder in A
And also Gun Nac in S, one of my favorite games on the system.
I want to recommend Axelay on SNES. If you're looking for a feast for the eyes then it's probably far and away the most technically and artistically impressive of the 16-bit era
It's also a Konami game that surprisingly isn't slow and doesn't have any weird upgrades, or powerups at all for that matter!
Nah, Musha is far superior.
My childhood shoot'em up: Parsec :)
Today I learned MUSHA is genre-defining and Radiant Silvergun is ugly. 👍 Thanks
Yeah shes trippin
Gun Nac is heavily underrated. Love it. Sad to see you hate on Gradius man!! I love those games and i still play Gradius 1-3 and Lifeforce to this day. Some of my favorites shmups.
Game Tengoku Cruisin Mix Special is fun as hell. Glad to see someone else mention it.
I have been desperately trying not to suck at Ikaruga lately. Failing mostly lol
Great video! Love the genre! I picked up Guardian Legend based on your previous review, it’s fantastic!
Found a few new games in this list. Some of these can get pricey…Recca, whoa! Will be emulating that!
A few people in the comments mentioned Dangun Feveron. Think you’d like this Cave shooter. It has a comical disco vibe and soundtrack. Doesn’t take itself too seriously 💃🏻🕺🏻
If you liked Lords of Thunder, you should check out the Thunder Force series. Specifically 3-4 on Genesis, but 5 on Saturn is also amazing.
Sad to see Radiant Silvergun so far down but we can disagree 🤷🏻♂️. I like that you start with all the weapons and “mixing” them added depth to the gameplay.
Looking forward to part two of this video when you play more shumps 😃
Thanks for the suggestions! Dangun Feveron looks cool.
This is my favorite video game genre.
Great video as always Pam, its certainly interesting the titles played depending on where you grew up, a lot of games I was expecting as they were everywhere in the UK when I was growing up just arent here, but I know Pal territories got different games and certainly a lot of budget titles that I saw either on the Megadrive/Genesis or the Amiga may not have been popular elsewhere.
That's her officer. That's the woman who put Radiant Silvergun in C tier
Try Raiden II and DX, I much prefer the earlier entries over the later ones. Soldier Blade cannot be missed for any SHMUP fan! IMO the most perfectly balanced game.
Great video!
Raiden, Raiden 2, and DX... man those are the perfect trio of classic vertical shmups (apart from the Toaplan stuff)! I didn't care for the later Raiden Fighters series either..
Thanks!
Hi, Pam. I'm curious. What are your thoughts on the shmups that are behind your vessel? I'm talking games like Panzer Dragoon, Rez, or StarFox, games which are like dogfighters except you're locked on a specific course. I guess they're the middle ground between pure shmups and pure flight games.
For me Zaxxon and Defender were the granddaddies of this genre...
Great channel and upload.
Pam you have to play the Turbografx-16/PC Engine classic SOLDIER BLADE. Super Star Soldier series, easily the best one, easy to understand power ups, fast fun action, great chip tune soundtrack, difficulty gradually amps up, it has almost no slowdown flicker whatsoever except for a little bit in a robot dragon boss. Even has a competitive caravan mode all the way back in 1992. Any fan of the genre MUST Play this game.
Thanks for the suggestion!
some of my favorite shoot'em ups are on the TurboGrafx 16/PC Engine.. Blazing Lazers, Super Star Soldier, Soldier Blade, Gate of Thunder, Star Parodier, Spriggan, Sapphire, Salamander, Vegiues Tactical Gladiator, Air Zonk.. so much fun to be had and most are on the mini.. all are As and Ss... anyway thanks for the vid fun to see your appreciation of the genre.
I need to check out more of these on my mini.
@@Cannotbetamed1 based on your fondness for Complile I think you'll dig Spriggan.. awesome graphics and music and tons of weapon variety!
For some of the horizonal ones do you ever switch it to Tate mode in the options and flip your monitor?? I specifically bought a rotatable stand just for shmups :D
I use tate for vertical shmups on PC.
pissed off, cussing pam is hot fire!
Pam! Love your voice! Could listen to you talk about anything.
Pam if you read this. Please play Raptor call of the shadows. It is one of the best shootém ups ever.
Your annoyances with Gradius are pet peeves of mine when I see them in other shmups. The slow ship speed, the contact damage with the environment, the pea shooter, etc. When I make my own shmup, it's definitely not going to have any of that. Blecch! 😝
Recommendations... have you played NeverAwake? It's my favorite twin-stick shmup. It plays great and it has such a unique and gorgeous dark but playful aesthetic. Also, I'd like to recommend the latest Cotton game, Cotton Fantasy. Each character plays differently (some even have their own unique mechanics). Lastly, Graze Counter GM is a solid one too. It's almost like a Cave-lite as it's a bullet hell, but you're given 2 hyper meters to clear the screen of bullets. You bullet graze to charge one meter and use the first hyper meter to charge the second one. So, you're constantly clearing the screen. It's just so much fun. 🎮😄👍
NeverAwake looks really cool, I've added it to my wishlist.
Really enjoyed that. There’s a bunch of those Xbox Cave releases on the Switch now too, including Japan-only ones like Mushihimesama. Worth looking up because they have a ton of modes, including beginner which is really useful if you’re serious about learning to play these.
We have some overlap in terms of what we look for in a shmup. I don't like when things get too complicated and I don't care about score. Glad to hear you loved MUSHA as much as you did. I really love that one too, and agree it is gorgeous with amazing sound. It looks a lot better than most games coming out on the Genesis in that era. I do recommend you play Lords of Thunder on PC Engine/TG16 as it is better in most ways. For one, the Sega CD version is super easy by comparison, and not in a good way. The one problem I have with the PCE version is that the hit box is too far forward so you have to allow for a bit more difference in front. The nice thing is, it's more forgiving for stuff behind your character as a result. It's not hard to compensate, but it's worth mentioning as a warning in advance if you do play it. Also I recommend Dragon Saber, whether arcade, PC Engine, or PS1. That's another good one. And while I like Truxton a lot more than you(it speaks to my soul), I'd still recommend trying Toaplan's Grind Stormer and Dogyuun. They came out later on so they are more refined. Dogyuun has some excellent music, and both look beautiful. And they have more reasonable difficulty than Truxton.
I couldn't get into Blazing Lazers, unfortunately. The power-up system isn't my favorite, but worse than that there is a parallax effect between the sprite layer and the background layer that is rare to see in a vertical shmup. That means dodging shift the bullets in relation to the background and it messes with my perception. I have a similar problem with games like Radiant Silvergun and Raiden V(fully agree with you about the chatty character) that do weird background effects like zooming and diagonal scrolling which I find distracting. I'll leave it there. I like your review style and enjoyed hearing your take on such games, and interesting to hear where we agree and differ.
Hello Pam. If you like Shmups and you have a PlayStation, I can't recommend enough Resogun. It was a launch title for the PS4. It was released by Housemarquee, the same people who made Returnal.
Resogun is the best shoot em up on PS4. It plays like defender and it feels like a feast of fireworks. I hope you play it end enjoy it.
I do not have a PlayStation :(
@@Cannotbetamed1 Too bad. Well if you are not getting a PS5, then the next best thing you can do is to enjoy some gameplay footage from Resogun and Returnal
@@Cannotbetamed1 ruclips.net/video/qBZOTqlAmd8/видео.html
@@Cannotbetamed1 ruclips.net/video/xH4KG3KKo5g/видео.html
No Lightening Force? They even misspell the title as if to beckon you in. It’s arguably the best horizontal shooter of its era and I’d consider it and MUSHA top tier Genesis. The inherent ability to shoot behind you and adjust the ship’s speed fixed the most annoying aspects about the Gradius series and felt fresh at the time. Plus the parallax was beautiful and they really let loose with it.
I love how the second I saw the purple orbs in Blazing Lasers I was just like, omg yes so much nostalgia.