Hardcore games seems to be a bit of a buzz word atm over here on the Escapist, With Dark Souls, MOBAs and Fighters getting mentioned all the time I thought it was high time we had a shmups thread.
The humble shmup aka the STG or Shoot-em up before FPS nicked the meaning, is practically as old as the hobby itself but like all genres is constantly changing and evolving as the years go by. Especially nowadays where they include so many unique mechanics and score systems that makes other genres like the FPS look stale by comparison.
Me I class myself as a intermediate player, one who isn't good enough to 1 Credit Clear the hardest of the Japanese shmups like Battle Garegga or 2 ALL a Dodonpachi but can with a few days of play beat an Doujin shmup like Exceed 3rd or 1CC one of the easier game modes of CAVE's games like Deathsmiles, DodonPachi Resurrection strong mode and Akia Katana and enjoy the same games for years to come playing for score, where I study the game and make up new strategies that maximise my score with the minimum of risk vs reward.
I would like to know what STGs others like, or just what your opinion of the genre is if you haven't yet gotten into them and don't know any basic techniques to allow you to play these games competantly, eg tap dodging, bullet strafing and U turns. Or just enjoy the great soundtracks every shmup worth it's salt has.
But first here are some of my fave STGs, they are either doujin shmups on PC or one of the excellent Hi Def Arcade ports on the 360, which nowadays is practically the only reason to own a 360 instead of a PS3.
Mushimisama Futari ver1.5 {CAVE CO} JPN360 (Region Free, £25 for the Platinum ver)
This is my fave CAVE STG, a true feast for the eyes for anyone who likes colourful 2D artwork. And while the game has the reputation of been the Hardest Boss Ever due to that YT vid, that's just the hardest game mode. On the disk there are several unique game modes all of various difficulty. From the piss easy arrange mode, to the beginner friendly Original Mode, to the harder Maniac Mode. My favorite mode is Original, as this modes has very few bullets onscreen but to compensate the speed of the game is much faster and makes for an adrenaline rush playing the later stages.
Crimson Clover {Yotsubane} PC (doujin title unlocalised but will cost around £20 to import)
Without a shaddow of a doubt my favorite doujin shmup, it's of a quality on par with a professional arcade STG, has 3 modes of increasing difficulty and bullet density, Simple (easy), Origin & Unlimited along with unlockable shmups that changes how each mode is played. It has the lock on shot from Galactic Attack / Raystorm mixed with the adrenaline pumping CAVE bullet hell gameplay that gives instant gratisfaction especially when you collect stars to fill a gauge to unleash Super Break Mode! where your ship fires an screen filling super weapon decimating all enemies onscreen. Fill up the gauge again unleashes the utterly Spinal Tap over the top weapon called Double Break Mode!
Grap the demo here http://www.vector.co.jp/soft/winnt/game/se481428.html
Akia Katana {CAVE CO} 360 US,PAL & JPN (at only £6 on Amazon it's well under priced)
Localised by Rising Star Games last year the game was ignored by everyone and hit the bargin bin very quickly, which is a shame as this CAVE horizontal has alot of complex mechanics and is very different to your usual shmup. Again there are 3 modes, 2 of which play completly different to each other. Why the game bombed I'm not so sure, as it's very rewarding to play for score, it just needs 15 minutes spent watching the tutorial videos to understand how it works, once it all clicks this game is great! Has novice modes like most CAVE shmups have so even those who flat out suck at the genre can enjoy them.
Under Defeat HD {G.rev} 360 / PS3 US/PAL/JPN (around £15 online)
Not a bullet hell but a more traditional HD remake of a Dreamcast shmup but with extra modes and controls to the original that allows you to play it as a twin stick shooter. Simple fun and makes a change of pace to bullet hell that are popular today.
eXceed 3rd - Jade Penetrate Black Package {Nyu Media} PC (£4.49 on steam or £6 as part of a 3 game collection)
Localised by Nyu Media on Steam, it's a noob friendly shmup that while easy if you play in easy difficulty and turn on autobomb doesn't skimp on the fast adrenaline gameplay Japanese shmups are famous for. It might have a similar look as Touhou to the casual onlooker but it's imo much better and faster than those games. It's gameplay and score systems encourages aggressive play, where you point blank each enemy to destroy it quicker and to raise a score multiplier and to minimise the amount of bullets onscreen. If you know what you are doing you can destroy many enemies before they even get a shot off. Great fun and has an optional ingame story for those who like that sort of stuff.
The humble shmup aka the STG or Shoot-em up before FPS nicked the meaning, is practically as old as the hobby itself but like all genres is constantly changing and evolving as the years go by. Especially nowadays where they include so many unique mechanics and score systems that makes other genres like the FPS look stale by comparison.
Me I class myself as a intermediate player, one who isn't good enough to 1 Credit Clear the hardest of the Japanese shmups like Battle Garegga or 2 ALL a Dodonpachi but can with a few days of play beat an Doujin shmup like Exceed 3rd or 1CC one of the easier game modes of CAVE's games like Deathsmiles, DodonPachi Resurrection strong mode and Akia Katana and enjoy the same games for years to come playing for score, where I study the game and make up new strategies that maximise my score with the minimum of risk vs reward.
I would like to know what STGs others like, or just what your opinion of the genre is if you haven't yet gotten into them and don't know any basic techniques to allow you to play these games competantly, eg tap dodging, bullet strafing and U turns. Or just enjoy the great soundtracks every shmup worth it's salt has.
But first here are some of my fave STGs, they are either doujin shmups on PC or one of the excellent Hi Def Arcade ports on the 360, which nowadays is practically the only reason to own a 360 instead of a PS3.
Mushimisama Futari ver1.5 {CAVE CO} JPN360 (Region Free, £25 for the Platinum ver)
This is my fave CAVE STG, a true feast for the eyes for anyone who likes colourful 2D artwork. And while the game has the reputation of been the Hardest Boss Ever due to that YT vid, that's just the hardest game mode. On the disk there are several unique game modes all of various difficulty. From the piss easy arrange mode, to the beginner friendly Original Mode, to the harder Maniac Mode. My favorite mode is Original, as this modes has very few bullets onscreen but to compensate the speed of the game is much faster and makes for an adrenaline rush playing the later stages.
Crimson Clover {Yotsubane} PC (doujin title unlocalised but will cost around £20 to import)
Without a shaddow of a doubt my favorite doujin shmup, it's of a quality on par with a professional arcade STG, has 3 modes of increasing difficulty and bullet density, Simple (easy), Origin & Unlimited along with unlockable shmups that changes how each mode is played. It has the lock on shot from Galactic Attack / Raystorm mixed with the adrenaline pumping CAVE bullet hell gameplay that gives instant gratisfaction especially when you collect stars to fill a gauge to unleash Super Break Mode! where your ship fires an screen filling super weapon decimating all enemies onscreen. Fill up the gauge again unleashes the utterly Spinal Tap over the top weapon called Double Break Mode!
Grap the demo here http://www.vector.co.jp/soft/winnt/game/se481428.html
Akia Katana {CAVE CO} 360 US,PAL & JPN (at only £6 on Amazon it's well under priced)
Localised by Rising Star Games last year the game was ignored by everyone and hit the bargin bin very quickly, which is a shame as this CAVE horizontal has alot of complex mechanics and is very different to your usual shmup. Again there are 3 modes, 2 of which play completly different to each other. Why the game bombed I'm not so sure, as it's very rewarding to play for score, it just needs 15 minutes spent watching the tutorial videos to understand how it works, once it all clicks this game is great! Has novice modes like most CAVE shmups have so even those who flat out suck at the genre can enjoy them.
Under Defeat HD {G.rev} 360 / PS3 US/PAL/JPN (around £15 online)
Not a bullet hell but a more traditional HD remake of a Dreamcast shmup but with extra modes and controls to the original that allows you to play it as a twin stick shooter. Simple fun and makes a change of pace to bullet hell that are popular today.
eXceed 3rd - Jade Penetrate Black Package {Nyu Media} PC (£4.49 on steam or £6 as part of a 3 game collection)
Localised by Nyu Media on Steam, it's a noob friendly shmup that while easy if you play in easy difficulty and turn on autobomb doesn't skimp on the fast adrenaline gameplay Japanese shmups are famous for. It might have a similar look as Touhou to the casual onlooker but it's imo much better and faster than those games. It's gameplay and score systems encourages aggressive play, where you point blank each enemy to destroy it quicker and to raise a score multiplier and to minimise the amount of bullets onscreen. If you know what you are doing you can destroy many enemies before they even get a shot off. Great fun and has an optional ingame story for those who like that sort of stuff.
