Recently I've been playing the Super Famicom ROM of Parodius. It is weird beyond words! That said, whoever drew the pixel art for this game was clearly very talented, and it poses way more challenge than other Gradius-style shooters, if only because there's a lot of distractingly bizarre things coming at you, along with equally strange music and sound effects.

Screencap of the moment:
http://ovk.actionsketch.com/stuff/parodius.png

Parodius is very awesome, the only MAJOR gripe I have are the pickups that start a roulette on the bar. I usually lose everything, then die, then instant game over.

I don't know if anyone mentioned Super R-Type, but damn that game was something else. I got it for Christmas of 91 and didn't beat it until I had it on an emulator at around 00. That game was just plain HARD.

And Thunder Force IV. Hard, but I still loved it.

And I enjoyed the soundtracks to both.

I don't get it, you don't like AH because it's hard? That's usually what people look for in a shooter, challenge. I thought it was slightly easy myself, like Contra Jr.

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/6531/dscf00041zc.jpg

What's up guys. ESP Galuda on the right. This has to be, by far, the best shooting game ever created. I thought Ikaruga was good. I thought Mushihime was good. Hell, I thought Radilgy was good. But no, here's Galuda, topping them all.

So far I've managed to get up to stage 4, but I really need to work on that. Getting the first extend on the first level like MrMonkeyMan did is amazing, except for the fact that I can't do it.

Hard as in, unfair. Raiden III is unfair. Mars Matrix is unfair. Giga Wing 2 is unfair. However I wouldn't mix Alien Hominid with those, as it's a flash game ported to consoles(probably to promote the artist and his work).

I just found it all a bit fast. Then again, I'm the type of person who doesn't like using more than a single credit on his games. Bullets in Alien Hominid were quite fast, in comparison to what they are in Metal Slug. Metal Slug is hard(varies on edition) but not Alien Hominid-hard. The game didn't have a level select or anything, even.

Oops, I swear I did not see this thread. Sorry.
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"Under Defeat" was just released for import DC some days ago and it kicks booty, great sound/graphics for you shoot em' up fans out there.

A helicopter shooter.

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/455/pa543240090wb.jpghttp://img85.imageshack.us/img85/8155/pa543240062mo.jpg

Check it out if you have the means, its worth a shot.:biggrin:
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My fav shooters list:

Zanac - NES
Gradius 5 - PS2
R-Type Delta - PS1
Blazing Lazers - TG-16
Soukugerentai - Saturn
Radiant Silvergun - Saturn
Dead Moon - TG-16
Viewpoint - Neo-Geo
Last Resort - Neo-Geo
Alpha Mission II - Neo-Geo
R-Type Final - PS2
Gates of Thunder - Turbo CD
Thunderforce Series - Genesis
Thunderforce 5 - Saturn
Chaos Field - Dreamcast
Asteroids - PS1
Layer Section - Saturn
The Guardian Legend - NES
Space Megaforce - SNES
Zanac Neo - PS1
Psychosis - TG16
Galaga 90 - TG16
Border Down - DC

I was thinking of, uh, downloading this.

Most Dreamcast shooters(I mean, all) I have already. Some have been a real depressing experience(Trizeal, Chaos Field) but others have been absolutely amazing(Shikigami, Ikaruga). Is Under Defeat like Zero Gunner 2 with the free range of motion which you have with your ship?

Don't download UD. G.Rev deserves your shineys. They're doing really well with UD since it recently sold over 10000 copies since it was released last week ! More purchases could mean an eventual move to have them release their games over here.

Y'know, considering how easy it is to pirate Dreamcast games I think the company would benefit from allowing people to just purchase an ISO from their website or just stick a Paypal button on there. That way the people who really care can show their support without having to import a game for a dead system.

I like how I suck at Gradius V. How do I get past boss #2 without dying? Are there videos that I can watch to help me learn?

Einhander has to be my favorite. The soundtrack is sublime. The graphics, including machine/enemy design, are interesting and creative yet realistic in a way as well.

I'm fond of Sky Shark because it's the one we played in grade school the most, by far.

I'm assuming you haven't beaten the game, even with credits, yet, so you don't have the weapon edit which has a few more weapons. Quite a few videos use this, so they might not be of use. What option formation are you using?

If you want to see videos anyway, check out this hueg selection. Check the descriptions to see what type is being used.

I still have yet to beat this with one credit :(

I'm suprised no one has mentioned Tyrian. Now that was an awesome horizontal scrolling shooter!

Are we just limited to these kinds of games or can we talk about games like Metal Slug or Contra?

Heh, a Chinese site recently put out the ROM of Judgement Silversword Rebirth Edition for the Wonderswan so I've been playing that for the past few days. I love it; if anyone doesn't feel like searching for it, just IM and I'll be happy to send it (~300kb zipped). Just FYI.

I've been playing Pink Sweets, the sequel to Ibara by Cave, alot lately. Awesome game!

Man, I can't believe the general consensus is that ESP Ra.De is one of the easier Cave games! I mean, I can get up to Stage 5 on one credit in DoDonPachi (if I try real hard) but ESP slams me on Stage 2/3 :/

Does anyone else think this? Maybe I'm trying too hard to score properly...

Eh, I've always thought the general opinion of Ra.De is that it's shit hard and the scoring system makes no sense whatsoever.
You might be confusing it with ESPGALUDA, which is considered much more approachable and I'd agree.

Gah, I probably confused the two somehow, though I've yet to play Galuda to compare :(

Anyone heard of Guwange? It's an Arcade shooter where you can use a guardian spirit to help shoot things for you. I'm really terrrible at it, but I play it anyway because it's really stylish.

I want to strike a blow for Gradius V for PS2.

http://www.videogamecritic.net/images/ps2/gradius_v.jpg

Lovely grahpics, fun gameplay and configurable possibilites among your weaponry! It's kind of hard, and it includes lot of dodging as well as shooting, which I like.

I beat Raiden 3 for pc couple weeks ago. I LOVE Raiden and while it isnt AS challenging as some shmups, It was the first series i played so it has a special place in my hear.
Here is one of the MANY wallpapers that came with the game:
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/9173/owned5cf.th.jpg

Does it have miniscule bullets like Ibara has?

Pink Sweets is nothing like Ibara at all. It looks more like some kind of strange Takumi/Cave/Raizing hybrid if such a thing can exist.

Does Space Invaders actually count as a side scrolling shooting game?

The only ones that I have played are Life Force for the NES and Super R-Type for the SNES. Both great although these games tend to suffer slowdown. Only managed to finish Super R-Type on easy, don't think I ever completed Life Force, even on two player. Anyone played Life Force?