[PS2] Good Shoot 'Em Ups/2D Games for PS2

If you like manic shooters, you could try importing the ports of ESPGaluda/Mushihime-sama/Pink Sweets. I like both R-Type: Final and Gradius V, but for different reasons. I know you just finished Gradius V, but I'm gonna go off on a tangent anyway.

R-Type: Final really relies on reeling the player into the last hurrah of the R-Type universe. The amount of detail put into the game is astounding, as it ties nearly every Irem arcade shooter into the R-Type mythos. X-Multiply, Mr. Heli Daibouken, Gallop: Mobile Police Force, Image Flight... hell, it even has a small nod to the beat 'em up "Undercover Cops." The game ties everything together and you'd have a much greater appreciation of it by playing some of the previous games or knowing about the type of connections that are made to them gameplay wise. It relies heavily on level memorization, as I'm sure you well know.

Then again, all that aside, 100 fucking customizable ships is also a big draw. I do want to say that as far as what you might find more fun, Gradius V is much harder hitting and has a better feel of "action" as the game goes along. Yes, it is hard and that difficulty is a turn off. At that, if you've played other games in the Gradius series, you'll know that this game's 2 player modes and weapon edit features leave a lot to be desired. But the core game is still decidedly solid, though a bit unforgiving. If you don't like not being entertained in the first 5 minutes, I could definitely see an argument here.

Still, as you play it and get better there's usually a real sense of reward about getting as far as you can without exploding into a space time anomaly of "I just lost all my shit again." I can get through stages 1-6 on the first loop without dying, I'm working on a no dying run that I will hopefully have recorded one day. That's a long way off.

While both are fairly difficult, they each have their own merits. R-Type: Final and R-Type Delta made me a huge fan of the R-Type universe, I'd recommend Final solely on that note.

More recommendations, shorter on the bullshit:

Taito Arcade Classics 2 - You can play Raystorm, G-Darius, and Darius Gaiden. All solid shoot em ups. X-Box version only released in Europe got Raycrisis. FUCK YOU GUYS.

Raiden III is a solid purchase for the PS2... if you enjoyed the previous 2 games, that is. It's really a graphically updated version of the same game, so if you didn't have a problem with Raiden, there's no reason not to get it.

Jam it back in, in the dark.