[Classic] Shmuppy Love

Best shmups ever would be Radiant Silvergun or Ikaruga. Why lie. End of topic.
Gradius 5 ps2 is also nice. Then again, it's also made by Treasure.

Really, are there companies which still make shmups worth playing nowadays? Back then on the Saturn we had awesome shooters on a monthly basis, now we have Sims expansions packs coming out monthly.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by SimDaddyGT

Ikaruga is not necessarily the best shmup in my opinion. Sure, you can absorb the bullets and beams, but it changes the secondary point of shmups, which is dodging ammo like crazy (primary being destroy, destroy, DESTROY!!!). Of course, dodging bullets only can get slightly dull, so absorbing can be fun at times.

You make it sound like the absorbation thing is just a gimmick in Ikaruga. It's a vital part of gameplay, not a gimmick - you are even encouraged to absorb bullets because they charge up your super bar. In fact you can even get a special "Bullet Eater" rank if you pass a stage without killing anything. The levels themselves are designed in such a complex way that you just can't beat the game without dodging one color constantly.

Ikaruga is not the best for the absorbation gimmick, but because the gameplay is so well designed that at higher levels, Ikaruga is literally art. Every level is methodically, almost mechanically perfect in regards of the Combo system, and the polarity switch feature makes gameplay incredibly complex, requiring tenfolds better reflexes then an average bullet hell shooter (you are paying attention to only white colors bullets as they can hurt you... oh heres a white bullet wall, cant dodge gotta change... SHIT DIDNT PAY ATTENTION TO THE SEA OF BLACKS SWARMING OVER MY SHIP).

And the two final battles are more epic then anything in any other shooter I ever witnessed.

There's nowhere I can't reach.