I didn't see another comment with this, so here's all the games that were featured under the "honorable mentions" header, in order. I *think* I've identified them all correctly... Mahou Daisakusen Under Defeat DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou ESP Ra.De. Deathsmiles Ibara Judgement Silversword Fire Shark Muchi Muchi Pork & Pink Sweets Guwange Musha Aleste Progear RollingGunner Stellavanity Battle Traverse Salamander eXceed 3rd Jade Penetrate RefRain Prism Memories 1943 Kai Metal Black Fantasy Zone Sexy Parodius
just throwing in my two cents, the touhou franchise in general deserves an honorable mention, I consider it a great developer success story. Its introduced many a newcomer to the bullet hell genre and its impact on pop culture is huge! The way the license was handled saw many a derivative work based on the main IP contributing to its wide spread fame.
my god.. I began searching for a shmup not even knowing the name of the genre. ended up watching all 50 minutes. the amount of work and dedication you put into this is insane. I guess this is what other people see when I nerd out on my favorite topics XD you have earned my sub, well done sir.
Yes, instant sub from me. This was very well done. I was actually searching for a "greatest bullet hell shmups of all time" list so I'm hoping you do put that out at some point
When author says: "Get PS4 version, this is very accessible" for Battle Garegga and Ketsui, I just want to correct that it is not true for us in Europe where these games are not available on PS Store. These two game are very hard to get as one can only purchase them physically (import) and prices go way way above 150USD (not including shipping and VAT!).
Solid and well explained list. The only place I'd significantly differ is it not having any representation from Compile, one of THE definitive devs of the late 80s through mid-90s. Even aside from the Aleste, Nac & Spriggan series, the TurboGrafx-16 was launched with Blazing Lazers as a marquee title. That by itself kind of gives them more presence/mindshare/influence/prominence what have you than something like Shikigami or Hellsinker. And between Gun-Nac/Zanac, Power Strike II and GG Aleste 2, their black magic pushed 8-bit hardware further than any other STG developer could manage, at least with that sort of consistency. They definitely earned some sort of presence on an all-time list.
Yeah I thought a lot about this, I considered adding one in along side thunder force 4, but wasn t sure exactly which title deserved to be along side thunder, but yeah compile is probably more deserving then castle ha, but I thought it would be fun to include castle. Should have worked a compile in there some where, hard to know what to cut though.
I usually roll my eyes at this type of video but not only was it well researched and explained, it also had a clear metric- this was great! Fantastic work as usual!
It was good to see Tatsujin on your list, still my favorite Toaplan game. Maybe not as much the mega drive version as it lost some of that unapologetic rawness, but likely for the best given it was for console and more accessible. The PCE port was straight take no prisoners from stage 1 like the arcade. I love the music and the continuous nature, where the stages flow into each other as if one long game, so it keeps you in the zone. And when you beat it, it just goes right back into loop 2 without skipping a beat. I've purposefully held out playing the second since the M2 port is supposedly coming, but I've heard the stories of it's merciless nature haha. The first one was already impossible enough. For Gradius, if I had to choose just one it would be the second. It's as pure as the original with the same gameplay, only it still holds up with more creativity and upped visuals versus the original which was very basic given it's age. It's still the one I play the most. V is great too of course I like it too, but it's almost it's own great game with the same name.
Yeah I agree about Gradius 5! It s a treasure game so it does a lot of it s own ideas ha. As far as the konami releases, Gradius gaiden might be my fav of the series, Gradius 2 is also really up there for me too!
Both of your channels are something I've been hoping would pop up on here eventually, glad to see shmups finally getting good, serious dedicated channels with such informed content and frequent upload schedules! To both TEU and Shmup Junkie, you two are extremely appreciated and were sorely lacking, here's hoping both your channels will have a great future ahead of them, I'm a massive fan already! PS: Tatsujin/Truxton is also my favorite Toaplan game, but I confess that has much more to do with the fact that it was my first ever shmup (as well as the only Mega Drive game I owned for ~8 months or so... unless you count Rise of the Robots as a game, but don't fooled by that narrative, it's clearly an instrument of torture) than anything else. I know Batsugun is the better game, but Truxton and Fire Shark have a special place in my heart for getting there first!
Gradius II is definitely my favorite Gradius, especially on the PCE CD. I also prefer R-Type III over the original. Given its lineage, I personally like Gate of Thunder over its Thunderforce forefathers. I feel like a weirdo in that ESPGaluda is my favorite Cave game, followed by Dangun Feveron. Mushihimesama and Dodonpachi are great, but ESPGaluda is just a jam for me. The Psikyo stuff (which I do like) has never bern in my favorites. My favorite Psikyo game is still Lode Runner: The Dig Fight (which has no business being mentioned on a shooter video I suppose).
Finally, a youtuber that acknowledged the raiden series. Sometimes i found some channels that reviewed raiden as just another shmups. Bitch, back then if you go to any arcade everywhere you will always find a raiden cabinet. It stays as one of the longest available arcade games way past its glory time.
I think Galaga should have been on this list because of the unique powerup method of letting the enemy capture your ship and when you free the captured ship you get double the firepower. Definitely a unique mechanic imo. Also, Darius Burst Chronicle Saviors should have been on this list especially when you consider all the DLC that contains ships from many of the games on your list and special stages for those ships, that alone makes it unique. Death Smiles should have been on the list as well. And I think Thunder Force IV should have been higher, again imo. Otherwise great list and good job.
From your list I only know Raiden, Gradius, and R-Type. Even though I was not that good at playing shmups I remember spending hours at the arcade and convenience store playing Tiger Heli and Raiden. I miss those days!
Shikigami series has some of the coolest weapons of all time. When I first saw that tri-directional rotating light saber… immediately thought this development team should have made a Star Wars game. I think the best Star Wars game of all time, would be a multi genre game. Overworld universe map, plenty of open world exploration, some hack and slash beat ‘em up stages, of course plenty of 3rd person pod/forest races, 3rd person flight, and of course some shmup stages with flying jedi’s like shikigami … and some spaceship shmup stages before the enemies defenses are penetrated, and the boss/Vader fights switch into 3d flight/shooter type.
It's really interesting how much the graphical style of the DDP series has changed during CAVEs history, from Toaplan - style cartoony to dark and militaristic to flashy and candy-colored. And I agree, I like the DOJ style the most, along with Ketsui and Garegga. I love the bright colors in Futari, but it always felt out of place to me in DFK and SDOJ, they never really had that dodonpachi vibe to me. Hard to explain.
Great list, the biggest omission in my mind is a hudson/compile game, whether its Starforce/Soldier and zanac/Aleste. Its a shame their influence in the shooter genre was overlooked.
even though its in no way influential, it was polished for a 1992 game, I absolutely love Soldier BLade. Not only is the game fantastic, it has a pretty good caravan mode too which was competitive gaming for shmup fans before competitive gaming and esports got big.
Xevious is of those under-rated games that I'm glad to see on the list. Even today there is something compulsive about it. If you want a really good port then check out Xevious 3D/G++ on PS1. It has a modern isometric version of the game as the main attraction but for me the best thing about the disc is that it has Xevious, Super Xevious and Xevious Arrangement too - all 3 with TATE modes, highscore tracking , and dip switch options.
Loved every minute of this video. Wished you'd showed even more love to horizontal shmups. Einhander, R Type Delta, and Raiden 2 are my favorite shmups of all time.
Radiant Silvergun is one of my personal favorites! I like the idea of the player ship, or the Silvergun in the case of the game, that starts out with a plethora of different weapons that start out weak but get stronger as you play via getting a score multiplier with the Silvergun's many weapons!
Fantastic list, and this is coming from someone whose preferences (horizontal shooters from right before the bullet hell mechanics started to be the norm) are diametrically opposed. I love how much thought and care went into each presentation and how you clearly are speaking from love and experience about each and every title.
I don't know whether it was necessarily very influential, but UPL's Omega Fighter (from 1989) has both continuous fire (no tapping) and a "special" version that's more focused on scoring. It also has a fairly good scoring system for 1989, based around point blanking enemies.
I love how you are giving very specific reasons for your ranking, especially the influence of each game. Shikigami No Shiro and Cho Ren Sha were one of the first shmups I ever played, almost forgot about them! Oh wow, and Darius Gaiden. Such a fascinating game, and has aged incredibly! Also, I had no idea EPIC FAIL originated from Blazing Star. Holy shit.
I feel like a Touhou game really deserved to be on the list if one of the criteria is how much influence it has on shmup players (also several of them are just damn good games). Then again, most of the games on the lost are pretty great so whatever.
I forgot to mention in the vid that touhou would be excluded from the list, not because I don't think they are quality games, but because I think they greatly complicate the list and I plan to instead make a separate touhou list in the future, since the series is so massive, well-known, and expansive.
I've never managed to actually finish a shmup before (the farthest I've got is like the 4th stage in Radiant Silvergun lol), so I have no idea how this got recommended to me or why I clicked it, but man, am I glad that I did. I've only heard of a handful of these games, but I was captivated for the whole duration of the video! I wasn't able to follow along when you kind of just left a discussion at "its influential in the genre" without giving specifics of HOW it was influential, but even those times I was confused wasn't enough to take me out of the video - Your enthusiasm is just super contagious. Makes me want to buy a shmup on my switch to give the genre another go, I think Thunder Force has a Sega Ages on there. Any shmup experts in the comments got recommendations for a "beginner shmup" on switch or xbox?
No expert but happy to suggest, if you have a 360, Deathsmiles is IMHO the best beginner shmup and relatively affordable for a physical version (although very quirky in themes). A switch release for Japan has been announced so keep an eye out. Otherwise the sega ages Thunderforce 4 is a great place to start. I recommend to turn on kid mode to begin with (to make your power ups persist between deaths - you can turn it off once youve found your feet) and the option to improve processing - it will keep some of the slowdown in check. Its on special right now. If you have the switch online service, gradius for nes and earth defence forve for snes are free to play, and while not the best are solid enough to at least give you a taste.
It's certainly not the greatest of all time, but Sine Mora EX is a fun and interesting horizontal shoot 'em up and is on Switch and xbox - and best of all it's really cheap, I picked it up on Switch for £10 (physical). If you're interested in Thunder Force IV I would definitely recommend getting it. I haven't played the Switch SegaAges port but the Mega Drive Genesis original is an amazing game - However, if you're a beginner you'll probably find it pretty punishing in the difficulty department!
After watching this video, I feel like I wanted to share my personal top 15 shmups I've played ever since I decided to get into shmups. It took me more than 6 hours to think it think it through so here goes: 15. Raystorm - to me this game is "the most beautiful game I've ever seen since I was a kid". To this day, I still think its beautiful. 14. Crimzon Clover - a very good and well-made shmup. Sadly, I dont love it that much but I do think the game is great and abir boring for me. 13. Darius Gaiden - ohh boy, this game is so atmospheric. I love the artstyle and graphics but I am just not a fan of the shots and tools of this game. 12. Espgaluda - play it!! 11. Ketsui - I love this game but I gotta admit that I am too incompetent for this gem. 10. Sorcer Striker - I dont have much to say aside from that the game feels good. I suck at justifying my opinion. 9. Dodinpachi Daioujou - there is no way I can hate the game. It popularized the "hyper system" which is on of my favorite thing in a shmup. 8. Caladrius Blaze - nothing revolutionary but I like the fact that I am trying to figure out how to maximize my weapon upgrade in this game over scoring. 7. Battle Bakraid - cool weapons, brrrrr. And bombs. 6. Deathsmiles - the game play feels so good. The way the game is made really fits for me. 5. Castle Shikigami 2 - what I love about shmups are the fact that the genre try to create a weapons that works differently. This game feels very rewarding using those weapon. 4. QP Shooting Dangerous - I need more time to explain this game. Its also my 2nd most played shmup. 3. G-Darius - Darius Gaiden but got cooler weapons. Alpha beam is just so satisfying. 2. Trouble Witches - this game is a good definition of resource management. A very cute and satisfying game for me. Its also my first 1 cc. 1. Sora(Suguri 2) - this game very hard for me to describe. It got so many things I love about difficult video games. A very satisfying dash mechanic, an intricate tech, cool weapons and also the most painful game for my hand to play.
Fair metrics. Everyone's will be different. Personally, good old fashioned fun factor will always bear the most weight for me. This is true for me regardless of genre. It's the reason I first fell in love with video games, that addicting desire to just play and have a great time doing it. My favorite genre may be Shootemups, but the song remains the same. No game has to move mountains within a genre to be good or even great IMHO.
I'm surprised there's no Salamander 2 on the list seeing as that's the complete refinement of the gradius formula, but the original gradius is a must play and I'm super happy to see it on here! Everyone should play that !
GunBird 2 was the 1st shmup I ever bought on Dreamcast. Still have it CIB. Glad I got it when it 1st came out back when it wasn't expensive. This list needed more 16 bit though. Happy to see Thunder Force 4. But....
I don't agree with or understand how scoring affects the quality of a shooter, but to each their own. I'm glad to see Darius Gaiden so high up, it is a piece of underrated genius.
It greatly effects the game's long term replay ability and depth. For example players have been spent over a decade playing and pushing their gameplay in titles like Dodonpachi, Ketsui, and Garegga. It's a very important aspect of the genre :-) Maybe I should make a topic video explaining why in more depth though! Stay tuned because there might be one in the sub box this week ha.
@@TheElectricUnderground I know some feel this way, but I do not. I don't have the time for such behavior. Beat the game and move onto another, come back if you can. There's so much content in games and life that I can't fathom that kind of time sink.
Fantastic list and explanation! I already posted a similar comment in LazyDevs channel, but as a new guy trying to get into Shmups recently, I really appreciate this awesome work with all the resources and knowledge you guys put together. In the last weekend I already binge-watched over 2 hrs of your content and guides.
"I don't know what Hellsinker. is" made me laugh so hard, but I'm just happy it even appeared on such a big list! The uniqueness is def a factor that makes it great, but if you start to understand and dissect the elements that builds up this game, you'll understand how well those elements are mixed together and has been executed with care and love. It's one of the great shmup for sure. Very insightful explanation for a lot of shmups as well, great video!
Hellsinker deserves more recognition, I first played it years ago when I was trying lots of different doujin shmups and after half an hour playing I knew I had discovered something really exciting and unique. It felt like an evolution of the shmup formula that combined lots of different elements something I hadn't experienced before or since.
Didn't realise their were so many versions of Dodonpachi, we need more Cave games on Steam it seems. Unpopular opinions perhaps but my personal favourite shoot-em-ups are Galaga (simple, addictive, full of style, still feels fresh to me), Fantasy Zone II W (incredible version of Fantasy Zone with an amazing zen like endless mode), Ikaruga (brutal, beautiful, unique). I need to play more in the genre to be honest!
You put so much work into this video. Congrats. I think my top shmups are Musha, Battle Garegga, Strikers 1945, Dodonpachi, Blazing Star, and Hyper Duel. Soldier Blade would be on that list too, but I never beat it.
Only found your channel kinda recently after getting back into a shmup binge myself, but loving all the shmup content and thank you for making such detailed videos! A few of my favorites that were omitted and I'm sure you've played extensively, but hopefully some other people might try: Twinkle Star Sprites, which I've found extremely fun to introduce to beginners because of how hectic and instantly satisfying it is to play with others, and is even more amazing once you learn it at a deeper level. The game still has a decent competitive scene today. Raiden Fighters series is pretty different from Raiden and has a lot more replayability with the ship variety. I started with that and found the main Raiden series a little more dull to go back to later. RFJ is my personal fav but I know more people are all about RF2. Salamander/Life Force is understandable for not being on since you had Gradius, but it's a massive improvement that mixed things up with the hori/verti combo, introduced so many tropes to the series and genre, and it's an absolutely bonkers product for 1986. I am a big Cave fan, but I was feeling a bit of an overload of their games in this list lol. Great work and love the list though, thanks for going through all of this!
Great list. Im just getting into this stuff now after getting a Satiator and on my widescreen tv the winner on the Sega Saturn platform is Sokyuu Gurentai. Way, way, way better than the rest. Its that 2D meets 3D vergeance and all the things mentioned in the Terra Diver review on this channel - nice one there. Its vertizontal as get a mention here as an obvious and inescapable boon. Its got analogue compatibility too. The black bars and loss of top screen visibility are a slap in the face so all those games even though really cool are handicapped and in a lesser league therefore. I'm actually quite disheartened seeing what is, and what is not now after leaving this genre to my imagination until recently. I may join the Patreon here just to continually harp on about the need to crowd fund the development of Sokyuu Gurentai expansion material. No joke. Its right up there with SFIII as an example of ideal gameplay that was sacrificed at the altar of scummy corporate ignorance and the need to feed the greed for 'the next best thing'. Oh woe betide these days of yore. We dont need to HD fucking everything, thanks. Smooth edges if U must but all one really need to turn sharpness to zero, I say.
The one shmup I consider all time best played, is Big Bang Mini for Nintendo DS, this game has everything you want in a shmup, polish, creative, style, defining, addicting, and down right amazing that it still holds up today. Its controlled all on touch-screen where youre an orb but you dont shoot with buttons or guns or anything, you flick to shoot fireworks to defeat enemies, but when you miss and shoot into empty spaces its explodes droping burning debris having you to avoid your own bullets. But the coolest thing is that it goes far beyond refining the gameplay with various mechanics and gameplay with 9 different locations with style and gerne. Sadly its not as much talked about as other shmups, and I highly recommend you to try it on an emulator for NDS via rom form on PC or mobile, its an underrated masterpiece of a hidden gem for a shmup on NDS that I want people to know more about and play. Play it and you wont regret it. 👍
I personally consider the geometric bullet hell style as a shooter subgenre. Similarly, precision platformers like Celeste are essentially platformers, but are ultimately a derivative of the genre focusing on technical prowess.
I've played half these titles. Love ur picks. I'm an NES nut but love shoot em up games from time to time. I've beaten mushihimesama on ultra mode and ikaruga. Battle Garegga, beaten that as well, im a casual shoot em up fan but love to hear your suggestions. Love your content and keep up the great work.
Great list, the only thing I would have added somewhere is 'In the Hunt', I dont know if it counts as a shmup or not, but its just so unique and beautiful. The other thing I wanted to say, is I much prefer shmups like Strikers 1945 3, Raiden 2, and Battle Garegga or even Gradius V. I dont really like bullet hell games, where all your doing is looking at a screen for the tiny hole inside the giant pink wave of bullets, as well as the million medals that pop out of enemies when they blow up. You kind of zone out and just look at the pink wave. In the games I mentioned, your actually looking at the enemies as they move about the screen, watching their cool animations and explosions. There is more space to move, and the bullets are faster and feel more deadly. Like 5 well placed shots at your ship feels a lot more dangerous then 10 million bullets that half arent even headed in your direction. Also, bullet hells just have a pink dot that comes out of the center or little glowing circle on the enemy. But the other games the enemies actually have guns, that they point at you or rev up, or a port opens up and a turret comes out to shoot at you. I also like how those games the enemies shoot more then just pink dots or blue lines at you, like missiles, rocks that break up into smaller rocks, lasers, giant fists, hooks on chains or other objects, and even terrain obstacles. It just adds to make it feel like your a ship fighting other ships, rather then a dot fighting a magic eye screen. Bullet hell is one genera of shmups, what is the Strikers genera called, I dont know what it is? What kind of shump is that called?
Fantastic list featuring both old and modern SHMUPS! I don't think I can argue with any of the choices listed (even with the honorable mentions). Now I gotta play some of these titles listed that I've never played.
Excellent listing Mark and totally agree with DOJ hitting the top spot. I still adore the Xbox 360 version with the 'laugh out loud' craziness that X Mode brings and of course that insane arrange soundtrack - simply superb!!!
Arcade version of Raiden 2 is TECHNICAL MARBLE for its time,Salamander from Konami have great story and atmosphere,same goes for beautifully made X-Multiply from Irem
As an aside: if there is a tie for second place, the next in line is not 3rd place. It is 4th place, because there are 3 places in front of it: 1, 2, and other 2.
Nice video, thanks for making the effort! Always nice to see such enthusiasm for the genre. I think BWRP would have ranked very high if I were to make a similar list. I know you already reviewed it for your channel, but it's a game whose quality only became apparent to me after spending a bit of time with it. Not very influential and the production values are obviously very limited, but I find many aspects of its core design to be incredibly polished and well thought-out. Super high skill ceiling despite its accessibility, too. In my view, it definitely compares favorably to a lot of professionally developed shmups.
Cheers for the great list, and good metrics provided for your selection. Watched this last night, and definitely some I want to check out as hadn't played before. And i know some of them I will not survive for long, as looked crazy amount of bullets on screen, but for fun give then a play. Honorable mentions from my own all-time favourite shmups; Einhander, Sturmwind, Gynoug, Forgotten Worlds
Amazing video, have watched it so many times. Crimson Clover my favourite, playing it sound up, lights off, big screen TV, is almost a religious experience.
Thanks for this video. I ended up watching the whole thing at 3am lol. Was surprised that no compile games made the cut, but I’m no expert on the subject. But I’m just starting to scratch the surface with more modern stuff. Got a great deal on the original Donpachi and then DOJ. Started messing around with the ps4 Garegga and other various shot triggers stuff. Long road ahead. With this channel and shmup junkie I have a lot of great content to sort through though
Dude. This is the shmup list of joy and dreams! Thanks for taking the time and going into the intricacies of what makes shmups great. You're doing the gaming Lord's work.
I expected you to place Dodonpachi first since you had mentioned previously it was your most played shmup, but it tells a lot about how weighted and objective your rank is. Glad to see Cho ren Sha making the list, it reignited my interest in shoot'em ups when I stumbled upon a Sharp X68000 emulator I think more than 10 years ago. Also Gradius V is one of my very few PS2 games I'd never part from.
For really old shooters, I have a soft spot for Parsec on the TI99/4A. It is a side scroller like Skramble, but has several unique mechanics, including refueling tunnels, overheating lasers, and a speed control.
My favorite shooters are Gate of Thunder and Lords of Thunder. I haven't played too many of these but I love the "Thunder" games more than any of the ones on this list than I've played for sure.
Nice to see some old school love. Xevious was a must-play for me any time I saw it in an arcade. Very unique look, gameplay, and sound for its time. It was just the right amount of challenge for a quarter and felt fair. The only other game I can recall spending so much money on was Dragon Spirit, but I only found that game in one place. I haven’t really followed bullet hell games as an adult gamer but just purchased DDP Resurrection so I’m getting a re-education.
What a great list, and I agree with a lot of the choices here, though on my personal list I would've given great hori shmups like einhander and gradius v more representation. And I'd also include at least one touhou game, Perfect Cherry Blossom must be one of my favorite games of all time
Very good list. All of these games are pretty top notch! I wish you made a video with shmupjunkie so we could get some more console titles included too lol.
Thank you for this blessed video, i have to start all over again bcus of my loss of my systems and handhelds so against thank you and GOD BLESS YOU dude
Thanks for this video, I'm a very casual fan of these type of games and I've always wanted to learn more about the genre, I now have many more games to play and to read about :D Also, the Classic Game Room reference hit me right in the nostalgia. I hope Mark, Derek, and everyone else are doing well.
Since I'm a bit of novice to shmups I would like your (or anyone listening really) take on two games I am going back through right now. 1: Lords of Thunder 2: Einhander I love them both and I know they are not the hardest or most influential. I'm just curious what folks with more experience think of either of these games.
I remember the year Lightening Force came out in the U.S., Electronic Gaming Monthly (or maybe it was GamePro) gave Gate of Thunder its best "shooter" of the year award. Now I love me some Gate of Thunder, but come on.
Now that i think i know what a shmup is, the ones that pop into my mind are: 1: Blueshift: a flash game that has critical bugs these days that im pretty sure werent there in the original version, its in my head the gold standard for what a shmup is because its one of the few memorable ones i have played 2: upgrade complete, another flash game, its definitely really unique but it doesnt have the flair of the above mention 3: im not sure if you would consider bubble tanks a shmup but if you do its definitely the most unique one, and its definitely one of the most fun and aestetically soothing games i have ever played Keep in mind that i only ever really played flash game shmups, and among them bubble tanks (if you count it) is the only one that really holds up edit: i tried playing blueshift again because i was reminded of it and i think the game actually holds up somewhat, although it has many flaws including: some bugs, lag, the movement being hard to control and the way weapon switches work; despite that most of the things that made the game stand out over 10 years ago as a very immersive flashgame are still very reminiscent when i play it now, and a reimagining of this game would probably make for a great shmup game edit: the game seems to lag a lot (which i dont remember being the case originally, maybe it has to do with flash no longer being supported or the game being designed for an older version of flash) you can lower quality in the settings or pause menu which i recommend but doesnt eliminate the lagginess
I genuinely think Ketsui is one of the only things humans have put out that was perfect. It is the single best piece of entertainment I've ever experienced and thats putting it over MASSIVE contenders I have adored for a decade before I even got into Ketsui.
I was originally looking for a video covering the shmup genre in chronological fashion (noting the big releases and talking about their impact on the genre). I kind of stumbled across this video but it was interesting to hear the take of someone that's into this genre and their reasoning. I've never really been into shmups, but I've been trying different things in recent years. I'll admit that when I first started seeing bullet hell shooters, I thought it was a case of the genre having gone too far to the point of ridiculousness, but the observation I've more recently made is that it's more abstract than the old school shooters. With old school shooters it was a case of you have your craft, there are the bad guys, shoot them and avoid getting shot. While not a simulation, it was a more literal depiction of a battle. Bullet hell games on the other hand have certain elements that remind me of a rhythm game. In both you're analysing incoming patterns and need to hit your mark (or gap in the case of the shooter). Rhythm games do seem more simplistic though as you have a limited number of buttons and hitting your mark is pretty much your only objective. With bullet hell games you have the freedom to move anywhere (not currently occupied by an enemy or their fire) and there are other game mechanics, but I couldn't help but notice the similarities.
Radiant Silvergun is a very different game than Ikaruga. Radiant Silvergun is IMO the greatest 2D game of the 32bit generation, right beside SOTN. It's amazing. Complex scoring with gameplay rewards for score and variety. You NEED to play it all the way through.
A little surprised not to see progear on this list! I love the graphic style, scoring system and general gameplay. Probably that einhander and esp ga luder are the 3 games that I feel are missing from this list. But a great list none the less!
One formula I'd love to see more of is what they did with Strike Gunner. That was my first traditional shmup style game and the selectable super weapon before each stage is something I've never seen outside of that game. I'm not as well versed in shmups as you but picking the right weapon for each stage boss will greatly improve clear times. I still love that game to this day on Snes.
31:44 I mean, there's Gomaotsu if you want a CAVE version. Very good list overall. While everyone may have different ways to rank the specific games, we can at least all agree that these games are somewhere in the top. Those 4 metrics at the start of the video are all pretty important, so games that perform well in a combination of those metrics would generally be really good. And for the newcomer, this list will get them up to speed on what are the big names in the genre. Found it strange that Qute wasn't included at all. A lot of people (on Discord at least) sees Qute as one of the most innovative shmup developers today. They try to adapt shmups to the console environment, and do so really well. I haven't played any of their games, but things like bullet trajectory lines in Natsuki Chronicles are amazing quality of life features. I bet Qute will be one of the most influential shmup developers in the coming years.
How could you lump Ikaruga and Radiant Silvergun together, they are two supremely different games, oh man haha! Personally I think bullet hells get too much love, sure they are great shooters but another very important aspect of a shooter is to see and appreciate the environment around you and most of the time bullet hells flood the entire screen so you can't see anything. But either way this is a great list!
They are very different games in execution, but I see them as basically equivalent in terms of greatness :-) I personally prefer silvergun over ikaruga but there s no denying ikaruga s influence
yeah, Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga are my favorite bullet hells as I am not as much of a fan of that subgenre as 80's and 90's traditional horizontal or vertical shmups. Beautiful artwork in the bullet hells are wasted on countless mazes of neon pellets.
these games never get old. but there are some great newer shmups like Söldner X 1+2, Resogun , Sine Mora or Under defeat HD, skyforce annyversary, 1942 Joint Strike, On the PS 3, PS 4 and PC. I love these Games. do you know for the PS1: Airgrave einhaender Gunbird 1+2 raiden DX Raystorm Stahlfeder strikers 1945 1+2 viewpoint etc. These old treasures are still here to play (With Duckstation in 4k).
I have become a big shmup addict with the pass of time. I love and respect your channel bro. Keep up the good work. I was wondering what your thoughts are on U.N. Squadron and whether you think we could see it someday on modern consoles.
Most of the top tier shmups are brutal but I think they're also difficult in a fair way which is what makes them so great. Yeah, they are hard as hell to 1cc but people have done it before and it's a fair challenge.
Deathsmiles is my favorite! Great video! I've played most on your list, but there was always just something about Deathsmiles! very underrated title. GAME ON! :)
Great video as always! And I liked your criteria, indeed a lot of review lists lack any clear criteria or reasoning. I'm looking forward to the Cho Ren Sha review, and hopefully a Hellsinker vid too. It does seem you forgot to put a Touhou game in the top 3, but that's ok, everyone makes mistakes ;)
I should have mentioned this in the beginning of the vid, but touhou was purposely ommited from the list. Not because I don't think they are great, they def are, but because their presence would greatly complicate the list and I'm also not enough of an expert on touhou to accurately place the games. Gonna do a touhou greatest of list at the end of touhou quest though!
great game! But the shmup genre is deep and full of amazing games, many of which there was no space for on this list. I have some big favs that aren't on there as well
I only just got into the schmup genre, and it's literally only because of Truxton, which i used to play on the Genesis with a friend of mine (RIP) when I was a kid. The arcade version is just as good as I remember the Genesis one being. That's what brought me here, as I clearly have a lot of learning to do. 😁
It's nice to see there is a Gigawing "twin", I really liked Gigawing so I'll check it out. That said, I love pulstar (more then R type and I know a lot of players would be upset to hear that), Progear and Blazing star are also top tier games for me. I love the graphics of Neo Geo and Blazing star and Pulstar are great in that aspect and they take it to the limit. I also like Jamestown + a lot for that reason because it's the kind of game I would expect to see on a futuristic and alternative Neo Geo Pro for its day. I'm happy to be one of those that really enjoyed Psikyo shmups too. That said i would also put a Varth in the mix because i had a ton of fun with it. Than there is the Twinbee series that maybe are not among the best but hell how much i enjoyed them. Last words for Steel empire, a bit underated for my point of view but i think it's a good console shmup (incredible but the GBA port was good too because they didn't just downgraded it with zero effort but actually they reworked it to make it run at it's very best with changes to make it feel like it is was born for the GBA)
Im dead serious the best overall is still Carrier Airwing on capcom arcade for me the most underrated Schmup ever and many of my friend had that game as their favourite too. Esp ra de Battle Garegga pulstar einhänder are topnotch ones too . Hyper Duel 👌.
Your #1 choice had me surprised. When it came to the top 3, I called Battle Garegga, followed by Ketsui and when you came to, I wasn't surprised, but my prediction for #1 was Ibara and then you brought out yet another DDP game. Nice list!
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I didn't see another comment with this, so here's all the games that were featured under the "honorable mentions" header, in order. I *think* I've identified them all correctly...
Mahou Daisakusen
Under Defeat
DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou
ESP Ra.De.
Deathsmiles
Ibara
Judgement Silversword
Fire Shark
Muchi Muchi Pork & Pink Sweets
Guwange
Musha Aleste
Progear
RollingGunner
Stellavanity
Battle Traverse
Salamander
eXceed 3rd Jade Penetrate
RefRain Prism Memories
1943 Kai
Metal Black
Fantasy Zone
Sexy Parodius
Nicely done!
@@TheElectricUnderground Do you think Mushihimesama Futari will get a switch port?
Shout out to REFRAIN and UNDER DEFEAT.
@@TheElectricUnderground would love to see a video on just these games. Call it something like “The 31-50th best Shmups of all time.”
Some others I personally enjoyed... AeroBlasters... UN Squadron... Blazing Lasers... RayStorm... Raiden Legacy... Galaga Legions
just throwing in my two cents, the touhou franchise in general deserves an honorable mention, I consider it a great developer success story. Its introduced many a newcomer to the bullet hell genre and its impact on pop culture is huge! The way the license was handled saw many a derivative work based on the main IP contributing to its wide spread fame.
Yes I m doing a separate touhou list, because including it in the arcade list would be very complicated
my god.. I began searching for a shmup not even knowing the name of the genre. ended up watching all 50 minutes.
the amount of work and dedication you put into this is insane. I guess this is what other people see when I nerd out on my favorite topics XD
you have earned my sub, well done sir.
Hey that's awesome!!! I'm glad you enjoyed the video :-D
Yes, instant sub from me. This was very well done. I was actually searching for a "greatest bullet hell shmups of all time" list so I'm hoping you do put that out at some point
Mark, you alone are doing more good for the genre than the whole youtube ever has!
:-D I'll try my best to live up to this praise :-)
That s right
Praise Mark indeed, our very own mayor.
IGN- Too many bullets 6/10
IGN are the best shmup reviewers ever, they understand the genre at a depth the rest of us can only scratch at
IGN -- The best shmup ever is Horizon Zero Dawn 2: Revenge of the Potato-faced Monster
Cave: I don’t understand
Lmao 😂
Their 100 greatest games ever list is 95% shmups no cap
I like Shmups, but I can only really play Vulgus, Xevious, and the early 1940 titles because everything else just hurts my eyes after 15-20 minutes.
Layer Section / Rayforce is my favourite shooter of all time. Glad to see it on this list
Thunder Force to start the list? Followed by Truxton? Bro have a like.
You have made a super list!
The music in Squadron btw 🤩 it was my first shmup
When author says: "Get PS4 version, this is very accessible" for Battle Garegga and Ketsui, I just want to correct that it is not true for us in Europe where these games are not available on PS Store. These two game are very hard to get as one can only purchase them physically (import) and prices go way way above 150USD (not including shipping and VAT!).
A passing of the Truxton torch from Old CGR Mark to Young MSX Mark. I never thought I'd see the day.
Yes! I will take good care of it! :-D
Solid and well explained list. The only place I'd significantly differ is it not having any representation from Compile, one of THE definitive devs of the late 80s through mid-90s. Even aside from the Aleste, Nac & Spriggan series, the TurboGrafx-16 was launched with Blazing Lazers as a marquee title. That by itself kind of gives them more presence/mindshare/influence/prominence what have you than something like Shikigami or Hellsinker. And between Gun-Nac/Zanac, Power Strike II and GG Aleste 2, their black magic pushed 8-bit hardware further than any other STG developer could manage, at least with that sort of consistency. They definitely earned some sort of presence on an all-time list.
Yeah I thought a lot about this, I considered adding one in along side thunder force 4, but wasn t sure exactly which title deserved to be along side thunder, but yeah compile is probably more deserving then castle ha, but I thought it would be fun to include castle. Should have worked a compile in there some where, hard to know what to cut though.
@@TheElectricUnderground The answer is simple, do a top 35 :)
I finally got my hands on Thunderforce VI on PS2 from Japan. It's a crime that this game never got localized in North America
Feel the same way bro.
I usually roll my eyes at this type of video but not only was it well researched and explained, it also had a clear metric- this was great! Fantastic work as usual!
Yeah I tried my best to make this list more meaningful, especially since there isn't much of this info about shmups on youtube right now :-)
It was good to see Tatsujin on your list, still my favorite Toaplan game. Maybe not as much the mega drive version as it lost some of that unapologetic rawness, but likely for the best given it was for console and more accessible. The PCE port was straight take no prisoners from stage 1 like the arcade. I love the music and the continuous nature, where the stages flow into each other as if one long game, so it keeps you in the zone. And when you beat it, it just goes right back into loop 2 without skipping a beat. I've purposefully held out playing the second since the M2 port is supposedly coming, but I've heard the stories of it's merciless nature haha. The first one was already impossible enough.
For Gradius, if I had to choose just one it would be the second. It's as pure as the original with the same gameplay, only it still holds up with more creativity and upped visuals versus the original which was very basic given it's age. It's still the one I play the most. V is great too of course I like it too, but it's almost it's own great game with the same name.
Yeah I agree about Gradius 5! It s a treasure game so it does a lot of it s own ideas ha. As far as the konami releases, Gradius gaiden might be my fav of the series, Gradius 2 is also really up there for me too!
@@TheElectricUnderground Gradius Galaxies is my favorite after V.
Both of your channels are something I've been hoping would pop up on here eventually, glad to see shmups finally getting good, serious dedicated channels with such informed content and frequent upload schedules! To both TEU and Shmup Junkie, you two are extremely appreciated and were sorely lacking, here's hoping both your channels will have a great future ahead of them, I'm a massive fan already!
PS: Tatsujin/Truxton is also my favorite Toaplan game, but I confess that has much more to do with the fact that it was my first ever shmup (as well as the only Mega Drive game I owned for ~8 months or so... unless you count Rise of the Robots as a game, but don't fooled by that narrative, it's clearly an instrument of torture) than anything else. I know Batsugun is the better game, but Truxton and Fire Shark have a special place in my heart for getting there first!
@@DiarrheaIsFun Thank you. And not to mention Tatsujin also had some pretty epic music, my fav tunes they ever made alongside zero wing.
Gradius II is definitely my favorite Gradius, especially on the PCE CD. I also prefer R-Type III over the original. Given its lineage, I personally like Gate of Thunder over its Thunderforce forefathers.
I feel like a weirdo in that ESPGaluda is my favorite Cave game, followed by Dangun Feveron. Mushihimesama and Dodonpachi are great, but ESPGaluda is just a jam for me.
The Psikyo stuff (which I do like) has never bern in my favorites. My favorite Psikyo game is still Lode Runner: The Dig Fight (which has no business being mentioned on a shooter video I suppose).
Finally, a youtuber that acknowledged the raiden series. Sometimes i found some channels that reviewed raiden as just another shmups. Bitch, back then if you go to any arcade everywhere you will always find a raiden cabinet. It stays as one of the longest available arcade games way past its glory time.
As a new player of shmups this list gives me a lot to look into--thank you!
Mission accomplished!
@@TheElectricUnderground 😊
I think Galaga should have been on this list because of the unique powerup method of letting the enemy capture your ship and when you free the captured ship you get double the firepower. Definitely a unique mechanic imo. Also, Darius Burst Chronicle Saviors should have been on this list especially when you consider all the DLC that contains ships from many of the games on your list and special stages for those ships, that alone makes it unique. Death Smiles should have been on the list as well. And I think Thunder Force IV should have been higher, again imo. Otherwise great list and good job.
From your list I only know Raiden, Gradius, and R-Type. Even though I was not that good at playing shmups I remember spending hours at the arcade and convenience store playing Tiger Heli and Raiden. I miss those days!
Oh awesome!! Keep an eye out for the tiger heli release from m2
Let's share your favourites, guys
For my list:
25. Sentimental Shooting
24. Cube Colossus
23. Sound Shooting
22. Tyrian
21. Parsec 47
20. Sispri Gauntlet
19. Samidare
18. Diadra Empty
17. Darius Gaiden
16. Refrain
15. Thunder Force V
14. Sengoku Ace 2
13. Dragon Blaze
12. ExCeed 1-2-3
11. Crimzon Clover
10. Galshel/Yakouga/Miku Spiral
9. Batsugun
8. Ikaruga
7. Trouble Witches
6. Genetis
5. Reflex
4. Hellsinker
3. Blazing Star/Satazius
2. Touhou Thousand Night Anamnesis
1. Ether Vapor
Shikigami series has some of the coolest weapons of all time. When I first saw that tri-directional rotating light saber… immediately thought this development team should have made a Star Wars game. I think the best Star Wars game of all time, would be a multi genre game.
Overworld universe map, plenty of open world exploration, some hack and slash beat ‘em up stages, of course plenty of 3rd person pod/forest races, 3rd person flight, and of course some shmup stages with flying jedi’s like shikigami … and some spaceship shmup stages before the enemies defenses are penetrated, and the boss/Vader fights switch into 3d flight/shooter type.
It's really interesting how much the graphical style of the DDP series has changed during CAVEs history, from Toaplan - style cartoony to dark and militaristic to flashy and candy-colored. And I agree, I like the DOJ style the most, along with Ketsui and Garegga. I love the bright colors in Futari, but it always felt out of place to me in DFK and SDOJ, they never really had that dodonpachi vibe to me. Hard to explain.
I agree 100% I like the ddp / doj graphical style a lot more
Great list, the biggest omission in my mind is a hudson/compile game, whether its Starforce/Soldier and zanac/Aleste. Its a shame their influence in the shooter genre was overlooked.
Yeah I agree, looking back the two biggest snubs were compile and eschatos. Should have gone for 32 greatest shmups maybe ha.
even though its in no way influential, it was polished for a 1992 game, I absolutely love Soldier BLade. Not only is the game fantastic, it has a pretty good caravan mode too which was competitive gaming for shmup fans before competitive gaming and esports got big.
Xevious is of those under-rated games that I'm glad to see on the list. Even today there is something compulsive about it. If you want a really good port then check out Xevious 3D/G++ on PS1. It has a modern isometric version of the game as the main attraction but for me the best thing about the disc is that it has Xevious, Super Xevious and Xevious Arrangement too - all 3 with TATE modes, highscore tracking , and dip switch options.
Loved every minute of this video. Wished you'd showed even more love to horizontal shmups. Einhander, R Type Delta, and Raiden 2 are my favorite shmups of all time.
Had some great hori in the honorable mentions :-) Deathsmiles, rolling gunner, battle traverse :-)
Radiant Silvergun is one of my personal favorites!
I like the idea of the player ship, or the Silvergun in the case of the game, that starts out with a plethora of different weapons that start out weak but get stronger as you play via getting a score multiplier with the Silvergun's many weapons!
You skipped Blazing Lazers
Fantastic list, and this is coming from someone whose preferences (horizontal shooters from right before the bullet hell mechanics started to be the norm) are diametrically opposed. I love how much thought and care went into each presentation and how you clearly are speaking from love and experience about each and every title.
Thank you very much my friend!!
Rewatching some of your old videos. 47:59 “the only issue with DOJ is that it lacks a definitive release”. So excited that this is about to be fixed!!
I don't know whether it was necessarily very influential, but UPL's Omega Fighter (from 1989) has both continuous fire (no tapping) and a "special" version that's more focused on scoring. It also has a fairly good scoring system for 1989, based around point blanking enemies.
I love how you are giving very specific reasons for your ranking, especially the influence of each game.
Shikigami No Shiro and Cho Ren Sha were one of the first shmups I ever played, almost forgot about them!
Oh wow, and Darius Gaiden. Such a fascinating game, and has aged incredibly!
Also, I had no idea EPIC FAIL originated from Blazing Star. Holy shit.
Ha yeah it s pretty great it influenced the wider world
I feel like a Touhou game really deserved to be on the list if one of the criteria is how much influence it has on shmup players (also several of them are just damn good games). Then again, most of the games on the lost are pretty great so whatever.
I forgot to mention in the vid that touhou would be excluded from the list, not because I don't think they are quality games, but because I think they greatly complicate the list and I plan to instead make a separate touhou list in the future, since the series is so massive, well-known, and expansive.
Are there any Touhou games I could get on current gen PlayStation? I'm just curious and trying to get into this genre
I've never managed to actually finish a shmup before (the farthest I've got is like the 4th stage in Radiant Silvergun lol), so I have no idea how this got recommended to me or why I clicked it, but man, am I glad that I did. I've only heard of a handful of these games, but I was captivated for the whole duration of the video! I wasn't able to follow along when you kind of just left a discussion at "its influential in the genre" without giving specifics of HOW it was influential, but even those times I was confused wasn't enough to take me out of the video - Your enthusiasm is just super contagious. Makes me want to buy a shmup on my switch to give the genre another go, I think Thunder Force has a Sega Ages on there. Any shmup experts in the comments got recommendations for a "beginner shmup" on switch or xbox?
No expert but happy to suggest, if you have a 360, Deathsmiles is IMHO the best beginner shmup and relatively affordable for a physical version (although very quirky in themes). A switch release for Japan has been announced so keep an eye out. Otherwise the sega ages Thunderforce 4 is a great place to start. I recommend to turn on kid mode to begin with (to make your power ups persist between deaths - you can turn it off once youve found your feet) and the option to improve processing - it will keep some of the slowdown in check. Its on special right now.
If you have the switch online service, gradius for nes and earth defence forve for snes are free to play, and while not the best are solid enough to at least give you a taste.
It's certainly not the greatest of all time, but Sine Mora EX is a fun and interesting horizontal shoot 'em up and is on Switch and xbox - and best of all it's really cheap, I picked it up on Switch for £10 (physical).
If you're interested in Thunder Force IV I would definitely recommend getting it. I haven't played the Switch SegaAges port but the Mega Drive Genesis original is an amazing game - However, if you're a beginner you'll probably find it pretty punishing in the difficulty department!
After watching this video, I feel like I wanted to share my personal top 15 shmups I've played ever since I decided to get into shmups. It took me more than 6 hours to think it think it through so here goes:
15. Raystorm - to me this game is "the most beautiful game I've ever seen since I was a kid". To this day, I still think its beautiful.
14. Crimzon Clover - a very good and well-made shmup. Sadly, I dont love it that much but I do think the game is great and abir boring for me.
13. Darius Gaiden - ohh boy, this game is so atmospheric. I love the artstyle and graphics but I am just not a fan of the shots and tools of this game.
12. Espgaluda - play it!!
11. Ketsui - I love this game but I gotta admit that I am too incompetent for this gem.
10. Sorcer Striker - I dont have much to say aside from that the game feels good. I suck at justifying my opinion.
9. Dodinpachi Daioujou - there is no way I can hate the game. It popularized the "hyper system" which is on of my favorite thing in a shmup.
8. Caladrius Blaze - nothing revolutionary but I like the fact that I am trying to figure out how to maximize my weapon upgrade in this game over scoring.
7. Battle Bakraid - cool weapons, brrrrr. And bombs.
6. Deathsmiles - the game play feels so good. The way the game is made really fits for me.
5. Castle Shikigami 2 - what I love about shmups are the fact that the genre try to create a weapons that works differently. This game feels very rewarding using those weapon.
4. QP Shooting Dangerous - I need more time to explain this game. Its also my 2nd most played shmup.
3. G-Darius - Darius Gaiden but got cooler weapons. Alpha beam is just so satisfying.
2. Trouble Witches - this game is a good definition of resource management. A very cute and satisfying game for me. Its also my first 1 cc.
1. Sora(Suguri 2) - this game very hard for me to describe. It got so many things I love about difficult video games. A very satisfying dash mechanic, an intricate tech, cool weapons and also the most painful game for my hand to play.
Great list!
Fair metrics. Everyone's will be different. Personally, good old fashioned fun factor will always bear the most weight for me. This is true for me regardless of genre. It's the reason I first fell in love with video games, that addicting desire to just play and have a great time doing it. My favorite genre may be Shootemups, but the song remains the same. No game has to move mountains within a genre to be good or even great IMHO.
I'm surprised there's no Salamander 2 on the list seeing as that's the complete refinement of the gradius formula, but the original gradius is a must play and I'm super happy to see it on here! Everyone should play that !
it made it on the honor mentions though!
Whoa, wasn't expecting that #1 actually. It's my most-played shmup by far so I whole-heartedly agree!
Yes DOJ is a masterpiece!
GunBird 2 was the 1st shmup I ever bought on Dreamcast. Still have it CIB. Glad I got it when it 1st came out back when it wasn't expensive. This list needed more 16 bit though. Happy to see Thunder Force 4. But....
I don't agree with or understand how scoring affects the quality of a shooter, but to each their own. I'm glad to see Darius Gaiden so high up, it is a piece of underrated genius.
It greatly effects the game's long term replay ability and depth. For example players have been spent over a decade playing and pushing their gameplay in titles like Dodonpachi, Ketsui, and Garegga. It's a very important aspect of the genre :-) Maybe I should make a topic video explaining why in more depth though! Stay tuned because there might be one in the sub box this week ha.
@@TheElectricUnderground I know some feel this way, but I do not. I don't have the time for such behavior. Beat the game and move onto another, come back if you can. There's so much content in games and life that I can't fathom that kind of time sink.
mahou daisakusen still holds up as one of best Raizing shmups, and that one has zero scoring elements
Same tbh, I am the kind of survival player with the last objective of playing games is to simply beat them on the highest difficulties.
Fantastic list and explanation! I already posted a similar comment in LazyDevs channel, but as a new guy trying to get into Shmups recently, I really appreciate this awesome work with all the resources and knowledge you guys put together. In the last weekend I already binge-watched over 2 hrs of your content and guides.
That s fantastic my friend! I love to hear that and stay tuned because this weekend is finally the Gunvein release!!
For me , bullet hells are way less creative than games that create other kinds of difficulties
"I don't know what Hellsinker. is" made me laugh so hard, but I'm just happy it even appeared on such a big list!
The uniqueness is def a factor that makes it great, but if you start to understand and dissect the elements that builds up this game, you'll understand how well those elements are mixed together and has been executed with care and love. It's one of the great shmup for sure.
Very insightful explanation for a lot of shmups as well, great video!
Ha I m glad you enjoyed it! I m really looking forward to doing a dedicated hellsinker vid soon
Hellsinker deserves more recognition, I first played it years ago when I was trying lots of different doujin shmups and after half an hour playing I knew I had discovered something really exciting and unique. It felt like an evolution of the shmup formula that combined lots of different elements something I hadn't experienced before or since.
Didn't realise their were so many versions of Dodonpachi, we need more Cave games on Steam it seems.
Unpopular opinions perhaps but my personal favourite shoot-em-ups are Galaga (simple, addictive, full of style, still feels fresh to me), Fantasy Zone II W (incredible version of Fantasy Zone with an amazing zen like endless mode), Ikaruga (brutal, beautiful, unique). I need to play more in the genre to be honest!
You put so much work into this video. Congrats. I think my top shmups are Musha, Battle Garegga, Strikers 1945, Dodonpachi, Blazing Star, and Hyper Duel. Soldier Blade would be on that list too, but I never beat it.
Thanks my dude!!!!! Yes all killer titles.
Only found your channel kinda recently after getting back into a shmup binge myself, but loving all the shmup content and thank you for making such detailed videos!
A few of my favorites that were omitted and I'm sure you've played extensively, but hopefully some other people might try:
Twinkle Star Sprites, which I've found extremely fun to introduce to beginners because of how hectic and instantly satisfying it is to play with others, and is even more amazing once you learn it at a deeper level. The game still has a decent competitive scene today.
Raiden Fighters series is pretty different from Raiden and has a lot more replayability with the ship variety. I started with that and found the main Raiden series a little more dull to go back to later. RFJ is my personal fav but I know more people are all about RF2.
Salamander/Life Force is understandable for not being on since you had Gradius, but it's a massive improvement that mixed things up with the hori/verti combo, introduced so many tropes to the series and genre, and it's an absolutely bonkers product for 1986.
I am a big Cave fan, but I was feeling a bit of an overload of their games in this list lol. Great work and love the list though, thanks for going through all of this!
I'm really glad to hear that! I'm always happy to hear when people are getting back into the genre :D
Great list. Im just getting into this stuff now after getting a Satiator and on my widescreen tv the winner on the Sega Saturn platform is Sokyuu Gurentai. Way, way, way better than the rest. Its that 2D meets 3D vergeance and all the things mentioned in the Terra Diver review on this channel - nice one there. Its vertizontal as get a mention here as an obvious and inescapable boon. Its got analogue compatibility too. The black bars and loss of top screen visibility are a slap in the face so all those games even though really cool are handicapped and in a lesser league therefore. I'm actually quite disheartened seeing what is, and what is not now after leaving this genre to my imagination until recently. I may join the Patreon here just to continually harp on about the need to crowd fund the development of Sokyuu Gurentai expansion material. No joke. Its right up there with SFIII as an example of ideal gameplay that was sacrificed at the altar of scummy corporate ignorance and the need to feed the greed for 'the next best thing'. Oh woe betide these days of yore. We dont need to HD fucking everything, thanks. Smooth edges if U must but all one really need to turn sharpness to zero, I say.
The one shmup I consider all time best played, is Big Bang Mini for Nintendo DS, this game has everything you want in a shmup, polish, creative, style, defining, addicting, and down right amazing that it still holds up today. Its controlled all on touch-screen where youre an orb but you dont shoot with buttons or guns or anything, you flick to shoot fireworks to defeat enemies, but when you miss and shoot into empty spaces its explodes droping burning debris having you to avoid your own bullets. But the coolest thing is that it goes far beyond refining the gameplay with various mechanics and gameplay with 9 different locations with style and gerne. Sadly its not as much talked about as other shmups, and I highly recommend you to try it on an emulator for NDS via rom form on PC or mobile, its an underrated masterpiece of a hidden gem for a shmup on NDS that I want people to know more about and play. Play it and you wont regret it. 👍
I personally consider the geometric bullet hell style as a shooter subgenre.
Similarly, precision platformers like Celeste are essentially platformers, but are ultimately a derivative of the genre focusing on technical prowess.
I've played half these titles. Love ur picks. I'm an NES nut but love shoot em up games from time to time. I've beaten mushihimesama on ultra mode and ikaruga. Battle Garegga, beaten that as well, im a casual shoot em up fan but love to hear your suggestions. Love your content and keep up the great work.
Great list, the only thing I would have added somewhere is 'In the Hunt', I dont know if it counts as a shmup or not, but its just so unique and beautiful.
The other thing I wanted to say, is I much prefer shmups like Strikers 1945 3, Raiden 2, and Battle Garegga or even Gradius V. I dont really like bullet hell games, where all your doing is looking at a screen for the tiny hole inside the giant pink wave of bullets, as well as the million medals that pop out of enemies when they blow up. You kind of zone out and just look at the pink wave. In the games I mentioned, your actually looking at the enemies as they move about the screen, watching their cool animations and explosions. There is more space to move, and the bullets are faster and feel more deadly. Like 5 well placed shots at your ship feels a lot more dangerous then 10 million bullets that half arent even headed in your direction. Also, bullet hells just have a pink dot that comes out of the center or little glowing circle on the enemy. But the other games the enemies actually have guns, that they point at you or rev up, or a port opens up and a turret comes out to shoot at you. I also like how those games the enemies shoot more then just pink dots or blue lines at you, like missiles, rocks that break up into smaller rocks, lasers, giant fists, hooks on chains or other objects, and even terrain obstacles. It just adds to make it feel like your a ship fighting other ships, rather then a dot fighting a magic eye screen.
Bullet hell is one genera of shmups, what is the Strikers genera called, I dont know what it is? What kind of shump is that called?
@@thewoopmaster7972 Cool thanks!
Fantastic list featuring both old and modern SHMUPS! I don't think I can argue with any of the choices listed (even with the honorable mentions).
Now I gotta play some of these titles listed that I've never played.
One additional historical point: Mushi was not the first STG to have a difficulty select available to the player. Raiden DX (1994) also has this
Excellent listing Mark and totally agree with DOJ hitting the top spot. I still adore the Xbox 360 version with the 'laugh out loud' craziness that X Mode brings and of course that insane arrange soundtrack - simply superb!!!
X mode is silly fun, and yes the 360 arrange music is incredible!
Arcade version of Raiden 2 is TECHNICAL MARBLE for its time,Salamander from Konami have great story and atmosphere,same goes for beautifully made X-Multiply from Irem
Loved seeing Truxton and Ikaruga. Missed R-Type Delta and the one, the only, Einhander! Love the channel!
Type Delta is top of the line
No Einhander or Radiant Silvergun! lol wtf
As an aside: if there is a tie for second place, the next in line is not 3rd place. It is 4th place, because there are 3 places in front of it: 1, 2, and other 2.
You would think, but not on this list! The ties exist as a placing split in half :-) I have that power XD
Nice video, thanks for making the effort! Always nice to see such enthusiasm for the genre.
I think BWRP would have ranked very high if I were to make a similar list. I know you already reviewed it for your channel, but it's a game whose quality only became apparent to me after spending a bit of time with it. Not very influential and the production values are obviously very limited, but I find many aspects of its core design to be incredibly polished and well thought-out. Super high skill ceiling despite its accessibility, too. In my view, it definitely compares favorably to a lot of professionally developed shmups.
Cheers for the great list, and good metrics provided for your selection. Watched this last night, and definitely some I want to check out as hadn't played before. And i know some of them I will not survive for long, as looked crazy amount of bullets on screen, but for fun give then a play.
Honorable mentions from my own all-time favourite shmups;
Einhander, Sturmwind, Gynoug, Forgotten Worlds
Amazing video, have watched it so many times. Crimson Clover my favourite, playing it sound up, lights off, big screen TV, is almost a religious experience.
Thanks for this video. I ended up watching the whole thing at 3am lol. Was surprised that no compile games made the cut, but I’m no expert on the subject. But I’m just starting to scratch the surface with more modern stuff. Got a great deal on the original Donpachi and then DOJ. Started messing around with the ps4 Garegga and other various shot triggers stuff. Long road ahead. With this channel and shmup junkie I have a lot of great content to sort through though
I'm so glad you included Darius Gaiden- there's something cool about the style of that game.
Darius Gaiden and R-Type Delta, such great games of that era
Unforgettable music in Darius Gaiden. By the Zuntata group, In-house to Taito
@@darkrideartsYup! Love em both.
@@sfbsfb I like the G Darius soundtrack just a little bit more but both have an incredible and unique soundtrack.
Dude. This is the shmup list of joy and dreams! Thanks for taking the time and going into the intricacies of what makes shmups great. You're doing the gaming Lord's work.
I'm really glad you like the list! I did feel like it was really important to put out as many people don't even know these games exist ha.
Thanks for bringing Crimzon Clover World EXplosion to my attention !
No problem!!
I expected you to place Dodonpachi first since you had mentioned previously it was your most played shmup, but it tells a lot about how weighted and objective your rank is. Glad to see Cho ren Sha making the list, it reignited my interest in shoot'em ups when I stumbled upon a Sharp X68000 emulator I think more than 10 years ago. Also Gradius V is one of my very few PS2 games I'd never part from.
Yes, I tried my best not to make this "mark's favorite 30 shmups" list ha.
For really old shooters, I have a soft spot for Parsec on the TI99/4A. It is a side scroller like Skramble, but has several unique mechanics, including refueling tunnels, overheating lasers, and a speed control.
My favorite shooters are Gate of Thunder and Lords of Thunder. I haven't played too many of these but I love the "Thunder" games more than any of the ones on this list than I've played for sure.
It hurts deeply to see a list like this with no Lords of Thunder, but I have the absolute utmost respect for your genre expertise
Lords of thunder is rad, but the genre is so deep that there are a lot of really great shmups not on the list
Nice to see some old school love. Xevious was a must-play for me any time I saw it in an arcade. Very unique look, gameplay, and sound for its time. It was just the right amount of challenge for a quarter and felt fair.
The only other game I can recall spending so much money on was Dragon Spirit, but I only found that game in one place.
I haven’t really followed bullet hell games as an adult gamer but just purchased DDP Resurrection so I’m getting a re-education.
What a great list, and I agree with a lot of the choices here, though on my personal list I would've given great hori shmups like einhander and gradius v more representation. And I'd also include at least one touhou game, Perfect Cherry Blossom must be one of my favorite games of all time
As a game design student you really helped out man
I'm glad to hear it!
Very good list. All of these games are pretty top notch!
I wish you made a video with shmupjunkie so we could get some more console titles included too lol.
Thank you for this blessed video, i have to start all over again bcus of my loss of my systems and handhelds so against thank you and GOD BLESS YOU dude
Nice list, I would love to see which platforms are recommended to buy and play at current times.
some of these are more bullet hell than shoot em up but very good video
Thanks for this video, I'm a very casual fan of these type of games and I've always wanted to learn more about the genre, I now have many more games to play and to read about :D
Also, the Classic Game Room reference hit me right in the nostalgia. I hope Mark, Derek, and everyone else are doing well.
Actually Mark brought back Classic Game Room and has been doing new episodes.
Thunder Force IV is my favourite game ever. Love it.
WHAT NO (Dangun Feveron) I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU FORGOT THAT ONE
Gonna review it this month though :-)
Since I'm a bit of novice to shmups I would like your (or anyone listening really) take on two games I am going back through right now.
1: Lords of Thunder
2: Einhander
I love them both and I know they are not the hardest or most influential. I'm just curious what folks with more experience think of either of these games.
Yes gonna cover einhander soon!
I remember the year Lightening Force came out in the U.S., Electronic Gaming Monthly (or maybe it was GamePro) gave Gate of Thunder its best "shooter" of the year award. Now I love me some Gate of Thunder, but come on.
Now that i think i know what a shmup is, the ones that pop into my mind are:
1: Blueshift: a flash game that has critical bugs these days that im pretty sure werent there in the original version, its in my head the gold standard for what a shmup is because its one of the few memorable ones i have played
2: upgrade complete, another flash game, its definitely really unique but it doesnt have the flair of the above mention
3: im not sure if you would consider bubble tanks a shmup but if you do its definitely the most unique one, and its definitely one of the most fun and aestetically soothing games i have ever played
Keep in mind that i only ever really played flash game shmups, and among them bubble tanks (if you count it) is the only one that really holds up
edit:
i tried playing blueshift again because i was reminded of it and i think the game actually holds up somewhat, although it has many flaws including: some bugs, lag, the movement being hard to control and the way weapon switches work; despite that most of the things that made the game stand out over 10 years ago as a very immersive flashgame are still very reminiscent when i play it now, and a reimagining of this game would probably make for a great shmup game
edit: the game seems to lag a lot (which i dont remember being the case originally, maybe it has to do with flash no longer being supported or the game being designed for an older version of flash) you can lower quality in the settings or pause menu which i recommend but doesnt eliminate the lagginess
I genuinely think Ketsui is one of the only things humans have put out that was perfect. It is the single best piece of entertainment I've ever experienced and thats putting it over MASSIVE contenders I have adored for a decade before I even got into Ketsui.
Awesome video. Love the genre even though I'm not great at them. One not on the list that I absolutely love is Lords of Thunder.
Yeah that s a really cool one! Lots of amazing shmups couldn't make the list, the quality of the genre is really deep
I was originally looking for a video covering the shmup genre in chronological fashion (noting the big releases and talking about their impact on the genre). I kind of stumbled across this video but it was interesting to hear the take of someone that's into this genre and their reasoning.
I've never really been into shmups, but I've been trying different things in recent years. I'll admit that when I first started seeing bullet hell shooters, I thought it was a case of the genre having gone too far to the point of ridiculousness, but the observation I've more recently made is that it's more abstract than the old school shooters.
With old school shooters it was a case of you have your craft, there are the bad guys, shoot them and avoid getting shot. While not a simulation, it was a more literal depiction of a battle. Bullet hell games on the other hand have certain elements that remind me of a rhythm game. In both you're analysing incoming patterns and need to hit your mark (or gap in the case of the shooter). Rhythm games do seem more simplistic though as you have a limited number of buttons and hitting your mark is pretty much your only objective. With bullet hell games you have the freedom to move anywhere (not currently occupied by an enemy or their fire) and there are other game mechanics, but I couldn't help but notice the similarities.
Radiant Silvergun is a very different game than Ikaruga. Radiant Silvergun is IMO the greatest 2D game of the 32bit generation, right beside SOTN. It's amazing. Complex scoring with gameplay rewards for score and variety. You NEED to play it all the way through.
I was coming here to post this. Radiant Silvergun is a masterpiece and it's by far my favourite shmup ever.
Yeah it was weird to put it besides Ikaruga since they are pretty different. Both masterpieces in their own right
A little surprised not to see progear on this list! I love the graphic style, scoring system and general gameplay. Probably that einhander and esp ga luder are the 3 games that I feel are missing from this list. But a great list none the less!
Progear is gorgeous. I need to play it more
One formula I'd love to see more of is what they did with Strike Gunner. That was my first traditional shmup style game and the selectable super weapon before each stage is something I've never seen outside of that game. I'm not as well versed in shmups as you but picking the right weapon for each stage boss will greatly improve clear times. I still love that game to this day on Snes.
31:44 I mean, there's Gomaotsu if you want a CAVE version.
Very good list overall. While everyone may have different ways to rank the specific games, we can at least all agree that these games are somewhere in the top. Those 4 metrics at the start of the video are all pretty important, so games that perform well in a combination of those metrics would generally be really good. And for the newcomer, this list will get them up to speed on what are the big names in the genre.
Found it strange that Qute wasn't included at all. A lot of people (on Discord at least) sees Qute as one of the most innovative shmup developers today. They try to adapt shmups to the console environment, and do so really well. I haven't played any of their games, but things like bullet trajectory lines in Natsuki Chronicles are amazing quality of life features. I bet Qute will be one of the most influential shmup developers in the coming years.
Yeah qute probably needed an inclusion somewhere, I would have gone with eschatos.
Mushihimesama was my first 1cc game. Very nice for people who want to start on the genre.
absolutely! The modes are really great for that too, like novice maniac.
How could you lump Ikaruga and Radiant Silvergun together, they are two supremely different games, oh man haha!
Personally I think bullet hells get too much love, sure they are great shooters but another very important aspect of a shooter is to see and appreciate the environment around you and most of the time bullet hells flood the entire screen so you can't see anything.
But either way this is a great list!
They are very different games in execution, but I see them as basically equivalent in terms of greatness :-) I personally prefer silvergun over ikaruga but there s no denying ikaruga s influence
yeah, Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga are my favorite bullet hells as I am not as much of a fan of that subgenre as 80's and 90's traditional horizontal or vertical shmups. Beautiful artwork in the bullet hells are wasted on countless mazes of neon pellets.
these games never get old. but there are some great newer shmups like Söldner X 1+2, Resogun , Sine Mora or Under defeat HD, skyforce annyversary, 1942 Joint Strike, On the PS 3, PS 4 and PC. I love these Games.
do you know for the PS1:
Airgrave
einhaender
Gunbird 1+2
raiden DX
Raystorm
Stahlfeder
strikers 1945 1+2
viewpoint
etc.
These old treasures are still here to play (With Duckstation in 4k).
I have become a big shmup addict with the pass of time. I love and respect your channel bro. Keep up the good work. I was wondering what your thoughts are on U.N. Squadron and whether you think we could see it someday on modern consoles.
Glad to hear it!!! U N squad is awesome! Probably won't see a port anytime soon though since it s a license if an anime or something
Good old mark. I’d be bored without him! ❤️
Yes three cheers for Marcus Stephenson Xavier delivering without fail. I have no idea if that's his real name but I'm going with it anyways.
Most of the top tier shmups are brutal but I think they're also difficult in a fair way which is what makes them so great. Yeah, they are hard as hell to 1cc but people have done it before and it's a fair challenge.
Deathsmiles is my favorite! Great video! I've played most on your list, but there was always just something about Deathsmiles! very underrated title. GAME ON! :)
Yes deathsmiles is a personal fav of mine as well!
Great video as always! And I liked your criteria, indeed a lot of review lists lack any clear criteria or reasoning. I'm looking forward to the Cho Ren Sha review, and hopefully a Hellsinker vid too.
It does seem you forgot to put a Touhou game in the top 3, but that's ok, everyone makes mistakes ;)
I should have mentioned this in the beginning of the vid, but touhou was purposely ommited from the list. Not because I don't think they are great, they def are, but because their presence would greatly complicate the list and I'm also not enough of an expert on touhou to accurately place the games. Gonna do a touhou greatest of list at the end of touhou quest though!
No complaints here! Long live shmups!
No Zero Wing !? The intro alone makes it a classic, and it has one of the best soundtracks ever.
great game! But the shmup genre is deep and full of amazing games, many of which there was no space for on this list. I have some big favs that aren't on there as well
I only just got into the schmup genre, and it's literally only because of Truxton, which i used to play on the Genesis with a friend of mine (RIP) when I was a kid. The arcade version is just as good as I remember the Genesis one being. That's what brought me here, as I clearly have a lot of learning to do. 😁
It's nice to see there is a Gigawing "twin", I really liked Gigawing so I'll check it out. That said, I love pulstar (more then R type and I know a lot of players would be upset to hear that), Progear and Blazing star are also top tier games for me. I love the graphics of Neo Geo and Blazing star and Pulstar are great in that aspect and they take it to the limit. I also like Jamestown + a lot for that reason because it's the kind of game I would expect to see on a futuristic and alternative Neo Geo Pro for its day. I'm happy to be one of those that really enjoyed Psikyo shmups too. That said i would also put a Varth in the mix because i had a ton of fun with it. Than there is the Twinbee series that maybe are not among the best but hell how much i enjoyed them. Last words for Steel empire, a bit underated for my point of view but i think it's a good console shmup (incredible but the GBA port was good too because they didn't just downgraded it with zero effort but actually they reworked it to make it run at it's very best with changes to make it feel like it is was born for the GBA)
I also like Pulstar more than R-Type. It feels like a refinement of what R-Type started.
Im dead serious the best overall is still Carrier Airwing on capcom arcade for me the most underrated Schmup ever and many of my friend had that game as their favourite too. Esp ra de Battle Garegga pulstar einhänder are topnotch ones too . Hyper Duel 👌.
Your #1 choice had me surprised. When it came to the top 3, I called Battle Garegga, followed by Ketsui and when you came to, I wasn't surprised, but my prediction for #1 was Ibara and then you brought out yet another DDP game. Nice list!