Best platform for Shmups? Discuss

[Dikdikvandik]

NES/Famicom - A lot of the classics are here many are very affordable, Complie, Konami and Hudson are well represented. Recca was one of the first Danmaku.

Master System- not much outside of R-type and Aleste.

Genesis/Mega Drive- SO much good, most of them are affordable or have easily found repros. Thunderforce, Eleminate down, Glaylancer, Darius 2, countless others. Probably the best platform for people not looking for Danmaku.

SNES/Super Famicom- Not my go to for shmups, but Axelay and Cotton 100% get play quite often.

PC Engine- Good for shmups, but they get pretty samey after awhile. I think it's a bit overrated in my opinion outside the Star Soldier games.

PS1- A little bit of everything, I don't like the Cave ports, but there was A TON and if you have a Japanese System MOST are affordable.

Saturn- Probably the holy grail system for Shmuppers, but it's also way too expensive to collect for and disc rot happens on this more than other platforms. I think the Holy grail game Radient Silvergun is a bit overrated. It's my favorite Console of all time. But I'm going to need a Psuedo cart to play burns on. I prefer the Dodonpachi on Saturn over PS1.

N64- *video of Iori Yagami laughing*

Dreamcast- Same problem the PC Engine has, there are a lot of Shmups on it, but they get pretty samey and they get pretty expensive. That Said, I really like Psyvarar 2 and Karous. The Latter doesn't seem to burn well.

PS2- Like the PS1 a bit of every kind, Every company is represented Some of Cave's best is here. Gradius 5, R-Type Final, If you import some Psikyo games (BUT there's a better platform for Psikyo games) But it's overlooked as a Shmup machine. THUNDER FORCE VI and it has a pretty good Megasis Emulator.

XBOX- Modded system there are a handful of Good Shmups like Shikigami no Shiro 2 and Psyvarar.

Gamecube- Only a few shmups here plus whatever the gameboy offered. It won't be your primary.

Wii- Same as the Gamecube, there's some goodies but nothing mindblowing.

PS3- It's not the 360, but It's the only way to play Ketsui on a console with no hassle.

XBOX 360- Everyone's favorite modern Shmup machine even though it's region locked and getting around said region lock is a pain. Heaven if your style is Danmaku.

PS4- Quite a few gems on here

XBOX ONE- *crickets* Most of the 360 goodies aren't BC.

Swtich- Probably the best Nintendo system for Shmups...if you don't mind that most of them are digital only. Psikyo is there, Some good indies, Ikaruga is there A Psyvarar is coming, It just needs some Cave games an it's the best ever.

PC with MAME- If it's not Switch it's a PC with MAME Best way to play arcade games, alot of good stuff on STEAM. This is probably where I will do 98% of my Shmupping.

Got anything to add?

[pierrot]

Saturn > Xbox 360 > FM Towns > X68K > PC-88/98 > PC Engine/ -CD > Dreamcast > Mega Drive/ -CD > Neo Geo > PS2 > almost everything else

It's too bad no one ventures into the Shmup subforum anymore.

The "problem" with the PC Engine is that it doesn't have a lot of shmup ports from the arcade. It's nice that it has a bunch of fun, original games, but the balancing, and presentation in a lot of them also feels a little off for people who might be more interested in arcade shooters (yo).

The Dreamcast is up there because it has just about everything anyone could need in Zero Gunner 2, Mars Matrix, and Gunbird 2, plus a bunch of quirky stuff like Giga Wing 1 and 2, Border Down, Psyvariar 2, Chaos Field, Ikaruga, Triggerheart Exelica, Twinkle Star Sprites, Cannon Spike, etc. Would have been cool if Mamoru-kun wa Norowarete Shimatta!! had gotten its port to the Dreamcast, or if Thunder Force VI had been released before TechnoSoft folded. The Dreamcast doesn't have a perfect shmup library, I'll admit that. I actually own every shmup released on the console, outside of some of the crap indie titles, like Ghost Blade, and DUX 1, but there's really only a few of them that I actually really love. Gigawing 2 was one of the first shmups I ever really got into, when it was released, though, so it and the Dreamcast were sort of my gateway into the genre.

I almost feel like Xbox 360 vs Saturn could be a toss up. Both of those consoles have outstanding libraries for shmup fans.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Saturn > Xbox 360 > FM Towns > X68K > PC-88/98 > PC Engine/ -CD > Dreamcast > Mega Drive/ -CD > Neo Geo > PS2 > almost everything else

Now this is quite the specific answer!

[Dikdikvandik]

Ghost Blade is actually really good I have it on PS4. Dux yes, it's crap.

I used to have Zero Gunner 2 but sold it and Border Down early in the Summer. Don't regret doing so.

I will NEVER sell any of my non Disc rotted Saturn games.

I have a Fair bit of Shmups on PS3 and tons on 360.

I think the Future God Tier Shmup machine for the current Era is the Switch. It just needs some Cave and Rizing/8ing Shmups.

[samsonlonghair]

The answer is always Sega Genesis no matter what the question may be.

[marurun]

PC Engine was loaded, and with tons of variety, too. Not samey at all unless you never venture outside the caravan-style titles.

[Dikdikvandik]

On the Megasis you had a lot of very interesting Shmups the only Strike on it is no Star Soldier. PC Engine I don't know I had a Raspberry pi full of PC Engine Shmups and I think all I played were the Soldier games and maybe Spriggan.

[marurun]

Well, if you've only touched on a small number of shooters, it seems odd to use that to generalize the entire platform. We've got some great articles here you can use to read up on what's available on the platform. If you have a particular style of shooter you like, I can even make recommendations. The PC Engine was head and shoulders above the MD and SNES for shooter variety.

[Dikdikvandik]

I've played most of the PC Engine Shmups, I was simply stating what was that stood out and what out of those games stood out and made me want to play them.

[Tanooki]

Going to have to agree on the PC Engine especially if you throw the CD option in there as well to pad it out further. The problem is most people are just blind to that, perhaps by the fact the TG16 got crap compared in games and variety which was a crime in itself. That list earlier in the thread that put Saturn and 360 on top, sorry can't agree with that one, but I would put it equal or the notch above the DC though in that list. Japanese computers did it best and always so, but without actually looking which can be a job in itself, you'd never really realize how much they have in quantity and quality as the variety is insane. The PCE/CD though would be the first widely usable system easily had to work on a basic TV where you could get a bit bite of all those options over the years. It had everything from the standard, to what would become annoying bullet hell, to the cute em ups, to the overly serious looking, space, ground, fantasy, all sorts of enemy, weapon, stage, audio, visual choice options that really spread things out.

I've had few but read up quite a bit, you just need to know where to dig videogameden.com has a nice spread covering Japan, and other sources like the old PCE Bible does too. The diversity of whats there is just more than one probably could get around to within a great many years without just scratching it just a bit and going to the next.