Easier shooters you can one shot a first time through

[Xeogred]

shmups are generally hard and take a lot of practice and time. Lately I've been on a roll and am having fun blasting through some retro stuff in one go if possible, but that can be a hard thing to pull off in a lot of cases with older games.

What 8/16bit shmups do you think are doable for completing the first or second time through? Even going in blind and inexperienced with them.

Granted I would like some quality recommendations still, nothing that sucks. Whether it be visually, musically, or whatnot, good shmups that might be on the easier side to knock out and experience quicker than the norm.

Some easy ones that come to mind for me:
Thunder Force 3
Thunder Spirits (SNES)
Elemental Master

Been awhile on MUSHA but I'm feeling like that one isn't too tough on me either.

I've beaten Thunder Force 4, Super-Type, Gradius 3 (and most of this series except that damn 5), and some others here and there. These are a little tougher, so maybe a bit higher than the bar I'm looking for. Though these are some of the best.

[CFFJR]

The Sega CD version of Lords of Thunder.

The Duo version will take more practice, but still isn't what I'd call hard among shmups.

[MrPopo]

Blazing Lazers is a good one fitting that criteria. MUSHA's a bit trickier but still not too bad. Space Megaforce is also a bit harder, but most of that comes from not realizing you want different weapons for different stages.

[Exhuminator]

SNES
-Bomberman B-Daman
-Dezaemon
-Pop'n TwinBee
-Syvalion

Genesis
-Bio-Ship Paladin
-Dangerous Seed
-Fire Mustang
-Slap Fight MD

NES
-Baltron
-Firehawk
-Go! Benny!
-Mission Cobra
-Sea of Dreamland
-Tasac

SMS
-Line of Fire
-Scramble Spirits
-Submarine Attack
-Transbot

[alienjesus]

I had a pretty easy time with these ones:

Blazing Lazers (TG16)
Super Aleste (SNES)
Marchen Adventure Cotton 100% (SFC)

They're all a lot of fun too.

I'd also recommend Fantasy Zone for SMS. It's not the easiest out there, but a full run through takes about 10 minutes and there's a tricky to kit yourself out with the best weapon permanently, so it's not too unreasonable.

[marurun]

I dunno about Blazing Lazers. Level 5 is actually pretty hard, and the final boss is a good challenge.

[alienjesus]

I dunno about Blazing Lazers. Level 5 is actually pretty hard, and the final boss is a good challenge.

I found it OK as long as you always used the shield as your secondary weapon. The last level is pretty tough but I normally have a big enough stockpile of golden lives by then that I can just power through.

[MrPopo]

Yeah, that was basically how it went for me. Final boss was a lot of bomb spam (it did help that I knew the trick about the penultimate boss that gives you a ton of bombs). So I guess the important thing for Blazing Lazers is knowing how the golden lives are earned.

[ElkinFencer10]

Blazing Lazers (TG16), Blazing Star (MVS), and Aero Fighters 2 (MVS) are all relatively tame. MUSHA is doable once you get used to the unusually large hit box, but I had a good bit of trouble with that one (for which popo teased me relentlessly).

[Ack]

I always find this subjective. For instance I found Super EDF on the SNES relatively easy once I understood which weapons were best for which level. But I've known others that thought it was much harder than Phalanx, which I find hard.