What are you playing?

[marurun]

Honestly, the best platform for accessible shooters is the TurboGrafx 16/PC Engine, but there are a number on the Saturn. The Genesis has a few, too. I'll type up something for you a bit later today or tonight.

[stickem]

Insector x on the genesis is an underrated, cheap shump on the genesis. Easy learning curve, looks nice, good music. Radiant silvergun another good one to get into since you build on your progress like an rpg, your ship gets stronger each playthrough you save and gets a little easier. I envy you guys that murder shumps above the normal mode, dont see how you do it, even memorizing stages.

[Nemoide]

Honestly, I feel like Radiant Silvergun is WAY too hardcore for a beginner to properly enjoy. If you credit feed, you'll get through it, but to really understand the mechanics of the game takes intense memorization and LOTS of practice. Same with Ikaruga. Even though I've seen plenty of people recommend them to beginners and even though Radiant Silvergun was actually the first shmup I owned, to me those are games for experts who are bored with normal shmups.

I feel like Deathsmiles might be the best beginner-friendly shooter. YES, it's a bullet hell which might sound like an instant turn-off to a new player, but you can set the difficulty for each stage and Level-1 difficulty is really pretty manageable and not too overwhelming. And once you're comfortable with that, you can crank it up for a much more intense/challenging game, plus you can experiment with different characters (IIRC for most folks Rosa is the easiest to use and Casper is the hardest). It's there for you no matter your level!

As for HOW to play, I feel like you're on the right track: try to focus on where your ship is and dodging enemy bullets while holding down the fire button, dealing damage to the enemies is secondary to staying alive; this is why spread-shot ships/characters tend to be more beginner-friendly. But a lot of older games especially expect you to play AGAIN AND AGAIN, memorizing the patterns of attacks. So while a lot of classic games might be good, it's also very likely that you will lose A LOT; the key is to have fun playing, aim to improve, and stick with it. If you're not having fun with a shmup, feel free to move on to something else. That's one reason I find the genre much more approachable than fighting games, where I feel like games expect players to sink several hours into figuring out combos and special moves before they even start playing.

[stickem]

I'm horrible at shumps and radiant silvergun kicked my ass the first few play through but you want to keep playing that game. After awhile you'll get the hang of all the different weapons and when to use them, it gets easier. I'm also not looking to complete shumps in one credit either, just be good enough to hang around awhile and enjoy the game. Ikaruga is another beast altogether.

[Note]

Currently I am juggling Castlevania: Bloodlines, and Thunderforce IV. On a bit of a Genesis kick. I am really, really loving Castlevania.

Nice, I've also been on a Genesis binge lately. Been playing the shmup Biohazard Battle, I really like the style of the game. The design of the creatures are so bizarre. Really fun game IMO, have been able to get up to level 6.

Also been playing Super Monaco GP, I'm still not good at the game, but I've got a little better, and decent enough to beat a rival and hang in the middle of the pack. I'm up to about the 7th race in World Championship mode.

Also, still playing Skies of Arcadia on the Dreamcast, but have taken a break from it the past few days. Most likely will pick it up again over the weekend, I'm pretty close to the end of the game.

[marurun]

For Saturn, the various Parodius games are all great introductory shooters, except Sexy Parodius, which is a bit tougher. Thunderforce V is also an accessible shooter, though read up on how to beat make use of the Free Range. Galactic Attack starts off pretty forgiving before turning the screws. Easy to start, VERY hard to finish. Game Tengoku (Game Paradise) is also manageable, and has a cool, silly theme. In The Hunt is an underwater shooter and has a bit of slowdown but isn’t too hard out the gate and looks impressive. If you have a PS1, look up Raiden Project as well. Raiden and Raiden II are two of the more accessible and visually interesting arcade shooters of their time.

[marurun]

The Genesis, however, is a bit of a mixed bag on shooters. It can push sprites around but those low color counts really hurt. Bio-Hazard Battle is a decent starter shmup. Thunderforce 3 is probably the Genesis standard. IV/Lightening Force looks better, but 3 is more manageable for a beginner. Gaiares and Super Fantasy Zone are decent non-ass-holish shmups. Air Buster is great, it better as Aero Blasters on the TG-16, IMO. Arrow Flash is decently easy, but not super impressive.

[PretentiousHipster]

Honestly, the best platform for accessible shooters is the TurboGrafx 16/PC Engine, but there are a number on the Saturn. The Genesis has a few, too. I'll type up something for you a bit later today or tonight.

Thank you so much for the recs. I was thinking about a few arcade ones since I now have a fightstick, but yea pretty much every arcade game I've tried so far is super difficult. I guess it makes sense cause they wanted you to spam quarters?

I was considering buying the TurboGrafx 16/PC Engine. I gotta sort out the moving expenses first but some time in the fall I can afford it. Is it worth getting the console, or just getting the mini?

[PretentiousHipster]

Gonna go with MAME ones for now because all of my consoles except my N64 are packed up for moving. I decided to try Terra Force since a forum said that was one of the easier ones. I think you guys are underestimating just how bad I am with these lol. I did make some progress, but I still get game overs in less than a minute. I got turned off at the end of this one because the checkpoints are quite far away. I understand starting a level over or checkpoints for a game over, but for having to go back when you just die seems a bit harsh.

I was slowly getting better and better at it, so I just have to bring some perseverance to this. This is gonna take tons and tons of practice.

[marurun]

I think the Mini is worthwhile, but in the interim you can emulate with Retroarch Mednafen core