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Discussion Shmup fans must be loving the Switch

Roger Rabbit

Roger Rabbit

Octorok
Banned
Has there ever been a better console for shooters?

Raiden, Raiden 4 and Raiden 5
Most Cotton games either out or on the way.
Loads of Darius games
Gradius
Rolling Gunner
Space Invaders Extreme
Tiger Heli coming soon

That's just off the top of my head. There are loads more.

Hopefully Parodius will come at some point.

What shmups do you enjoy on the Switch?
 
On a more hardcore side, some are kinda annoyed at the input lag on the switch shmups.

So whenever a new game/port is out they ask how the lag is first.
 
ESP Ra De Psi IMHO Is the best shmup on the system. Fantastic port by M2, and the other Cave stuff that is coming from Live Wire has been absolutely fantastic as well. I can't wait for DDD SDOJ in December I think. I think at this point I have to have more shmups on it than any other system I have. Its been absolutely wonderful to see it get so much shooting love.
 
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Forgot to mention the Psikyo Collections.

Would love Dragon Breed to come to the Hamster Arcade Archives. Don't think it ever got a console port.
 
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Castle of Shikigami 2 is also coming in December.

Shmups are hot on Switch, likely owing to them mostly being ports of older games and the TATE potential of the screen. It's a VERY Switch-friendly genre alongside visual novels in terms of ease of porting it seems.

Glad the Live Wire ports of Cave's games and the Psikyo collections got mentioned. Also cool that the Raiden games have been coming over. We need even more JP mid-gen (like 2000's/NAOMI onward) shmups on Switch. I'd love to see RS34 finally port over their Milestone shmups over. I'm shocked it's not happened yet. They should work with anyone that's done NAOMI ports on Switch. Castle of Shikigami 2 is a NAOMI game. I heard Zero Gunner 2 by Zerodiv (also a NAOMI game) was rebuilt from scratch on Switch so that wasn't a simple port.
 
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Sega Saturn and PC Engine were most definitely better consoles for shoot-em-ups in my opinion but each to their own.

I have R-Type Dimensions Ex for Switch because you can never own enough copies of R-Type, but the input lag bothered me too much on the Psikyo collections. I hear the Saturn ports of the Cotton series and Guardian Force are bad for it too which is a shame. I wouldn't mind picking up Gleylancer, but I'm not sure if it's a good port.
 
Yes I am, thanks. :D

Together with the X360 JPN, it has ny favorite shmup library and arguably the best ever, superior to the almighty Saturn.

Esp rade Psi, Crimson Clover WE, amazing picks from Hamster for theiir ACAs and Neo-Geo, psykio releases (btw, the awful 8frames of input lag was more or less fixed and patched a year after their release) , Mushimehama, Varth, Progear, Loop Master, 19XX… and then there’s portable TATE with the Flip Grip.
I’m just disappointed the early ShotTriggers releases (Dangun Feveron, Battle Garegga and Ketsui) didn’t make it to the system and now they are “wasting” a slot with Tiger Heli… at $40 (digital, physical is $60. Love Toaplan’s output and enjoy Tiger Heli but why would I care about playing its gazillion ports to 8bit home-systems, and definitely not for that price.
 
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It’s crazy how many great games are available and still coming down the line. And OP didn’t even mention the at least 100+ shmups ported by Hamster through the Arcade Archives/Neo Geo releases. You can play your way through a bit of shmup history if you’ve got the time and money.

And that would be my only major complaint, this shit ain’t cheap. It’s especially annoying when Taito puts their stuff at 50% off in Japan, but ININ doesn’t do the same in North America. $70 CND for that Space Invaders collection...bruh.

Suiseiseki said:
On a more hardcore side, some are kinda annoyed at the input lag on the switch shmups.

So whenever a new game/port is out they ask how the lag is first.
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excelsior said:
Sega Saturn and PC Engine were most definitely better consoles for shoot-em-ups in my opinion but each to their own.

I have R-Type Dimensions Ex for Switch because you can never own enough copies of R-Type, but the input lag bothered me too much on the Psikyo collections. I hear the Saturn ports of the Cotton series and Guardian Force are bad for it too which is a shame. I wouldn't mind picking up Gleylancer, but I'm not sure if it's a good port.
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The lag issues (Psikyo/Cotton Saturn) are all from City Connection. I haven’t noticed any issues with other games (Gleylancer played fine for me), but I’m also not super-sensitive to these things, so take it with a grain of salt.
 
Kingo said:
It’s crazy how many great games are available and still coming down the line. And OP didn’t even mention the at least 100+ shmups ported by Hamster through the Arcade Archives/Neo Geo releases. You can play your way through a bit of shmup history if you’ve got the time and money.

And that would be my only major complaint, this shit ain’t cheap. It’s especially annoying when Taito puts their stuff at 50% off in Japan, but ININ doesn’t do the same in North America. $70 CND for that Space Invaders collection...bruh.




The lag issues (Psikyo/Cotton Saturn) are all from City Connection. I haven’t noticed any issues with other games (Gleylancer played fine for me), but I’m also not super-sensitive to these things, so take it with a grain of salt.
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Thanks. I wasn't aware the games with the lag problems were all from the same dev - it was just a bit of a coincidence they ported most of the games that I'm interested in I guess. I'm sure Gleylancer will be fine then. We need more Masaya games to come over.
 
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Speaking of City Connection, confidence isn't that high for Deathsmiles 1& 2.

My excitement for this is going to be directly tied to the amount of input lag discovered upon release. Really hoping you’ll do a better job than you did with the unplayable 10+ frames of lag on your cotton collection release.
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Suiseiseki said:
Speaking of City Connection, confidence isn't that high for Deathsmiles 1& 2.
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The games in the Cotton collection run on a Saturn emulator wrapped in Unity. The Saturn already had a bit of input lag and the emulation part doesn't seem to help. At least City Connection has acknowledged the issue, so hopefully they will address it and do a better job in the future. I would definitely not buy any of their games blind for now.
 
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I'm a casual player of shmups, but I think the Psikyo collection is in a pretty good state after the patch. I'm not terribly sensitive towards this stuff though, so your mileage may vary (I find the Megaman X Legacy Collection and Mega Drive Classics Collection noticeably bad, if that helps).

Do people have any recommendations regarding Hamster's ACA/Neo Geo shmup ports? I've picked up a few here and there, but there's a lot now, and I don't really know what's worth picking up.
 
The Switch is an arcade and shmup players dream. I love it! Watching this thread for more recs!
 
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chompys_paradise said:
I'm a casual player of shmups, but I think the Psikyo collection is in a pretty good state after the patch. I'm not terribly sensitive towards this stuff though, so your mileage may vary (I find the Megaman X Legacy Collection and Mega Drive Classics Collection noticeably bad, if that helps).

Do people have any recommendations regarding Hamster's ACA/Neo Geo shmup ports? I've picked up a few here and there, but there's a lot now, and I don't really know what's worth picking up.
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It’s hard to give recommendations since there’s so many different types of games available, but if you have the Konami Arcade Classics Collection and enjoy it, you can continue some of those franchises:

  • Gradius III
  • Thunder Cross II
  • Detana TwinBee (listed as Bells & Whistles for the English release)
  • Super Cobra (sequel to Scramble)

The games from the collection are also available through Hamster, if you prefer to buy them individually. They even have VS Gradius available, which is basically an arcade port of the FC/NES version.
 
Kingo said:
It’s hard to give recommendations since there’s so many different types of games available, but if you have the Konami Arcade Classics Collection and enjoy it, you can continue some of those franchises:

  • Gradius III
  • Thunder Cross II
  • Detana TwinBee (listed as Bells & Whistles for the English release)
  • Super Cobra (sequel to Scramble)

The games from the collection are also available through Hamster, if you prefer to buy them individually. They even have VS Gradius available, which is basically an arcade port of the FC/NES version.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I do have that collection actually and didn't even realise Scramble had a sequel. Konami's shmup chronology is bizarrely complex haha.
 
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GamerJM said:
Have there been very many new games? As a very casual fan of the genre, it seems like mostly ports of stuff that got console releases previously.
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Unfortunately it’s not a genre that gets many new entries. I believe R-Type Final 2 would be the most recent, releasing earlier this year. I guess you could also count Cotton Reboot, but that’s a remake/remaster.
 
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Atari Flashback Classics gets overlooked and it has a bunch of great shooters: Asteroids games, Centipede series, Black Widow, Gravitar, Missile Command, Tempest, etc.
 
Okay. Let’s use this thread as our official Shmup thread!!

I love the Bullet-Hell side of shmups. Cave Co Ltd games are my favourites. These are some of what I think are the best Shmups on Switch.

ESP RaDe Psy
Japanese only. An M2 Shottriggers port of the Cave Co Ltd arcade game. An exceptional amount of attention to detail has been put into the port by M2. Arguably the best BHS (Bullet Hell Shmup) on Switch.

Crimzon Clover World Explosion
The best 2D graphics on Switch, probably. This is a well designed BHS by a Japanese guy called Clover (Cave Lover) who happens to be one of the best DoDonPachi players in the world. An absolutely fantastic and impressively accessible game. And wow at those graphics.

Danmaku Unlimited 3
When this released in March 2018, it was one of the first BHS on Switch. It’s okay, but far more simplistic than any of the other games I’m gonna recommend. Also goes on sale on the eshop regularly.

Progear (No Arashi)
Available as a purchase within Capcom Arcade Stadium. This time a war themed horizontal scrolling BHS from Cave Co that was published by Capcom for arcades in 1991.

Mushihimesama
Yeah my third original Cave Co Ltd shmup recommendation. A vertical scrolling bug and insect themed BHS published by Live Wire which is supposed to feature some ex Cave employees. This game can be considered one of the toughest around.

I haven’t got round to getting ESP Galuda II yet.

Also…Coming in December…
 
sir_crocodile said:
The Saturn.
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Deleted member 1020 said:
Sega Saturn and PC Engine were most definitely better consoles for shoot-em-ups in my opinion but each to their own.
Click to expand...

I get these responses, and the Saturn and PC Engine are phenomenal consoles for shooters, but the sheer volume of shooters on the Switch dwarves both of these systems. From new indie releases, to the M2 stuff, to the various collections, there is no way that these 2 systems could compete in quantity. At this point there has to be well over a hundred shmups on the Switch. I will give you the Saturn and PC Engine have some of the best shmups ever made on them, but the Switch does as well.
 
There's plenty of great Arcade Archives shmups too.

Halley's Comet
Cybattler
Raiden
Exerion
Bio-ship Paladin
NOVA 2001
MAGMAX
OMEGA FIGHTER
Gradius
Gradius 3
TwinBee
Bells and Whistles
In the Hunt
Thunder Dragon

Etc.
 
Johnpv said:
I get these responses, and the Saturn and PC Engine are phenomenal consoles for shooters, but the sheer volume of shooters on the Switch dwarves both of these systems. From new indie releases, to the M2 stuff, to the various collections, there is no way that these 2 systems could compete in quantity. At this point there has to be well over a hundred shmups on the Switch. I will give you the Saturn and PC Engine have some of the best shmups ever made on them, but the Switch does as well.
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The only real argument for those consoles is the number of original games from reputed Japanese STG developers, in which case no modern system can compete as the genre just isn't what it used to be.
 
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NeoZeedeater said:
Atari Flashback Classics gets overlooked and it has a bunch of great shooters: Asteroids games, Centipede series, Black Widow, Gravitar, Missile Command, Tempest, etc.
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I’m constantly waiting for this thing to go on sale and it never does. Granted, for what you get in the package, the price isn’t bad, but I’ve kind of committed myself to waiting for a sale at this point. Maybe I’ll get lucky this Black Friday.
 
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GamerJM said:
Have there been very many new games? As a very casual fan of the genre, it seems like mostly ports of stuff that got console releases previously.
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There’s been plenty new shmups, yeah.

There are TONS of ports but there’s never been a console with all those games under the same umbrella, you had to own multiple consoles/arcade boards. The great thing with shmup ports is that like most arcade games, shmup are a genre where a title you love can be played forever; having titles re-release and be all on the same platform is glorious.

As for the topic about best, the Saturn was a beast. That being said, if we don’t count the joy of having a new title be made but simply the library, the Switch is two spans above all. The multitude of arcade releases that weren’t available before makes it king of the hill. PS4 is close but still a step behind, even counting Garegga, Ketsui and Feveron, imo. Then Saturn JPN, and X360 JPN is close in my opinion. I’d put the Dreamcast above PCE even. Then Neo-Geo.
PCE library of shmup was legendary at the time, but nowadays I don’t think that many titles hold up.
 
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I need Konami and M2 to buddy up again and do some collections for Gradius, Salamander, Parodius, Twinbee and Star Soldier at least. Hamster's doing good work with the occasional Arcade Archives release but it misses all the CS titles and there's also a bunch of arcade stuff still missing too (any Parodius games, Salamander 2, Xexex, etc)
 
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I really love bullet hell games despite being pretty bad at them. I bought a lot of them on Steam, but barely play them. I need to jump in on the Switch releases.

I'll probably buy Ikaruga again, also Mushihime-sama and Crimzon Clover (never had this one).
 
bixente said:
There's plenty of great Arcade Archives shmups too.

Halley's Comet
Cybattler
Raiden
Exerion
Bio-ship Paladin
NOVA 2001
MAGMAX
OMEGA FIGHTER
Gradius
Gradius 3
TwinBee
Bells and Whistles
In the Hunt
Thunder Dragon

Etc.
Click to expand...
And the Neo Geo ones.
 
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Ahmed said:
I really love bullet hell games despite being pretty bad at them. I bought a lot of them on Steam, but barely play them. I need to jump in on the Switch releases.

I'll probably buy Ikaruga again, also Mushihime-sama and Crimzon Clover (never had this one).
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Remember that you can buy games individually now on Capcom Arcade Stadium meaning you can get ‘Progear’ for less than £2.
 
I picked up the Japanese release of Deathsmiles 1 and 2. It's a little weird in that 1 was handled by Live Wire it seems and 2 was done by City Connection I believe. 1 definitely feels better than 2.
 
Johnpv said:
I picked up the Japanese release of Deathsmiles 1 and 2. It's a little weird in that 1 was handled by Live Wire it seems and 2 was done by City Connection I believe. 1 definitely feels better than 2.
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Live Wire have already done really well with their first three switch ports. Mushihimesama, ESPGaluda II and DoDonPachi Ressurection. All three are top quality ports!!
 
I've never been too into the genre, but every once in a while I feel like playing it. My favorite is Tyrian. Is there something more similar to that, mainly less bullet hell focused?

Ikaruga does look kinda cool, but probably too much bullet hell from what I've seen.
 
TheCongressman said:
I've never been too into the genre, but every once in a while I feel like playing it. My favorite is Tyrian. Is there something more similar to that, mainly less bullet hell focused?

Ikaruga does look kinda cool, but probably too much bullet hell from what I've seen.
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Even though Tyrian is a vertical shooter, you might want to check out R-type or Darius. R-type Final is released on Nintendo Switch. Darius has multiple collections (Cozmic Collection which is early Darius releases both console and arcade versions and G-DARIUS HD and DARIUSBURST Another Chronicle EX+on the Cozmic Revelation release), physical too on Strictly Limited games.

I'd go for the Darius Cozmic Revelation release. Both G-Darius and DARIUSBURST AC Ex+ are very playable up unto this day, not to hard, quite te spectacular presentation and high replayability. Sounds perfect If you just want to have a shooter to play.
 
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Busy making several collages of shooters and shmups in mu Hobonichi. The genre and the action screens lent themselves so well for great and good looking collages. This one is really simple and straight forward, and still I feel it looks great. Don't want this to be a spread, but I'm thinking about doing a themed shooter-spread with and bosses from one game.

img-20211226-wa0000b3kwg.jpg
 
Ninjadom said:
Live Wire have already done really well with their first three switch ports. Mushihimesama, ESPGaluda II and DoDonPachi Ressurection. All three are top quality ports!!
Click to expand...
Yeah I have all 3 they've done a fantastic job with them.
 
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Super Earth defense force was a fun one on the super Nintendo service I blew through in a week. Nice weapon system and good challenge, I recommend it as a light shmup
 
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They need to get the complete Gradius series on here, Gaiden and V are amazing, (IV too I guess but I haven't played that one beyond a few minutes in the arcade)
 
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