Best Saturn Shmups?

[bawitback]

Topic.

I'm relatively new to Saturn shmups, but so far I enjoyed Gunbird, Cotton Boomerang, Radiant Silvergun, DoDonPachi Double. I'm thinking about buying Batsugun.

[whupthewickedwurm]

Yeah, Batsugun has been on my list for a while too.

Have you tried Soukyugurentai? The soundtrack was dissappointing(Hitoshi Sakimoto couldn't compose his way out a of a paper bag) but game-play-wise it's great. The 3rd level is SO cool where you start out flying really high in the clouds and you gradually get lower until you reach ground level... almost gave me vertigo the first time I played it... probably because it was the one of the first shooters I'd played that did something like that.
I should also mention that it's one of the most balanced shooters(in terms of difficulty) that I've ever played.

Galactic Attack is pretty good too. Taito games from that era have an annoying lack of rotation effects but tons of scaling... and there's some pretty memorable moments in that one too... I still haven't beat it yet, though.

Darius Gaiden is kind of a fun wacky shooter/fishing game. It can be really frustrating though.

Umm yeah...bakoon.

[whupthewickedwurm]

I forgot to mention Thunder Force V. It's COOL.

[grittykitty]

cotton 2 is especially good, and i also enjoy parodius. macross - "do you remember love?" is gimmicky since it's based on the anime, but i also enjoy - cool graphics and lots of cut scenes. levels feel a bit short though

[racketboy]

Even though it doesn't have a big following, I really enjoyed Galactic Attack.
It's not especially hardcore, so its good for people just jumping into shmups.
I still get my butt handed to me with most shmups, so its more in my zone.

[lam]

I would also say soukyugurentai. Although I thought the music was great.
I find Radiant silvergun to be hugely overrated.
Batsugun is also great and very cave like. The guys who worked on it later formed cave and made all the great shooters of recent years.