Shmup Of The Month 2014 Discussion

[SpoonyBard]

Good picks all around! (and not just because I already own the majority of these)


Blazing Star is something i've been meaning to play. I don't really look to my MVS a whole lot for shmups, but maybe i'm missing out?

I somehow acquired a disc-only copy of Galactic Attack on the Saturn a few years back. I have no idea where it came from, and this is a pretty good excuse to finally play it.

I've never played Battle Bakaraid, but so far i've been cool with just about everything that Raizing has done.

I'm excited for Gaiares. Great soundtrack, amazing visuals, over the top intro scene, horrible advertising, and a tough as nails shmup (for me anyway, maybe i'm just too distracted by everything else going on)

I really liked Chaos Field on the GC. But I haven't played it in years, so i'm excited to see how it aged.

1943 Kai was my first 1CC in a shmup. I'm curious to see if i'm missing anything on the scoring side.

Ikaruga is the game that really got me into Shmups. Yuki brought it over to my house one night in high school and it set my eyeballs on fire. I'm lousy at it, but I absolutely love that game.

I've never played Phelios. But more love for the Genesis is never a bad thing.

I've only played DDP Ressurection and didn't much care for it. But then again, I didn't much care for MMP before the STGT, so we'll see how DOJ goes.

No idea about Super-X.

While staring at a Xevious attract screen at a bar one night, a few friends of mine decided to write a back story to the game. It was positively hilarious and I wish I could remember any of it. I have no idea what Xexex is, but I really like Xevious.

[samsonlonghair]

I think I'll try to participate this year. I've never been a huge shoot 'em up fan, but maybe it's time to broaden my horizons beyond Galaga...That said, I'm going to go home and play Galaga tonight.

Seriously though, I want to participate in ShmupOTM, but I'm going to have a hard time playing some of these picks. Blazing Star, Ray Force, Battle Bakraid, DoDonPachi Dai-Ou-Jou, Super-X, and Xexex will all be problematical. I'll probably have to ask for emulator help for these games.

I'll buy Gaires and Phelios to add to my Genesis collection. I have Ikaruga on Gamecube, and I have Capcom Classics Collection for PS2. I also have Taito Legends 2 for PS2, but according to wiki, the PS2 version does not contain Ray Force.

[noiseredux]

I think I'll try to participate this year. I've never been a huge shoot 'em up fan, but maybe it's time to broaden my horizons beyond Galaga...That said, I'm going to go home and play Galaga tonight.

I came really REALLY close to making Galaga my pick, but ultimately decided against it since we had already dedicated a TR month to Galaga. But Galaga does rule. Galaga.

[samsonlonghair]

I think I'll try to participate this year. I've never been a huge shoot 'em up fan, but maybe it's time to broaden my horizons beyond Galaga...That said, I'm going to go home and play Galaga tonight.

I came really REALLY close to making Galaga my pick, but ultimately decided against it since we had already dedicated a TR month to Galaga. But Galaga does rule. Galaga.

Galaga galaga galaga! That Together Retro thread was my first post on Racketboy.

Back on topic, I just called every Gameplop in my county to try and find Ultimate Shooting Collection for Wii. No Dice. Every Gameplop clerk I spoke to said it only cost a few dolloars, but it's not in stock. By the way, "Ultimate Shooting Collection", is the most generic title for any game. It looks like I may have to turn to ebay to play Chaos field. I'm going to try my local retro store first.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I also have Taito Legends 2 for PS2, but according to wiki, the PS2 version does not contain Ray Force.

Yeah I noticed that too. The PC version is expensive, though apparently a PAL Xbox version works on North American systems. I may just get it on Saturn anyway.

I'm looking at playing RayForce, Gaiares, Chaos Field, 1943 Kai, Ikaruga, and Phelios.

[samsonlonghair]

I also have Taito Legends 2 for PS2, but according to wiki, the PS2 version does not contain Ray Force.

Yeah I noticed that too. The PC version is expensive, though apparently a PAL Xbox version works on North American systems. I may just get it on Saturn anyway.

I'm looking at playing RayForce, Gaiares, Chaos Field, 1943 Kai, Ikaruga, and Phelios.

I don't have a Saturn (heresy I know) and I bricked my XBOX. Any idea if I can use a North American 360 to play the PAL version of Taito Legends 2?

[ExedExes]

Seriously, what a great year. I don't know if its a change in perspective on my part, or a testament to the quality of these picks, but there is not a single game I'm not looking forward to.

It all just worked out so perfectly. When bruno asked me to take over, I was expecting all sorts of issues and problems to work out before we even got to voting, but when I saw Ellert mentioning we should do one game per person next year over in the SOTM 2013 thread, I knew that was going to be the best way to handle this.

Everyone then sent their PMs within a few days, and I liked all the picks individually, but as I was putting together the calendar, I still had reservations as to the overall quality of these picks together. It's a calendar that would be perfect for me, as if you all were nominating games I'd really like (and I appreciate it! ) But for the community as a whole? I wasn't sure what the reception was going to be. But when I saw we had 6 classic and 6 modern and I put them in such a way that we could alternate each type out, I was proud of it and ready to put it out as quickly as possible.

Blazing Star was a fine pick because it was one of the first shmups I played on the Neo Geo, and it ran very well and full speed on a MAME build I was playing in 1999, a year after the game came out.

Rayforce - I was a very active participant in the score thread we have here. Having TL2 on the PC certainly pays off, and who doesn't love that sweet Stage 3 music?

Battle Bakraid - I knew enough that it's gonna be the same type of game as Battle Garegga was, and we need some more Raizing in our lives after not having any last year.

Gaiares - I never played but I always wanted to try, and this was an early pick that got me very excited. I'm happy that we're gonna have another console-only pick this year.

Chaos Field - I picked this one up from a fellow RB member and just enjoy how different enough it is, bosses only, a sword that wipes away bullets in front of you, risk/reward in building up enough power to grab those 5000 point items.

1943 Kai - I really had a hard time deciding between this and the regular 1943, but after seeing how close it came to beating Varth last year, I think it deserves its due. Plus, it's like a remix of 1943, and not many people may have played it due to its relative Japanese-only obscurity.

Ikaruga - As a TR community pick goes, it's a good one! I like this a little more than Radiant Silvergun anyway. The black/white polarity system is a fresh innovation.

Phelios - A game from 1988 that somehow slipped past me When o.pw brought this up, I thought it had enough Dragon Spirit in it to get it on for this year. Namco can surprise you with some of their games.

DDP DOJ - You know me and Cave and how I say their games send me to the grave, well we did Mushihimesama and Muchi Muchi Pork in the STGT and it left me wanting just a little more, and I loved DDP when we played it for TR. Just simple enough to get into but tough enough to continue to get better at. (note: you may need a later MAME build for this as it doesn't work in 0.141 when I went to try it, and it worked fine on a build I grabbed in the summer.)

Super-X - If this is just as good as Dooyong's R-Shark, we're in for a good time.

Xexex - I remember we tried to get this in during 2012's picks, and how one forum member wasn't quite that fond of it , but I think the graphics look amazing and it has a bit of R-Type flavor to it.

Nice selection. I saw Exed's PM too late. Oh well, perhaps 2015.

I'm sorry you couldn't join us this year Hashi, but I hope you'll enjoy it just the same.

Seriously though, I want to participate in ShmupOTM, but I'm going to have a hard time playing some of these picks. Blazing Star, Ray Force, Battle Bakraid, DoDonPachi Dai-Ou-Jou, Super-X, and Xexex will all be problematical. I'll probably have to ask for emulator help for these games.

I'll buy Gaires and Phelios to add to my Genesis collection. I have Ikaruga on Gamecube, and I have Capcom Classics Collection for PS2. I also have Taito Legends 2 for PS2, but according to wiki, the PS2 version does not contain Ray Force.

If anyone needs help getting any of these games up and running on emulation this year, shoot me a PM. Fortunately this year's picks are also emulator friendly or easily attainable through consoles.

The PS2 version of Taito Legends 2 does *not* have Rayforce. It has Raystorm. It is on the PS2 in Japan by way of Taito Memories II Vol. 1. I also found that the Xbox port of TL2 was only released in Europe, so the only way to get it in North America is on the PC.

[samsonlonghair]

Seriously though, I want to participate in ShmupOTM, but I'm going to have a hard time playing some of these picks. Blazing Star, Ray Force, Battle Bakraid, DoDonPachi Dai-Ou-Jou, Super-X, and Xexex will all be problematical. I'll probably have to ask for emulator help for these games.

I'll buy Gaires and Phelios to add to my Genesis collection. I have Ikaruga on Gamecube, and I have Capcom Classics Collection for PS2. I also have Taito Legends 2 for PS2, but according to wiki, the PS2 version does not contain Ray Force.

If anyone needs help getting any of these games up and running on emulation this year, shoot me a PM. Fortunately this year's picks are also emulator friendly or easily attainable through consoles.

The PS2 version of Taito Legends 2 does *not* have Rayforce. It has Raystorm. It is on the PS2 in Japan by way of Taito Memories II Vol. 1. I also found that the Xbox port of TL2 was only released in Europe, so the only way to get it in North America is on the PC.

I might have to take you up on that emulation offer. First I'm going to try to get my hands on as many legit games as I can reasonably buy.

I called up Kevin at Pixel Nation (my local retro video game store). He says he has Blazing Star on his MVS arcade machine. I said I'd need a pocket full of quarters, but he offered to set his machine to free play for me. Good man. So I'm set for January.

Ray Force and Battle Backraid are looking like emulation play from where I'm standing.

Kevin said He'd find me a copy of Gaiares for Genesis, but it won't be cheap. He says he can find Chaos Field for Gamecube or burn me a copy for dreamcast. I think I might have to ebay Ultimate Shooting Collection, because Pixel Nation doesn't have it in stock.

1943 Kai and Ikaruga are covered already. I discovered that I already had a copy of Phelios that I had not played.

DoDonPachi Dai-Ou-Jou, Super-X, and Xexex are still problematic. Unless I see another solution, I might have to ask you for MAME help on these.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I think I might have to ebay Ultimate Shooting Collection, because Pixel Nation doesn't have it in stock.

Gamestop it locally if at all possible. It is hard to beat the $1.99 pre-owned price for that great collection. (I paid ten times that much for my copy!)

[samsonlonghair]

Gamestop it locally if at all possible. It is hard to beat the $1.99 pre-owned price for that great collection. (I paid ten times that much for my copy!)

It's nice that you're thinking of saving me money, but just posted this a few posts up earlier today on this same page:

Back on topic, I just called every Gameplop in my county to try and find Ultimate Shooting Collection for Wii. No Dice. Every Gameplop clerk I spoke to said it only cost a few dolloars, but it's not in stock. By the way, "Ultimate Shooting Collection", is the most generic title for any game. It looks like I may have to turn to ebay to play Chaos field. I'm going to try my local retro store first.