What shmup are you playing now?

[mjmjr25]

In your opinion what is the most difficult Shmup out there/that you've played? I actually don't play that many shmups so for me it's Ikaruga - and I also tried playing one of the Gradius' before and I kept dying less than a minute into the first level.

A lot of people say that the Touhou games are really insane but I've heard they're also overrated. Opinions?

You should clarify "difficult" first. Are you referring to an attempt at a 1CC, or going for hi-score - because those will be completely different answers.

Ikaruga is one of those games that seems insanely hard at first, but if you give it some repeated play, the bullet patterns become fairly easy to negotiate.

Touhou is legit.

[Sideroller]

well I guess I just meant in terms of gameplay in general. I suppose I mean being able to go through with at least 1CC.

But I'm willing to hear examples hard high-scores as well.

What you say about Ikaruga is true, I've been able to memorize the first level pretty well without dying and getting max-chains.

It can be easy if you're just going for chains or 1CC, but if you try to go for both it can be tricky I guess.

[mjmjr25]

Touhou stuff set on "Lunatic" mode is pretty insane, and imo not even fun.

Hardest Games to 1CC for me (as in i've not come close):
RECCA - Famicom has always been personal hardest.
Mars Matrix - DC
Viewpoint/Pulstar - Neo Geo

CAVE games are the most difficult to master for score. I've personally only played Pro Gear and EspGaluda, and even on what are very very good runs for me, I hit 10% of the recorded high scores. There are a number of threads on this very topic over at shmups and neo you may want to check out.

[Sideroller]

Hm, interesting. I've been meaning to get into playing more Shmups but don't know where to start.

I've been thinking about picking up a Dreamcast at some point though because I know there's a lot on that platform.

[mjmjr25]

Anything not Nintendo is going to have a solid shmup lineup.

GENESIS is more entry level (cost wise) and has some very nice and inexpensive stuff.
PSX is probably the next level, again considering investment.
DC would be next I guess, lots of solid stuff, but your getting pricier and most of them are JP exclusive.
SATURN / PCE after that, but now your getting into $100+ for the better titles.

PS2 and XBOX 360 for newer stuff, have most of the CAVE ports and are worth owning for those alone, but again, this is a pricier option. If you are completely new to the genre, i'd recommend a GEN Model 1 and 10 decent shooters that you could do for under $100 total.

[Sideroller]

i do own Genesis so I'll probably start there. I've been looking out for Thunder Force IV and of course MUSHA but that's a littler pricier.

[mjmjr25]

http://www.shmups.com/xenocidefiles/megadrive.html

Most of those can be had for under $20, and if your a cart-only sort, under $10 or even $5 in a few cases.

[ZenErik]

PC is a great source of shmups too. RefRain is great.

[mjmjr25]

^For cost and convenience, yep, PC can be great to find out how heavily you want to get into it for sure. ZE already knows about my disdain for PC stuff though, so i'll leave it as a friendly "ditto...I guess"

[ZenErik]

^For cost and convenience, yep, PC can be great to find out how heavily you want to get into it for sure. ZE already knows about my disdain for PC stuff though, so i'll leave it as a friendly "ditto...I guess"

but there are great doujin shmups that you can physically own. I'm not just talking downloads, emulators, etc.