Shmup of the Month Club 2012

[ExedExes]

Thanks for getting the Mars Matrix scores Bruno.

As for Varth/Capcom month -- I think it was just fine in October, so we'll do it there again, if that's the plan. I put my vote/thoughts in the other thread.

[brunoafh]

For now I am considering just making this the "official thread", and spoiler tagging the scores of previous years assuming this thing keeps on going for years to come. Thoughts on that would be appreciated.

Anyway, here are the member game nominations! Voting is simple, pick one from each member's pool. In parenthesis next to each game I listed all platforms that ports are available, games that have no console/handheld ports are listed as "arcade only". Feel free, and please do correct me on errors.

dsheinem
Crimzon Clover (PC)
Ketsui: Death Label (Nintendo DS version of Ketsui)
Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire (PC Engine CD, PlayStation Portable)

Tyranix95
19XX (Arcade only)
Giga Wing (Dreamcast)
Great Mahou Daisakusen/Dimahoo (Arcade only)

mjmjr25
Cotton Boomerang (Saturn)
Cotton 2 (Saturn)
Cotton 100% (Super Famicom, PlayStation)

dunpeal2064
Thunder Dragon 2/Big Bang (Arcade only)
Rapid Hero (Arcade only)
Gunnail (Arcade only)

pierrot
Xexex (PlayStation Portable)
Twin Hawk / Daisenpuu (PC Engine, Mega Drive)
Shienryuu (Saturn, PlayStation, PlayStation Network)

foxhound1022
Batsugun (Saturn)
Raiden 4 (X360)
DonPachi (Saturn, PlayStation, PlayStation Network)

ExedExes
Varth (PlayStation Portable, Xbox, PlayStation 2)
1943 Kai (NES, PC Engine, Xbox, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable)
Vulgus (PC, PlayStation, Saturn, PlayStation 2, Xbox, PlayStation Portable)

o.pwuaioc
Zanac (MSX, NES, Famicom Disk, PlayStation, Wii Virtual Console, PlayStation Network)
Dragon Spirit (NES, Amstrad CPC, Commodore Amiga, Commodore 64, Atari ST, PlayStation Portable, Sharp X68000, PC Engine, ZX Spectrum, Wii Virtual Console, X360)
Star Soldier (MSX, NES)

EllertMichael
Dooyong's Blue Hawk (Arcade only)
Semicom's Baryon - Future Assault (Arcade only)
Skonec's Homura (PlayStation 2)

hashiriya1
Air Gallet (Arcade only)
G-Darius (PC, PlayStation, Saturn, PlayStation Network)
Fire Shark (Mega Drive)

noiseredux
Castle of Shikigami 2 (PC, Dreamcast, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox)
Chaos Field (Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Wii)
Galaga (pretty much everything)

Basically, I picked all 3 because these are the 3 games that got me really into shmups. That said, I'm rooting for Shikigami 2 and here's why: Galaga we played for Together Retro in the past, so we had a high score thread for it. We also already have a Chaos Field high score thread. Shikigami 2, I've never played for score since I got into it before I even understood playing shmups for score. So it would make me really happy to start a high score thread for it as I think it's a fantastic game just playing for survival -- would be great to get everyone into playing it for score on here.

I'd be happy with any of the 3, but much happier with Shiki 2.

[dsheinem]

Crimzon Clover (PC) --- everyone should pick this!
Giga Wing (DC)
Cotton Boomerang
Gunnail (Arcade only)
Twin Hawk / Daisenpuu
Raiden 4 (X360)
1943 Kai (NES, PC Engine, Xbox, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable)
Star Soldier (MSX, NES)
Blue Hawk
Fire Shark (Mega Drive)
Chaos Field (PC, Dreamcast, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox)

[DocHauser]

I should be able to participate most months so I'll chuck my vote in...

Crimzon Clover (already 1cc'd Simple, but I should give Original another go)
Dimahoo
Cotton 2
Rapid Hero
Xexex
Raiden 4
Varth
Star Soldier (just the NES/MSX version, or is it the GC/PS2/PSP version as well?)
Homura
Air Gallet
Castle of Shikigami 2

[EllertMichael]

Crimzon Clover
19XX
Cotton Boomerang
Rapid Hero
Shienryu
Batsugun
1943 Kai
Zanac
Blue Hawk
Air Gallet
Castle of Shikigami 2

[dsheinem]

So I stacked Crimzon Clover ($30) against Ketsui Death Label ($100+ or emulated with an R4 card) and Sapphire (prohibitive hardware and/or software costs unless you run the PSP iso on a modded PSP) to hopefully slant things in the direction of CC. The others are fine games that I enjoy, but CC is something special...

For those of you who don't know, Crimzon Clover is

More than five years in the making by Yotsubane and crew, the shmup and doujin communities have been awaiting this release for ages - and it was finally bestowed upon us during C79. The .20 demo version whetted our appetites but even then you aren't prepared for whats in store on this CD-ROM. Changes include new music, new enemies, new patterns, a double break mode, as well as new ships and no doubt more secrets to be unlocked. Clocking in at a MASSIVE 550mb, Crimzon Clover will destroy any and all notion you ever had of the doujin industry being comprised of little more than amateur coders. THE amateur STG release of 2010, i guarantee any fan of shmups wont be disappointed.

This game, to me, feels like the best Cave game never made by Cave, and I haven't played many shmups on any platform that I enjoy as much as CC. It features beautiful graphics and music yet will run on most any PC from the past ten years, it has a shop system that allows you to unlock perks (e.g. credits, practice stages, etc.), and it is largely the very impressive work of one man. It is really a sight to behold and well worth the cost of admission.

For those of you who don't know, the best way to get the game is via Tokyo Shmups!, a store run by rancor (who is a member here): http://www.sk8tokyo.com/shmup/

So vote for Crimzon Clover, support indie shmup development, and help a fellow forum member make a few bucks!

[o.pwuaioc]

dsheinem: Crimzon Clover (PC)
Tyranix95: Giga Wing (Dreamcast)
mjmjr25: Cotton Boomerang (Saturn)
dunpeal2064: Thunder Dragon 2/Big Bang (Arcade only)
pierrot: Shienryuu (Saturn, PlayStation, PlayStation Network)
foxhound1022: Batsugun (Saturn)
ExedExes: 1943 Kai (NES, PC Engine, Xbox, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable)
o.pwuaioc: Dragon Spirit (NES, Amstrad CPC, Commodore Amiga, Commodore 64, Atari ST, PlayStation Portable, Sharp X68000, PC Engine, ZX Spectrum, Wii Virtual Console, X360)
EllertMichael: Dooyong's Blue Hawk (Arcade only)
hashiriya1: G-Darius (PC, PlayStation, Saturn, PlayStation Network)
noiseredux: Galaga (pretty much everything)

changed my mind on my own choices

[noiseredux]

Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire (PC Engine CD, PlayStation Portable)
Giga Wing (Dreamcast)
Cotton Boomerang (Saturn)
Thunder Dragon 2/Big Bang (Arcade only)
Shienryuu (Saturn, PlayStation, PlayStation Network)
DonPachi (Saturn, PlayStation, PlayStation Network)
Vulgus (PC, PlayStation, Saturn, PlayStation 2, Xbox, PlayStation Portable)
Dragon Spirit (NES, Amstrad CPC, Commodore Amiga, Commodore 64, Atari ST, PlayStation Portable, Sharp X68000, PC Engine, ZX Spectrum, Wii Virtual Console, X360)
Skonec's Homura (PlayStation 2)
G-Darius (PC, PlayStation, Saturn, PlayStation Network)
Castle of Shikigami 2 (PC, Dreamcast, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox)

[jepjepjep]

Here are my votes:

Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire -- never played it but looks interesting
Great Mahou Daisakusen/Dimahoo -- love me some Raizing
Cotton 2
Rapid Hero -- slightly edged out Gunnail
Twin Hawk / Daisenpuu -- tough choice, almost went with Shienryu
Batsugun -- this is one of the best games ever. Love it more than Dodonpachi
Varth
Dragon Spirit
Homura
Fire Shark -- it was tough to choose this over Air Gallet but Fire Shark is awesome
Chaos Field

[mjmjr25]

Sapphire (Thought Crimson was highly over-rated and dare I say, meh. Ketsui Death Label was ok at best - way too much on too little of a screen, impossible to judge hitbox, wasn't in league w/Nanostray and def. not in league w/the 360/Arcade version of Ketsui. I might have another boot or two of Sapphire if this is chosen that I can send out to someone, I think at least 10 of us have this already.)

Giga Wing - (I poured the entire month into Dimahoo and while I love it, would def. like to pour more time into Giga Wing this year. 19XX, I def. have room to improve on that game. The last boss is sickening and that is a game I will never all, so would much rather give GW a go.)

Cotton Boomerang - (I really enjoy all the Cotton games. I think this has a wee bit better scoring system and i've played the heck out of 100%, so would like to give this one some run).

Rapid Hero - (not much exp. with any of these, but I hear good things)

Shienryu - (didn't love Twin Hawk in the brief time I played it, but did like Shienryu, so would prefer to experiment more with it).

Raiden 4 - (I want to pick Batsugun, but my understanding is that the one score-milking trick really ruins this game for hi-score competitions)

EXED Picks - I'll abstain, I have no real experience with any of them. I'd lean toward Varth from reputation, but i'll let those w/more knowledge be the ones to pick for us.

Zanac

Homura - (Graphically stunning game that I hope we can all play and experience together, a bit lost in the shuffle of the PS2-J amazing shmup library)

Air Gallet - (I played this and Batrider for about 10 minutes apiece on MAME and vowed to give them both much love. Would love to try this out. I put a ton of time into G-Darius, and while I know I can do much more and am nowhere near maxed on it, I don't love the blocky graphics or the random stage pattern that I can't seem to figure out)

Castle of Shikigami II - (I like the idea of Chaos field for the variety it presents in that it is a Boss-rush, but I lean toward Shiki as it is one i've not played much, but liked quite abit in my brief exposure. I've played Chaos Field alot and think those of us who have, will def. have a big advantage on others).