Just dove into the world of Saturn imports, help!

[foxhound1022]

Oh, I forgot about Gunbird.

Also, I'm a big fan of the Strikers games as well. They're pretty simple to get into, but can also be brutal in the later stages. The Saturn ports are pretty good in comparison, IIRC.

[pierrot]

I'd probably recommend Soukyuugurentai, Darius Gaiden, and Sengoku Blade. These are probably three of the best games at reasonable prices.

Gunbird, and Layer Section/Galactic Attack are also great games, though; and fairly inexpensive at that. If you don't have a Tate setup, they lose a lot of potential, though.

[mjmjr25]

You might be able to get Batsugun for that price. I'd still say save up another $20 for Garegga personally, it is far superior to your other choices if you are a bullet hell fan.

You like Cave stuff... do you like scoring in them? Or do you tend to ignore score and just shoot to kill?

After playing at one time or another every shmup in the SAT-J library; Battle Garegga and Batsugun are simply on a different level. Both are really high right now though - but still worth it. I'd rather have Garegga at $130 than Gekirindan and Metal Black at $65 apiece.

Price doesn't mean much - there are some pretty average shooters that are really pricey due to rarity. I'd take Gunbird at $25 over Steam Hearts at $100 or Blast Wind at $125 every day of the week.

The Parodius games are not expensive and they are: colorful, fun, have scoring and are not easy as the goofy nature of the games themselves might suggest.

[pierrot]

^True statements; Although, I don't think Steam Heart's is anywhere near the same league as Blast Wind either. Steam Heart's is pretty—well, it's not really good, anyway.

Battle Garegga and Batsugun are really the prime shmups on the console from a more modern perspective. I think Hyper Duel is almost approaching a level that puts it nearly worth the amount one would have to pay for a copy. Outside of those two games, my favorites are definitely the Konami collections—particularly the Gradius and Salamander Deluxe Packs—and Cotton Boomerang.

[beatnix]

Awesome responses everyone. Really appreciate it. I've read through the guide a few times now and it's great info. But the comments about good game play not equating to high prices is exactly why this is do overwhelming. It's easy to see which are most "popular" but not which are actually enjoyable. The personal opinions go along way to helping arrow things down.

Next question...

Is eBay and Amazon the most reliable sites to find good prices? I know that sounds ridiculous, because of course they are terrible, but I wouldn't know where else to look.,

[Bradtemple87]

I have bought most of mine off of eBay, there are a few sellers that sell auctions compared to buy it now.

Shmups are always in high demand, so they get lots of bids and sell very quickly on forums.

[mjmjr25]

@beatnix; once you narrow down the few you are looking at - search ebay completeds, then post a bounty (a WTB thread). If there's something specific i'm after i'll offer 15% under the average ebay completed. If it's something I really want and it's rare-ish, then i'll offer full ebay completed.

Example; if you settled on Gunbird, it's selling at $20-32 range, so say an average of $26. I'd post a WTB at 15% under that, so maybe offer $23 shipped. If after a few days and no luck, up it a $1-2.

[beatnix]

Hell, that's true.. Forums that is. We got one here don't we? I should probably see if anyone is selling over in the B/S/T. I've got a few days on a couple games I'm watching on eBay.

That seems like an obvious avenue to explore that I pretty much overlooked.

[beatnix]

Thanks again everyone. I just posted in the B/S/T thread. Listed 7-8 games I'm interested in and prices. Still cant narrow it down so figured I'd throw them out there and see if anything comes back. Stumbled unexpectedly into the system so maybe I'll stumble into a game I really enjoy too.

[dunpeal2064]

Are you on shmups forum? It might not be a bad idea to toss up a WTB there as well, folks often start on consoles, and then sell as they are moving up to PCBs.

When I started going nuts for Saturn shmups, I was able to find everything there for a reasonable price, and I didn't have to wait long.