What shmup are you playing now?

[dunpeal2064]

Its pretty hard to compare difficulties in shmups. The closest thing I have seen is a Cave difficulty comparison, and even that isn't too accurate.

You are pretty damn close to the end though!

@Brunoath: I can't believe you've waited so long! You're favorite devs have been hard at work over the past 16 years. Batsugun is fantastic. I actually like this game more than Donpachi, and probably as much as Dodonpachi, if not more (It really kills me that Dodonpachi's music starts repeating half way through, right at st4, where every other Dodonpachi has the most epic music ever)

I would say hold off on Ibara. Its fantastic, but you could get a lot more shmup bang for your buck. On top of that, the game is brick-shitting hard.

Espgaluda and Dodonpachi Dai Ou Jou can be found in the $50-$60 range, and both games came with superplay dvds. Of course, I would recommed DOJ over Espgaluda, but they are both good fun.

Still, I don't think you could beat the less than $40 you'd pay for Futari. It comes standard with 5 modes, and with Black Label ($15) you add in 3 more modes. Having played the game for a year now, I can handle the two Original modes, but have barely even cracked the ice with Maniac and Maniac Black Label. Ultra and God modes still rape me. Plus, you get Novice modes, so that your friends can still enjoy the games.

Oh, and I also suggest picking up Dai Fukkatsu Black Label at some point. The game is totally changed up (made by Yagawa), and has one of my favorite video game soundtracks of all time! Plus, you can turn off auto-bomb, and even automatically enter the 2nd loop.

Gah, I love Cave. I mean, I love a lot of shmup devs, but I really love Cave.

I think I'm gonna put some time back into the original Dodonpachi. I think the reason that I like most other Cave stuff more is because I've played them all a lot more recently. I would love to actually get a 1cc on this, especially on the faster Arcade mode.

[mjmjr25]

So put another 90 minutes into Deathsmiles today - hit the level 4 boss a few times (littler over 9mil). Are there only 6 stages? Or is there another map after I get past these 6 stages? If it is only 6 stages - i'm feeling strongly about a 1cc here.

Also, so I start on Level 2, do that twice, then it gives the option of Level 1 or Level 3...so i'm taking this to assume I can choose each difficulty level twice?

[dunpeal2064]

There is a bonus stage (optional) and the final stage after stage 6. I think you'll have the 1cc soon, unless you are on rank 3.

Oh thats right, you can only do each twice in vanilla ds.

[brunoafh]

@dunpeal

Batsugun is in my top 5 shmups, I just love everything about that game. As far as my next Cave purchase goes, it's either going to be DoDonPachi DOJ or Mushihime-sama Futari. I kind of want to play the first Espgaluda before playing the 360 one. For now I'm having a blast with DoDonPachi Resurrection. DoDonPachi is actually one of the easier bullet hells out there imo. It's still pretty challenging, but I've come pretty damn close to getting a 1cc, and I haven't sunk that much time into it.

[dunpeal2064]

The whole Espgaluda thing is kinda strange.

The first game is considered to be one of the "holy grail" ports, as it is near perfect, and actually has a 15hz 240p low rez mode (as does DOJ on the ps2).

The game has 2 modes. The arcade mode is pretty easy if you are going for the 1cc, but can be fun for score. Very basic Espgaluda, the only thing you can do is slow down the bullets and cancel them. Still fun, but probably one of my least played. The arrange mode is a throwback to Esp RA DE, and is my favorite mode in this game.

Espgaluda 2 still has a good port, not quite as good as those grails or Futari, but solid. However, I think it wins with modes/mechanics. There are 7 modes in Esp2, and none of them require purchasing. They all have an "espgaluda" scoring style, but slightly tweaked each time. Black label and arcade are way different, but both really fun, and the arrange mode (developed by Yagawa, the man!) is quite good, although very strange.

On top of that you get a 360 mode (prettier than arcade, but almost the same), 2 novice modes, and an omake mode (ridiculous, not all that great)

Considering how much the first one goes for, I would suggest the 2nd one. I think the first one might not have as much appeal. Then again, who knows?

[dsheinem]

Rating my fave Cave games is tough, but here's an attempt:

1) Ibara (considering Battle Garegga is my fave shmup, this shouldn't be a surprise)
2) DoDonPachi DOJ
3) DoDonPachi
4) Muchi Muchi Pork
5) Espgaluda II
6) Mushihimesama Futari
7) Guwange
8.) Espgaluda
9) Mushimesama
10) Ketsui
11) DonPachi
12) ESP Ra De
13) Deathsmiles
14) Dangun Feveron
15) Progear
*I haven't spent enough time with Pink Sweets of DDP DF yet to place them on this list, but both would rank high...I haven't played Deathsmiles II.
**#s 6-12 are all very close for me and the order could easily be switched around...

The whole list is really very solid, and even the games on the bottom I would rank very high compared to some other shmups from other companies. In fact, I'd venture to say that all of these would probably make my list of top 40-50 shmups of all time, which is a damn impressive track record.

[dunpeal2064]

Before reading the bottom I thought, "where the hell is Pink Sweets if Ibara is at the top?!" Lol. Solid list, I still need to spend more time with almost every cave game, but I might try to compile a list too.

[mjmjr25]

My daughter (8) and I beat Deathsmiles just now. 11 combined credits - she used 7 and 4 for me. I openly admit, I was pretty damn impressed with her. We were at 8 credits before the final boss (Daaaamn yo!).

I definately see hitting the 7th stage at 1 credit, but I do not see me making it through that stage on 1 credit. Lot of stuff happening on that board and the mini-boss and final boss are legit.

[TEKTORO]

@dunpeal thanks for getting me into shmups,bet you didnt know that

Yeah Ive probably played them back when before but never "into" it.But as much as you talk about them and the couple great ones we've traded
(Dead Moon,Robo Aleste) for in the past have converted me.

From what Ive played and Im no pro in the genre,I can say I really,really am impressed with Einhander Idk seems like a game that can make people addicted to shmups if they havent tried before.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

Jamestown is pretty great.

From what Ive played and Im no pro in the genre,I can say I really,really am impressed with Einhander Idk seems like a game that can make people addicted to shmups if they havent tried before.

I'm quite new to shmups as well. Einhander and Galactic Attack are easily my favorites so far.