Question for shmuppers re hardware choice

[Spyke]

Living in the UK and being addicted to shmups, I have a question about potential console purchase. I've read the guides and have a general idea about the capabilities of the two choices but would appreciate some advice from people who have owned them.

Choices are:
1) Japanese PS2
2) PAL Dreamcast with DC-x disc or similar to allow import games to be played in full screen VGA 60hz.

If the prices were the same for the two systems, which would you go for and why?

With thanks,

Ant

[sabrage]

What kind of shmups do you like..?

[Bradtemple87]

Definitely consider a Japanese Saturn if you do not own one already. It has possible the best home shmup selection along with the pc engine.

[Spyke]

I've got the Japanese Saturn already thanks. I like most shmups (hori and vert) but haven't much experience of bullet Hell types - probably prefer old-school types to be honest. Really fancy Gunbird 2 and Zero Gunner...

[Bradtemple87]

I've got the Japanese Saturn already thanks. I like most shmups (hori and vert) but haven't much experience of bullet Hell types - probably prefer old-school types to be honest. Really fancy Gunbird 2 and Zero Gunner...

Japanese ps2 will give you a combination between the old stuff and the Cave titles

[mjmjr25]

Both. Sorry.

There is really no separating them - each has a ton of amazing / exclusive to that particular console, shooters.

SAT-J
PCE
DC-J
PS2-J
360
SFC

In that order, imo, and 360 is creeping up that list.

DC will have more variety out of the gate (Border Down, Zero Gunner 2, Under Defeat, Mars Matrix) and has better ports of (Trizeal, Twinkle Star Sprites).

However, PS2-J has sooo much CAVE goodness and some Psyvariar and Psikyo Collecetions to boot. Both are must haves...eventually. Just get either now and aim for other down the road.

The cost of the actual console in reality is going to be the same as the cost of one game really, so yeah, both.

[Spyke]

Thanks for the advice. Sounds like both is the answer really - even more to enjoy!

Ant

[skate323k137]

Definitely. There are a ton of good games for both. If I could only choose one, I'd lean toward the dreamcast. Both are so cheap though, and so easy to mod anyway (fat PS2 softmod + HDD is the way to go) that if you can get both, just get both.

[dunpeal2064]

If you only want to choose one console, I would go with the jps2, hands down. Here are my reasons:

The jps2 has some nice exclusives, like Espgaluda, Ibara, GigaWing Generations, Dragon Blaze, Sengoku Ace, Shienryu explosion, etc.

The jps2 also has lot of ports that may not be exclusive, but are still great fun: Dodonpachi DOJ, Mushihimesama, Sengoku Blade, Gunbird, Strikers 1945, Shienryu, Taito Legends comps (Including full TATE'able ports of Gekirindan, Gun Frontier, Grid Seeker, Rayforce, and great ports of Darius Gaiden, Metal Black, G Darius, Raystorm, etc), as well as many others.

The jps2 has a lot of DC shmups ported to it, such as: Ikaruga, Shikigami II, Gunbird 2, Triggerheart exelica, Radirgy. They may not be as good as the DC ports... but its still a great way to try the games... and to be honest, if you want an arcade perfect experience, buy a supergun.

The jps2 is backwards compatable, giving you access to tons of jps1 shooters. Some of those: Donpachi, Dodonpachi, Raiden DX, Raiden Project, R-Type Delta, R-Types, Gradius Gaiden, Soukyugurentai, Sexy Parodius, as well as many shmup compilations, such as Salamander Deluxe pack, for example. Again, some of the ps1 shooters are not as "perfect" as their Saturn counterparts, but they are still fun shooters... and the Saturn ports are not necessarily perfect either (Dodonpachi is a good point).

I just think, if you can only choose one, that you will cover so much ground, and so many different styles of shooters, with the ps2.

The DC is still a great console for shooters, and still has great exclusives, like Border Down and Zero Gunner 2, but I think the ps2 has more variety to offer, and better shooting experience overall.

[skate323k137]

great point on the backwards compatibility. Also since OP mentioned not leaning toward bullet hell, ps2 probably is a better choice for the reasons you mentioned. I lean more towards bullet hell stuff myself.

ikaruga got a PS2 port? I only knew of the dreamcast and gamecube ports.