@chazumaru I did not know about these hidden alternative versions! That’s exciting news.
And judging from your breakdown, I clearly got the right version of the mini for me (JP version). Although I do wish it had Salamander on there. I’ve still only ever played the NES version.
@whatsarobot I’m enjoying the heck out of Dodonpachi on the Switch at the moment. I used to buy all the shmup releases for the J360 and this version is great as it includes the Black Label version as well. Great value!
I’m playing it off and on and trying to 1cc it. I can get to the start of stage 3 sometimes! I’m not very good. Anyway, that’s a great one to buy if you want more.
@whatsarobot I was gifted a whole lot of eShop money, and after doing a ton of research, picked up:
Eschatos
Crimson Clover
Mushihimesama
Gunbird 2
Ikaruga (which I played back in the GameCube days)
Is this a fine plan for a noob-level shmup liker? Please grade my acquisition and help me understand the nuances of these games, if you don’t mind!
These are all fine choices, with the caveat that Gunbird 2 and most of the other recent Psikyo ports are burdened with excessive input lag, on Switch and elsewhere—the later Psikyo games in particular set themselves apart from Cave et al. through the heavy use of very fast aimed bullets, so they’re particularly vulnerable to input delay and make already-difficult clears nigh-impossible for all but the most stubborn players.
RE: PC Engine, the sheer volume of STG alone is worthy of attention, and if you’re into that specific Compile-esque vertical style then you’ll find quite a few to enjoy (and many more that aren’t especially interesting), most of which have already been mentioned.
@Chopemon Yeah, I very nearly went with Dodonpachi, because it’s the one I remember hearing about in whispered tones for years and years. But Mushihimesama is supposedly easier on noobs? Plus I think the aesthetic is neat.
@gsk Goooood to know regarding the input lag! That makes me feel slightly better about how inept I am at those games, even on Child and, yes, Monkey difficulty.
@whatsarobot They’re both fantastic so either choice is a good one. The Mushihime sequel was the first shmup I played. Excellent games.
I'm currently enjoying Moon Dancer, a snappy game with a nice risk/reward Rez-esque lock-on mechanic.
@whatsarobot I‘m not going to grade your picks because a) that sounds a lot like gatekeeping and gatekeeping sucks! and b) they’re really good anyway! But I will recommend you take a look to the more obscure/niche/weird ones like Crisis Wing, Missile Dancer, Dezatopia and Missile Dancer because they are really good, generally cheap and also get you some cool guy extra points.
Other than that, you should really check some of the M2 remasters like G-Darius HD, Esp Ra De and all that, and probably also Rolling Gunner, which is specially good on the Switch because it’s a horizontal shooter that plays almost like a Cave vertical (unsurprising since it was made by ex-Cave people) which was designed from the beginning for modern widescreens, and it’s just a great time without having to resort to something like the flip grip. Feels really liberating to see one of these games properly using 100% of the screen, while also doing so in clever ways.
Speaking of the flip grip, I have barely used it even though I own one. Drifting on those controllers is so bad that having a device that relies on the bluetooth functionality of the joycons ends up being a deal killer, I would theoretically like very much playing vertical stuff with the proper screen orientation but can’t do so if my controller is histerically moving my ship all over the place!
I finally started trying the games on the PS4 Aleste collection: it‘s good!
The original Aleste is extremely rough in that it has Gradius syndrome that’s a thousand times worse than Gradius. It feels like dying once guarantees a game over. But for as hard as it is, it feels very good, dodging enemies and bullets while trying to manage the sub-weapon is a great challenge that feels surprisingly smooth for lack of a better term.
GG Aleste on the other hand is definitely a full-on masterpiece on the Game Gear. The game is extremely approachable with a first level that‘s well designed to show you the game’s mechanics while not feeling like a bland tutorial and even though your weapons get weaker after you die, it‘s not Gradius syndrome. Normal difficulty is on the easy side but special difficulty adds suicide bullets making for a much more challenging game. I wish legit cartridge copies of the game weren’t so expensive!
I‘m curious to try GG Alete II since I’ve heard that one‘s better and GG Aleste 3, since it’s the first game designed for the Game Gear I’m aware of from the past 20 years.
@whatsarobot
I’m glad to see you got Eschatos! IMO that’s a very good and beginner-friendly shmup for someone looking to get serious about the genre with some of my all-time favorite video game music. It’s a gem that I don’t see people talk about as much as I think it deserves! Assuming the Switch version has the same unlock system as the 360 version, it’s a game that’s hard as nails but allows for more continues the more you play it. If you stick with it you WILL be able to beat the game. You also can’t just cheese it by credit feeding from the start so you’re more likely to keep trying rather than giving up as I’ve found myself doing while trying to get good at other shmups. I don’t remember the specific scoring mechanics but I know there’s a multiplier that you should just aim to keep as high as possible while surviving for as long as you can.
Your first goal of any shmup should just be beating the game and minimizing continues. The general wisdom is that your first hardcore-goal should be going after a 1CC. Once you can make it through an entire game without continuing, THEN you start focusing on the score mechanics. Cave games are really good for having a DENSE scoring system that you can pay as much or as little attention to as you want. If you want to pick up gameplay strategies, watching replays from top folks on the leaderboards is a good idea.
And you probably already know this but Ikaruga is on a whole different level. That and Radiant Silvergun were designed pretty exclusively for the maniacs who play through Gradius for 7+ loops and their mechanics rely on heavy memorization. I’ve seen a lot of folks say Ikaruga is a good shmup for beginners but I think it’s emphatically not if you’re aiming for high scores. I burnt myself out on it. Maybe I’ll come back to Treasure shmups someday, but IDK.
But I think you picked winners!
Thank you, @JoJoestar! I definitely don‘t want to invite any gatekeeping, but thank you for dancing around that, and for providing me some potential cool-guy point sources in the bargain. I want to let you know that I also have G-Darius HD, Esp Ra De and Rolling Gunner, in my Switch wish list, and only didn’t buy them because I ran out of money before I got to them, and because Esp Ra De is wild-expensive. They’re all on my radar! The other ones you mentioned, however, were not. But now they are!
Can I ask, did you mention Missile Dancer twice intentionally? Is it just that awesome? lol
Thank you, @Nemoide, for the thoughtful advice. That sounds like a really good approach. The very idea of a 1CC clear still feels lol-worthy to me, but Eschatos makes it feel somewhat possible. Speaking of which, I was convinced to pick it up based on tweets from Christa Lee, who made some of the same points you did. It really is a great-looking game with a fantastic soundtrack. And yes, the unlock system also exists on Switch. Appreciate your notes on Ikaruga, too. I remember trying very hard to appreciate why it got praised so highly, and why everyone’s frothing demand was increasing, back when it released originally. You’ve put it into context for me.
@monocosm, Moon Dancer looks cool!
@whatsarobot Can I ask, did you mention Missile Dancer twice intentionally? Is it just that awesome? lol
I did not mention it twice intentionally BUT it is indeed that awesome. One of the most unique of the bunch, it is designed around a lock on system that feels a lot like Saturn’s Soukyugurentai instead of the main shot, it’s all about positioning and launching barrages of missiles to ruin everything on the screen, really fun!
Oh, also, I now see I missed mentioning Danmaku Unlimited 3, Space Moth (this is the one I was thinking of when mentioning Missile Dancer for the second time lol) and Psyvariar, which a couple more of the arguably lesser known ones (Psyvariar is a remaster of the same game from the PS2). So be sure to check those as well to see if they catch your eye :P
Just happened upon this in MAME: a Psikyo made Galaga style game, with Kirbyesque catch an enemy, use their move stuff goin on, and bullet patterns straight out of Strikers or Gunbird. It’s a heck of a thing
@JoJoestar Haha thanks for clarifying! I‘m feeling really good, because Psyvariar and Danmaku Unlimited 3 are also in my Switch wish list already (my bucket for, “if i ever get more money to burn on shmups and/or these ever go on sale”)! Space Moth is news to me, but I’ll check it out as well. Great title, if nothing else. Space Moth!
@TracyDMcGrath This looks so fun. Love the silly googly eyes on the enemies. Wish I could go back in time to a game center when this was currently playable.
Update: Holy heck, Space Moth is gorgeous.
@whatsarobot It’s a really beautiful game, and that it plays is really unique with the bullet cancelling and soul sucking mechanics. And friend, you know as well as I do that you want to become a soul sucker (which is kind of like a soul hacker but better).
It’s also really cheap, as kind of a lot of these games coming from the indie/doujin scene tend to be, so yeah, grab it when you feel like trying something a little bit more off-beat.
Just remembered another shooter I enjoyed on Switch. If you have the online pass expansion and the Mega Drive library, I really enjoyed blasting through Musha with save states. It isn‘t something I’d want to 1cc but for a couple of evenings before bed I had a grand time with it.
You know guys, as they use to say, you either soul suck or just plain suck, it's your choice 
||I came up with this joke after my last post and couldn't simply not do it, for my hubris I apologize.||
@whatsarobot The very idea of a 1CC clear still feels lol-worthy to me, but Eschatos makes it feel somewhat possible.
You can do it! But also Eschatos is the kind of game that simply beating at all is an accomplishment. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get a 1CC quickly and remember that just beating the game on easy is something to feel good about.
And one more tip I thought of: try different difficulty levels rather than exclusively sticking to one. If you can play on hard without getting too frustrated, you’ll pick up the skills to beat easy or normal much more quickly than you would by only playing on those difficulties. But for most shmups, the hard difficulties exist to challenge even the extremely hardcore players and you shouldn’t feel discouraged by their difficulty.
And I’ll add that I’m actually not that good at shmups. I’m pretty sure only ever 1CCed one or two games and while I like improving my score, I’ve never placed high on a leaderboard or anything. But I still have a ton of fun playing them and the fun is the most important part!
@Nemoide Thanks for the encouragement! I’m really enjoying my time with Eschatos, because the enemy placement and systems seem designed specifically to help you get just a liiiittle bit farther with every run. I didn’t even realize there was a shield at first, and I’m still not entirely sure what changing speeds does, but just the core loop has got its hooks into me.
I like your comment about difficulty levels. Playing shmups, it seems to me, is a little like playing a musical instrument. You’ll have off days, and days where you’re just soaring. You’ll have segments of a stage you struggle with, and then others that make total intuitive sense. Sometimes you get into a real groove.
@Chopemon I’ve also tried Musha on the Switch, and it was a pleasant surprise for me too! So was Thunder Force 2, though I haven’t quite figured out entirely how it works yet. Sort of makes me wish they’d get Axelay in the SNES collection.
I‘m playing Espgaluda on Shmuparch 7 (with final burn neo) and really, really enjoying it. It’s probably the most accessible Cave game and also just a very pretty game in general, with a slamming soundtrack too. It‘s the first bullet hell where i’ve been feeling like i'm making progress and perfecting individual sections of each stage, as opposed to something like DDP DOJ, which is just brutal with a high skill ceiling. Hoping to get the 1CC soon.