Favorite shmups?

[Ed Oscuro]

I'll play just about anything, so all of the above, plus Stratovox :P

That said, I never really liked the look or play style of Galaxian/Galaga...eh. Played it a little recently, too. I go for stuff that has better control and more frenzied action - games with powerup shots are great! Big fan of Capcom's 1941 here. I've got at least a dozen shooters to try out with the x68K I got recently, so I'll have to see how those are as well.

[le geek]

My favorites that I've played enough of to have a solid opinion on...

Gyruss (ARC)
Time Pilot (ARC)
Space Harrier (ARC)
Axelay (SNES)
Awesome (Amiga)
Tempest 2K (JAG)
In The Hunt (SAT)


My 2 cents

[robotriot]

Ah, my favorite genre =)

(random order)

DonPachi
DoDonPachi
1942
Banshee
Sonic Wings
Xenon 2
Mad Shark
Battle Squadron
Swiv
Silkworm
Carrier Air Wing
Disposable Hero
Uridium 2
Datastorm
19xx
Change Air Blade

[Aussie2B]

First and foremost, TwinBee on any console/arcade, after that Dragon Spirit (because it plays so much like the TwinBee series, hehe), followed by Choaniki on any console (I'll take my shooter with a side of homosexuality, waiter), Blazing Star (even if it owns my ass... stupid baby...), and finally... oh, I don't know, maybe the Gradius series.

[ArnoldRimmer83]

Zanac (Nes)
Gun Nac (Nes)
Galaga (Arcade)
Aleste Series (Power Strike, MUSHA, Space Megaforce, etc.)
Gradius series (Gradius, Salamander, Parodius)
Zanac X Zanac (PSX)
Axelay (Snes)
Twinbee series
Crisis Force (Famicom)
Over Horizon (Famicom)
Super Spy Hunter (Nes)
Burning Force (Genesis)
Einhander (PSX)
G Darius (PSX)
R Type series
Knightmare (MSX)
Space Manbow (MSX)
Thunder Force series
Xexex (Arcade)
Don Pachi (Arcade)
Do Don Pachi (Arcade)
ESP Rade (Arcade)

Borderlines:
Contra series (Except Contra Legacy of War, and C Contra Adventure)
Metal Slug 1-3
Mercs (Arcade)
Pocky and Rocky (Snes)
Turrican series
Gain Ground (Genesis)
Major Havoc (Arcade)
Sparkster (Snes/Well it does have a neat overhead shooter level near the end.)

[Crush Crawfish]

I love shooters! But they sure don't like me! I've never beaten one.... oh well! These are my faves:

Iridion 2 (GBA)
Ikaruga (GCN)
R-Type Final (PS2)
Bangai-o (DC)
Nemesis (GB)
Solar Striker (GB)
Bio-Hazard Battle (GEN)
Gadget twins (GEN)
Hellfire (GEN)
Lightning Force (GEN)
Sagaia (GEN)
Truxton (GEN)
Whip Rush (GEN)
After Burner (SMS)
Fantasy Zone 1 & 2 (SMS)
Galaga (NES)
Gradius (NES)
Life Force (NES)
Stinger (NES)
Terra Cresta (NES)
Zanac (NES)
Galactic Attack (Saturn)
Gradius 3 (SNES)
UN Squadron (SNES)

Borderline shooters:
Gunstar Heroes (GEN)
Gungrave (PS2)
Contra (NES)
Guerrila War (NES)
Heavy Barrel (NES)
Guardian Legend (NES)
Iron Tank (NES)
Jackal (NES)
Pocky & Rocky 1 & 2 (SNES)

[SkiDragon]

Life Force is probably my favorite, or possibly Galaga.

Ikaruga looks impressive when I play it, but its not really that hard, at least on easy mode.

And I have to mention Super R-Type, if only because the music is really good.

[DigitalSpace]

I just got into shmups for the first time earlier this year, so my list isn't as big as some of the others here. Anyhow, here's what I've played and enjoy, in no particular order:

Super R-Type - SNES
R-Type III - SNES
Space Megaforce - SNES
Axelay - SNES
Gradius III - SNES
R-Type Final - PS2

[Sotenga]

I do NOT believe it! I haven't contributed to this thread yet!

Okay, I will repeat the favorites of many, many, many, and lots of people, but regardless, I'll type any great shmup that comes to mind.

Anything Gradius/Salamander/Parodius
Ikaruga
M.U.S.H.A.
Zanac
R-Type series
Anything Thunderforce ('cept for the first two games.)
Space Harrier
Starfox
Blazing Lazers
The Star Soldier series (the first few games were kinda cruddy, but Super SS really improved.)
Darius series
Twinkle Star Sprites
AXELAY (I just love saying the name, even.)
Anything by Cave (and I do mean anything here.)
Capcom's 19XX series (not too crazy about 1942, to be honest, but everything else rules.)
Viewpoint
U.N. Squadron
Anything by Raizing (I confuse them with Cave sometimes.)
Cybattler (Jaleco is so underrated...)
The classics (Galaga, Galaxian, Gorf, Space Invaders, etc.)
Anything Psikyo (like Cave and Raizing, makers of seriously insane shmups.)
In The Hunt (why don't you see more submarine-based games?)
Legendary Wings (a game I've had practically forever.)
Forgotten Worlds (lots o' innovation with this one, and the first CPS-1 game!)
Mars Matrix (INSANE. That's the only word I've got for this one)
Xexex (Impressive for a 1991 title.)
Phelios (Mythology + Shmups = Greatness)
Raiden (I wish MAME could emulate more Raiden games...)
Rayforce (I should really give RayStorm and RayCrisis a spin...)
Saint Dragon (once again, Jaleco is underrated.)
Sinistar (this one counts, right?)
Time Pilot (and this one? It's not really a conventional shmup.)
Truxton, Zero Wing, Outzone (R.I.P., Toaplan. )
Pulstar (R-Type ripoff be damned, this game rules!)
Blazing Star (such graphics...)
Crisis Force (effing Konami of America did not bring YET another excellent shmup to my country. Oh, well. There's always roms.)
Commando (classic.)
Mercs (sequel to classic.)
Gun.Smoke (spin-off of classic.)
Guerrilla War (everything Ikari Warriors was, but good.)
Time Soldiers (you don't know how persistent I was to beat this one... and I beat it! Thank goodness the final boss was a pansy.)
Caliber 50 (dunno why, but I'm hooked to this one.)
Burning Force (Space Harrier on steroids.)
Einhander (who knew Square could make such shmuppity greatness?)
Psychosis (shmupping and serious drugs. It doesn't get much better than this.)
The Guardian Legend (which I hesitate to call an actual shmup, but half of the game is shmupping, so I'll bend the rules.)
The third world of Turrican 2 (Heh... ^_^)

And it is my dying wish to play Radiant Silvergun. If there are any great shmups I missed, PLEASE do not hesitate to bash my brain in with a lemon wrapped around a large gold brick!

[DDCecil]

No one listed any of the Parodius games?!

I'll nominate all 4 of them, with #2 (Gokujyou Parodius) being the greatest game of the series (The best comical shooter, period).

Other shooters I love:

Gradius series
UN Squadron (I used to hate this game, but I absolutely love it now!)
Dragon Spirit
Twinbee Series
Darius Twin

[ubersaurus]

Recca(Famicom)
R-Type Final(PS2)
Soukyugurentai(PS1/Saturn)
Galactic Attack (saturn)
Border Down(DC)
Star Fox 64(N64)
Rez(PS2)
MUSHA(Genesis)
Zanac(NES)
Beamrider(INTV/2600)
Panzer Dragoon Orta(xbox)
Turmoil(2600)
Commando(7800)

[Nez]

Just started playing shooters, they kick my ass though.
Favs so far:
Mars Matrix
Einhander
R-type Final
Darius Gaiden
R-type Delta
Galaga

Dont know if these count but
Panzer Dragoon Series
Rez