Best system for shmups

[Captain Wrong]

Let's get this thing started! What system do you think offers the best bang for your buck (pun intended) when it comes to shmups?

And, of course, we are including imports in this mix. A PC with MAME, however, does not count. :P

[buttasuperb]

from my experience, saturn hands down.

[zemmix]

I have to vote NES because that was the system that got me into shmups. Went a little bit slower than they do now also so I would tend not to die as much! :D

[bargora]

Sega Saturn. I think most people will agree on that. The real debate, though, I think would be about which is the second-best system.

[The Brown Eye]

Either Duo or Saturn. It's pretty close, but Gate/Lords of Thunder puts Duo on top for me.

[asharru]

I don't own or never have owned a duo or a saturn (the top two on my must get list). While I loved nes shmups, dreamcast's got my vote these days, or until I get that saturn or duo!!

[Shompola]

Megadrive easily IMO :)

[retrogmr]

Rookies :)

The PC-Engine is the clear winner in this category... unfortunately, the US only go a small sampling of the goods (Blazing Lazers, Dead Moon, Slodier Blade, Gates Of Thunder, Lords Of Thunder), but from Japan, there were easily 40-50 quality shooters. Spriggan, Spriggan Mark 2, Psychic Force, Metamor Jupiter, R Type Complete, 1941 for the Supergrafx, Aldynes for the SuperGrafx...

I could go on, but you get the point.

PCE Rulez 8)

[Revolt]

I say the saturn and the snes

[NE146]

Yep. Definitely PCE/TG-16 etc.

[ROBOTRON]

Man, what a tough question...

Its between:

Genesis
TG-16
Neo-Geo

I will have to go with Saturn - Radiant Silvergun rulez.

[kainemaxwell]

What's the best SHUMPS for each system then and why?

[ROBOTRON]

What's the best SHUMPS for each system then and why?

Saturn-Radiant Silvergun-It just ownz!
Genesis-Thunderforce Series-It just ownz!
TG-16-Blazing Lazers-It just ownz!
SNES-Axelay/SpaceMegaforce-They just own!
Neo-Geo-ViewPoint-It just ownz!
NES-Zanac-Compile just ownz!
PS2-Silpheed-Not much to choose from here.
PS1-Zanac x Zanac-Compile ownz!
SMS-Power Strike-Compile ownz!
Xbox-???- :hmm:
N64-Star Fox-drought here too.
DC-Ikaruga-Treasure rox!
Atari 2600-TURMOIL-RULEZ!

[ManekiNeko]

It's gotta be the Saturn. The Dreamcast has some pretty good shooters (Mars Matrix, whoo!), but the Saturn can't be beat thanks to a line-up that includes Radiant Silvergun and Do-do-do-do-Dodonpachi. Also, it's got really fun, really accurate translations of Robotron: 2084 and Sinistar on the Midway Arcade's Greatest Hits disc.
All the Sega systems seem to dominate the shooter genre, with the obvious exceptions of their wimpy 8-bit consoles (the Game Gear, Master System, and SG-1000). Then again, those weren't good for much of anything, so that's really no surprise.
The Playstation and Super NES were good systems for shooter fans too, having a handful of memorable titles including Space Megaforce and The Raiden Project.
The Neo-Geo doesn't have many of these games, but the few available on the system are quite impressive. Twinkle Star Sprites is an awesome concept and one that should have been given a chance to blossom into sequels and spinoffs.
I think the absolute WORST game system for shooters has got to be the otherwise excellent Neo-Geo Pocket. It had a whopping ONE game that could be classified as a shooter, and it kind of stunk. Even the miserable Game Boy Color had more to offer in this department.

JR

[kainemaxwell]

So according to Robotron, all those game sownz.

SNES did have Gradius 3 also remember...

[Kid Fenris]

The Game Gear didn't have any shooters? Try some Aleste and Aleste II, Maneki. They're still the best portable shmups around.

I agree about the Saturn dominating this category, though. It's got every type of shooter covered, including what I consider the best example of the genre (Radiant something.). I'm disappointed that Compile never gave the system anything more than Puyo Puyo, but there's no faulting a library of shooters from Cotton Boomerang to Soukyugurentai to Thunder Force V, even if you need to buy imports to appreciate them.

The PC-Engine gets my runner-up vote, on account of Blazing Lazers, Soldier Blade, Spriggan, and a nice translation of R-Type.

Robotron, don't forget about Shikigami no Shiro on the Xbox. It's no classic, but it's not too bad.

[kainemaxwell]

The Sega CD had Silpheed and Robo Alestie (only 2 I can remember).

[Daniel Thomas]

Having never seen Radiant Silvergun, I can't give my vote for the Saturn; too bad, since Treasure has always been a personal favorite of mine.

No, I think the best console for shooters is the Genesis. It featured a number of brilliantly inventive titles that either moved the genre into new directions or were more polished versions of the old standards. There's also a great variety to choose from, thanks to the Great Shoot-Em-Up Revival of the early Nineties. Here are the best:

Burning Force
Fire Shark
Forgotton Worlds
Gaiares
M.U.S.H.A.
Thunder Force 3
Thunder Force 4
Twin Hawk (Japan - aka Sky Shark)

Honorable Mention:

Elemental Master
Eliminate Down (Japan)
Hellfire
Phelios
Sagaia (aka Darius 2)
Target Earth
Wings of Wor
Zero Wing (hey, why not -- it's still funny)

[Kamisama]

I voted for Sega Saturn along with my favorite SHT game Soukyu Gurentai! :D

[dreamcaster]

What about the R-Type games for SNES? they were an absolute blast!

[Arqueologia_Digital]

I vote for Sega Saturn, excellent shooters with excellent sound & graphics, also the guns are very cool....

[swlovinist]

Being an avid NES game collector(over 650) I have enjoyed hunting for nes games on a very small budget. These are the reasons I believe that the NES games are the best bang for the buck.....1.You can find them relatively everywhere(goodwill, salvation army, flea marts, game stores) 2. Most games are under 5.00. 3. There is a large amount of NES games that have upheld in fun factor(baseball stars, ikari warriors, tecmo super bowl, castlevania, super mario bros 3, zelda). For about 50.00, someone can buy a nes, 5 to 6 games, and go to the store and purchace some Mountain Dew. They can go home, go to their room, and game on for hours on end. How many systems can you do that with that are easy to find???

[hydr0x]

i voted for dreamcast as i dont have many saturn games to judge ;)

but i'm wondering why noone voted neo geo, i think games like viewpoint, last resort .... are really better than any snes shooter

oh and btw, why is the 32x not listed, i know the system sux, but the shooters were good

[jose.yoshitake]

The best shooters are in the NES, of course!

[Black Arts Viper]

Out of the systems I own or have spent a good deal of time playing games on, I'd have to say the Playstation probably has to be the best system for shmups.

[ghostangelofcky]

PS1 , can't forget EINHANDER!!!!

[MonkeyWizard]

The Sega Saturn and Turbo Duo are pretty much at a tie in this category, so I just flipped a coin to decide my vote. It came up heads (Sega Saturn).

[classicb]

Saturn seems to be running away with this one. I voted Saturn even though I don't have that many shooters but from what I do have it seems to be a good system for the genre.

[suppafly]

genesis, hands down!!!

[classicb]

I wonder who would win with the newer systems.

Gamecube has Ikaruga and PS2 has Rtype Final (Gradius 5 on the way) Xbox has ?