Genesis Shmups

[zachhargis]

I just picked up a couple of genesis Shmups last night in Whip Rush, Trouble Shooter, Thunder Force II, and Thunder Force III. I had heard of the Thund Force games before but not the other two. Trouble Shooter was a great suprise. It was fun and diffent from your normal schmups. Out of these, I have to say I have enjoyed Thunder Fource III and Trouble Shooter the most so far.

With this, I was wondering what your favorite Shmups are for the Genesis and others you might recommend.

[FieryReign]

If you like the Thunder Force games then you would probably like Lightening Force. It's the fourth game in the series and some consider it the best. Gaiares is another great one with a unique power-up system. Hellfire is good but tough as nails. There's also M.U.S.H.A if you can afford to pay the ridiculous prices some douchebags ask for it. Wings of Wor is one of my personal favorites.

If you're into importing there was a Japan-only sequel to Trouble Shooter called Battle Mania Daiginjou.

If you like 3D shooters there's Space Harrier 2 and Burning Force. There are tons of great Genesis shmups.

[IHatedSega]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34FOH1ZdGZI

[SpaceHarrier]

Lightening Force, definitely.
Raiden
Truxton

Gley Lancer (jp)
Verytex (jp)
Undead Line (jp)

[XYXZYZ]

<nitpick>"Shmup" is a contraction of "shoot-em-up", in which there is no C.</nitpick

My favorite Megadrive shooters are Glaylancer, VV, (which I think is called "Grind Stormer" or something like that in the US) and Battle Mania II. (The sequel to what was called "Troubleshooter" in the US) If you want to get into Mega CD I'll always love Sol Feace.

[Hwj_Chim]

Insector X

http://youtu.be/nETZvef9nVk
Truxton

http://youtu.be/WLUEH7M_xbc
Fire Shark

http://youtu.be/QA0LjJsXb1k

I could go on but I will stop there. Lots of great shooters on the Genesis:)

[recorderdude]

Gaiares all the way. Kirby and R-type had a baby and it was beautiful.

[Wraith Storm]

The Genesis has some amazing shooters. It has a huge variety to choose from and most of them are really cheap as well. Here is an edit of a post I made at Sega-16 a while back.

My top 4 Genesis favorites (In no particular order) would be:

Gynoug/Wings of Wor - (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS_fmstvJG0) Awesome graphics and effects. Fantastic Iwadare soundtrack, cool power up system and a refreshing change from the standard sci-fi shooter. The stages are a bit long winded, but its a unique shooter that I always come back to.

Steel Empire - (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyvSpDCnsKc) I love the Steam Punk theme. Similar to Gynoug, its a refreshing change from the norm. Solid graphics, great soundtrack and very creative levels make this one I return to over most other Genesis shooters.

Vapor Trail - One of the greatest Genesis soundtracks ever!!! Decent graphics, solid stages... AWESOME MUSIC!!! Oh yeah... and it plays pretty good too! This deserved its own window, instead of links like the others.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG1c2U4ld2Y

Elemental Master - (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o0-qoRfcOc)A VERY awesome shoot em' up... or rather... walk em' up. It has a unique fantasy theme, fantastic technosoft music, and great graphics. I find it to be tough as nails but its one of those games that is so much fun i play it again and again until I memorize the levels and the attack patterns. Certainly worth a look.

Runner ups - Fire Shark, Phelios, Thunder Force IV

[Schiggidyd]

Some other great ones that people missed..

Granada
Sagaia
Biohazard Battle

[Rickstilwell1]

Did you guys know that a majority of these games came out before Sonic the Hedgehog did? Before Sonic I would say many shmups, just a few RPGs, and those popular arcade games featured in later compilations are what defined the Genesis before Sonic took the spotlight. There were also a couple platformers including Castle of Illusion, but shmups seemed to be the system's specialty at first.

[zachhargis]

Thanks iHatedSega. I really enjoyed that video. And your name is funny to me because I grew up a Nintendo fanboy, so my knowledge is limited on the earlier Sega consoles, but has been fun discovering what I missed out on.

So far I'm really interested in Gaiares, M.U.S.H.A, and Sagaia. I love Darius Gaiden on Saturn, so I really want to try some others from the series. Thanks again for all the recommendations. I didn't realize just how many shmups were on the Genesis.

[ubersaurus]

MUSHA is definitely my favorite by far. I could never get into the Thunderforce series too much... they really dig throwing stuff at you out of nowhere that kills you. Still good, though.

There's also an alright port of Viewpoint for the machine, and Elemental Master is really solid too.