Recommend some MAME vertical shooters...

[Well Fed Games]

So, I recently trashed-picked both a cabinet (8-line slot machine) and an old computer (XP, pentium 4, 1 gig ram)... so it looks like I have another project. Probably going to focus on vertical shoot-em ups, as I know there are a lot from arcade history I haven't played yet. I know there are rom listers out there, but I would love some personal recommendations of your favorites (the current high score competition for Sky Shark put this in the front of my mind). Some caveats:

1. Vertical, 8-way,  two button (maybe three, if there are enough that require it... the CP design is up for debate).
2. Plays well with the old pentium 4
3. Spaceships or aircraft, etc.... probably won't use any where the "craft" is some anime chick. Quality cute-em-ups are ok.
4. I'm not a bullet hell guy. Not afraid of some bullet patterns (Raiden II is my favorite shmup), but the modern Cave stuff turns me off.

So, Raiden, Viper Phase 1, Sky Shark... which others are cab-worthy?

[Thenasty]

1941,42,43,19XX (I think 44 was Horizontal)

[Jack Burton]

When talking about shmups, it's best to get acquainted with the various developers of the games.  Good start is Toaplan:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toaplan

Twin Cobra is pretty cool.

[emphatic]

I see that you don't "feel" the CAVE stuff. You should check out Ketsui though. It's hardcore military themed, the bullet patterns are awesome and the music is sublime. My favorite shmup of all time.



And if you feel that it's good, check out Do-Donpachi Dai-Ou-Jou Black Label. Also, these games take up very little hdd space.

Other games to try out:
Batrider
Storm Blade
Aero Fighters
Sonic Wings Special (Plays like Sonic Wings/Aero Fighters 2, but vertically)
Batsugun (Special Version) - The Special Version has some very nice tweaks to the gameplay
Air Gallet
Twin Hawk
Out Zone
Gemini Wing
Time Pilot
Strikers 1945
Strikers 1945 II
Strikers 1945 III
Gunbird
Gunbird II
XX Mission
Varth
Galaga 88
Majestic 12/Super Space Invaders '91 (In MJ12 you can select the stage order somewhat)

[danny_galaga]

Bells and Whistles from Konami is a 'cute 'em up' you might like.

[Well Fed Games]

Thanks all. Yeah, Toaplan and Seibu stuff seems to be my bag. Ketsui does look pretty cool- I'll check it out. I have to admit, DoDonPachi looks good, too... I guess games like Deathsmiles have tainted my view of Cave. Great suggestions, saves me hours of time sorting through the below average games! Can't wait to playtest all these... any other favorites?

[mimic]

I see that you don't "feel" the CAVE stuff. You should check out Ketsui though.

I watched you play ketsui (thx for introducing me to this game, looks awesome) and your hand eye coordination is crazy! Are you that good or did it take you a lot of practice to get that good? The enemies spray so much bullets and there is hardly any space to manuver, no room for error, I'd impale myself immediately. Wow!

[boardjunkie]

Blast Off, Cosmo Gang the Video, Return Of The Invaders, Gaplus, etc.

[Haze]

Thanks all. Yeah, Toaplan and Seibu stuff seems to be my bag. Ketsui does look pretty cool- I'll check it out. I have to admit, DoDonPachi looks good, too... I guess games like Deathsmiles have tainted my view of Cave. Great suggestions, saves me hours of time sorting through the below average games! Can't wait to playtest all these... any other favorites?

Not too sure where your hatred for Deathsmiles comes from.  As a game it's one of Cave's most accessible, it's only really 'Bullet Hell' if you want it to be (unlike say Ketsui which is just plain brutal)

Maybe the theme puts you off, but I find it to be a well balanced game, one that I can actually complete with practice (and where practice and planning feel they have a more obvious benefits on ability due to the overall lower difficulty and gentle curve)  It's also got a good variation of player ships / characters which do make a noticeable difference on how you play it and you can select a stage order that suits your ability the most.

Ok, it's also horizontal which might have been your primary reason for ruling it out, but if not, I don't think you can judge the game entirely on the theme, that along with EspGaluda are both games that a regular gamer, more accustomed to older shooters actually stands a real chance with.

[mimic]

Btw, how can y'all forget about classic that started it all xevious, unless of course that's a given.
Also Bermuda triangle, but I think this one requires rotary joystick. I've never seen that game with rotary joysticks, and gameplay always seemed a little bit off, but kids were playing it regardles.
exed-exes
Mars Matrix

[emphatic]

I see that you don't "feel" the CAVE stuff. You should check out Ketsui though.

I watched you play ketsui (thx for introducing me to this game, looks awesome) and your hand eye coordination is crazy! Are you that good or did it take you a lot of practice to get that good? The enemies spray so much bullets and there is hardly any space to manuver, no room for error, I'd impale myself immediately. Wow!

While I'm "pretty good" at shmups in general, I've played Ketsui A LOT. So I know what I'm doing most of the time. But while there are many, many bullets, not so many of them are fast, and the hit box is that white strip on the top of your helicopter (yeah, it's not a plane). Also, the scoring system of the game encourages you to take risks. I've managed to get to the 5th boss (last) about 20-30 times, but only cleared it once (on the Japanese 360 port) because I never use training mode or save states.

How to play Ketsui (basics):
Tap A button for wide shot, hold it to have your options lock onto enemies, causing you to slow down and make maneuvering dense patterns easier.
Press B button to fire a bomb - if you are locked onto an enemy with LOCK SHOT the bomb will hit your target.
Hold C button for full auto wide shot - kill a smaller enemy up close to get a large value chip, preferably one with a 5 on it, then hold A button to "cash in" on that value from everything you kill until your counter runs down and you start getting 1-chips. When that happens, kill something small with wide shot then hold A again. If you look at my video, you'll notice that I kill a small tank with wide shot just before finishing off the first mid-boss and getting 5-chip from it.

If you don't play for score, you won't get the two score extends at 20 and 45 million points, so at least trying to get as many 5-chips as possible is recommended - and fun! There are lots more nuances in the scoring system that's pretty hard to master, but you can and will enjoy yourself while playing the game as you can play it pretty much any way you want. You don't have to pick bosses apart, section by section, just locking your shots will kill it eventually.

[Well Fed Games]

Thanks all. Yeah, Toaplan and Seibu stuff seems to be my bag. Ketsui does look pretty cool- I'll check it out. I have to admit, DoDonPachi looks good, too... I guess games like Deathsmiles have tainted my view of Cave. Great suggestions, saves me hours of time sorting through the below average games! Can't wait to playtest all these... any other favorites?

Not too sure where your hatred for Deathsmiles comes from.  As a game it's one of Cave's most accessible, it's only really 'Bullet Hell' if you want it to be (unlike say Ketsui which is just plain brutal)

Maybe the theme puts you off

Yeah, it is the theme... I am sure it is a great game, but that aesthetic bugs me (but obviously does something for a lot of people, since Otomedius Excellent is about to come out).

So Ketsui is three buttons? Would you all suggest three for a shmup cabinet as opposed to two?

[emphatic]

So Ketsui is three buttons? Would you all suggest three for a shmup cabinet as opposed to two?

I would suggest three buttons, yeah. Sure, there are some even newer shmups that use 4 buttons, but I don't think they'll be emulated any day soon. For example, all CAVE games (Do-Donpachi, E.S.P. Ra.De., ESPGALUDA, Progear, Dangun Feveron etc.) use 3 buttons (ESPGALUDA has 4 but plays well with 3) and a couple of Psikyo games does as well IIRC. 3 buttons is standard JAMMA, so that's another reason. 

Oh, and I forgot to recommend Dragon Blaze. It's stupid hard IMHO, but such eye candy and good for working on your reflexes. 

[Cynicaster]

Cybattler: http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7463

Terra Cresta: http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10077

[Well Fed Games]

Cybattler: http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7463

Terra Cresta: http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10077

Awesome.

Unbelievable how many vertical shmups seem to be lost to time aside from MAME (I guess that is true for most genres).

[Woodshop Flunky]

My old brain goes for Xevious, Tiger Heli, and Twin Cobra.  These are kind of like sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch compared to the newer ones... but I love them.

Once I finish my son's cabinet, I'm going to try some of the newer ones (even though I ache when I see all those bullets flying ).  They look really cool if I could just wrap my mind around the gameplay.

[emphatic]

Once I finish my son's cabinet, I'm going to try some of the newer ones (even though I ache when I see all those bullets flying ).  They look really cool if I could just wrap my mind around the gameplay.

It's more about finding a clear path through them than it is moving to the side for the few ones on screen. If you're good at old school shmups, then the new ones is pretty easy once you've put more than 20 minutes into them.