I don’t think a thread like this exists, or if it does I couldn’t find it with the awful Discourse search function. I have been experiencing a Personal Renaissance with this sort of game. Maybe the first quarter muncher I remember feeding at the arcade was 1942, but aside from a dip here and there back into the waters I haven’t really dived back in until fairly recently.
There are some good modern moves in this space, too. Huntdown looks good, and Devil Engine is well-reviewed, if unfortunately mired in publisher woes to the point the devs are advocating piracy.
And of course there’s that 360 version of Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga on my PS4 and PC I really ought to get back to…
What have you played/are you playing and what should I be playing?
Honorable mention as far as I’m concerned to the Assault Suit games, Leynos, Valken and Gunhound (itself an honorable mention within an honorable mention) as Games To Be Played.
We had @DaveLong’s terribly named thread here: Do you Like Shooters?
That one used to fool me with its name when it was resurrected. I like this thread name much better, plus that one hasn’t been posted in for 10 years now.
Same with a PC beat 'em up thread that I think recently received a generic thread as well. The threads are kind of obsolete since I finally bit the bullet** and purchased $1000+ of obsolete plastic hardware to play more of my favorite genres.
** A bright pink circular bullet in a beautiful pattern
As far as your original question, you should play Crimzon Clover.
You’re kind of mixing two subgenres together there with Shmups and Run&Guns. Leynos does have a mix of levels but I think that’s more of a run & gun overall.
Yeah, to me they’re related genres, but that’s not an orthodox opinion, and I understand that. I think Leynos has more in common with Gradius than, say, Contra does, but that’s certainly not an objective opinion.
I pulled up Jamestown for some co-op shooting with my son and it hooked me pretty good all over again. There’s a “plus” version that came out last year:
Rolling Gunner is one of the best shmups ever, and it’s sold for a mere 20 bucks (10 when on sale), and it’s on Switch.
If you prefer more clearable stuff and less bullets, Dezatopia is a really weird and good little game. It’s on everything.
If you need to learn old classics and being taught the way of the bullet hell, the M2 Shmuptriggers will open a whole new realm of pink induced meditation.
Yep, this is one of my favourites having dabbled with a few other classics over the years (like Ikaruga and Radiant Silvergun). Jamestown managed to pitch the difficulty just right to keep me playing but with enough pushback, rather than quickly beating me into submission. I also played it co-op with a buddy and it was just such a great experience, switching characters, timing Vaunt attacks and discussing when to be where on the screen. That last level was a killer but such a thrill to (finally) conquer. Oh and it’s got gorgeous pixel art!
