Top 10 scrolling SHMUPs

TOP 10 SCROLLING SHMUPS

The 10 best scrolling shoot 'em ups revealed!

Posted by bedroomcoder on Jul 25, 2010 12:42 (Jul 25, 2010 12:42)

10 - Fantasy Zone

Sega's classic SHMUP may not be to everyone's taste - after all, many people play SHMUPs to see thousands of enemies blasted and torn apart as they hammer the Megacrash button. This does happen in Fantasy Zone, but it's all... cuter. It's still bloody hard, has great bosses and there is a requirement for tactical nous not present in every shooter.

9 - Gradius Gaiden

You can't leave the Gradius games out of a top 10 feature on SHMUPs, and this one is certainly the pinnacle of the series. Featuring loads of clever twists in the levels (that I won't mention to avoid spoiling it for anyone who hasn't played yet, but some are jaw-dropping), and a refinement of what was a great series anyway.

8 - Lightning Force (Thunder Force 4)

You can pick your stage to tackle in this Megadrive/Genesis game, which is a nice touch. The fact that you can bring weapons to other levels adds a layer of depth not often seen in the twitchy, fast-fingered world of SHMUPs.

7 - R-type 3: The Third Lightning

You really can't leave the R-Type series out of a list of scrolling SHMUPs. The iconic power-up systme is in place, and there are some gorgeous but very hard levels and some memorable boss fights. Please, for the love of god stay away from the GBA version though. We bought this back in 2006 and couldn't believe how badly butchered the game was (apparently the developers of the port weren't allowed access to any of the original code or artwork and so had to do everything by guesswork and imitation).

6 - Battle Garegga

A bit of an odd one this. It's a beautiful, tough and totally uncompromising shooter, and it's tons of fun to play. But the bullets in this game are TINY. You'd best have a magnifying glass close to hand or some really good eyes or you're going to have a hell of a time surviving.

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May 28, 2011 00:37:59 ( 253 days ago )

Abrimaal
In what emu did you run Battle Garega and DoDonPachi? They don't run in the newest MAME. I checked the 8 games, they are brilliant!

May 27, 2011 19:08:04 ( 253 days ago )

Abrimaal
There's no possibility to mention 100 greatest games, shooters are the best games for me.

Jul 28, 2010 14:45:47 ( Jul 28, 2010 13:45 )

sirclive1
Would have liked a few older games in there (vanguard or zynaps) , but hats off to another great article !

Jul 25, 2010 18:16:43 ( Jul 25, 2010 17:16 )

RetroKingSimon
Nice list mate! Can't say I agree or disagree with it really since I haven't played half of them, mainly because it would cost a fortune to do so! Most of my shmup gaming was restricted to earlier consoles than this anyway, but I'd certainly like to play the oft-mentioned classics like Silvergun, DoDonPachi, et al. I think you overrated Musha a bit but I always like to see a good list!