Best Shoot Em Ups on Turbografx & PC Engine

[DQ187]

Being a big Shoot Em Up fan I'm curious what some of the best shooters are on Turbografx and PC Engine. I have some good US Hu Card releases so far. Eventually I want to dive into import & cd games and would like to compile a good list. I know Sapphire is really loved and i actually picked up the PC Engine Best collection for psp a while ago that has Sapphire on it. Would love to get that some day. Wanting to know of other good ones though. I prefer Vertical Shooters but enjoy some horizontal ones as well. Air Zonk is amazing! So if you have some other favorites, please throw out some recommendations.

So far my Turbo shooter collection is:
Soldier Blade
Super Star Soldier
Blazing Lazers
Air Zonk
Aero Blasters
R-Type
Dragon Spirit

[johnnykonami]

Spriggan comes to mind.

[o.pwuaioc]

https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=4115.0

Now add Atlantean to that, too.

[Psycho Punch]

Lucretia: Demon Princess

[DQ187]

https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=4115.0

Now add Atlantean to that, too.

Thanks for the recommendations guys! And thanks for the link! This is what I was looking for!

Spriggan does look amazing! Will definately have to pick that up once i get a Duo.

[Dicer]

Both Spriggans (I get shat on for liking MkII more but screw everyone)
Gate/Lords o' Thunder
Download 1 and 2, odd but good
Star Parodier
Parodius
Blazing Lazers
Super Star Soldier
Final Solider
Psychic Storm
Both of the Cho Aniki games, despite and because they are so "GAY" great graphics and music
R-type of course, I prefer the complete CD

I know I'm leaving stuff out, but others can fill in the gaps.

[imparanoic]

Nezxr is decent, technically beautiful and shows what pc engine super cd rom ( seems to be cousin of super star soldier) but hard

Image fight is good, tricky to play, cheap as well

Magical Chase is great and beautiful

Coryoon is good

[Otaking]

To get an idea of the best shooters for system checkout this thread:
https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=16970.0

[majors]

Spriggan comes to mind.

First post truth!

So if you have some other favorites, please throw out some recommendations.

Dragon Saber is no slouch. Parodius is a top 5 for me, and cheap. Both Thunders area must.  Definitely enough existing threads for you to read.

[esteban]

I made a new signature for you, dqualls187.  You can thank me later.

I have signatures turned "off"....wow, I would really hate some folks based on sigs alone.

[ToyMachine78]

Shooters that I own:

Aero Blasters
Gate of Thunder
Lords of Thunder
R-Type
Gradius II Gofer
Blazing Lazers
Star Parodier
Psychic Storm
L-Dis
Super Darius
Forgotten Worlds
Ai Cho Aniki
Cotton
Side Arms Special
Monster Lair(Shooter Hybrid)

Of all of these my favorites are

Blazing Lazers
Lords of Thunder
Forgotten Worlds

Least favorite:

Super Darius. SD has gorgeous backgrounds, but except for the bosses the sprites are pretty ugly. The game is stupid hard, and the music sucks. That's all.

[bob]

a lot of people say good things about kaiden 00 (sp?)
i have never played it, but i havent heard anybody complain about it.

i have been enjoying Override which is pretty cheap i believe.  Nothing stellar, but solid.

[DQ187]

I made a new signature for you, dqualls187.  You can thank me later.

I have signatures turned "off"....wow, I would really hate some folks based on sigs alone.

Why ya hatin?

[o.pwuaioc]

It's less hate, and more you need to resize it so it's not so huge.

[DQ187]

It's less hate, and more you need to resize it so it's not so huge.

There we go think I fixed it

[CrackTiger]

The term "shoot-'em-ups" is frowned upon around here. We prefer "Shumps".

Too often discussion of "best" lists are tainted by misguided methods of measuring a game's quality. The whole point of games is to be enjoyable and entertaining. I appreciate games ranging from too easy to too hard and don't confuse "accessible" with entertaining.

With that said, here are some of the most enjoyable PCE shumps for me:

Aeroblasters
Magical Chase
Cybercore
Super Darius II
Download 2
Cho Aniki
Ai Cho Aniki
Star Parodia
Gate of Thunder
Lords of Thunder
Sapphire
Kiaidon 00
Gradius II
Sylphia
Spriggan
Spriggan Mk2
Macross 2036

[DQ187]

The term "shoot-'em-ups" is frowned upon around here. We prefer "Shumps".

Too often discussion of "best" lists are tainted by misguided methods of measuring a game's quality. The whole point of games is to be enjoyable and entertaining. I appreciate games ranging from too easy to too hard and don't confuse "accessible" with entertaining.

With that said, here are some of the most enjoyable PCE shumps for me:

Aeroblasters
Magical Chase
Cybercore
Super Darius II
Download 2
Cho Aniki
Ai Cho Aniki
Star Parodia
Gate of Thunder
Lords of Thunder
Sapphire
Kiaidon 00
Gradius II
Sylphia
Spriggan
Spriggan Mk2
Macross 2036

You know, I only used the term "Shoot Em Up" because i got shit for using "Shmup" in another forum. Guess you just can't please everyone 

[o.pwuaioc]

Don't listen to Black Tiger. It's "shooter" around here, not shoot em up or shmup.

What are we, barbarians?

[escarioth]

Blazing Lasers will always be part of my top favorites since the day
i first played back as a kid. 

[esteban]

It's less hate, and more you need to resize it so it's not so huge.

No, I'm very sensitive about huge sigs. I'd rather have no sigs at all than allow imbeciles to have sigs.

Truth.

[grolt]

Fitting we have a vertical sig in a shoot em up thread.

I'm pretty terrible at shooters, but I do like playing them.  I am still missing a lot of the titans for the system, but of the 10 or so that I've played, I'm partial to FANTASY ZONE for the cuteness, colors and most importantly non-linearity and lack of forced scrolling.  It was really ahead of its time and you can see games like ORDYNE piggybacking on its mechanics and style, right down to the upgrade shops mid-level.  Plus, the TG-16 port is the best I've seen on home consoles in the US - the Master System version had slowdowns whenever you used the turbo shot.  PSYCHOSIS isn't the best-looking game, but the upgrades are unique and it's a lot of fun.  DEEP BLUE gets a bad rap and would be a lot better if there were more lives/continues.  Next to FANTASY ZONE, at this point I'd have to say I'm most impressed with GALAGA '90.  So much charm and personality from that game, with the little classical spaceship dance interludes.  It's got a nice pace to it, and some variety going between the standard single screen stages of the original to some scrolling stages and bosses.  It just looked like one of the dime a dozen space shooters out there, but the whole thing just really impressed me.  The only thing I'm not liking about GALAGA is that the starry background makes it really tough to see the similarly white-specked enemy fire.

[majors]

... i got shit for using "Shmup" in another forum. Guess you just can't please everyone 

First, there is no other forum. Second, this is all initiation hazing...we gotta see how thick a skin you got.

I like my pew pew games.

[grolt]

... i got shit for using "Shmup" in another forum. Guess you just can't please everyone 

First, there is no other forum. Second, this is all initiation hazing...we gotta see how thick a skin you got.

I like my pew pew games.

Personally, I prefer the "shmup" designation, but will respect the preference of the forum.  It avoids confusion with light gun games also generally being called shooters, and the "up" in shmup to me works also to signify the typical upwards vertical scrolling of most games of its type.  Plus, it just sounds cool to me - like "snes" instead of "S.N.E.S." as purists would have you say.

[o.pwuaioc]

I like my pew pew games.

That's literally what I call them when referencing them to my wife.

Personally, I prefer the "shmup" designation, but will respect the preference of the form.  It avoids confusion with light gun games also generally being called shooters, and the "up" in shmup to me works also to signify the typical upwards vertical scrolling of most games of its type.

When a bank robber "shoots up" a bank, they're not shooting vertically. Plus, shmup literally is just the abbreviation of "shoot em up."

Shooter is accurate. People still say RPG even though they could mean everything from hack and slash Diablo II to turn-based Final Fantasy. If you want to be more precise, 2D scrolling shooter? Or, as majors said, pew pew pew.

[grolt]

I like my pew pew games.

That's literally what I call them when referencing them to my wife.

Personally, I prefer the "shmup" designation, but will respect the preference of the form.  It avoids confusion with light gun games also generally being called shooters, and the "up" in shmup to me works also to signify the typical upwards vertical scrolling of most games of its type.

When a bank robber "shoots up" a bank, they're not shooting vertically. Plus, shmup literally is just the abbreviation of "shoot em up."

Shooter is accurate. People still say RPG even though they could mean everything from hack and slash Diablo II to turn-based Final Fantasy. If you want to be more precise, 2D scrolling shooter? Or, as majors said, pew pew pew.

I'm aware "shmup" is a portmanteau of "shoot 'em up", I was just pointing out the fitting coincidence that the "up" can also signify the vertical style of those games (I can't really think of any other type of game that exclusively would have all gameplay going upwards on the screen compared to your usual right to left horizontal or single screen gaming).

[esteban]

I like my pew pew games.

That's literally what I call them when referencing them to my wife.

Personally, I prefer the "shmup" designation, but will respect the preference of the form.  It avoids confusion with light gun games also generally being called shooters, and the "up" in shmup to me works also to signify the typical upwards vertical scrolling of most games of its type.

When a bank robber "shoots up" a bank, they're not shooting vertically. Plus, shmup literally is just the abbreviation of "shoot em up."

Shooter is accurate. People still say RPG even though they could mean everything from hack and slash Diablo II to turn-based Final Fantasy. If you want to be more precise, 2D scrolling shooter? Or, as majors said, pew pew pew.

I'm aware "shmup" is a portmanteau of "shoot 'em up", I was just pointing out the fitting coincidence that the "up" can also signify the vertical style of those games (I can't really think of any other type of game that exclusively would have all gameplay going upwards on the screen compared to your usual right to left horizontal or single screen gaming).

A lot of video game genres scroll up: racing-action games (Bump N Jump, Spy Hunter)...

[DQ187]

It's less hate, and more you need to resize it so it's not so huge.

No, I'm very sensitive about huge sigs. I'd rather have no sigs at all than allow imbeciles to have sigs.

Truth.

I think someone needs a snickers bar 

[esteban]

It's less hate, and more you need to resize it so it's not so huge.

No, I'm very sensitive about huge sigs. I'd rather have no sigs at all than allow imbeciles to have sigs.

Truth.

I think someone needs a snickers bar 

I love SNICKERS.  And Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

[DQ187]

It's less hate, and more you need to resize it so it's not so huge.

No, I'm very sensitive about huge sigs. I'd rather have no sigs at all than allow imbeciles to have sigs.

Truth.

I think someone needs a snickers bar 

I love SNICKERS.  And Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

Was always more of a Take 5 guy myself 

[VenomMacbeth]

Thunder Force IV.

[CrackTiger]

... i got shit for using "Shmup" in another forum. Guess you just can't please everyone 

First, there is no other forum. Second, this is all initiation hazing...we gotta see how thick a skin you got.

I like my pew pew games.

Personally, I prefer the "shmup" designation, but will respect the preference of the forum.  It avoids confusion with light gun games also generally being called shooters, and the "up" in shmup to me works also to signify the typical upwards vertical scrolling of most games of its type.  Plus, it just sounds cool to me - like "snes" instead of "S.N.E.S." as purists would have you say.

I don't mean this in a negative way, but you must be young. No one called light gun games shooters bitd and the genre naming has only become disputed by recent generations. Just like how more and more people are trying to use "RPG" to describe digicomics, war sims, adventure games and misc games never considered RPGs before.

Also, "shmups" are not usually vertical.

Whenever the shmup discussion comes up, I always ask shmup-users the same question. Do you call beat 'em ups "bmups"?

Thunder Force IV.

It's called "Gate of Thunder Force".

https://youtu.be/vkLFllNNsVQ

[DQ187]

... i got shit for using "Shmup" in another forum. Guess you just can't please everyone 

First, there is no other forum. Second, this is all initiation hazing...we gotta see how thick a skin you got.

I like my pew pew games.

Personally, I prefer the "shmup" designation, but will respect the preference of the forum.  It avoids confusion with light gun games also generally being called shooters, and the "up" in shmup to me works also to signify the typical upwards vertical scrolling of most games of its type.  Plus, it just sounds cool to me - like "snes" instead of "S.N.E.S." as purists would have you say.

I don't mean this in a negative way, but you must be young. No one called light gun games shooters bitd and the genre naming has only become disputed by recent generations. Just like how more and more people are trying to use "RPG" to describe digicomics, war sims, adventure games and misc games never considered RPGs before.

Also, "shmups" are not usually vertical.

Whenever the shmup discussion comes up, I always ask shmup-users the same question. Do you call beat 'em ups "bmups"?

Thunder Force IV.

It's called "Gate of Thunder Force".

That's probably only because Bmups sounds awful. Shumps doesn't sound bad to say, just a little silly. But really though, who cares what its called. He wasn't the one who started calling it Shmups. Obviously enough people use the term that we all know of it so its sort of here to stay. Personally i use Shoot Em Up whenever i'm referring to the genre. Seems like whenever i use Shooter people think i'm talking about First Person Shooters. This is all beside the point anyway as the thread is about good SHMUPS on Turbografx so lets talk about those! I don't want to have to click through 3 pages of Shmup vs Shoot em up vs Shooter talk whenever i pop on to learn about a new great shoot em up i may wanna play.

[ToyMachine78]

... i got shit for using "Shmup" in another forum. Guess you just can't please everyone 

First, there is no other forum. Second, this is all initiation hazing...we gotta see how thick a skin you got.

I like my pew pew games.

Personally, I prefer the "shmup" designation, but will respect the preference of the forum.  It avoids confusion with light gun games also generally being called shooters, and the "up" in shmup to me works also to signify the typical upwards vertical scrolling of most games of its type.  Plus, it just sounds cool to me - like "snes" instead of "S.N.E.S." as purists would have you say.

I don't mean this in a negative way, but you must be young. No one called light gun games shooters bitd and the genre naming has only become disputed by recent generations. Just like how more and more people are trying to use "RPG" to describe digicomics, war sims, adventure games and misc games never considered RPGs before.

Also, "shmups" are not usually vertical.

Whenever the shmup discussion comes up, I always ask shmup-users the same question. Do you call beat 'em ups "bmups"?

Thunder Force IV.

It's called "Gate of Thunder Force".

That's probably only because Bmups sounds awful. Shumps doesn't sound bad to say, just a little silly. But really though, who cares what its called. He wasn't the one who started calling it Shmups. Obviously enough people use the term that we all know of it so its sort of here to stay. Personally i use Shoot Em Up whenever i'm referring to the genre. Seems like whenever i use Shooter people think i'm talking about First Person Shooters. This is all beside the point anyway as the thread is about good SHMUPS on Turbografx so lets talk about those! I don't want to have to click through 3 pages of Shmup vs Shoot em up vs Shooter talk whenever i pop on to learn about a new great shoot em up i may wanna play.

Shmups sounds horrible! I feel like a shmuck just saying it.

[DQ187]

... i got shit for using "Shmup" in another forum. Guess you just can't please everyone 

First, there is no other forum. Second, this is all initiation hazing...we gotta see how thick a skin you got.

I like my pew pew games.

Personally, I prefer the "shmup" designation, but will respect the preference of the forum.  It avoids confusion with light gun games also generally being called shooters, and the "up" in shmup to me works also to signify the typical upwards vertical scrolling of most games of its type.  Plus, it just sounds cool to me - like "snes" instead of "S.N.E.S." as purists would have you say.

I don't mean this in a negative way, but you must be young. No one called light gun games shooters bitd and the genre naming has only become disputed by recent generations. Just like how more and more people are trying to use "RPG" to describe digicomics, war sims, adventure games and misc games never considered RPGs before.

Also, "shmups" are not usually vertical.

Whenever the shmup discussion comes up, I always ask shmup-users the same question. Do you call beat 'em ups "bmups"?

Thunder Force IV.

It's called "Gate of Thunder Force".

That's probably only because Bmups sounds awful. Shumps doesn't sound bad to say, just a little silly. But really though, who cares what its called. He wasn't the one who started calling it Shmups. Obviously enough people use the term that we all know of it so its sort of here to stay. Personally i use Shoot Em Up whenever i'm referring to the genre. Seems like whenever i use Shooter people think i'm talking about First Person Shooters. This is all beside the point anyway as the thread is about good SHMUPS on Turbografx so lets talk about those! I don't want to have to click through 3 pages of Shmup vs Shoot em up vs Shooter talk whenever i pop on to learn about a new great shoot em up i may wanna play.

Shmups sounds horrible! I feel like a shmuck just saying it.

Toymachine? Same Toymachine that just sold me a sweet ass bundle of Turbo games? Lol, or is this another Toymachine? And yeah, it's a dumb word, I'm not denying that.

[turboswimbz]

Well I do believe this has been beaten into the ground as a topic and it still isn't old  , however doing some research out of the 110 Shewties these games have come up multiple times I can remember as being stated as being better than average to great:

Blazing Lazers/Gunhed
Cotton
Magical Chase
Coryoon
Nexzr
IMage fight Series
Raiden Series
R type
Download Series
Rayxanber Series
Tatsujin
Air Zonk
Cyber Core
Dead Moon
Darius
Super Star Soilder
Solider Blade
Gate of Thunder
Lords of thunder
Hana Taaka Daka!
Kyūkyoku Tiger
L-Dis
Mr. Heli
PAradious DA!
Spriggan Mark 2
Star Parodier
Sylphia
Sinistron

P.S. I am sure there are some I missed

[ultrageranium]

HANA TAAKA DAKA!?
http://www.videogameden.com/hucard.htm?sln

[PukeSter]

Rock On
Toilet Kids
Heavy Unit
Armed Formation F
Lost Sunheart

These should be on your to get list ;)

[SuperDeadite]

For my tastes:

Cotton
Sapphire
Sylphia

These are kind of specialty choices though.  Cotton is cheap enough that I think all should try it, many claim it's way too difficult but I think it's just about right personally.

Sapphire tends to get shit on a lot due to the price, but it truly is an amazing show piece for the system that I think all fans of the hardware should try at least once.

Sylphia costs a lot, is super easy even on the hardest settings, and really isn't that good of a shooter on a technical level.  But the pure atmosphere of it is like nothing else.  A game I just relax too and let the style and mood slowly consume me.

[Strider77]

In no real order...

Gradius 2
"Super" Darius 2
Lords of Thunder
Gunhead
Spriggan
R-type CD (I like the cheesy music)
Sapphire
Nexzer (this one surprised me)

First, there is no other forum.

You lie! I've see you trolling elsewhere.

[grolt]

... i got shit for using "Shmup" in another forum. Guess you just can't please everyone 

First, there is no other forum. Second, this is all initiation hazing...we gotta see how thick a skin you got.

I like my pew pew games.

Personally, I prefer the "shmup" designation, but will respect the preference of the forum.  It avoids confusion with light gun games also generally being called shooters, and the "up" in shmup to me works also to signify the typical upwards vertical scrolling of most games of its type.  Plus, it just sounds cool to me - like "snes" instead of "S.N.E.S." as purists would have you say.

I don't mean this in a negative way, but you must be young. No one called light gun games shooters bitd and the genre naming has only become disputed by recent generations. Just like how more and more people are trying to use "RPG" to describe digicomics, war sims, adventure games and misc games never considered RPGs before.

Also, "shmups" are not usually vertical.

Whenever the shmup discussion comes up, I always ask shmup-users the same question. Do you call beat 'em ups "bmups"?

No because we called them "brawlers".

To be honest, growing up I don't remember ever classifying games by genres or types or anything. Sonic was Sonic, Mario was Mario, they weren't platformers, they were different. I'm more against these definitive online creeds that declare how we have to say a word (the correct pronunciation of "gif" for instance) or what term we use to classify a genre. There is no right answer. I'm in my mid-30s; I grew up with games. We called light gun games shooters because all you did was shoot a gun. There is literally nothing else you do. In "shooters" by your definition, you fly around, collect power ups, avoid enemies, and shoot. Seems limiting to classify the genre as "shooters" similar to how the blanket RPG term is often inaccurate at classifying quest-based games. But if that's how you like to identify those games, all the power to you. At the end of the day it's all just semantics.

[esteban]

... i got shit for using "Shmup" in another forum. Guess you just can't please everyone 

First, there is no other forum. Second, this is all initiation hazing...we gotta see how thick a skin you got.

I like my pew pew games.

Personally, I prefer the "shmup" designation, but will respect the preference of the forum.  It avoids confusion with light gun games also generally being called shooters, and the "up" in shmup to me works also to signify the typical upwards vertical scrolling of most games of its type.  Plus, it just sounds cool to me - like "snes" instead of "S.N.E.S." as purists would have you say.

I don't mean this in a negative way, but you must be young. No one called light gun games shooters bitd and the genre naming has only become disputed by recent generations. Just like how more and more people are trying to use "RPG" to describe digicomics, war sims, adventure games and misc games never considered RPGs before.

Also, "shmups" are not usually vertical.

Whenever the shmup discussion comes up, I always ask shmup-users the same question. Do you call beat 'em ups "bmups"?

No because we called them "brawlers".

To be honest, growing up I don't remember ever classifying games by genres or types or anything. Sonic was Sonic, Mario was Mario, they weren't platformers, they were different. I'm more against these definitive online creeds that declare how we have to say a word (the correct pronunciation of "gif" for instance) or what term we use to classify a genre. There is no right answer. I'm in my mid-30s; I grew up with games. We called light gun games shooters because all you did was shoot a gun. There is literally nothing else you do. In "shooters" by your definition, you fly around, collect power ups, avoid enemies, and shoot. Seems limiting to classify the genre as "shooters" similar to how the blanket RPG term is often inaccurate at classifying quest-based games. But if that's how you like to identify those games, all the power to you. At the end of the day it's all just semantics.

Comrade, we can use "shooter" "shooting" or "shoot-em-up" as the general term for a large genre/category.

Then, when we need precision, we can make distinctions between sub-genres.

It is totally helpful and logical to do this.

Any confusion or messiness is the result of an author not being clear about defining his/her definitions.

For example, if I start a post here asking about the "Worst Vertical Shoot-em-ups" on the PCE only, well, most folks would understand exactly what I want.


HOWEVER, there is always room for confusion, so it wouldn't hurt if I included a definition/example of what I consider a vert/hori shooter.

For example: do I want folks to include Galaga 88' and Space Invaders? They are not *scrolling* verticular shewties, but they are "vertiginous shooties"...

[Otaking]

There is also "STG", used mainly by the Japanese.

[CrackTiger]

Lords of Thunder is the world's first and only DVDA game.

[escarioth]

just found out about 1943 being on PCengine.
is this any better then the one on nes ?    (music doesnt seem to be the same)
i loved the nes version so much 

[Otaking]

just found out about 1943 being on PCengine.
is this any better then the one on nes ?    (music doesnt seem to be the same)
i loved the nes version so much 

I've not played the NES version of 1943 and I've not played the PC Engine version in years.
But from what I can remember the game is average at best. The backgrounds are really repetative and uninspiring. Generally a bit boring game.

1941 on the SuperGrafx is excellent.


edit: maybe I should give PC Engine 1943 a second chance as I've just gone and read the Video Game Den review and it mentions "Original mode" which sounds potentially good.
http://www.videogameden.com/hucard.htm?194

[o.pwuaioc]

1943 is way better on the PC Engine than on the NES.

[Spooky]

Cotton is cheap enough that I think all should try it, many claim it's way too difficult but I think it's just about right personally.

I'm still puzzled as to why Cotton has such a reputation for being difficult. Sure, the hitbox is larger than most, but there's not a lot of bullets to dodge anyway. Not to mention the PCE version gives you invincibility during magic attacks and has safespots against the tougher bosses. (Then again, most players don't even know about the fairy magic, so there is that to consider...)

Nonetheless, it's one of the all-time greats. The music alone makes the PCE version a must play.

[sirhcman]

My favorite shooter on PC Engine is hands down Kyukyoku Tiger, I love that game and it has great tunes too!

[escarioth]

i have yet to try magical chase...
i'm pretty sure the fun factor don't even match the horrifying price
hehe

i wanted to go with a pc engine version... 
and looking a bit everywhere around, even on japanese online stores...... 
...
i guess that might not worth the try. 

[CrackTiger]

just found out about 1943 being on PCengine.
is this any better then the one on nes ?    (music doesnt seem to be the same)
i loved the nes version so much 

I prefer the gameplay of the NES version. An update of that game with some actual stage variety would have been great.

The PCE version is a faithful enough port of the arcade game by the same name. It adds some exclusive stages, cinematics and music. The music was done by the same guy as Shubibinman/Coryoon/Air Zonk and uses a similar "engine"/style (strong use of samples and some lively tunes).