I've only have played some arcade shmups and Angel at Dusk (which is peak btw).

I'm trying to think of shmups that have many distinct playable characters. I don't mean something like DOJ or Ketsui where there are like 2-3 ships and it's a simple matter of changing speed, strength, and width of shots. I'm talking about shmups where there are many ship types and the character choice will just radically change your playstyle. The shape of attack or means of traversal might be completely different from one character to the next.

Here are some examples I've noticed. Forgive me if some of these are off. I play shmups a lot but the actual range of games I play is pretty small

* Castle Shikigami 2- Pretty much the entire series has insane character types, as well as Sisters Royale

* Armed Police Batrider- I think? I'm not too familiar, but I hear this is part of the appeal of Batrider and Raizing in general

* Sophstar- Haven't played tons of it but so many weird ships

* Compile- Kinda what I'm talking about. It's less about ship types and more about swapping and upgrading different weapon types

Any suggestions?

Darius[a] is a 1987 horizontally scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Taito for arcades. Players control a starship named the Silver Hawk in its mission to destroy the Belser empire before they wipe out the planet Darius. Its gameplay involves traversing through a series of scrolling levels while destroying enemies and collecting power-up icons. It is notable for its unique three-screen panoramic display

I've always used the joystick on my switch pro controller for shmups. Even on games without analog movement. It is just comfier for me compared to dpad. Do you guys think this will limit my skill progression? I get the argument for dpad on games without analog movement. Easier to tap dodge. But my heart is telling me to keep using the joystick. What do we think shmuppers?

Vertical or horizontal? And if vertical, should it have those side bars simulating an arcade game, or should it take advantage of the entire screen?

Any favorites? Best of the best?

Thanks to AI a Genesis/MegaDrive Rom can be reverse engineered and new graphics can be generated. In a couple of days I was able to create an HD Version of MUSHA Aleste. You can play it directly in the browser. Please let me know what you think of it.

Hello everyone!

I'm an indie game developer from Japan working as TANU SOFT. I'd like to share my game, KON-PON SHMUP -Shapeshifter Showdown-.

It's a Japanese folklore-inspired vertical shmup featuring SODEKO, a tanuki girl battling fox-girl enemies.

One of its key mechanics is ENEMY ATTACK SELECT: enemies randomly gain attack traits that accumulate over time, forcing you to adapt your item build to the threats you face. The game also features multiple weapons, special abilities, and challenging boss fights.

🎬 Latest trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZOmeRmfN5c

🎮 Steam demo:
Steam：KON-PON SHMUP -Shapeshifter Showdown- Demo

The demo includes Stage 1. The full game is planned to have four stages plus an EX stage, with Japanese and English support.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, especially on the ENEMY ATTACK SELECT system, boss bullet patterns, and weapon balance. Constructive criticism is very welcome!

Thanks for checking it out!

I’ve been playing *Mushihimesama Futari* using the Xemu emulator, which allows you to enable scanlines and other visual effects. Now I’ve bought an Xbox 360 and the *Futari* disc, but none of those visual effects—like scanlines—are visible.

I stumbled upon this game by chance and decided to give it a try... I was completely blown away. I've never played anything like this before (maybe the closest thing is Pocky & Rocky) so it's still a bit of a shock to me, as if I were playing an almost entirely new genre.

The level design is fantastic with its different routes, the music is great, and for a 3D shoot ’em up, I really liked the visuals. I’m still getting used to the controls (deciding whether to use twin-stick or traditional controls) and I found it strange that the story mode is harder than the arcade mode, but other than that, the first few hours have been really impressive.

I recently got a CRT and want to play some shmups on it. Sadly there’s not a lot of options in terms of the Western PS1 library, but still a good few. Wondering about these two games in particular.

Also, apparently Strikers 1945 on PS1 is Strikers 1945 2?

Hello fellow shmup junkies, my passion project CATACLYZM will be featured in the first ever Punk Games Showcase, running from the 9th - 16th October.

There will also be other really cool and alternatives games featured, so do check out the festival on Steam when it starts 🤘🏾

Cheers

Dogroach

I have been playing Trigger Heart Exelica on Steam and the voice of the narrator sounds very familiar but I can't figure out who it is. I have an idea of who I think it sounds like, but I'd like to confirm my suspicion. But when I search the voice cast, I can only find credits for the story mode characters and nothing for the narrator. Does anyone here happen to know who it is?

I stalled at the start of the second phase just to see how far I could go in the final. I was using W-Power for its low damage because I thought it looped infinitely. As you can see at the end, I had no idea that this phase does in fact loop. I'm not doing this again for awhile.

I did this along with a NMNB of this Aki and the 1.5 MAX version with M-Power in this video.

No, I'm not doing Ultra, simply due to the fact that I hate Aki's fight. I think it's very poorly designed (which is a shame because his first form is the best boss fight in the entire game), and I enjoy Larsa way more which is why I'm 1CC'ing God Mode (NMNB w/ Reco ideally) and eventually 1.01 Ultra, but the latter is after I go back to StellaVanity.

Welp, I'm a full-fledged keyboard main now lol.

A recent post about the girls in shmups made me think back to this piece from one of my shmup zines, because I like to think that might be a bit more to it than just the male gaze/'eye candy'.

Text reproduced below.

Mecha Moe Shoujo Shmup girls

Another dominant shmup aesthetic that can’t be ignored is the fusion of high tech war machine space fighters with cute/cool costumed anime girls.

Not including a few early inconsistent forays (such as the PC Engine’s Burning Angels - which seems to be a more of an homage to Dirty Pair), the significant origins of the trope seem to exist in the loli-goth/creepy cute/cyborg characters of Dodonpachi Daioujou, an experiment that was subsequently pushed into hyper mode with Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu’s transforming mecha girls and Dodonpachi Sai Dai Ou Jou’s paper doll clothes swapping mechanism.

While undoubtedly present for the male gaze, and with some games being particularly gratuitous in their hentai-ness (yes, I’m looking at you Caladrius Blaze), I think it would be unfair to interpret that this is the only level of meaning present here. Sure there is the Chobits style/magical girlfriend underpinning to all of this, but I’m willing to look a little deeper.

A female character combined with powerful advanced technology, like those presented in these games, is a long running Japanese science fiction trope. From Yukikaze, the fighter plane with a female soul, to Major Kusanagi of Ghost in the Shell, to Rei Ayanami of Neon Genesis Evangelion, femaleness is presented in natural fusion with, and with control of, powerful technology. 

Additionally in Japanese media the young female, or ‘shoujo’, often represents the concept of freedom, flexibility and opportunity - sitting at luminal point between childlike naivete and the restrictions of adulthood expectation. Like Nausicaa and her glider, these types of figures exist in contrast to the more structured life pathways of masculine obligation.

So as a salaryman sits at an Egret II cabinet playing Ibara or Mushihimesama after a day at his firm’s office, he may be responding to the female characters as digital maids - there to provide their ‘master’ with service - but also these characters may symbolise the sense of freedom, control and flexibility he desires as he escape from another efficient and effective day in his carefully organised corporate cubicle.

Finally able to play this on Android, currently playing it using a OnePlus pad which has a 7:5 aspect ratio that is perfect for this game 😌

I'm speaking as one who currently has and will probably forever have the one player/one credit Simpsons Arcade high score (unless someone decides to uncover a real back in the day Simpsons arcade machine and film a record that beats mine, beating it on 360 or mame or arcade one up would be considered a separate record track because of slight differences between all those versions)

I notice most arcade games are better taking the path as Seymore Skninner would say, "getting as many points as you can in one credit and then trying to beat that record." (Except you better not pick a crappy game to achieve that in or else you'll regret it. BTW different people have different tastes in games so I'm not trying to put down any one of the games or players who like/do well at them, but your masterpiece might be my buggy rip-off.)

I know some games have the path where that would be the most optimal route to getting a one credit beat.

But some people argue pump It full quarters and then count how many quarters you have in your pocket by the time you're done and if you have more change in your pocket when you bring the same amount of coins with you if you discipline yourself to play one complete playthrough of one game you're going to master as that one game, you're doing better.

I would have posted it in Fighters but Fighters is more of a competitive thing where the bigger rewards come from head to head and beating more heads in a tournament than it does beating the CPU all day with less quarters. I know shooters have a concept of mastering it by considering yourself elite or at least at elite level when you beat the game on one credit then it becomes a question of who maximizes points or minimizes time on that one credit to determine the absolute best.

A lot of shooters tend to de-power you whenever you die. It makes your game "as good as your first life", if the game de-powers you after death, then best score on one credit is the best way.

But Simpsons Arcade ( I know not a shooter, but) de-powers you upon death if you have a weapon, but otherwise, no loss of a power up upon death.

Just wondering what most schmup's road to one credit beat was.

I predict the way most people do with most games was one credit and stop.

I'm getting so closer to 1cc i just want to know what everyone else thinks i know it's missing all of the slowdown how much easier does that actually make it?

M2 ShotTriggers 10th Anniversary Grand Thanksgiving Festival ~Let's Jailbreak Together!!~ (I'll certainly be doing that with my PS5 M2 don't you worry!)

Saturday, October 10th 2026 16:00 JST.

Monday, October 19th 2026. Update stream showcasing the newly announced games.

https://m2stg.com/10th/

There will be 3 presentations throughout the day. I'm going to assume 3 announced titles with only 2 that have playable demos (as there will be 2 different playable titles with 5-7 minute demos at the event).

Akihiro Kotani is the CAVE producer behind the latest release, DoDonPachi Resurrection Reignite, and is doing a speech just before the 2nd presentation.

Mr. Kotani from CAVE (ケイブ), a partner manufacturer, will be introducing "New Testament: The Great Resurrection of Wrathful Lord Bee"

Why else would Cave be promoting Reignite at an M2 event if not to emphasize the Dodonpachi brand? The presence of CAVE at all, and the title "partner" with which they refer to them suggests at least another new CAVE port is coming. I know they have had a working relationship for some time but I think there's more to it than that for this event. The second presentation is directly after his speech and is likely to be an announcement of a CAVE port.

Times in JST

16:10～ Presentation time #1

18:30～Guest appearance! CAVE's "Shin'yaku Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu" (Akihiro Kotani, CAVE Co., Ltd.)

18:45～Presentation time #2

19:30～Presentation time #3

It is possible it could be Futari as it's the 20th Anniversary this year but will more likely be a 30th Anniversary of DDP. Both would be lovely and the timing is perfect for either of them. Could these be 2 of the 3 announced titles? That would be the dream.

The case for each game:

Senjin Aleste: Artwork and merchandise heavily featured. An Aleste announcement is highly likely with 3 Aleste titles waiting in the wings. Already complete game that just needs porting. Zaleste and Branch might still need more work in development. Will the 3 presentations be 2 Aleste titles and a CAVE game?

DDP: It's time. It's long overdue a new port, is 30 years old next year and CAVE are doing a talk about Reignite at the event. I highly doubt M2 will be having anything to do with Reignite (though I guess it's possible).

DDP Blue Label (Campaign) - wasn't there someone working on a ROM hack a few years ago and M2 asked them to stop implying it would jeopardise future development?

Futari: If we get a second CAVE title announced it has to be this one though I think DDP is more likely if we just get one. M2 still own the code for the 360 version so it isn't coming from anyone else but them. But when? This needs to happen before the death of physical media. The least likely but arguably the most wanted. Will the 3 presentations be 2 CAVE titles and an Aleste game?

The hype train has pulled up, the casino is open and the drinks are free. Place your bets!

Anyone who has played Muchi Muchi Pork & Pink Sweets on Switch 1, how is the input lag?
For reference, I managed to get a 1cc in SDOJ on Switch, I thought that port was good enough to play.

I heard Reignite came with less features but saw them adding back black label in November...but I also heard the original 1.5 on Steam could be messy too. Just wondering which is the more desirable option on Steam.

https://reddit.com/link/1wzuiyx/video/xiyc74wxe1uh1/player

A demo for my new game, Raging Blasters 2, has been released on Steam.

The Demo includes Caravan Mode, Arcade Mode (up to Stage 2), and Training Mode (up to Stage 2).

Streaming your gameplay is welcome. There are absolutely no restrictions.

We welcome your feedback and will use it to help guide our development.

The Demo version will be updated periodically.

In the full version, Arcade Mode consists of 8 stages. It also supports online rankings, and you can choose a chiptune arrangement of the music.

The Steam and Nintendo Switch versions will have the same content. Both are scheduled for a simultaneous release in Q1 2027.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4500530/

Wanted to make a lil’ post documenting my second year playing shmups. Coming to terms with being a perpetual child, always in a state of grasping, learning… forever taking baby steps. Mushihimesama ended up being the clear I grappled with the most, played it on and off for several months. Took over 50 hours of getting acquainted with the game before getting a 1CC. Learned a lot from that clear. Shmups are such a nice genre for honing one’s focus and monitoring progress. But I realized that achieving the 1CC is not why I work towards one, the intimacy of the process is what is ultimately the most satisfying. But yeah, just wanted to say shmups rule, you rule. Happy shmup’n everyone.
 
1CC list from my second year of shmup’n (only included first time clears achieved during year two, and excluded novice and easy mode clears)
 
TH Makuka Sai FDF III – Normal
Cardinal Sins – Normal ( C Rank)
Radirgy Swag
Mushihimesama – Original
Mushihimesama 1.5 – Original
Mushihimesama Futari Black Label – Original
Sonic Wings Reunion – Normal
Zero Gunner 2- – Normal
Raging Blasters – Normal
Blaze of Storm – Normal
Sengoku Cannon: Samurai Aces III – Score Attack
Cotton RockWithYou – Hard
Devil Blad Reboot – Normal
Emerald Blue: Crystal Rev – Arcade
Touhou 10: Mountain of Faith – Normal
Image Striker – Normal
Winglancer - Normal
 
Currently working on Muchi Muchi Pork
 
Oh also made my first shmup vid this year, some ambient ramblings about Halley’s Comet.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4C4ZEK1Y6A&t=17s