Shoot Em Ups: Discussion and Appreciation of a Niche Genre

[Mike Arcade]

[So much like my Godzilla Theories Topic, this was also another soap box for my insanity. However that wouldn't be fair to this genre of video games I'm so fond of so I'm expanding it to a full on discussion and appreciation of this niche genre.

So on here we get to chat about these games and I can also inform you guys and others about various series and games from it. I hope you guys enjoy as I share my love for this genre that's been around since the dawn of video games themselves.  ]

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ShootEmUp

Welcome one and all to theories regarding video games in the Shoot Em Up Genre, also known as SHMUP. It's a  personal favorite genre of mine in video games with a TON of history ranging all the way back to Space Wars, Space Invaders, Galaxian, Galaga, Scramble, and a bunch more. Now originally I wanted to make a whole topic in the Video Game Section but I wasn't sure if that would gain any traction.

On that note and the main reason why I made this topic is I have a few theories here and there, mainly two for now regarding two particular Series, that being R-Type and The Tale of Alltynex Trilogy. Now bare with me as in order for these theories to work is that they have to cross over with other SHMUP Series made by other publishers and developers, but I have my reasons for these theories and how they make sense to me, I hope you guys enjoy and let me know what you think about these theories and if you guys want me to make a SHMUP Topic in the Video Game Section.
I mean that would save a lot of space rather then having seperate topics for EVERY shmup series, regardless here we go.

And of course, spoilers are involved.

R-Type Theory: The Other Civilization...are from Gradius!?

This is going into some very obscure territory but for Clarification they are a 3rd faction for the Japan Only game R-Type Tactics II: Operation Bitter Chocolate. Funny name I know but let me go on.
http://rtype.wikia.com/wiki/Other_Civilization
They are an apparent alien race that was never established until this recent entry in the R-Type Series. In R-Type Final, the last SHMUP R-Type it is found out that the mysterious Bydo Empire that you have fought throughout the entire series are in fact a man-made Biological Weapon designed by us in the 26th Century to wipe out our enemies. The Bydo ended up going rampant of course so we transported the Bydo into another dimension, which led to them finding us in the 22nd Century kickstarting the whole series. Now Humanity's Enemies are never mentioned by name but since the release of Tactics II it's theorized that this Other Civilization as they are only known as are those enemies we end up fighting in the 26th Century...but who are they? We are never given any other info regarding them sadly but since then fans have left that as that and called it a day, except me anyway. What would you say that I have an idea on who these enemies are, in fact they might be..the Gradians from Gradius!

If you look at one of the particular ships from them in the link I provide you, one ship suspiciously looks like that of a Big Core from Gradius, which sparked this whole theory for me. Now that's not enough I know BUT as seen in the Gradius sub-series Otomedius there is an organization of Gradians who travel from other dimensions to establish defense forces to fight their own enemies The Bacterians. It's not too crazy to assume that they could be from Gradius or are at least related to the Gradians, though Core Weapons however are a weapon of Gradius' enemies, unless you look into the obscure Gradius game Gradius NEO, which is an Older Cell Phone game taking place long after the Bacterians are defeated where the Lars Empire separates itself from the Gradius Union and uses both Gradian and Bacterian Tech to fight against them.

The way I see it this Gradian Faction or The Lars Empire got attacked by The Bydo in Tactics II, ended up finding Earth around the 26th Century and ended up causing all these events to happen, I like the idea of them getting wiped by a very similar threat to what they once faced. That or this Other Civilization is Humanity from further into the future which would just be the ultimate irony right there. X_X

The Tale of Alltynex Theory: The 5 Missing Alltynex Units are actually Super Computers from other SHMUPs

Unlike in the first theory I'm going to keep this much more shorter then the previous theory because there is WAY too much backstory to explain in this series even for shmup standards, as in some of the biggest lore I've ever seen a Shmup Series so much that you can by a PDF book regarding everything that goes on what the details are. Basically this Senate on Earth plans their Illuminati like scheme of a new world order by using Humanity's super computer Alltynex OS to wipe out a majority of mankind, they powered it using an artifact called the ZODIAC Core...and by using the OS and Core to connect with 6 other Alltynex Units from different dimensions in order to do all this. It ends up going rampant for real though sparking the events of Alltynex 2nd. Now the 2nd stands for what The Tale of Alltynex Continuity refer to this Alltynex as this Senate call theirs the 2nd. Now Alltynex 2nd is in fact a remake of the FM-Towns game Alltynex, and it's been said that the original game's Alltynex is in fact the designated 1st Unit...but what about the other 5? Heck you could make a whole series off of the Alltynex games alone aside from the Tale of Alltynex Trilogy, however I'd like to offer my own take on what these missing 5 units are.

The 1st unlike the 2nd does not have a ZODIAC Core as the ZODIAC Weapons don't exist in the original, so you don't need one for it to be an Alltynex device. What if the other 5 Units aren't called Alltynex in Their Worlds...what if we've been fighting off The Senate's After Effects of their plan the whole time throughout the years in other SHMUPs, here's a list of what these "Alltynex" Units/Super Computers could possibly be.

3rd - Xaerous Brain (from Gradius)
4th - System/Unknown Named AI (from Zanac/Aleste Series)
5th - Bydo Core (from R-Type)
6th - Cha OS (from Thunder Force)
7th - Con-Human (from The RAY Series)

These are ALL Super Computers, most of which have Biological Components (some more or less then others, or none at all) and sparked the major conflicts of their respective series, now you can replace or completely redo this list if you wish, but ever since listening to the Tale of Alltynex's wonderful soundtrack again it occurred to me that whenever a Shmup has a Rampant Super Computer AI, I could be possibly still fighting the after effects of The Senate and their twisted plan, if you take this theory with a grain of salt then that could make them one of the greatest antagonists in SHMUP History. Even now the effects of Alltynex could still be felt across space and time...

Thank you for reading this and if you have your own theories then post them if you like and please respond afterwards, later!

[Mike Arcade]

Welp I'm back again on my one man topic of SHMUP Theories, I will say this though before I get started I am going to make a Shoot Em Up Topic on the Video Game Section here and that'll not only cover traditional Shmups but Run n' Guns like Contra and Metal Slug, On Rail Shooters like Space Harrier, and Light Gun games like Virtua Cop and Time Crisis...maybe even FPS Games too while I'm at it. XP

So this next theory is and isn't a theory in a way as this developer has mentioned this strange force that is behind the scenes on many of their games, just what is this force and what are their goals? Well we're going to find out just what they could be planning...

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

Developer Treasure: The Mystery of Outside Space, Our True Antagonists?

Treasure was formed in the early 1990s, all of their devs being from Konami originally. The best way to describe them would be to say they are the Platinum Games of the 90's and early 2000s, sadly they've apparently stopped making games which is quite disappointing, especially considering how they've been hinting at a major threat behind most of their Original IPs.

In the game Sin and Punishment for Nintendo 64, you play as a group of Teenagers protecting this weird green haired girl named Achi fighting both mutants that were suppose to be humanity's new food source gone horribly wrong and the corrupt hunters that fight them. Trippy story, point is one of the teenagers becomes this mutant super warrior, which turns out that was part of Achi's master plan as she wanted an Ultimate Warrior to help her rule a New Earth of her making, basically hitting the reset button. They defeat her and destroy her Earth Mimic Planet quite literally and live apparently happy ever after more or less, after the credits it's revealed that she's not quite dead and her true intentions, to use the main character Saki to take on "God"

...yes you read that right, though in this term "God" isn't the same kind of God we know of and are thinking, not by a long shot.

On that matter in Guardian Heroes the apparent "Creator" of the universe planned all the events of the game for the sole purpose to create Ultimate Warriors, using the Undead Hero whose been your ally the entire time as a messenger of sorts, while that game came out a few years before Sin and Punishment it sounds VERY similar to Achi's Intentions from Sin and Punishment...but why create Ultimate Warriors? That can't be a coincidence, and it might just not be one either as we go to the sequel of Guardian Heroes for answers.

http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/gba/e/agh.htm

We are given the first ever mention of "The Outer World", as the Undead Hero is said to have been from Another World, essentially it's suppose to mean us as the player coming from another world but the phrase itself will soon have another meaning in the next GBA Treasure Sequel Gunstar Super Heroes.

In Gunstar Super Heroes the harder the difficulty of the game you choose the more story you get, in Hard Mode you get some very interesting tidbits and information. The 4 Treasure Gems of Gunstar Heroes which seem like an elemental expy of Chaos Emeralds turn out to actually be sentient in Gunstar Super Heroes and tell you tales of each Gem who watched over a different Earth, specifically one from Radiant Silvergun, Silhouette Mirage, Guardian Heroes, and Advance Guardian Heroes. Meaning ALL of these worlds are somehow connected together, possible alongside other Treasure games like Alien Solider and others that aren't from other licenses they didn't make. In fact one character from Mischief Makers states they come from Another World near the end of that game.

So in Super Heroes there ends up being a 5th Gem known as the Megalith, which is unlike the other 4 Gems as it not only is trying to repeat the events of Gunstar Heroes but it also said to represent an entity known as Outside Space which the 4 Gems are trying to warn the Heroes of it's threat. Once more we are told of Another World, this time known as the Outside Space..

However connections to other Treasure Original Games aside it finally comes all ahead in Sin and Punishment: Star Successor where it's manual reveals all of it's backstory and may hold the key to what this Outside Space enemy is. "Star Successor reveals that there are two dimensions present within the universe: Inner Space and Outer Space. In Inner Space, there are multiple Earths, watched over by beings known as "The Creators" (literally referred to as "God" in the Japanese version). The creators have guided mankind to defend these planets and fight, destroying mankind whenever it strays from its destined path by attempting to bring peace. " (Wikipedia Article of Sin and Punishment: Star Successor)

This brings things to a more horrifying light, as it turns out all these fights from Treasure's Original IPs may in fact be tests from these so-called "Creators" in order to make Ultimate Warriors to fight off those from "Outer Space" and protect their "Inner Space". As silly as all these terms are it's still rather disturbing, yet it also kinda fits and somewhat contradicts the plot and ending of Radiant Silvergun...or paints it in a whole new light, all of their games really when you think about it! So those from...I'm just gonna call them Outside Space send out agents to fight the creators of Inner Space or create Ultimate Warriors of their own form the inside to counteract against them. Achi as it turns out is one of these agents. But why do all of this, any of this for that matter? As it turns out there is a good reason for all of this.
"It gets even closer to Gray and Gray Morality with the information on the European Website. According to it, the expansion of the universe is causing Inner Space to apply more pressure on Outer Space as it grows larger. If it's not stopped then Outer Space will be in serious trouble."

They are LITERALLY fighting for their own survival! Granted the means that they carry this out make them just as bad as those they fight but still, these Elderich like beings are fighting just to survive...actually from what Star Sucessor tells of them they sound quite familar to the aliens from Alien Soldier. O_o

So, does this make them our True Enemies of Treasure's games? Well, yes and no, as we either at times fight against them or for them, knowingly or unknowingly. It depends on the game really I mean in Radiant Silvergun you're basically a sucker to whatever plan is set in motion for that Earth, while in Ikaruga you defy the same or similar Stone-Like and destroy it, arguably giving those of Outside Space a victory. Guardian Heroes can go either way while Advance Guardian Heroes literally calls you a Hero from The Outer World! Can Humanity find true salvation within Treasure's Original IPs and possibly fight both these forces off? Well since they don't make games anymore apparently we may never know, but despite all that tragedy and manipulation it makes for some of the best video games ever made.

That and it's just a theory that they are all connected so don't take my word for it, even though it makes a lot of sense.
I hope I gave you guys more intensive to play their games, granted I just painted a rather bleak picture but not all the games are connected as such so there you go. XP

[TheRedStranger]

[Moderate language and Surreal/Disturbing content]

"Can I just go into the Kubrick?"

 

[Mike Arcade]

Yeah Cho Aniki is one of the strangest shmups ever, I mean shmups aren't all completely crazy, you either have comedic and crazy ones like Parodius along with what you just saw, and the standard of being the last hope of humanity, a great genre though you have to dig for lore. The easiest lore to find is for the major big Shmup Series such as Gradius and R-Type.

Maybe I should make this a much broader topic regarding shmups in the Video Game Section? I mean how many Shmup Theories are we really gonna see around here other then from me? XP

[TheRedStranger]

On 12/13/2016 at 10:50 PM, Mike Arcade said:

Yeah Cho Aniki is one of the strangest shmups ever, I mean shmups aren't all completely crazy, you either have comedic and crazy ones like Parodius along with what you just saw, and the standard of being the last hope of humanity, a great genre though you have to dig for lore. The easiest lore to find is for the major big Shmup Series such as Gradius and R-Type.

Maybe I should make this a much broader topic regarding shmups in the Video Game Section? I mean how many Shmup Theories are we really gonna see around here other then from me? XP

I concur.

[Mike Arcade]

To kick off this revived topic, recently a new DLC pack for Darius Burst Chronicle Saviours came out! Much like their Taito and SEGA Pack having new playable ships from classic Shmup games of the past, this pack does the same from the devs over at CAVE who are legends in the genre and are known for making some of the toughest Arcade Shmups around.

Each ship is from a different game from CAVE and play much like how they do in their original games, only this time excluding Windia they are in a horizontal aspect rather then vertical. While the game itself can be pricey when not on sale and each collected DLC pack is around 11 to 12 dollars US currency for Shmup fans like myself I'd say it's well worth saving to get this game, even if you didn't like the original 2 Darius games I'd say give this one a chance.

Honestly though after the first Darius game the series got good in it's sequel and even better after Darius II. I'd say check this game out if you're starting to bud into a hardcore fan of the genre as it has everything you could want with a good scoring system and even without playing the DLC mode where you can use all the DLC ships you still have a great cast of ships to use.  

So guys any thoughts on this, or are there any other Shmups that come to mind for you? Let me know! Also Death Smiles and Dodonpachi Resurrection are on Steam and have been out for quite awhile, I wouldn't be surprised to see Ketsui on Steam eventually, not sure about their other earlier arcade shooters though.

[Mike Arcade]

I can't believe I didn't post this sooner, Darius Burst released another and surprising DLC to the game, this time using the long lost characters from 8ing. Though before the name change they were better known as Raizing!

They made a much of SHMUP games back in the 90's up until 2000 with their last shmup Brave Blade, they were known for their great shmup games before they became 8ing, afterwards they stopped making Shmups sadly and ended up making Fighters from those you seen for Anime like the Naruto Games to working with Capcom for Tatsunoko vs. Capcom.

Regarding the ships you have the Wild Snail from Battle Garegga, Swordfish from Terra Diver, and most famously the samurai dragon Miyamoto from the Sorcerer Striker Series.

Fun Fact: Miyamoto also appeared in Battle Garegga as a secret character, he also appeared hidden away alongside the Wild Snail in Armed Police Batrider. Also their last two shump games before Brave Blade were developed for Capcom's CPS-II Arcade Board, one being the last entry in Sorcerer Striker called Dimahoo, and the last arcade title in Capcom's 194X Series 1944: The Loop Master.

Now why do I mention Capcom? Well...
 

Coming February 15th is the CAPCOM DLC Pack! I've been wondering when they were going to bring them in and all 3 Guest Stars are very surprising and not what I expected, I was thinking someone from Forgotten Worlds, Three Wonders, Eco Fighters, even a ship from their famous 194X Series. Instead they went full obscure and I love it.

You have the Mobilesuit a from Side Arms: Hyper Dyne, the Saber from Varth; Operation Thunderstorm, and most surprising of all the Gambler from Progear no Arashi. All of them great games I have a lot of fond memories of playing Side Arms and Varth on Capcom Classics Collection Volume 1 and 2, while like every Raizing game I had a lot of fun with Progear on MAME.

Fun Fact: While Progear no Arashi was produced by Capcom, it was actually developed by CAVE, which already has it's own DLC Pack in Darius Burst. Well Capcom does own the rights to Progear so there you go.

All of their Arcade Originals can be playable just fine on MAME though Side Arms and Varth are on some of Capcom's Collection Games, anything from Raizing on the other hand if not Arcade exclusive are on the Sega Saturn only in Japan, especially Terra Diver as that was made with Sega's ST-V Arcade board that the Sega Saturn was based on.

This brings me a few questions as whose up next for DLC, considering none of Capcom's ships from the 194X games showed up I'm guessing that's because there might be a Psikyo Pack with a ship from the Strikers 1945 Series in the future. So I'm just gonna guess on what the next 3 DLC Packs could be.

My guesses are a Psikyo Pack with characters and ships from Strikers 1945, Samurai Aces, and Gunbird. Then a possible Konami Pack (though I have my doubts) with Gradius, TwinBee, and I want to say maybe Parodius. After that my last guess would be a MOSS Pack with the Raiden-II, JudgeSpear, and Aegis IV. But we'll see how it goes, until then keep flying folks! 

[Rick Tyger]

My folks spent much money renting this game when I was a kid. And I spent a little snagging it from e-bay. I still love to dust it off and kill the terrorists and save the world. It's a short game, but very fun when you've got a friend to play it with. Behold: Thundercade!

[Mike Arcade]

Hey everybody, this topic has been long overdue on having any sort of post as there have been many great shmups released over the years since then. Right now though, I'd like to share some news regarding the upcoming Turbografx-16 Mini. Yes, this does have something to do with shmups, mainly on how M2 are still madmen that love to add extra stuff in these sort of collections.
 

You see, while we do get the classic Konami shooters of Gradius and Salamander for the TG16, M2 decided to make new ports of the games hidden in the mini console. They're easy to access too, and unlike a few other mini games hidden in the consoles like Force Gear or Twinbee, these are full games. Both M2 versions of the games are Near Arcade Perfect ports of their respective entries, which means the M2 port of Gradius doesn't have that exclusive TG16 level the original port has. It also means that the M2 Salamander port has the voices from the Arcade.

While I know it seems like a very minor thing to do in making new ports of games already available for the console, it just goes to show just how above and beyond M2 will go in order to make a great collection even better. Granted, this isn't Arcade Perfect, but Near Perfect enough to run on the TG16's hardware and look so darn impressive on what is technically an 8-bit console. After hiring the man who spearheaded his own personal Sega Genesis port of Darius, as well as making a similar Arcade port of Sega's Tetris for the Sega Genesis Mini, I wouldn't expect anything less from the greats over at M2. By the way, only the US and PAL versions of the Turbografx-16 Mini have Salamander and the M2 port.

The Console comes out for on May 22nd for 100 bucks, and if you like Mini Consoles it's really a must buy. Especially if you love shmups as it's a dream machine for them. Seriously you got some of the greats of Horizontal Shooters like Gradius, R-Type, and Darius on there. Plus Soldier Blade and the obscure Sapphire as well. So if you like Shmups (and other classic retro games like Bomberman and Castlevania: Rondo of Blood) I'd highly recommend it.

I'd like to post more shooters on here soon, so keep an eye out guys and stay tuned.

[Mike Arcade]

https://segabits.com/blog/2021/12/17/sega-announces-the-sega-astro-city-mini-v/

Succeeding the original release of the Sega Astro City Mini, this V Variant comes with a more Vertical screen. Why? Because of the reason I'm posting this on here rather than Retro Gaming Appreciation. The Majority of games on this Mini Arcade Console are 3rd Party Games, specifically Shmups!

I'm talking classics like Zaxxon and Raiden, to games made by shooter legends 8ing/Raizing, Psikyo, and Toaplan. For the first time ever, you can legally buy an official re-release of Batrider and Bakraid with this Mini Arcade Console. Not to mention being able to get Tatsujin, it's sequel Tatsujin-Oh, V-V, and the precursor to the Dodonpachi games, Batsugun!

Granted, you can get a bunch of Psikyo games on the Switch, PS4, and Steam, but knowing the quality Sega has put out with it's emulation on these Mini Consoles it'll most likely run a lot better for those input delay, detail oriented folks.

Simply put, this is gonna be something for the most die hard of Arcade and Shmup Maniacs, and makes me wonder if we'll get other Mini Consoles and Variants in the future.:

[MoKat]

That's way cool! I played Zaxxon and Raiden a lot, but I'm not familiar with the rest.

I dunno what it was called in Japan, but a local arcade had one called MagMax that was kinda goofy & very challenging (just try to get all the pieces & keep them together- easier said than done). There was a version for the NES, but I never played it; most reviewers say it was a disappointment compared to the arcade.

 

[Mike Arcade]

https://shmups.wiki/library/Help:Glossary

Figured I'd share this with all of you, it's just a basic glossary of terms used for Shooting Games. Ever wanted to know what a 1CC is? Or what Grazing is and how to do it? Maybe you want to find out what's with these Arrange Modes or Labels mean? Well here you go!

[MoKat]

This looked cool...

Irena: Genesis Metal Fury - Shoot'em Up - Sega Genesis / Mega Drive (DEMO)

 

Quote

Demo Version of an Upcoming Sega Genesis game.

Released By White Ninja Studio https://white-ninja.itch.io/irena-gen... https://www.whiteninjastudio.com/game...

"Move into battle mode to controls the ultimate warship and battle the mighty Emperor Zerox's army who reign with an iron fist on planet Xellia. Find and destroy the magnetic field source which holds the intergalactic ship that you escort or become the leader of the rebellion by releasing the enslaved population for millennia. Help Major Celina Pelinsky accomplish this most perilous mission, but are you really ready to fight for freedom?"

Dunno how accurate this comment is, but:

Quote

apparently this game is due for a physical release by Megacat Studios - the folks that released Coffee Crisis and Tanzer.

 

[Mike Arcade]

Been interested in Irena for awhile now, and I await to see how the full game comes to be.
 

This is a real good one, it's also not that difficult. Honestly I'd say it could be a good entry level shooter. @Nagolyou might want to check this one out.

[MoKat]

On 8/6/2022 at 5:46 PM, Mike Arcade said:

This is a real good one, it's also not that difficult

*nods* I haven't seen many shooters with a "guard" system. 😉

[Mike Arcade]

On 8/7/2022 at 8:19 PM, MoKat said:

*nods* I haven't seen many shooters with a "guard" system. 😉

This is a great one with a Guard system, or should I say Reflect System. XP

It’s part of the Tale of Alltynex Trilogy of Doujin games. It’s a great indie series from back in the day. While it’s international publisher closed it’s doors recently, a new one took up the rights and the games are still on Steam.

[Mike Arcade]

https://archive.org/details/siter-skain-the-tale-of-alltynex-official-guide-book-english/mode/2up

Around 10 years ago (geez, it's been that long), when Nyu Media still existed, they published an english version of the Alltynex Series Guide Book. This features gameplay details, interviews, and a BUNCH of lore related to the Siter Skain trilogy of shooters. You could get it for like 8 bucks back then, and I don't think you can buy it anymore, hence why it's probably up on Archive.org now. But hey, that just means you can now freely enjoy this book if you so wish to. XP

Speaking of Alltynex, one of the ships from the series made a surprise comeback thanks to it's new publisher in another stand out shooter from last year.
 

At the start of the year, Grand Cross Renovation (yes, the title makes no sense at all) got a free update with another guest star ship playable (the first of which was the unlockable Kirisame Blade). This time, we got the Kamui from the 1999 Shmup of the same name. Yes, it's an old game and yeah it's a pretty obscure choice, but considering the publisher has both games under it's belt it makes a lot of sense. That, and it's awesome to play with such a powerful ship again.

Let it be known that no matter how obscure it is, if this and HAMSTER's Arcade Archive line of re-releases shows anything, is that unless licensing gets in the way, nothing is too obscure to make a comeback.

[Mike Arcade]

https://yosshin4004.github.io/x68k/crs68k/official/index.html

The famous Sharp X68000 shoot 'em up Cho Ren Sha 68k recently got an updated version for the Sharp X68000 Z, a mini computer/console that's still being worked on with it's first beta release out in limited quantities.

Considering the massive price tag for the Z so far, needless to say not a lot of people are gonna buy it unless they are MASSIVE collectors.

However, the creator of the game decided to do something very nice for fans of the game. You can now download and play the new version for free.

I feel like he should make a new version or a successor for modern consoles, but this is still excellent. It's a great game too, all you gotta do is download a Sharp X68000 emulator or download Retroarch and get the Core for it and there you go! Enjoy, it can be pretty tough as it's more of an old school, mid-90s shooter. But it was quite ahead of it's time as this came out before the Dodonpachi series. Check it out!

[Mike Arcade]

To quote a wise man, “TRUXTON, TRUXTON, WE WANT TRUXTON!”

I kinda heard they we’re heading a revival, but it’s nice to see it’s finally happening.

…yes, I am old. XP