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Post by JoeQ on Oct 22, 2017 6:30:51 GMT -5
Thunder Force IV (GEN) is pretty manageable, not to mention completely awesome and one of the best horizontal shmups ever made. It also has a cheat/glitch allowing you to start the game with 99 lives.
I didn't play it much, but I think R-Type FINAL (PS2) is also supposed to be pretty doable. Also has loads and loads of unlockables and extra modes to keep you entertained beyond score hunting.
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Post by windfisch on Oct 22, 2017 7:30:42 GMT -5
All the bullet hell stuff looks nice enough, but kinda misses that otherworldly atmosphere I like about the genre. The term "visual storytelling" is definitely appropriate I guess. From the responses I take it none of the big names other than Gradius were particularly approachable? Kind of a shame, cause those tended to have the nicest presentation (well, Axelay looks pretty damn pretty as well, of course). Can't believe I forgot about Tyrian 2000. Speaking of Gradius, I think I actually own a version of Gradius 2, since I have that Konami GB Collection it's on. Game always kicked my ass, but I probably should give it another go. Parodius also seems strangely affordable, so I might just pick that up. The Gradius you are probably talking about is called Nemesis 2 in Japan and Europe ( Gradius: Interstellar Assault in th US) - and it's a completely different game than the arcade Gradius 2. It's not as brutally hard as the latter (though the home versions are probably easier). But it can be somewhat challenging, I guess. I can't really tell anymore, because I've played and beaten the game over and over. It's easily one of the best shoot'em ups for the Gameboy alongside Parodius and Sagaia (though Sagaia certainly is quite difficult and requires a good deal of memorization). And since you've mentioned visual storytelling, Nemesis 2 is a prime example for that. It manages to tell a simple, yet effective story, mostly by using in-game graphics. Stages in most Gradius games are pretty much disjointed, but here they neatly segue from one into the next. I also second Gleylancer (in "homing mode"). |
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Post by Bumpyroad on Oct 22, 2017 7:37:52 GMT -5
I didn't play it much, but I think R-Type FINAL (PS2) is also supposed to be pretty doable. Also has loads and loads of unlockables and extra modes to keep you entertained beyond score hunting. It's a beautiful game, but rather heavy on memorization. There're some hard sections in the game and the last stage is especially unforgiving. |
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Post by shelverton on Oct 22, 2017 8:59:46 GMT -5
I think both Axelay and UN Squadron are rather manageable, at least until the last few stages. I never had much problems with them, while I remember struggling quite a bit with something like Super R-Type for example.
I was gonna say Tale Spin on NES too, but that game is both cruel and boring. Don't play it.
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on Oct 22, 2017 10:25:55 GMT -5
That reminds me - Fantasy Zone is another one that I enjoyed back in the day. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy_Zone I played the NES port that was done by Tengen, who did manage to beat Nintendo's lockout chip and released unauthorized arcade ports in those odd-shaped cartridges. As I recall - the game is pretty unbalanced as far as powerups are concerned and can be completed in ~20 minutes. It also has a very colorful art style that sets it apart from the more serious-themed shooter games. It gets very hard if you make any mistakes with those powerups later on though, unlike Super. |
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Post by jorpho on Oct 22, 2017 11:15:00 GMT -5
Come to think of it, I was playing through Blazing Lasers just a little while ago and was having a blast. It's quite satisfying to fill the screen with your bullets.
Air Zonk is probably a little bit too far on the difficult side.
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Post by llj on Oct 22, 2017 11:26:55 GMT -5
EVERYTHING has gotten super pricey, which is fucking insane. Games that used to be 20$ just a couple of years ago are now 150$. At least technically - we all know that stuff that's listed with stupid "buy now!" prices rarely ever goes for that much in practice. Some genres have flatlined some over the past few years. RPGs have flatlined, fighting games have flatlined. Those were the "hot" retro gaming market genres about 10 or so years ago. Shmups have gone up a metric ton lately though. Platformers generally have high prices but tend to fluctuate depending on the title. |
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Post by 1upsuper on Oct 22, 2017 14:51:43 GMT -5
Older console shmups have gotten damn expensive over the past few years in the retro market. Seems like every major Mega Drive and SNES shmup have gone up a ton. And let's not even get into the prices for Saturn's shmups. EVERYTHING has gotten super pricey, which is fucking insane. Games that used to be 20$ just a couple of years ago are now 150$. At least technically - we all know that stuff that's listed with stupid "buy now!" prices rarely ever goes for that much in practice. Thanks for the contributions, everyone; good to know I'm not the only one who is happy when these games offer easier difficulty settings. All the bullet hell stuff looks nice enough, but kinda misses that otherworldly atmosphere I like about the genre. The term "visual storytelling" is definitely appropriate I guess. From the responses I take it none of the big names other than Gradius were particularly approachable? Kind of a shame, cause those tended to have the nicest presentation (well, Axelay looks pretty damn pretty as well, of course). Can't believe I forgot about Tyrian 2000. Speaking of Gradius, I think I actually own a version of Gradius 2, since I have that Konami GB Collection it's on. Game always kicked my ass, but I probably should give it another go. Parodius also seems strangely affordable, so I might just pick that up. Viriax looks interesting, too. Treasure's stuff I'm not overtly familiar with, but Bangai-Oh was a great one. Will check those out. Thanks again everyone, keep 'em coming! My principal problem with bullet hells is that they reorient the entire visual focus to the bullets. With classic SHMUPs, there's a tension between soaking in the vibe, the backgrounds, the cool sprites, etc., and also keeping an eye out for the bullets. The bullets were the obstacles but the environment was an attraction all its own. With bullet hells, the pink and blue geometries of the endless waves of bullets are basically curtains that obscure any opportunity to even *be* distracted by the environment. Bullet hells make the bullets the aesthetic focus as well as the obstacles, though there are some obvious exceptions. Deathsmiles and Mushihimesama do still have some great backgrounds and stuff. |
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Post by 8 Bit Dreams on Oct 22, 2017 15:01:54 GMT -5
Bullet Soul appears to have a mechanic where the bullet curtains turn to points when the enemy ship is destroyed. Looks like an easy STG from the videos of seen.
Raiden 4 has some pretty friendly difficulty levels, it’s worth checking out.
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Post by Bobinator on Oct 22, 2017 15:16:17 GMT -5
I'd recommend Jamestown, myself. There's a pretty good selection of difficulty levels, and the mechanics are pretty easy to figure out.
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Post by Feynman on Oct 22, 2017 15:42:53 GMT -5
I'd recommend Jamestown, myself. There's a pretty good selection of difficulty levels, and the mechanics are pretty easy to figure out. Yeah, Jamestown does an exceptionally good job of teaching people how to play, and slowly ramping them up to a difficulty level they feel comfortable with. It offers a great time for players of an extremely broad range of skill levels, from total newbies to masters of the genre. Not many shmups can make that claim. |
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Post by cheetahman91 on Oct 22, 2017 16:53:33 GMT -5
Star Parodier is probably the easiest shooter I've played. Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius is another easy one since you can set your lives to nine and turn auto-revive on. Both are pretty fun too. Star Parodier is one of my personal favorites.
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Post by 1upsuper on Oct 22, 2017 17:13:29 GMT -5
Yeah, I'll cast my votes for the Parodius series (all of them are phenomenal but the arcade versions are of course brutal), Fantasy Zone 1 and 2, Twinbee 1, Star Parodier, and Harmful Park, which is a delightful PSX cute-em-up available on Japanese PS3 PSN.
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Post by Ike on Oct 22, 2017 20:59:33 GMT -5
R-Type Final has a mode called Baby
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Post by Bumpyroad on Oct 23, 2017 1:19:48 GMT -5
R-Type Final has a mode called Baby Baby or not you will die a lot. It's not a 'casual' game by any stretch of the imagination, unless you're a gifted "shmuper". I'm not  |
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