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Hello and welcome to The Ranking of Shmups!
I really like shmups and shooters in general. I also like showing off games to people have not heard of them. So, it would be perfect if I can combine both of these. But, what if I was able to also find what are the best shmups out of all of them? Enter The Ranking of Shmups!
So what is this?
This will be a series of streams in which I do three simple things: Play Shmups, Rank them overall, rank their soundtrack.
How are you keeping track of this?
With this handy dandy spreadsheet!
What exactly are you considering a shmup?
I have four rules
- The game must give you full movement around a single axis (X, Y, or Z) (Although tube shooters like Tempest and Gyruss are allowed)
- If you are not in control of some sort of craft, you must have no movement abilities that are required for progression (no jumping etc.)
- The focus of the game must be purely reflex driven with a primary focus on dodging projectiles/enemies and destroying some sort of enemy
- Shmups with an alternate genre such as fighting (Twinkle Star Sprites), Racing (Topple Zip and Kingdom Grand Prix), and Puzzle (Xevious: GAMP no Nazo) are allowed
That seems kind of…broad…
Yeah, I understand that some of these games might not be generally considered shmups, but I think they have most of the same concepts for them to be close enough.
Do you have any other rules?
Yes
- Games in a franchise must be played in order of release
- Any platform I can get footage out of is viable
- I must at least give each game 1 or 2 playthroughs before breaking out any cheats to see the rest of the game
- Rankings are my preference and are not meant to be some sort of solid truth
Also, the following will not be covered
- Eroge is right out. (Sorry Steam Hearts)
- No Dezeamon or other Shmup Creator as that’s only as good as the shmups you make in it
- Any shmup/RPG that takes multiple hours to get through like Sigma Star Saga and Fuzzical Fighter are also out
When will you be doing this?
Every other Friday at around 8:00PM CST. I will most likely do some on Saturdays as well at around the same time.
My streams can be found at http://twitch.tv/lolodepuzlo
Can I make suggestions for games to be covered?
Sure!
Are there limits to platforms of games that will be covered?
If I can get footage, it can be covered.
Archive
Pre-Ranking
Radiant Silvergun
Section-Z (NES)
Ranking of Shmups
Loop 1
(Gradius, Viewpoint, Bio-Metal, Trick Trap 1771, Kiki Kai Kai, Star Force, Sorcer Striker)
Trip to the Namco Museum
(Galaxian, Galaga, Bosconian, Xevious, Gaplus, Ordyne, Dragon Spirit, Baraduke)
Loop 2
(R-Type, 1942, Trouble Shooter, Dragon Breed, Star Soldier, Life Force (US), UN Squadron)
Loop 3
(Laser Blast, Moon Cresta, Summer Carnival 92 Recca, Kingdom Grandprix, Cloud Master, Twinbee, Starship Hector, Axelay)
M S X S P E C I A L
(Zanac, Guardic, Knightmare, King’s Knight, Gall Force: Defenders of Chaos, Aleste, Parodius, Gradius 2)