Proud to say that I was around to buy all these games when they originally came out! :) (Thunderforce 4 & 5 were robbed by not being on here! Also Darius Gaiden! And no MUSHA!?)
Einhander is almost always at the top of every space shooter list yet still seems to be relatively obscure.. It’s a little perplexing.. I was actually on board with Starfox from the very start.. No pun intended.. It feels almost like a 3D Galaga..
Tip: Einhänder is pronounced ayn-h(e)nda, notice how the 'e' has 2 dots above it, that means that 'e' is followed by an 'a' so it looks like this 'ea' without the e's 2 dots above it. Weird though that the list didn't have any Saturn shmups on it, and G Darius on Saturn just kills the ps1s version.
I love shoot 'em ups even though I'm terrible at them. Love Lords of Thunder, Battle Garegga and Mushihimesama Futari. Probably my favorites that I've played.
All us shoot em up players say the same thing. "I'm terrible at them". But I bet you, you have at least completed a few. I say the same thing, but even I've 1cc'ed a few myself. 🤘
@@LittleBigKid707b I haven't CC'd any. I really am pretty bad but I also don't play them all the time. I love breaking them out in between longer games or on random nights just for some quick fun Which ones have you CC'd? Maybe I'll start there
@@damonke79 I used to play the long games too, but the older I get the more I find myself just not enjoying those super long games. Love shoot em ups, beat em ups and platformers. I really enjoy playing the 16-bit shooters. Most aren't crazy hard like the bullet hells are. I've done Axelay, Space MegaForce, Gaires and a few others. Space MegaForce, Axelay and ThunderForce 3 are excellent entry level games that you should try.
@@LittleBigKid707b Is there an easy way to play Space MegaForce? I have Axelay on the Wii...but nowhere else. Do you like roguelites/roguelikes? I also play those in those shorter sessions too. Been having a lot of fun with those nowadays also...even though I suck at those too lol
@@damonke79 The way I got Space Mega Force/Super Aleste was I bought the Japanese import last year. WAAAY cheaper than the American version. Same exact game. Even the menus are in English. I guess there's emulation and ROMs too, but I'm not the most tech savvy guy. I'm sure many others can help you on that. Never tried roguelikes. The genres I enjoy keep me plenty busy. lol. Run n guns, rail shooters, shoot em ups, gallery shooters, beat em ups, platformers. Just ordered an indie game called Steel Assault. Pretty pumped about that one.
Man, I don't think enough praise can be given to Space Invaders Extreme for making this list. A shooter from 2008 has incredible competition from the 80's and 90's to go against. And I would never in a million years think EGM's best shooter of all time is a PS1 game.
Hard to pick just one, but I think if I had to, I'd probably go with the NES port of Life Force. Well... the Famicom port, I guess, for the extra Option.
Well, if you have a game called Gates of Thunder or more so Lords of Thunder, if you don't have a rocking sound track, may be bordering on false advertising. 😉 Also, I'm glad you explained that Wayne's World thing, because I was wondering why the heck that guy suddenly said "Schwinggg". 😂🤣 And Star Fox, judging by the games I've played on both my dad's old SNES, as well as Emulators, I could see how back then, it felt like a huge step up. Almost wonder if EGM was still around, how they'll rate more modern day games. As for the question, hmmmmm, I know it is basic, and wasn't sure if it could be classified as a shooter, but if Star Fox can, so can this, and that is the old Atari Arcade release of Star Wars. I played it on MAME, and thought it was pretty fun, so think I'll pick that one.
Definitely a solid list by EGM. Sure a few of the greats weren't on the list but I understand why. I use to get EGM and Gamepro back in the 90s. Best era in gaming for me.
Sadly I didn't play much shoot em ups. I like when I have life bar in games or at least 2-3 hit chance. Some games are exception,but in general I would rather play game with life-bar or some "armour" even if they are harder than "one hit kill" type of games. My first home console I bought with money I put aside was N64 and Star Fox 64 was one of first games I played on N64 so I'll say SF64,and I don't remember majority of game. I know I loved back then. I guess I will buy Star Fox remake for 3DS,it's pretty cheap now,I think.
Thanks for the kind words, Richard. I ended up not only keeping all of my old magazine issues, but adding to the collection over time. It's rare to run into people who still have the issues, since so many were tossed out between moves (or by parents years later). Makes me wonder how many issues are actually still out there, especially when it comes to some of the lesser-known magazines.
I hate the "Shmup" abbreviation and never use it. The only exception is the hashtag, because I suspect I'm waging a losing war and still want people to find the video.
This may be a thing that I get to eventually, but first I have a bunch of genres I want to get to. For example, we'll be looking at EGM's Best Reviewed Fighting Games around the time of EVO 2021. That said, I do want to fill your request and feel like I have a good compromise. Instead of doing an episode about it, I'm just going to list the top-rated shooter by console in this comment. Here we go ... *3DO* - Star Fighter & Captain Quazar (tie, 8.1 out of 10) *Dreamcast* - Mars Matrix (8.5 out of 10) *Game Boy* - Fortified Zone (7.75 out of 10 *Game Boy Advance* - Iridion 3D (4.5 out of 10) *Game Boy Color* - Asteroids (8 out of 10) *GameCube* - Ikaruga (8.3 out of 10) *Genesis* - Gaiares (8.75 out of 10) *Game Gear* - Arena: Maze of Death (8 out of 10) *Jaguar* - Tempest 2000 (8.5 out of 10) *Lynx* - Desert Strike (4.75 out of 10) *Neo Geo* - Zed Blade (6.25 out of 10) *Nintendo 64* - Star Fox 64 (9.1 out of 10) *Nintendo DS* - Space Invaders Extreme (8.7 out of 10) *Nintendo Entertainment System* - S.C.A.T. (7.5 out of 10) *PlayStation* - Einhander (9.25 out of 10) *PlayStation 2* - R-Type Final (8.2 out of 10) *PlayStation Portable* - Space Invaders Extreme (8.7 out of 10) *Saturn* - Panzer Dragoon (8.4 out of 10) *Sega 32X* - Kolibri (7 out of 10) *Sega CD* - Keio Flying Squadron (7.8 out of 10) *Sega Master System* - Scramble Spirits & Cloud Master (tie, 4 out of 10) *Super NES* - Star Fox (8.75 out of 10) *TurboGrafx-16* - Aeroblasters (8.5 out of 10) *TurboGrafx-CD* - Lords of Thunder & Gate of Thunder (tie, 8.5 out of 10) *Virtual Boy* - Vertical Force & Red Alerm (tie, 6.75 out of 10) *Wii* - Blast Works (8.5 out of 10) *Xbox* - Panzer Dragoon Orta (8.5 out of 10) *Xbox 360* - Monster Madness: Battle for Suburbia (4.2 out of 10)
The problem with the 8-bit era is that Electronic Gaming Monthly didn't start reviewing games until the late 1980s, so a lot of NES classics (like Gun.Smoke) were never reviewed.
Didn't think einhander would be up that high. Axelay was graphically cool but slowed down way too much. Also didn't expect Tempest. Lords of thunder should be higher. Left off the thunder force, parodious games. Oh well, can't list them all. Elemental master was one that is great but seemed to go unnoticed in the states. You could easily do a long list of unrated by EGM shumps. QOTD, Best shump would be hard to nail down but will still put the original R-Type up there.
The shooter genre, or as the new kids call it these days the shoot 'em up, is probably my favorite genre. I'm not even that good at it, but I always have the most fun with those games, and the kinds of games I come back to the most. This list was weird to me. Where are games like MUSHA, Gradius III, any of the R-Type games and UN Squadron? Star Fox isn't a shooter, either to me. It's more like an on-rails space flight simulator thingy akin to stuff like Rogue Squadron or maybe more accurately the old Star Wars Rebel Assault games. I still don't understand, either, to this day why Axelay is so beloved. I didn't like it when it came out, and I've even tried giving it a second and third shot over the years. Yeah it's a technical marvel but that's where it ends. For me the best shooter of all time is a tie for me between UN Squadron and MUSHA. In a very close second: VERY UNPOPULAR OPINION here lol is Super Earth Defense Force. I don't care what anyone says I freaking love that game. Super EDF is what really got me into shooters to begin with. R-Type III would be right up there for me as well. Plus, the old 1940s games were all great to me, and even the later ones they put out on Playstation which eventually made their way as ports on the Nintendo Switch. I don't know this list is way different to what I would call the best of the best. At least Lords of Thunder was on here. That game will melt your face off!
I went back and forth on what kinds of shooters to include on the list. For example, I ultimately kept on-rails shooters (like Star Fox or Panzer Dragoon), but opted against run 'n gun shooters (Contra and Gunstar Heroes). I did that because I could make an argument that a game like Contra is more of an action game than shooter, while Star Fox is built around the shooting element. That decision won't satisfy everybody, but hopefully my reasoning makes sense. Now, if you would like to exclude on-rails shooters from the list, we can do that. If we were to take out the two Star Fox games, most of the games on this list would go up either one or two places. The new number 9 and 10 would be Pocky & Rocky (Super NES) and Super Smash TV (Super NES). As for the missing games, here's how Electronic Gaming Monthly scored each of them ... MUSHA: No Review Gradius III: 8 out of 10 U.N. Squadron: 7.75 out of 10 Super EDF: 6.25 out of 10 R-Type Delta: 8.25 out of 10 R-Type Final: 8.2 out of 10 R-Type III: 8 out of 10 Super R-Type: 8 out of 10 R-Type (Game Boy): 7.75 out of 10 R-Types: 7.1 out of 10 R-Type DX: 7 out of 10 Looks like R-Type Delta just narrowly missed the cut off for the top ten list.
@@DefunctGames Super R-Type and R-Type III both got the same score? Man, what a difference two years makes. I wonder if there's other review pairs you could use to measure their changing expectations? Similar game design, identical review score, and the only difference is the execution.
@@DefunctGames I think so. All I remember is that it was a cabinet (kinda yellow red and black themed) arcade game and we had one here in the local convenience store. You shot targets in the air and bombed them on the ground. Everyone played Pac Man but, I played Scramble cuz I was cool...lol...
Proud to say that I was around to buy all these games when they originally came out! :)
(Thunderforce 4 & 5 were robbed by not being on here! Also Darius Gaiden! And no MUSHA!?)
MUSHA. Best shooter ever. Every pixel and note is art. And the game is incredibly efficient at only 500kb.
Einhander is almost always at the top of every space shooter list yet still seems to be relatively obscure.. It’s a little perplexing.. I was actually on board with Starfox from the very start.. No pun intended.. It feels almost like a 3D Galaga..
Tip: Einhänder is pronounced ayn-h(e)nda, notice how the 'e' has 2 dots above it, that means that 'e' is followed by an 'a' so it looks like this 'ea' without the e's 2 dots above it.
Weird though that the list didn't have any Saturn shmups on it, and G Darius on Saturn just kills the ps1s version.
I love shoot 'em ups even though I'm terrible at them. Love Lords of Thunder, Battle Garegga and Mushihimesama Futari. Probably my favorites that I've played.
All us shoot em up players say the same thing. "I'm terrible at them". But I bet you, you have at least completed a few. I say the same thing, but even I've 1cc'ed a few myself. 🤘
@@LittleBigKid707b I haven't CC'd any. I really am pretty bad but I also don't play them all the time. I love breaking them out in between longer games or on random nights just for some quick fun
Which ones have you CC'd? Maybe I'll start there
@@damonke79 I used to play the long games too, but the older I get the more I find myself just not enjoying those super long games. Love shoot em ups, beat em ups and platformers. I really enjoy playing the 16-bit shooters. Most aren't crazy hard like the bullet hells are.
I've done Axelay, Space MegaForce, Gaires and a few others. Space MegaForce, Axelay and ThunderForce 3 are excellent entry level games that you should try.
@@LittleBigKid707b Is there an easy way to play Space MegaForce? I have Axelay on the Wii...but nowhere else. Do you like roguelites/roguelikes? I also play those in those shorter sessions too. Been having a lot of fun with those nowadays also...even though I suck at those too lol
@@damonke79 The way I got Space Mega Force/Super Aleste was I bought the Japanese import last year. WAAAY cheaper than the American version. Same exact game. Even the menus are in English. I guess there's emulation and ROMs too, but I'm not the most tech savvy guy. I'm sure many others can help you on that. Never tried roguelikes.
The genres I enjoy keep me plenty busy. lol. Run n guns, rail shooters, shoot em ups, gallery shooters, beat em ups, platformers. Just ordered an indie game called Steel Assault. Pretty pumped about that one.
Man, I don't think enough praise can be given to Space Invaders Extreme for making this list. A shooter from 2008 has incredible competition from the 80's and 90's to go against. And I would never in a million years think EGM's best shooter of all time is a PS1 game.
Some epic games there! Great video
Hard to pick just one, but I think if I had to, I'd probably go with the NES port of Life Force. Well... the Famicom port, I guess, for the extra Option.
Well, if you have a game called Gates of Thunder or more so Lords of Thunder, if you don't have a rocking sound track, may be bordering on false advertising. 😉 Also, I'm glad you explained that Wayne's World thing, because I was wondering why the heck that guy suddenly said "Schwinggg". 😂🤣 And Star Fox, judging by the games I've played on both my dad's old SNES, as well as Emulators, I could see how back then, it felt like a huge step up. Almost wonder if EGM was still around, how they'll rate more modern day games. As for the question, hmmmmm, I know it is basic, and wasn't sure if it could be classified as a shooter, but if Star Fox can, so can this, and that is the old Atari Arcade release of Star Wars. I played it on MAME, and thought it was pretty fun, so think I'll pick that one.
My absolute FAVORITE subject. More please. ;)
Space Megaforce, MUSHA & Gaiares are my favorite shumps of all time. Einhander is great but I never finished it.
It's impossible to argue with any of those picks.
I don't disagree wirh Einhander as being #1. It is incredible, especially with my HD retrovision cables on my big fat CRT.
Definitely a solid list by EGM. Sure a few of the greats weren't on the list but I understand why. I use to get EGM and Gamepro back in the 90s. Best era in gaming for me.
Sadly I didn't play much shoot em ups. I like when I have life bar in games or at least 2-3 hit chance. Some games are exception,but in general I would rather play game with life-bar or some "armour" even if they are harder than "one hit kill" type of games.
My first home console I bought with money I put aside was N64 and Star Fox 64 was one of first games I played on N64 so I'll say SF64,and I don't remember majority of game. I know I loved back then. I guess I will buy Star Fox remake for 3DS,it's pretty cheap now,I think.
Great video. I was a very long time subscriber to EGM. I may or may not still have all my issues.
Thanks for the kind words, Richard. I ended up not only keeping all of my old magazine issues, but adding to the collection over time. It's rare to run into people who still have the issues, since so many were tossed out between moves (or by parents years later). Makes me wonder how many issues are actually still out there, especially when it comes to some of the lesser-known magazines.
Thanks for not saying "shmup". People who do that need a good beating.
I hate the "Shmup" abbreviation and never use it. The only exception is the hashtag, because I suspect I'm waging a losing war and still want people to find the video.
I'd love for you to do a console-specific version of this theme for the NES. Highest rated shooters on the NES. Gunsmoke all the way baby!
This may be a thing that I get to eventually, but first I have a bunch of genres I want to get to. For example, we'll be looking at EGM's Best Reviewed Fighting Games around the time of EVO 2021. That said, I do want to fill your request and feel like I have a good compromise. Instead of doing an episode about it, I'm just going to list the top-rated shooter by console in this comment. Here we go ...
*3DO* - Star Fighter & Captain Quazar (tie, 8.1 out of 10)
*Dreamcast* - Mars Matrix (8.5 out of 10)
*Game Boy* - Fortified Zone (7.75 out of 10
*Game Boy Advance* - Iridion 3D (4.5 out of 10)
*Game Boy Color* - Asteroids (8 out of 10)
*GameCube* - Ikaruga (8.3 out of 10)
*Genesis* - Gaiares (8.75 out of 10)
*Game Gear* - Arena: Maze of Death (8 out of 10)
*Jaguar* - Tempest 2000 (8.5 out of 10)
*Lynx* - Desert Strike (4.75 out of 10)
*Neo Geo* - Zed Blade (6.25 out of 10)
*Nintendo 64* - Star Fox 64 (9.1 out of 10)
*Nintendo DS* - Space Invaders Extreme (8.7 out of 10)
*Nintendo Entertainment System* - S.C.A.T. (7.5 out of 10)
*PlayStation* - Einhander (9.25 out of 10)
*PlayStation 2* - R-Type Final (8.2 out of 10)
*PlayStation Portable* - Space Invaders Extreme (8.7 out of 10)
*Saturn* - Panzer Dragoon (8.4 out of 10)
*Sega 32X* - Kolibri (7 out of 10)
*Sega CD* - Keio Flying Squadron (7.8 out of 10)
*Sega Master System* - Scramble Spirits & Cloud Master (tie, 4 out of 10)
*Super NES* - Star Fox (8.75 out of 10)
*TurboGrafx-16* - Aeroblasters (8.5 out of 10)
*TurboGrafx-CD* - Lords of Thunder & Gate of Thunder (tie, 8.5 out of 10)
*Virtual Boy* - Vertical Force & Red Alerm (tie, 6.75 out of 10)
*Wii* - Blast Works (8.5 out of 10)
*Xbox* - Panzer Dragoon Orta (8.5 out of 10)
*Xbox 360* - Monster Madness: Battle for Suburbia (4.2 out of 10)
@@DefunctGames Ha! Thanks. SCAT?! I guess that's why it was one of the only NES shooters on the virtual console for 3DS...
The problem with the 8-bit era is that Electronic Gaming Monthly didn't start reviewing games until the late 1980s, so a lot of NES classics (like Gun.Smoke) were never reviewed.
Didn't think einhander would be up that high. Axelay was graphically cool but slowed down way too much. Also didn't expect Tempest. Lords of thunder should be higher. Left off the thunder force, parodious games. Oh well, can't list them all. Elemental master was one that is great but seemed to go unnoticed in the states. You could easily do a long list of unrated by EGM shumps.
QOTD, Best shump would be hard to nail down but will still put the original R-Type up there.
... philosoma (or is it filosoma), either way, 'twas a great game.
The shooter genre, or as the new kids call it these days the shoot 'em up, is probably my favorite genre. I'm not even that good at it, but I always have the most fun with those games, and the kinds of games I come back to the most. This list was weird to me. Where are games like MUSHA, Gradius III, any of the R-Type games and UN Squadron? Star Fox isn't a shooter, either to me. It's more like an on-rails space flight simulator thingy akin to stuff like Rogue Squadron or maybe more accurately the old Star Wars Rebel Assault games. I still don't understand, either, to this day why Axelay is so beloved. I didn't like it when it came out, and I've even tried giving it a second and third shot over the years. Yeah it's a technical marvel but that's where it ends.
For me the best shooter of all time is a tie for me between UN Squadron and MUSHA. In a very close second: VERY UNPOPULAR OPINION here lol is Super Earth Defense Force. I don't care what anyone says I freaking love that game. Super EDF is what really got me into shooters to begin with. R-Type III would be right up there for me as well. Plus, the old 1940s games were all great to me, and even the later ones they put out on Playstation which eventually made their way as ports on the Nintendo Switch. I don't know this list is way different to what I would call the best of the best. At least Lords of Thunder was on here. That game will melt your face off!
I went back and forth on what kinds of shooters to include on the list. For example, I ultimately kept on-rails shooters (like Star Fox or Panzer Dragoon), but opted against run 'n gun shooters (Contra and Gunstar Heroes). I did that because I could make an argument that a game like Contra is more of an action game than shooter, while Star Fox is built around the shooting element. That decision won't satisfy everybody, but hopefully my reasoning makes sense.
Now, if you would like to exclude on-rails shooters from the list, we can do that. If we were to take out the two Star Fox games, most of the games on this list would go up either one or two places. The new number 9 and 10 would be Pocky & Rocky (Super NES) and Super Smash TV (Super NES).
As for the missing games, here's how Electronic Gaming Monthly scored each of them ...
MUSHA: No Review
Gradius III: 8 out of 10
U.N. Squadron: 7.75 out of 10
Super EDF: 6.25 out of 10
R-Type Delta: 8.25 out of 10
R-Type Final: 8.2 out of 10
R-Type III: 8 out of 10
Super R-Type: 8 out of 10
R-Type (Game Boy): 7.75 out of 10
R-Types: 7.1 out of 10
R-Type DX: 7 out of 10
Looks like R-Type Delta just narrowly missed the cut off for the top ten list.
U.N. Squadron 👍
@@DefunctGames
Super R-Type and R-Type III both got the same score? Man, what a difference two years makes.
I wonder if there's other review pairs you could use to measure their changing expectations? Similar game design, identical review score, and the only difference is the execution.
Never liked Einhander much....seems EGM never played Dodonpachi!
I might hafta pick star fox 64 as my favorite
Einhander hands down.
R Type Delta - Soukyugentai
Ohhhh snap
Does anyone remember SCRAMBLE?
The early '80s Konami/Stern game?
@@DefunctGames I think so. All I remember is that it was a cabinet (kinda yellow red and black themed) arcade game and we had one here in the local convenience store. You shot targets in the air and bombed them on the ground. Everyone played Pac Man but, I played Scramble cuz I was cool...lol...
Snes U.N. Squadron.
G. Darius > Einhander
Schwinggg 🤪