MiSTer FPGA Best Arcade Shmups To Play! From CAVE to Raizing, Capcom and More! Retro Gaming Gold!

You know I love MiSTer FPGA and you know I love arcade shmups so of course I love the MiSTer FPGA arcade core shmups! Retro gaming gold in arcade form. From CAVE bullet hell shmups to more casual oriented Sega arcade shmups and in between. Retro games galore on FPGA GAMING!
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The best part about MiSTer FPGA is its versatility! Sure we have a MiSTer FPGA N64 core and a MiSTer FPGA Sega Saturn core...but we also have a metric ton of amazing arcade FPGA cores to play and enjoy and one of my fav genres is the shmup (or shoot em up) arcade game...so let's take a look at some of the BEST shmups on MiSTer FPGA
This video was brought to you by MiSTer Addons! I've been using his boards since the beginning of my MiSTer FPGA video series over three years ago and they are my go to for reliability and ease of use. You can get them here : misteraddons.com/
Patreon Thanks: Seth Peterson, John Thompson, Paul Daniel, Porch, Jon Anderson, RayceARoni, Kuranghu, Jason Hixon, Alex Tessler, Jonathan Leung, Martin Donlon, Tom Van Deusen, barabob, Steve Randall, Ahab, K-2, Renaissance 2K, Ivar Wennerhold, Adrien Sebbane,
Mike Puelinckx, Tony Escobar, H7, Ben Parfitt, Holger Schmidt, Tim Lehner, Shad Uttam, Dan L, Coupon Joe, Sunder Raj, Dorfus the Maple Syrup Man, John Booty, Richard S, Eric Gutt and Robert Alger!
There are a ton of amazing shmups on MiSTer FPGA! We have shmups from CAVE (Esp. Ra. De, DoDonPachi, Progear and Guwange) shmups from Takumi (Mars Matrix), shmups from Toaplan (Tatsujin Oh / Truxton II), Shmups from Raizing and Eighting (Dimahoo) and shmups from Takumi (Mars Matrix) along with Sega and Success (Cotton) and many others!
There are so many retro gaming hidden gems in the shmups category and some of these would be considered arcade hidden gems too!
Questions? Comments? Just leave them below and I will do my best to answer each and every one of them!
/ videogameesoterica
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VGE
#retrogaming #misterfpga #shmups #shmups #arcade #arcadegame #arcadegaming #arcadegames #shootemup #shootemups #sega

[@neonkaiju]

I just got back into shmups after years & years of not playing. It's refreshing how "pure" they are; no battle passes, (usually) no crazy DLC etc etc. It's just you & the game.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yep…pure skill and nothing else

[@arcadesunday4592]

100% agree! Such a "pure" genre.

[@logan_cadfgs]

Getting halfway decent at a CAVE shooter is actually a great party trick

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

My wife watches me play them sometimes and she doesn’t understand why I find them fun nor that I can manage them decently. To an outsider it just looks like NOT fun lol

[@nicci_dee8292]

Im addicted to cave since they came up in the arcades. Its not just playing shmups.. Its all in one....great super detailed grafix awesome music in any cave game. Super smooth scrolling. Fast gameplay.....everythings perfect. If you wanna play a random shmup there are thousands out there. If you started with playing cave shmups...youll understand what i mean. ❤❤❤❤❤

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

The worst part is all you want to do is look AT the graphics but that’s just not good for not dying lol

[@nicci_dee8292]

@@VideoGameEsoterica thats why you should always have a friend with you. Let him play let him die....and enjoy the grafix 🤣

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha sacrificial shmup lamb

[@adt636]

Layer Section on Saturn is probably my favorite all time shmup. Played it today and it runs perfectly❤

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

A classic. I just kept this to arcade cores. May do the same for consoles

[@bartvb5059]

I used to play a lot of dodonpachi on sega saturn and even though that version isn't too bad, having the arcade version on MiSTer was a revelation. It even made me buy an arcade stick specifically for the arcade cores

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Gotta have a good stick. I did a custom build for myself just to fit my preferred layout. Love it

[@mgoul78]

Call me crazy, but I prefer regular old Donpachi. Admittedly, I haven't gotten past the second level of either, but I just love that ground setting of the first level and the guy who talks to you. I think it gives me more of an 80s action vibe.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

That's fair. Everyone gets their own preference!

[@bodyblow]

Can you do a video on joysticks for shmups?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Maybe in the future :)

[@Nemozoid]

VGE, you have one of the best channels on KZbin and your Mister content is reference level quality. To add to the shmups, Ikaruga is another banger! And, can’t forget some of the great early 90’s Neo Geo ones like Aero Wing and Alpha Mission!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Aww thanks. Appreciate that!

[@jerryfinn]

I just put Pro Gear up on a big tv and what a sight to behold. I’m glad I did.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yeah it’s a super pretty game

[@zhukov2116]

I'm glad to see Cotton on your list! I love Cotton and everyone else should as well!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s a classic and def was one of the first things I wrote down for the lost

[@nicklong27]

My fav shmup of all time might just be Deathsmiles. I've played hundreds over the years but that's a game i'll always come back to.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s a classic. Such a bummer the sequel is so…meh

[@rodribyte4255]

I don't find it in my Mister

[@nicklong27]

@@rodribyte4255 it’s not on mister. You can get it on ps4/switch/xbox/pc tho

[@texyemma]

There was me thinking I'd finally watched one of your videos where I'd played every game mentioned... and then the last two show up. Ah well, off to MAME!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha that’ll happen. I always try to get a couple deep cuts in

[@METR0lD]

Heck yeah! It's shmup time! I know the shmup videos don't usually do well, but I'm thankful for them all the same, because I absolutely adore the genre! And yeah, Cave are the masters of their craft. I was just playing through the entire Dodonpachi series recently. The first couple games on MiSTer and the rest on my Steam Deck. SaiDaiOhJou took a bit of a workaround on the Deck to get it to work, but it was worth it. That said, I have to say that my absolute favorite shmup to play on the MiSTer is the original R-Type. I love love love me some R-Type! And happy Thanksgiving!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Happy thanksgiving! Even to a Wisconsinite lol

[@arcadesunday4592]

Throughly enjoyable video! Agree with everything you said here. My favorites (at the moment) are Dimahoo and DoDonpachi... there are tons more (as you've demonstrated!) and I play most of these on a fairly regular basis. Fun video! Cheers.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Glad you enjoyed it! Diff type of video that I usually do for MiSTer

[@jeremyc7786]

Gemini Wings, Tiger Heli and Slap Fight definitely worth a try too, and of course the daddy of shmups, Xevious. Cannot wait for Flying Shark, my all-time favourite!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’m sure a lot more shmups will appear in 2024

[@arcadesunday4592]

Now we're talking! I think this video showcased more modern bullet hell (danmaku) style games, so was focused on those only. One of my (older) favorites has to be Twin Cobra. You have a grest list, by the way!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Glad you liked the list. It was a fun vid to make

[@T200026]

best shmups I've played on the mister.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Some classics for sure

[@alpanchen]

Nice video ... please try battle garegga,bakraid, armed police batrider. Oh and layer section and batsugun on saturn core

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’ve tried a lot. More Saturn shmup testing vids coming soon!

[@ScanlineCity]

Really hope we get the Psikyo games soon!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Me too!

[@jiijijjijiijiij]

Oh hah I was confused why Gunbird 2 didn't make the list. It would be a lock for sure. That's what I get for not owning a Mister.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s a classic. Hope to see it eventually on MiSTer

[@Zaxth]

Good video! Quite a few here I've never heard of. I don't really have memories of which games I played in arcade, but I do have memories of the first game I ever played, which I suppose was a shmup. It was Choplifter on the C64, I was 4 or 5 at the time. My favorite on the mister is Armed Police Batrider.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

My wife loves Choplifter

[@TheMikeyb86]

First shmup I played was Legendary Wings and Gun.Smoke on NES. First on the arcade was Raiden II. I really like Raiden II.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Raiden is a classic series for sure

[@timothyscotthendrix]

love this channel chief, it's become a bit of a ritual for me and my roommates to watch it together and see where the n64 core is at after we all get back from work lol. this is a great compilation and i'm really excited to try these when i return from my holiday travels (and to my mister.) could you put a list of the games featured here in the description for easy browsing? 😇

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Glad you enjoy it. Hope drinking is involved! And yes I’ll try to remember to list things

[@ashcliffeable]

Great to see some shmup content

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

One of my fav genres

[@kbud3243]

You sir have an excellent taste in games! Still waiting for Raiden 2 on the MiSTer though since that's my all-time favorite 😊

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Raiden is a classic for sure

[@shadownet_nft]

Cave make the best shmups!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

They are no slouches that’s for sure!

[@GAZZ707]

It's a real shame that cave doesn't make games anymore 😔

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yeah they really don’t do much of anything any more

[@GAZZ707]

@@VideoGameEsoterica I heard that most of the people have left the company

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Makes sense. Why stay if they aren’t making games

[@0511224]

VGE out here doing The Lord's work 🙏🏿

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Appreciate it!

[@beingsupersonic7499]

You should never worry about videos being cave heavy my friend! I find Mars Matrix absolutely brutal. I absolutely suck at that game lol. At least I did the last time I dusted off my Dreamcast copy. Bloody brilliant though. Never played the second Tatsujin game. I assume M2 will bring it to their shottriggers Toaplan arcade range, hopefully in an awesome pack with the first game, so look forward to that if they do. Been enjoying the 19xx games recently on the Cacpom Arcade Stadium thing. Love Gigawing but it's a little laggy (at least on the Dreamcast). Who owns the rights to the Raizing stuff? Those games are just screaming for some sort of compilatiom. My fave shmup is a tough one! 🤔 Really enjoyed the video, thanks. Hopefully it brings people in and introduces some new titles for people👍🏻

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Mars Matrix isn’t easy. Bullet hell but not geometric which throw a lot of people. Me included sometimes

[@baqueronoe]

Toaplan, Outzone.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Another solid game

[@superviewer]

Even though I never get very far when playing it in emulation, I completely adore 'Flying Shark' aka 'Sky Shark' and I can hardly wait to play it on the MiSTer one day. The other game on my oringinal two-most-wanted-games wishlist, next to Shinobi.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s a classic for sure. I bet it comes to FPGA one day

[@SineScroller]

Love me some CAVE shmups! Great video, thanks :) No Sexy Parodius ? :)

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

We don’t have Sexy Parodius on an arcade core yet. Hopefully soon!

[@jerryfinn]

Great list! I almost never played shmups my whole life, but about a month ago, Truxton2 dropped for analogue pocket, and it changed me. Now I love 2 genres that end in “-em’ ups” 😅 If you haven’t already. I’d love to see your beat ‘em ups list as well.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Truxton 2 is awesome. Hard as nails too

[@jerryfinn]

@@VideoGameEsoterica absolutely. Even on “easy” mode it’s really not easy ha

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha no it is is not

[@adt636]

Truxton 2!!!🔥🔥🔥

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

An absolute classic

[@balohna]

I like the PC Engine CD version of Cotton a little bit better than the arcade original. The levels are reworked and I prefer the layouts they used, and the CD soundtrack is great. The graphics aren't as technically impressive but they're still quite good for PC Engine.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Totally fair. The soundtrack is a plus

[@BERNDSBG]

The PC engine had improved ports of the best 80s shmup arcade games: R-Type, Gradius, Gradius 2, Salamander I like them a small bit better than the arcade Originals (which is great bc the Konamis are not on MISTer yet)

[@dm.3145]

0:51 Um akshually 🤓 it's pronounced Gu-wan-gay

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

lol

[@JustinCherriman]

Wow! You've got me pumped to do some TATE mode on the Bang & Olufsen MX5000 on the MiSTer this weekend with an arcade stick. Fave arcade shooters always go back to, Gradius, R-Type and Tiger Heli. Will we get Parodius from JT this week?! Love the CAVE games too. Also what's the most bullet heavy screen filling Cave game you know? I think Espgaluda II black label on the last stage?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’ve heard those are nice TVs. Never seen one IRL

[@OldSkooolGamer]

Awesome video, thanks! I'm actually considering buying an arcade candy cabinet (sega Blast) dedicated to shoots, with vertical screen, but i've been discouraged by a few specialists here about Mister because you need to swap cores every time. I'm def not the most tech specialist so i'm concerned about this difficulty.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Huh? Changing cores is like instantaneous. Def not an issue at all. Now if you need to reorient the screen in the cab that’s one thing but core changing is blink and you miss it

[@OldSkooolGamer]

Thanks for the swift reply! I just got a Mister Fpga thanks to your advices. The UI is absolutly horendous but the games are so well emulated. Cheers and keep up the good work. @@VideoGameEsoterica

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

The UI works. All you need :)

[@OldSkooolGamer]

I beg to disagree. UI is terrible, and a better UI and front end would bring more people to the marvellous world of the Mister fpga and of old video games. Not eveybody has a Phd in computer science. It''s a struggle for me. @@VideoGameEsoterica

[@8bitDNA]

‘Bout time Cave gets some love

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Gets a lot of love around the channel :)

[@simon41978]

Pulstar is a super game.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Absolutely!

[@Appley81]

TwinBee Yahho,, i hope it eventually comes to mister

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I bet it does

[@h3xx3duk]

I'll watch this later, have you done a Saturn video similar? :)

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Not yet no

[@b3asle551]

I wish there were a few cave shmups for analogue pocket

[@Matthew-vb8qb]

My first shooter was the secret game on Ultimate mortal Kombat for snes . I liked it more than mortal Kombat lol

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha high praise

[@mushroom4051]

Good stuff

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@ShelfWarmer]

Tate and Yoko refers to the screen orientation, like Portrait or Landscape, not the direction of gameplay. It's ok to just say vertical or horizontal shooter. But yeah, I can't really try and say I'm gonna come in and try and 'correct' you about it.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I always think of TATE as the verticality as it would be Tate in the arcades but it’s not at home due to nobody turning their TVs on their side. But that’s me :)

[@ShelfWarmer]

it's a bit like saying up and down instead of forward and backwards, lost in translation. Mars Matrix is a 'Yoko Vertical' Shooter while Contra (arcade) would be a 'Tate Horizontal' run and gun, if that makes any sense. I really don't wanna be 'that guy' here, lol, but maybe this might be interesting for others to read and think about?

[@ShelfWarmer]

@@VideoGameEsoterica you'd be surprised how many CRT nuts have sideways TVs these days, especially the BVM/PVM elitists (enthusiasts)

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Let’s just call it “uppsies” and “sidesies” lol

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Oh trust me I have a PVM on its side in my studio and a video about it soon

[@phillai]

Can you do a video on shmups on the MiSTer that are not arcade cores? I can definitely name a few like Nemesis 90 Kai on the X68000 core or Gradius 3 FastROM on the SNES! 😬

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I may in the future :)

[@russellgolden7546]

What kind of controller are you using for arcade? I see some cores have access to the User Port, I have no idea what input are expecting or how to set that up. Supergun?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I use a custom stick build normally but recently I’ve been using OG Neo Geo sticks either via SNAC or with MiSTerAddons reflex adapt via usb

[@markh9129]

I wonder if Timmy is watching this with his tinfoil hat on.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha never know. I was chatting with him last week actually

[@chrismoon2961]

Give Donpachi a shot as well; I know it doesn't get the love DoDonpachi does, but it kinda has the feel of toaplan meets cave. I think its also a bit more beginner friendly.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s a good time. Just fell slightly off the list

[@chrismoon2961]

Also, Dreamcast is still probably the best way to play mars matrix. Where the heck are Raiden 1 & 2?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Mars Matrix is a classic no matter where you play it

[@Pbsk85]

Can you make an updated video about video presets? My sony trinitron crt is not working anymore so I have to use mister on a lg c1 oled 55'' but I have no ideia how to set it up with shadow masks and stuff for the image to be as close as the crt image.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s on my list. Probably January

[@AlexRoseGames]

are there any arcade racers on mister or only on saturn/n64/psx etc?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

OutRun. Otherwise nothing else really as of yet

[@Riz2336]

I never was the biggest shooter fan but I'd say the ones I really like are the Psikyo ones

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

They do make a great shmup. Same with Raizing

[@DavidGarcia-qf7gc]

I will add: Andro Dunos, Aero Fighters 2, Daioh and Shienryu. Aargh I almost forgot Ketsui

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Some classics for sure

[@D4rkAngel454]

Would have been nice to have the name of the game on screen or have chapters with the game name ! :) But thanks for the video, I just started playing Progear! ^_^

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Maybe in the future

[@ShinHeiLong]

Anything from the Psikyo library of shmups!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Such good shmups

[@rahndail3863]

Has anyone heard anything about a PGM core? I'm dying to play ESPGaluda, Daioujou and Ketsui on this thing

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Jotego has said he wants to work on it. No real movement though

[@frankyfourfingers1382]

Is Air Gallet on Mister?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Now I can’t remember lol. Don’t believe so

[@RavenNewblood84]

Is the discord link broken or am i just crazy?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Ahh that one may have gotten purged to to a stalker : discord.gg/VJ4WYNvp

[@damdai]

vertical shooter != TATE. TATE refers to the aspect ratio, not the fact that you're flying north.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I have thoughts on this all the same

[@makenoodle]

No Battle Garegga?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It just fell slightly off the list

[@duckman2496]

Doom 64!!!! Please 🥺🥺🥺

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

That doesn’t really fit a shmups vid? Lol

[@duckman2496]

@@VideoGameEsoterica I know. But It would fit an N64 Vid.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I just did it recently. Check the N64 vids :)

[@duckman2496]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Oh snap. What i meant to say was Duke Nukem 64. I feel silly.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha it happens. Noted 👍 I’ll try and revisit it

[@milpycafe6528]

You sound a lot like electric underground

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Lol I do?

[@sunderark]

@@VideoGameEsoterica You do not.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’ll take your word

[@milpycafe6528]

No take mine

[@perihelion7445]

These games look great but they look like the era when I gave up on Arcades. The reason? These games were WAY over the top on action and crap going on. You could make the equivalence/comparison with the Car chase scene from the movie Bullit with Steve McQueen and then much later the over top idiocy of The Fast and the Furious 10. Table top shooters like Galaga, Galaxian right up to R-Type, X- Multiply, Forgotten Worlds were great and were where I ended. Then I got an Amiga and never went back.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

That’s fair. They def aren’t for everyone

[@perihelion7445]

@@VideoGameEsoterica It's all relative really, if I'd been born 10 years later probably would love them. But don't get me wrong, wouldn't mind giving half of them a go, would play them now. So great video, just need to get a Mister now :(

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Def get a MiSTer. 100% worth it

[@perihelion7445]

@@VideoGameEsoterica I'll look into it, I'm turning 50 very soon, I'll tell my wife tomorrow "honey, do you know how much I really love you" 🤣🤣🤣

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

“Oh this old thing. I’ve had it forever”

[@rohanFEkt]

I don't know why but the word shmup makes me really really cringe, I can't stand it!!! 😂 For this reason this is one of the few of your video's I can't watch 😢

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

lol some people dislike it. I get it. Just thumbs up and move along haha

[@laytaylor]

Back home in the UK magazines called them 'shoot em up's' which became the normative nomenclature despite being a vague term, would've been better if the term was instantiated by gamer referendum, but then when do the 'powers that shouldn't be' ask and really mean it? Lol

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Funny thing…use that term in the title…reach gets lowered. Algorithm misreads the topic