The 30 GREATEST Shmups of All Time! What Makes a Shmup Great?

The 30 GREATEST Shmups of All Time! What Makes a Shmup Great? In this video I finally come around to listing what I think are the greatest shmups of all time. I hope this video isn't just entertaining, but can help introduce a bunch of under recognized classics to a wider audience and teach a bit more about the genre.
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#shmup, #greatestofalltime, #best,

[@zackfornaca7996]

I didn't see another comment with this, so here's all the games that were featured under the "honorable mentions" header, in order. I *think* I've identified them all correctly... Mahou Daisakusen Under Defeat DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou ESP Ra.De. Deathsmiles Ibara Judgement Silversword Fire Shark Muchi Muchi Pork & Pink Sweets Guwange Musha Aleste Progear RollingGunner Stellavanity Battle Traverse Salamander eXceed 3rd Jade Penetrate RefRain Prism Memories 1943 Kai Metal Black Fantasy Zone Sexy Parodius

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Nicely done!

[@johngavalas74]

@@TheElectricUnderground Do you think Mushihimesama Futari will get a switch port?

[@dingo535]

Shout out to REFRAIN and UNDER DEFEAT.

[@billcook4768]

@@TheElectricUnderground would love to see a video on just these games. Call it something like “The 31-50th best Shmups of all time.”

[@WXSTANG]

Some others I personally enjoyed... AeroBlasters... UN Squadron... Blazing Lasers... RayStorm... Raiden Legacy... Galaga Legions

[@chriskek7321]

Mark, you alone are doing more good for the genre than the whole youtube ever has!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

:-D I'll try my best to live up to this praise :-)

[@titi64230]

That s right

[@franciscor390]

Praise Mark indeed, our very own mayor.

[@Dustynbearz]

my god.. I began searching for a shmup not even knowing the name of the genre. ended up watching all 50 minutes. the amount of work and dedication you put into this is insane. I guess this is what other people see when I nerd out on my favorite topics XD you have earned my sub, well done sir.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Hey that's awesome!!! I'm glad you enjoyed the video :-D

[@phoenix...dark...dirk.dark4307]

Yes, instant sub from me. This was very well done. I was actually searching for a "greatest bullet hell shmups of all time" list so I'm hoping you do put that out at some point

[@awawawaawawawa2321]

just throwing in my two cents, the touhou franchise in general deserves an honorable mention, I consider it a great developer success story. Its introduced many a newcomer to the bullet hell genre and its impact on pop culture is huge! The way the license was handled saw many a derivative work based on the main IP contributing to its wide spread fame.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes I m doing a separate touhou list, because including it in the arcade list would be very complicated

[@chrisb6079]

Layer Section / Rayforce is my favourite shooter of all time. Glad to see it on this list

[@luismagallanes2371]

Thunder Force to start the list? Followed by Truxton? Bro have a like.

[@caspergijsberts]

You have made a super list! The music in Squadron btw 🤩 it was my first shmup

[@alexrushdy2751]

I usually roll my eyes at this type of video but not only was it well researched and explained, it also had a clear metric- this was great! Fantastic work as usual!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah I tried my best to make this list more meaningful, especially since there isn't much of this info about shmups on youtube right now :-)

[@camargotechx7]

IGN- Too many bullets 6/10

[@TheElectricUnderground]

IGN are the best shmup reviewers ever, they understand the genre at a depth the rest of us can only scratch at

[@flutebasket4294]

IGN -- The best shmup ever is Horizon Zero Dawn 2: Revenge of the Potato-faced Monster

[@iwanttocomplain]

Cave: I don’t understand

[@theonewhowokeup9987]

Lmao 😂

[@thommccarthy1139]

Their 100 greatest games ever list is 95% shmups no cap

[@Chinopolis]

A passing of the Truxton torch from Old CGR Mark to Young MSX Mark. I never thought I'd see the day.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes! I will take good care of it! :-D

[@echohotelsix]

Finally, a youtuber that acknowledged the raiden series. Sometimes i found some channels that reviewed raiden as just another shmups. Bitch, back then if you go to any arcade everywhere you will always find a raiden cabinet. It stays as one of the longest available arcade games way past its glory time.

[@philmason9653]

Solid and well explained list. The only place I'd significantly differ is it not having any representation from Compile, one of THE definitive devs of the late 80s through mid-90s. Even aside from the Aleste, Nac & Spriggan series, the TurboGrafx-16 was launched with Blazing Lazers as a marquee title. That by itself kind of gives them more presence/mindshare/influence/prominence what have you than something like Shikigami or Hellsinker. And between Gun-Nac/Zanac, Power Strike II and GG Aleste 2, their black magic pushed 8-bit hardware further than any other STG developer could manage, at least with that sort of consistency. They definitely earned some sort of presence on an all-time list.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah I thought a lot about this, I considered adding one in along side thunder force 4, but wasn t sure exactly which title deserved to be along side thunder, but yeah compile is probably more deserving then castle ha, but I thought it would be fun to include castle. Should have worked a compile in there some where, hard to know what to cut though.

[@philmason9653]

@@TheElectricUnderground The answer is simple, do a top 35 :)

[@hairyasstruman2257]

I finally got my hands on Thunderforce VI on PS2 from Japan. It's a crime that this game never got localized in North America

[@jordanjackson6151]

Feel the same way bro.

[@lordbacon4972]

From your list I only know Raiden, Gradius, and R-Type. Even though I was not that good at playing shmups I remember spending hours at the arcade and convenience store playing Tiger Heli and Raiden. I miss those days!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh awesome!! Keep an eye out for the tiger heli release from m2

[@ee_li]

As a new player of shmups this list gives me a lot to look into--thank you!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Mission accomplished!

[@ee_li]

@@TheElectricUnderground 😊

[@peace4myheart]

Loved every minute of this video. Wished you'd showed even more love to horizontal shmups. Einhander, R Type Delta, and Raiden 2 are my favorite shmups of all time.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Had some great hori in the honorable mentions :-) Deathsmiles, rolling gunner, battle traverse :-)

[@williammcguire130]

Fantastic list, and this is coming from someone whose preferences (horizontal shooters from right before the bullet hell mechanics started to be the norm) are diametrically opposed. I love how much thought and care went into each presentation and how you clearly are speaking from love and experience about each and every title.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thank you very much my friend!!

[@SavageDiavolos]

Fantastic list and explanation! I already posted a similar comment in LazyDevs channel, but as a new guy trying to get into Shmups recently, I really appreciate this awesome work with all the resources and knowledge you guys put together. In the last weekend I already binge-watched over 2 hrs of your content and guides.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

That s fantastic my friend! I love to hear that and stay tuned because this weekend is finally the Gunvein release!!

[@ShmupJunkie]

It was good to see Tatsujin on your list, still my favorite Toaplan game. Maybe not as much the mega drive version as it lost some of that unapologetic rawness, but likely for the best given it was for console and more accessible. The PCE port was straight take no prisoners from stage 1 like the arcade. I love the music and the continuous nature, where the stages flow into each other as if one long game, so it keeps you in the zone. And when you beat it, it just goes right back into loop 2 without skipping a beat. I've purposefully held out playing the second since the M2 port is supposedly coming, but I've heard the stories of it's merciless nature haha. The first one was already impossible enough. For Gradius, if I had to choose just one it would be the second. It's as pure as the original with the same gameplay, only it still holds up with more creativity and upped visuals versus the original which was very basic given it's age. It's still the one I play the most. V is great too of course I like it too, but it's almost it's own great game with the same name.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah I agree about Gradius 5! It s a treasure game so it does a lot of it s own ideas ha. As far as the konami releases, Gradius gaiden might be my fav of the series, Gradius 2 is also really up there for me too!

[@SpaceDave3000]

@@TheElectricUnderground Gradius Galaxies is my favorite after V.

[@DiarrheaIsFun]

Both of your channels are something I've been hoping would pop up on here eventually, glad to see shmups finally getting good, serious dedicated channels with such informed content and frequent upload schedules! To both TEU and Shmup Junkie, you two are extremely appreciated and were sorely lacking, here's hoping both your channels will have a great future ahead of them, I'm a massive fan already! PS: Tatsujin/Truxton is also my favorite Toaplan game, but I confess that has much more to do with the fact that it was my first ever shmup (as well as the only Mega Drive game I owned for ~8 months or so... unless you count Rise of the Robots as a game, but don't fooled by that narrative, it's clearly an instrument of torture) than anything else. I know Batsugun is the better game, but Truxton and Fire Shark have a special place in my heart for getting there first!

[@ShmupJunkie]

@@DiarrheaIsFun Thank you. And not to mention Tatsujin also had some pretty epic music, my fav tunes they ever made alongside zero wing.

[@bananonymouslastname5693]

Gradius II is definitely my favorite Gradius, especially on the PCE CD. I also prefer R-Type III over the original. Given its lineage, I personally like Gate of Thunder over its Thunderforce forefathers. I feel like a weirdo in that ESPGaluda is my favorite Cave game, followed by Dangun Feveron. Mushihimesama and Dodonpachi are great, but ESPGaluda is just a jam for me. The Psikyo stuff (which I do like) has never bern in my favorites. My favorite Psikyo game is still Lode Runner: The Dig Fight (which has no business being mentioned on a shooter video I suppose).

[@hooksnfangs6006]

Fantastic list featuring both old and modern SHMUPS! I don't think I can argue with any of the choices listed (even with the honorable mentions). Now I gotta play some of these titles listed that I've never played.

[@defordefor9865]

When author says: "Get PS4 version, this is very accessible" for Battle Garegga and Ketsui, I just want to correct that it is not true for us in Europe where these games are not available on PS Store. These two game are very hard to get as one can only purchase them physically (import) and prices go way way above 150USD (not including shipping and VAT!).

[@100hundert]

I love how you are giving very specific reasons for your ranking, especially the influence of each game. Shikigami No Shiro and Cho Ren Sha were one of the first shmups I ever played, almost forgot about them! Oh wow, and Darius Gaiden. Such a fascinating game, and has aged incredibly! Also, I had no idea EPIC FAIL originated from Blazing Star. Holy shit.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Ha yeah it s pretty great it influenced the wider world

[@ZaneStarmann]

Thanks for this video, I'm a very casual fan of these type of games and I've always wanted to learn more about the genre, I now have many more games to play and to read about :D Also, the Classic Game Room reference hit me right in the nostalgia. I hope Mark, Derek, and everyone else are doing well.

[@andyauthor2007]

I think Galaga should have been on this list because of the unique powerup method of letting the enemy capture your ship and when you free the captured ship you get double the firepower. Definitely a unique mechanic imo. Also, Darius Burst Chronicle Saviors should have been on this list especially when you consider all the DLC that contains ships from many of the games on your list and special stages for those ships, that alone makes it unique. Death Smiles should have been on the list as well. And I think Thunder Force IV should have been higher, again imo. Otherwise great list and good job.

[@mumfnah]

Cheers for the great list, and good metrics provided for your selection. Watched this last night, and definitely some I want to check out as hadn't played before. And i know some of them I will not survive for long, as looked crazy amount of bullets on screen, but for fun give then a play. Honorable mentions from my own all-time favourite shmups; Einhander, Sturmwind, Gynoug, Forgotten Worlds

[@HalloweenJack1000]

Excellent listing Mark and totally agree with DOJ hitting the top spot. I still adore the Xbox 360 version with the 'laugh out loud' craziness that X Mode brings and of course that insane arrange soundtrack - simply superb!!!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

X mode is silly fun, and yes the 360 arrange music is incredible!

[@poopikins]

Saw a lot of Vertical shmups here, which I prefer, but would love to see a Top Horizontal Shmups

[@davidjames5043]

Amazing video, have watched it so many times. Crimson Clover my favourite, playing it sound up, lights off, big screen TV, is almost a religious experience.

[@ThatGamingGuyfromthe70s]

Great list, the biggest omission in my mind is a hudson/compile game, whether its Starforce/Soldier and zanac/Aleste. Its a shame their influence in the shooter genre was overlooked.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah I agree, looking back the two biggest snubs were compile and eschatos. Should have gone for 32 greatest shmups maybe ha.

[@hepwo91222]

even though its in no way influential, it was polished for a 1992 game, I absolutely love Soldier BLade. Not only is the game fantastic, it has a pretty good caravan mode too which was competitive gaming for shmup fans before competitive gaming and esports got big.

[@rknobi2515]

Deathsmiles is my favorite! Great video! I've played most on your list, but there was always just something about Deathsmiles! very underrated title. GAME ON! :)

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes deathsmiles is a personal fav of mine as well!

[@twilightex]

"I don't know what Hellsinker. is" made me laugh so hard, but I'm just happy it even appeared on such a big list! The uniqueness is def a factor that makes it great, but if you start to understand and dissect the elements that builds up this game, you'll understand how well those elements are mixed together and has been executed with care and love. It's one of the great shmup for sure. Very insightful explanation for a lot of shmups as well, great video!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Ha I m glad you enjoyed it! I m really looking forward to doing a dedicated hellsinker vid soon

[@listenerthree8998]

Hellsinker deserves more recognition, I first played it years ago when I was trying lots of different doujin shmups and after half an hour playing I knew I had discovered something really exciting and unique. It felt like an evolution of the shmup formula that combined lots of different elements something I hadn't experienced before or since.

[@pacificdash]

Rewatching some of your old videos. 47:59 “the only issue with DOJ is that it lacks a definitive release”. So excited that this is about to be fixed!!

[@RayTheProducer]

Loved seeing Truxton and Ikaruga. Missed R-Type Delta and the one, the only, Einhander! Love the channel!

[@jamarjohnson6077]

Type Delta is top of the line

[@HALFSQUASHED]

No Einhander or Radiant Silvergun! lol wtf

[@Devilman6066]

You put so much work into this video. Congrats. I think my top shmups are Musha, Battle Garegga, Strikers 1945, Dodonpachi, Blazing Star, and Hyper Duel. Soldier Blade would be on that list too, but I never beat it.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thanks my dude!!!!! Yes all killer titles.

[@nerothos]

Whoa, wasn't expecting that #1 actually. It's my most-played shmup by far so I whole-heartedly agree!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes DOJ is a masterpiece!

[@reagandow850]

Awesome episode. I’ve already watched it through twice!!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh that s really cool! I feel proud when that happens :-)

[@romscout]

Only found your channel kinda recently after getting back into a shmup binge myself, but loving all the shmup content and thank you for making such detailed videos! A few of my favorites that were omitted and I'm sure you've played extensively, but hopefully some other people might try: Twinkle Star Sprites, which I've found extremely fun to introduce to beginners because of how hectic and instantly satisfying it is to play with others, and is even more amazing once you learn it at a deeper level. The game still has a decent competitive scene today. Raiden Fighters series is pretty different from Raiden and has a lot more replayability with the ship variety. I started with that and found the main Raiden series a little more dull to go back to later. RFJ is my personal fav but I know more people are all about RF2. Salamander/Life Force is understandable for not being on since you had Gradius, but it's a massive improvement that mixed things up with the hori/verti combo, introduced so many tropes to the series and genre, and it's an absolutely bonkers product for 1986. I am a big Cave fan, but I was feeling a bit of an overload of their games in this list lol. Great work and love the list though, thanks for going through all of this!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I'm really glad to hear that! I'm always happy to hear when people are getting back into the genre :D

[@edwinkirkland8856]

Thank you for this blessed video, i have to start all over again bcus of my loss of my systems and handhelds so against thank you and GOD BLESS YOU dude

[@opaljk4835]

Thanks for this video. I ended up watching the whole thing at 3am lol. Was surprised that no compile games made the cut, but I’m no expert on the subject. But I’m just starting to scratch the surface with more modern stuff. Got a great deal on the original Donpachi and then DOJ. Started messing around with the ps4 Garegga and other various shot triggers stuff. Long road ahead. With this channel and shmup junkie I have a lot of great content to sort through though

[@Galaxy40k]

I've never managed to actually finish a shmup before (the farthest I've got is like the 4th stage in Radiant Silvergun lol), so I have no idea how this got recommended to me or why I clicked it, but man, am I glad that I did. I've only heard of a handful of these games, but I was captivated for the whole duration of the video! I wasn't able to follow along when you kind of just left a discussion at "its influential in the genre" without giving specifics of HOW it was influential, but even those times I was confused wasn't enough to take me out of the video - Your enthusiasm is just super contagious. Makes me want to buy a shmup on my switch to give the genre another go, I think Thunder Force has a Sega Ages on there. Any shmup experts in the comments got recommendations for a "beginner shmup" on switch or xbox?

[@benevans7564]

No expert but happy to suggest, if you have a 360, Deathsmiles is IMHO the best beginner shmup and relatively affordable for a physical version (although very quirky in themes). A switch release for Japan has been announced so keep an eye out. Otherwise the sega ages Thunderforce 4 is a great place to start. I recommend to turn on kid mode to begin with (to make your power ups persist between deaths - you can turn it off once youve found your feet) and the option to improve processing - it will keep some of the slowdown in check. Its on special right now. If you have the switch online service, gradius for nes and earth defence forve for snes are free to play, and while not the best are solid enough to at least give you a taste.

[@opts9]

It's certainly not the greatest of all time, but Sine Mora EX is a fun and interesting horizontal shoot 'em up and is on Switch and xbox - and best of all it's really cheap, I picked it up on Switch for £10 (physical). If you're interested in Thunder Force IV I would definitely recommend getting it. I haven't played the Switch SegaAges port but the Mega Drive Genesis original is an amazing game - However, if you're a beginner you'll probably find it pretty punishing in the difficulty department!

[@TerenceCole]

Dude, this video is so good! Sharing with my SHMUP loving crew.

[@retromodernsystems9227]

a really nice video and conversation starter for shooter fans. keep up the awesome work

[@chadmolitor6691]

Very good list. All of these games are pretty top notch! I wish you made a video with shmupjunkie so we could get some more console titles included too lol.

[@briangarvin8867]

Spectacular episode now time to return to my backlog! Thanks Mark

[@kaeganmccaleb5290]

Radiant Silvergun is one of my personal favorites! I like the idea of the player ship, or the Silvergun in the case of the game, that starts out with a plethora of different weapons that start out weak but get stronger as you play via getting a score multiplier with the Silvergun's many weapons!

[@deancampbell7704]

Solid list👊really hard to rank the top 5 it’s really down to personal preference!great vid👌

[@coldstar5352]

Your passion towards shmups is contagious to this newb here!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Perfect!!! Mission accomplished!

[@coldstar5352]

@@TheElectricUnderground you've probably mentioned it before-- but, when did you start playing shmups? Or should I say how long have you been a hardcore shmup player?

[@KSubzero1000]

Nice video, thanks for making the effort! Always nice to see such enthusiasm for the genre. I think BWRP would have ranked very high if I were to make a similar list. I know you already reviewed it for your channel, but it's a game whose quality only became apparent to me after spending a bit of time with it. Not very influential and the production values are obviously very limited, but I find many aspects of its core design to be incredibly polished and well thought-out. Super high skill ceiling despite its accessibility, too. In my view, it definitely compares favorably to a lot of professionally developed shmups.

[@hihellokitty85]

You skipped Blazing Lazers

[@bobsteave1236]

I hit that like button... why didn't the other 3k viewers ! Great job at the bullet points and creating good list video for the genre. It takes a ton of work to do what you do. I am , like many finishing / half way though this video going to go play one of these games... probably ketsui ‼

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I know right!! Don't be shy now everyone, hit that like button ;-)

[@ryanpierce5460]

I've played half these titles. Love ur picks. I'm an NES nut but love shoot em up games from time to time. I've beaten mushihimesama on ultra mode and ikaruga. Battle Garegga, beaten that as well, im a casual shoot em up fan but love to hear your suggestions. Love your content and keep up the great work.

[@davy_K]

Xevious is of those under-rated games that I'm glad to see on the list. Even today there is something compulsive about it. If you want a really good port then check out Xevious 3D/G++ on PS1. It has a modern isometric version of the game as the main attraction but for me the best thing about the disc is that it has Xevious, Super Xevious and Xevious Arrangement too - all 3 with TATE modes, highscore tracking , and dip switch options.

[@2bussy]

AYYYY THE STARCRAFT BROODWAR SHOUTOUT! There's a game I consider myself pretty decent at. I'm no Maru or BoxeR, but I can hang with the NA and EU crowd. Now, shmups on the other hand... 😂... I'm completely incompetent, which is why I'll be wishlisting as many of these games as I can on steam before watching your tutorial series. Great videos man, this is a(n) (unfortunate) niche that NEEDED to be covered on KZbin!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Can't go wrong with Brood War! I sneak in the reference whenever I can ha :-) I played the game constantly growing up and got whipped on battle.net

[@viewtifulfrank]

Fantastic! That list is gonna make me busy for the next 10 years or so. I like Kyukyoku Tiger a little better than Truxton, but it's great that one of the two (plus Raiden) made it into your list. Great stuff, Mark, keep it up!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

glad you enjoyed it!! Yeah with the truxton pick there are other toaplan style games that I think could probably be better in an overall gameplay sense, but I went with truxton because of it's influence as well.

[@U.F.O_0908]

Dude. This is the shmup list of joy and dreams! Thanks for taking the time and going into the intricacies of what makes shmups great. You're doing the gaming Lord's work.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I'm really glad you like the list! I did feel like it was really important to put out as many people don't even know these games exist ha.

[@monkeytrident]

Thanks for bringing Crimzon Clover World EXplosion to my attention !

[@TheElectricUnderground]

No problem!!

[@expsharevideogames]

Woo man! I'm looking forward to this!!

[@ClassicCo-op]

This is very thorough and informative. I learned a lot and you gave me a handful of games I need to try! Great work!

[@ClassicCo-op]

Also, wondering how you feel about Jamestown? I don’t think I saw it on the list. As far as four player shoot em ups go, it’s probably my favorite.

[@magman6756]

Great video bro, much love from Japan

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thanks so much my dude!!! Shout out to Japan!!! 🗾

[@deuzdeuz8115]

Great video! It makes me wanna play the ones I didn't know (I'm a neewbie). Right now, I'm mostly into Deathsmiles :)

[@xsni]

I'm glad I found your channel. Your shmup videos are awesome.

[@zachammer666]

Been waiting for this all day!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Hope you enjoyed!

[@MegaDeth859]

This is a superb list. Thanks for what you do

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I'm really happy to hear that! I put a lot of time into it over the years :-)

[@bravadoavocado2382]

Yo thank you for making this!!

[@amerigocosta7452]

I expected you to place Dodonpachi first since you had mentioned previously it was your most played shmup, but it tells a lot about how weighted and objective your rank is. Glad to see Cho ren Sha making the list, it reignited my interest in shoot'em ups when I stumbled upon a Sharp X68000 emulator I think more than 10 years ago. Also Gradius V is one of my very few PS2 games I'd never part from.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes, I tried my best not to make this "mark's favorite 30 shmups" list ha.

[@kyokusagani8869]

I'm surprised there's no Salamander 2 on the list seeing as that's the complete refinement of the gradius formula, but the original gradius is a must play and I'm super happy to see it on here! Everyone should play that !

[@TheElectricUnderground]

it made it on the honor mentions though!

[@damonke79]

Awesome video. Love the genre even though I'm not great at them. One not on the list that I absolutely love is Lords of Thunder.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah that s a really cool one! Lots of amazing shmups couldn't make the list, the quality of the genre is really deep

[@Renegaiden_]

Your #1 choice had me surprised. When it came to the top 3, I called Battle Garegga, followed by Ketsui and when you came to, I wasn't surprised, but my prediction for #1 was Ibara and then you brought out yet another DDP game. Nice list!

[@hypnoshypnos4755]

I don't know whether it was necessarily very influential, but UPL's Omega Fighter (from 1989) has both continuous fire (no tapping) and a "special" version that's more focused on scoring. It also has a fairly good scoring system for 1989, based around point blanking enemies.

[@faville]

Nice to see some old school love. Xevious was a must-play for me any time I saw it in an arcade. Very unique look, gameplay, and sound for its time. It was just the right amount of challenge for a quarter and felt fair. The only other game I can recall spending so much money on was Dragon Spirit, but I only found that game in one place. I haven’t really followed bullet hell games as an adult gamer but just purchased DDP Resurrection so I’m getting a re-education.

[@johnhealey6455]

Fantastic video! I would have added Dangun Feveron but that’s my personal favorite haha.

[@akairibbon4658]

This was an amazing video. I learned so much about so many things lol.

[@mame2345]

WHAT NO (Dangun Feveron) I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU FORGOT THAT ONE

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Gonna review it this month though :-)

[@AyeYoYoYooo]

Shikigami series has some of the coolest weapons of all time. When I first saw that tri-directional rotating light saber… immediately thought this development team should have made a Star Wars game. I think the best Star Wars game of all time, would be a multi genre game. Overworld universe map, plenty of open world exploration, some hack and slash beat ‘em up stages, of course plenty of 3rd person pod/forest races, 3rd person flight, and of course some shmup stages with flying jedi’s like shikigami … and some spaceship shmup stages before the enemies defenses are penetrated, and the boss/Vader fights switch into 3d flight/shooter type.

[@mikeydubs_tv]

This is an awesome list and introduced me to some games I have to try. Would be cool to have a compendium for how and where to play these titles

[@100hundert]

It's really interesting how much the graphical style of the DDP series has changed during CAVEs history, from Toaplan - style cartoony to dark and militaristic to flashy and candy-colored. And I agree, I like the DOJ style the most, along with Ketsui and Garegga. I love the bright colors in Futari, but it always felt out of place to me in DFK and SDOJ, they never really had that dodonpachi vibe to me. Hard to explain.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I agree 100% I like the ddp / doj graphical style a lot more

[@personavisceration371]

I don't agree with or understand how scoring affects the quality of a shooter, but to each their own. I'm glad to see Darius Gaiden so high up, it is a piece of underrated genius.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

It greatly effects the game's long term replay ability and depth. For example players have been spent over a decade playing and pushing their gameplay in titles like Dodonpachi, Ketsui, and Garegga. It's a very important aspect of the genre :-) Maybe I should make a topic video explaining why in more depth though! Stay tuned because there might be one in the sub box this week ha.

[@personavisceration371]

@@TheElectricUnderground I know some feel this way, but I do not. I don't have the time for such behavior. Beat the game and move onto another, come back if you can. There's so much content in games and life that I can't fathom that kind of time sink.

[@cps1247]

mahou daisakusen still holds up as one of best Raizing shmups, and that one has zero scoring elements

[@ihaveadream7858]

Same tbh, I am the kind of survival player with the last objective of playing games is to simply beat them on the highest difficulties.

[@jordanjackson6151]

GunBird 2 was the 1st shmup I ever bought on Dreamcast. Still have it CIB. Glad I got it when it 1st came out back when it wasn't expensive. This list needed more 16 bit though. Happy to see Thunder Force 4. But....

[@DjDizzy216]

Fun video, it's cool to see someone else's rankings and I appreciate the reasoning behind the picks. DOJ is my #1 and Ketsui is my #2 also. All my other rankings are different ;)

[@TheElectricUnderground]

can't forget DDP!

[@nvc.]

Thunder Force IV is my favourite game ever. Love it.

[@rimmymindplease8120]

Amazing job on this man. Wow. Thanks so much.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Glad you liked it!

[@titi64230]

Whata great video , thanks mark !

[@TheElectricUnderground]

No problem!

[@Leraje241]

Great video as always! And I liked your criteria, indeed a lot of review lists lack any clear criteria or reasoning. I'm looking forward to the Cho Ren Sha review, and hopefully a Hellsinker vid too. It does seem you forgot to put a Touhou game in the top 3, but that's ok, everyone makes mistakes ;)

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I should have mentioned this in the beginning of the vid, but touhou was purposely ommited from the list. Not because I don't think they are great, they def are, but because their presence would greatly complicate the list and I'm also not enough of an expert on touhou to accurately place the games. Gonna do a touhou greatest of list at the end of touhou quest though!

[@Toosimoo]

I'm so glad you included Darius Gaiden- there's something cool about the style of that game.

[@darkridearts]

Darius Gaiden and R-Type Delta, such great games of that era

[@sfbsfb]

Unforgettable music in Darius Gaiden. By the Zuntata group, In-house to Taito

[@jordanjackson6151]

@@darkrideartsYup! Love em both.

[@wayofthekodiak3118]

@@sfbsfb I like the G Darius soundtrack just a little bit more but both have an incredible and unique soundtrack.

[@nicholaskennedy785]

THANK YOU for including R-Type

[@b0x1nG]

Keep up the amazing work buddy!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thanks my dude! ❤️

[@HighLanderPonyYT]

I didn't know a lot of these. Thanks! *Steam wishlist growing noises*

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Ha nice!!! More to come too!

[@klus72]

Great list. Great video! Many thanks for the Hellsinker tip! Didn’t no that one. I missed Galaga and Velocity 2x. Probably not the best shmups. But I played them a lot. Also Nemesis 2 (on MSX) and Silkworm (Amiga)

[@TheElectricUnderground]

yes soon enough I am going to make a full on hellsinker review, soon I promise ha.

[@arrowviper8882]

Love the list! You included a lot of different styles and a lot of my favorites. I was happy to see Castle shikigami 2 on there! (The Charlie’s angels cover is for Mobile Force 2 which is the first shikigami game, but I’m sure people already pointed that out). One thing though! I feel you missed caravan shooters. Did you consider any of these awesome shooters for the list?

[@Kikoman589]

Saw the top 4 (not in the specific order) coming but there were a few games I hadn't heard of. Good informational list, though it would have been fun to put Dodonpachi at the top since it's your favourite. Also great to include the TECHNOuchi Suburb remix as the last track of the main section of the video.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

yes such a killer remix!!

[@snkfightfan0187]

Layer Section is underrated. Love the game. Very cool video. There were shmups here I have never seen or heard of. Thank you

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Glad to hear it!

[@WarpedByTheNHK]

I feel like a Touhou game really deserved to be on the list if one of the criteria is how much influence it has on shmup players (also several of them are just damn good games). Then again, most of the games on the lost are pretty great so whatever.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I forgot to mention in the vid that touhou would be excluded from the list, not because I don't think they are quality games, but because I think they greatly complicate the list and I plan to instead make a separate touhou list in the future, since the series is so massive, well-known, and expansive.

[@dantess2693]

Are there any Touhou games I could get on current gen PlayStation? I'm just curious and trying to get into this genre

[@16bitbrit]

Brilliant video. Some brilliant games in here.

[@squidowobble9793]

I'll probably come back to this video a lot for game recommendations!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

:-D

[@darkridearts]

Same. There’s several I’ve never played before

[@PolarBauer]

Great list Mark! I don’t like Garegga but I totally get how incredible it is.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

For sure! It s an acquired taste a bit, like black liquorice!

[@KurisuKagato]

The only downside to Battle Garegga, is that it doesnt give you a short break when you complete a level. It just goes RIGHT into the next.

[@Tailed22]

As a game design student you really helped out man

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I'm glad to hear it!

[@evolgenius1150]

some of these are more bullet hell than shoot em up but very good video

[@Tomorer]

Great list. Im just getting into this stuff now after getting a Satiator and on my widescreen tv the winner on the Sega Saturn platform is Sokyuu Gurentai. Way, way, way better than the rest. Its that 2D meets 3D vergeance and all the things mentioned in the Terra Diver review on this channel - nice one there. Its vertizontal as get a mention here as an obvious and inescapable boon. Its got analogue compatibility too. The black bars and loss of top screen visibility are a slap in the face so all those games even though really cool are handicapped and in a lesser league therefore. I'm actually quite disheartened seeing what is, and what is not now after leaving this genre to my imagination until recently. I may join the Patreon here just to continually harp on about the need to crowd fund the development of Sokyuu Gurentai expansion material. No joke. Its right up there with SFIII as an example of ideal gameplay that was sacrificed at the altar of scummy corporate ignorance and the need to feed the greed for 'the next best thing'. Oh woe betide these days of yore. We dont need to HD fucking everything, thanks. Smooth edges if U must but all one really need to turn sharpness to zero, I say.

[@JuanRios-nh6vb]

I have become a big shmup addict with the pass of time. I love and respect your channel bro. Keep up the good work. I was wondering what your thoughts are on U.N. Squadron and whether you think we could see it someday on modern consoles.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Glad to hear it!!! U N squad is awesome! Probably won't see a port anytime soon though since it s a license if an anime or something

[@LodanZark]

Nice list, I would love to see which platforms are recommended to buy and play at current times.

[@dezm101]

very nice well informed list. Glad to see psikyo get some love, I always wonder why people seem to hate their games so much.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

probably the brutal bullet speeds ha, but yes generally under rated for sure

[@darkridearts]

I didn’t realize they were hated! Seems weird to me