TOP 5 HARDEST Shoot Em Ups on the Mega Drive Revisited

Welcome to the TOP 5 HARDEST Shoot Em Ups on the Mega Drive Revisited, part of my Brutal Shmups series. Last video, I picked my Top 5 most brutal shooters, but I ran out of time and missed a couple amazing and difficult shmups that couldn't go unmentioned. So this is my follow up to last week's Top 5 Hardest Shoot Em Ups on the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis, to see if either of these picks can displace any of my original Top 5!
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This week we have games by Renovation and Taoplan for the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis and both are known for being extremely difficult. Let me know in the comments if you agree with my choices or what you would pick.
Games featured in this video
GAIARES is Number 1!
TWIN COBRA is NSFW
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[@tinusn.4082]

I like how you consistently say "Mega Drive" as an American, and not that awful "Genesis".

[@ShmupJunkie]

Tim Nous I had to relearn that one after lots of practice haha. Growing up knowing only Genesis it was habit for a long while.

[@TetsuoIronMan]

Gaiares was my very first Shmup back as a kid. Hands down my favorite soundtrack. This, Thunder Force, and R-Type started my love of shmups.

[@ShmupJunkie]

The 16bit gen still have my favorite music in terms of shooters to this day. Both on mega drive and pc engine. Gaiares was fantastic. Where did you mostly play RType as only the turbografx had a port that gen? That’s where I played it most along with occasionally in the arcade.

[@TetsuoIronMan]

@@ShmupJunkie So I just realized Super R-Type is a partial port of R-Type II, and not I like I always thought. So as a kid, I had Super R-Type, And R-Type III.

[@theragman77]

After 30 years i still wake up in the night , screaming like mad for the nightmares i have thanks to twin cobra

[@ShmupJunkie]

Thankfully I never played the MD version until this video, and it will likely remain that way for a long while lol. I'm going to stick to Tiger on the PCE as that one is really fun and a great port without being as nuts as this one.

[@MrPeterStevens]

Is it even possible for anyone to mention Gaiares and not think of Jamie Bunker? Also your channel is dope. Your positivity is infectious and you have the disposition of a teacher who really wants all of his students to find success. Subscribed.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Really glad you found the channel and if you enjoyed this vid, I'm sure there's a good few others you will too. I'm always stoked to get a new sub that enjoys the work enough to leave a comment and chat. I am doing my best to spread more love and awareness for the genre and we are talking about games we all love and have nostalgia for. It would be pretty hard not to be positive about it. Jamie Bunker is gone so we need some new representation in the house... though I can't compete with that mullet.

[@alfredocanas6802]

Twin Cobra was/is my fave arcade shooter back in the day, normally arcade games are designed to take your quarters fast but the Mega Drive version said: "Screw it, YOU MAY PLAY FREE BUT I AM GOING TO GET YOU MENTAL".

[@ShmupJunkie]

Alfredo Canas hell yeah it’s a lot of fun on the PC Engine as well. Not that it isn’t here but the AI adds a whole extra level of FU to the proceedings 😆. Would be interesting to get an insider take on what made them implement it for this port.

[@SeekerLancer]

I agree that the best thing about these old shmups is the world building and set pieces. It made each game unique and interesting and worth playing.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Gaiares was so unique too in terms of carts, having so much cut scene/story in the game, especially for a shooter. It's so common these days many just tend to ignore it, but at the time it was new and we ate it up. One thing I loved about all the PC Engine CD games, we got a ton of story scenes to spice them up.

[@jqr8049]

This channel is awesome, love the hardest shmups series, port comparisons and lag testing! I agree with your comment in Gaiares that some modern shmups feel more like a technical exercise sometimes and have lost some of the magic.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Kwentn Thank you man I’m always stoked to hear people enjoying my vids so much as I’m new to this. I noticed you’re a fan of bloodborne. Still my favorite game this generation of the entire PS4 library. 🤘 It was so good I think I finished everything possible to do chalice included.

[@jqr8049]

@@ShmupJunkie Yeah I think our tastes are pretty well aligned! This channel makes a great complement to The Electric Underground as you also go deep but your tastes lean more old school/console ports/physical collecting which I appreciate.

[@zeroXshinobi]

that gaiares soundtrack is something else. Every time i hear the ost it reminds me of when i first played it, which was in 2010 lol

[@ShmupJunkie]

A shooter is only half a game without great music. 🤟 I did play this as a kid on my buddy’s Genesis and liked it then too.

[@KaskelotenZebbe]

Beating Undeadline on normal is my greatest achievement as a gamer. What's really cool about it is not only the setting and music, but the fact that the levels get continuously harder after you beat them. Meaning, for example if you play the cave stage first in one run, it will be easier, but if you play it as the sixth stage another run, it will be much harder.

[@ShmupJunkie]

That’s a great achievement man the game is no joke! The last stage and vampire especially I found to be really tricky. You made a great point. Because the stages get harder based on order, choosing them in a way you don’t end up with a crazy hard level at the end is really helpful. Since some are trickier than others by far. I heard the Sharp 68k port of this is awesome and has extra stages. It’s been on my list to try for a while now.

[@KaskelotenZebbe]

@@ShmupJunkie Thanks, dude! Yeah, half the effort is planning out a proper strategy on tackling the stages. Another cool thing is that the X68k version and the original MSX version are all different games, with different mechanics, bosses etc. For example, the other two versions have several playable characters while the Mega Drive version only has one.

[@mhmrules]

Man, I'm glad you reviewed Twin Cobra. I would have filled a my review with a ton of other comments that I TOTALLY don't want to get into, and I'm ashamed of myself for thinking about these thoughts watching the gameplay.

[@ShmupJunkie]

It's deceiving too as it doesn't look quite that bad, but if you've played it you know how tough the bullet AI is. I'm sure there is a better strategy for that one tough boss, but at the time I didn't know it, so it was a real bear. I can't say I would want to go back again on this one though. I was glad to have gotten through it. Game deserved it's reputation.

[@mhmrules]

@@ShmupJunkie Indeed

[@Spinozin]

You stayed patient in that corner. Whenever I find myself in a tight spot I focus on my breathing and pulling out at the last possible moment. They call it the pull out method x

[@ShmupJunkie]

That method never works does it... 😂 my lack of patience in other facets of life outside of shmups has proven this to be true.

[@Dojonpachi]

Damn fine work grinding through Twin Cobra! A true exercise in frustration.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Dojonpachi it doesn’t look that hard but damn is it lol. I’m glad I gave it a go after recommendations. I’m ok sticking with the pc engine version is my go to though. It’s still fun while being easier on the sphincter 😂

[@professorpenne9962]

I guess I must be a masochist with shmups because I unironically love the genesis/mega drive port of twin cobra lol. there are way better ones like thunder force 4 but idk, I like twin cobra.

[@Prizrak-hv6qk]

I believe the Gaiares was the first "8 mega power" game on the MD? It really shows! The MD hardware truly took off after the 4 Mb barrier was broken. The jump in graphics quality between early 4 Mb games and latter the 8+ Mb games was huge. It's amazing the MUSHA was just a 4 Mb cart though. I mean, just compare Truxton to MUSHA.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Totally agree and it was similar when the PC Engine jumped from hucards to Super CD with the extra storage and RAM. Some companies found work around like Air Buster, where they compressed the files, and uncompressed them before each stage (thus the loading screens). Mastery is mastery like your MUSHA example, no idea how that was pulled off by Compile. Gaiares was something else too just beautiful and they even had space for the cut scenes.

[@LordShmup]

Bro your camera is amazing. Your video game display is fantastic. I love your editing too! Throwing the satelite reminds me of the mechanic in Dragon Blaze! Very nice shmup work in the singularity areas! Your videos are insanely good, you mentioned going up to 1k in a short amount of time and you deserve it. lol yes, the sounds made while playing. TRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUE! DUDE! that last shot with the twin tanks was brutal. Great job Final Tiger.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Thanks for the awesome comment and feedback. Dragon Blaze has got to be the hardest Psikyo game I think I've played or close, as if their games weren't hard enough. 😅 Apparently there is a strategy for those tanks but I didn't know it at the time. Either way that game was pretty brutal. I prefer the slightly less frustrating PC Engine port. 😅 I'll do my best to keep up the quality! Got a really good Hellfire comparison coming up next this Sunday! And you're IN for the big prize! 💥

[@kamadoma715]

I recently bought the Toaplan Arcade Garage for Kyuukyoku Tiger and Tiger-Heli. I tried out Twin Cobra for the MD and it took me 8 credits to clear the first two stages! Of course I would chalk it up to lack of experience as I never really played shmups on the MD when I was a kid, and I mostly stuck to Cave games when I got into shmups earlier this year. But still, the MD Twin Cobra is so brutal that going back to Kyuukyoku Tiger's arcade mode felt like a breath of fresh air, considering that is a pretty brutal shmup as well. But yeah, all good fun and I'm glad I bought the Kyuukyoku Tiger-Heli Toaplan Arcade Garage by M2STG.

[@ShmupJunkie]

It can be incredibly fun to simply dodge and see how far you can get, but if you check the options you’ll see a ton of difficulty modes on the MD port too. It defaults to Hard A I believe. If you ever want to turn it down just a bit. And yeah people like to claim how hard Cave games can be. And they are. But these older checkpoint based shooters from Toaplan will surprise seasoned danmaku players as they’re a very different skill set.

[@jszekerj]

👏 Really fun video man, really enjoyed the comparisons and breakdowns of each title. The Twin Cobra section cracked me up! Tho I now have a Mega Drive, it'll still always be Genesis to me! Always impressed how each video gets better and more refined! 🙌

[@ShmupJunkie]

Retro Jash Thanks dude 😊 Try to make the commentary entertaining. Technically you still have way more Genesis es? in your stash. Next week we do some Neo 😈

[@revvvedrez546]

I love looking at the background at all of ur shmups and seeing how many I’ve played! I’ve played a lot but you have so many, you are the Shmup God! Lol

[@johnnyroberts7093]

Thanks for always pointing me towards new games (too me) that I would have not found without you. Your channel rules.

[@ShmupJunkie]

You’re welcome! Oh you’re gonna love my next video. The best action you’ve never played. Obscure games that are awesome and must play. It should be done in another week.

[@digitalchameleon1884]

Watched a number of your vids now recently and this one made me sub, the squeals as you are just on you are skirting wth death oh my days funny as. Great channel. :)

[@ShmupJunkie]

Lol, I'm glad you found this old one then. I had fun making these old hardest shooter vids. Twin Cobra is a beast of a game on MD. I just did a very recent video on the new M2 release coming with the Twin Cobra games. Love the game but it never loved me back.

[@Sklabah]

Great vid! The near-miss montage in Twin Cobra made me laugh out loud - Any lover of shmups knows those sounds, generated spontaneously by pure survival instinct. haha!

[@charlibiris]

“Read into that bit of imagery as you see fit” hahahaha

[@ShmupJunkie]

It's fun going back and remembering some of my old bits I threw into the script for laughs

[@joshmiller887]

Twin Cobra is one I’ll look out for! Thanks for the video!!

[@ShmupJunkie]

Josh Miller it’s a really fun game to be fair just a ball buster. The PCEngine version is equally fun or moreso without the punishing AI.

[@MarkiModica]

Last tiger...Twin Cobra scares me haha

[@ShmupJunkie]

Mark M As it should 😂. It’s just a nasty sob far as I was concerned

[@jameshakola3603]

LOVE Gaiares! I had the high score in EGM back in the day, one of my favorites on the Genesis

[@ShmupJunkie]

Oh yeah? That's pretty cool did you keep that issue for yourself? I only played it casually on my friend's Genesis back then, so I did manage to finish it but nowhere near scoring material. I came back to it over the last few years to play more as it's such a cool game. The music on some of the stages especially are fantastic... I'm a sucker for great music in shooters. They got that... they're 50% of the way there for me.

[@jameshakola3603]

@@ShmupJunkie I'm sure it's buried in my archives somewhere, when I was submitting scores, I very vainly tried to preserve all my mentions :) I doubt my score was all that spectacular, it was a 1CC, but I didn't spent a lot of time trying to optimize. Guessing maybe the game just didn't generate a lot of submissions? I think Twin Galaxies imported most of the scores from EGM,will have to see if they're still there. I'm sure a modern player could wipe out anything I have there... Lol

[@ShmupJunkie]

@@jameshakola3603 I never even paid attention to score back then so it’s already more than I ever attempted to do. Many games didn’t even save your score yet and you had to note it down or take a photo.

[@jameshakola3603]

@@ShmupJunkie Yeah I think I just started doing it when Nintendo Power began posting a few score tracks, and one of them was Zanac, so I was like, HEY ME TOO! Yeah submissions were just by photo back then, I usually went with a Polaroid, but sometimes I'd spend a little on a 35mm for a clearer pic. And later on I started recording on VHS as well, just to make sure. Hey BTW thanks for the replies on these threads as I go through and watch your videos, very much enjoying the conversation!

[@ShmupJunkie]

@@jameshakola3603 Any free chance I get I always do. I like to think of the channel as a community and meet new people here.

[@unlimitedretrogaming]

I haven't seen this one!! Great video again and thank you for sparing me a lot o frustration for the next days LOL!! After watching this, I don´t think I´ll be called "the final tiger" anytime soon....or ever!!! hahaha

[@ShmupJunkie]

Unlimited Retrogaming 😂 yeah I won’t be going for final tiger again anytime soon either haha. I’ll play the more reasonable PCE version. Although doing the stupid little growl was entertaining.

[@MegaDriveProfile]

Me and you have the same idea of difficulty sir! Twin Cobra is the definition of hell. I only beat it once and I don't think I could do it again - the spread shot is best weapon bar none. I remember always trying spot the shadows of the helicopters before they appeared on screen to get the jump on them. Im glad i subbed to this channel lol great content

[@ShmupJunkie]

Mega Drive Profile Thx man glad you found it. Was just checking out a couple of your videos earlier today and subbed as well. I’m still discovering a lot of mega drive games to this day I missed out on back then. I never even heard of alien soldier until last year 🤦‍♂️. Making up for lost time.

[@unhingedresolve512]

I love how your personality shines through with each video keep it up man!

[@ShmupJunkie]

I had a good time making these series and I’m about due for another. Maybe on NES shooters

[@unhingedresolve512]

@@ShmupJunkie awesome I'll be there!

[@jogosdenavinha8365]

Another great video, thank you for making the weekend very happy with these videos! Maybe a SNES next time...

[@ShmupJunkie]

Jogos de Navinha Next week I have Neo Geo coming 👌. Then after I think SNES is a good idea yes!

[@neogenesis7706]

Awesome vid. Gaiares is my favorite shooter

[@ShmupJunkie]

It’s so well made. Hadn’t played it in a long while before this week. Checks all the boxes for a classic. Some of my fav music tracks too.

[@KingLizzardsGameLounge]

Great Video mate and that's the Twin Cobra I remember. At least I now know why I found it so hard. Some really interesting facts in here about both games that I didn't know about (bullet patterns and weapon stealing, that will teach me for not reading the manual back in the day lol). Totally love that PC ENGINE Twin Cobra art versus Europe or US artwork. Looking forward to your next.

[@ShmupJunkie]

My man you are crazy if you tried playing Gaiares without stealing weapons from the enemies. That really would be an extremely impossible mode to play haha. Now you can try it again someday and use that feature. Yeah the Kyukakyu Tiger art is great I always thought it was fire at the time too. Neo Geo is up next!!!

[@KingLizzardsGameLounge]

Exactly why I never got far LOL. If I ever get the chance again at least I will know what I'm doing.

[@paulanderson3772]

Never had the Mega Drive. Thanks for your effort man.

[@ShmupJunkie]

I never did either which is odd where I grew up, as it seemed almost everyone did. I was the lone Turbo kid. Luckily a good friend had one so I played most of the games over there.

[@unlimitedretrogaming]

Great video!! Gaiares it is!! Will let you know once I have played it....

[@ShmupJunkie]

Unlimited Retrogaming You’ll enjoy it really cool game. Just takes a while to get the hang of it

[@unlimitedretrogaming]

@@ShmupJunkie thanks

[@druiz1370]

Awesome video dude! 😁 👍 🎮

[@ShmupJunkie]

Thanks man! Your evening entertainment. Some games I would also rather watch than play.

[@ronaldkuijten6638]

love it! keep up the good work!!

[@ShmupJunkie]

Ronald kuijten thanks! I will do my best 🙏

[@deceiver444]

Thanx for grinding through all these bad boys for our enjoyment

[@ShmupJunkie]

It’s for my enjoyment too ... well most of the time. Gaiares is awesome. Twin Cobra I don’t know if I’d do again... though I’ve been wanting to do a Kyukokyu Tiger comparison so I may have to 😅. Hopefully I can just reuse the footage I recorded here for the mega drive side haha. The PCE port is actually really fun and not quite as killer in the gameplay. They really cranked this port.

[@vermillion16]

Gaiares, along with Assault Suit Leynos (which isn't a shmup but has a shmup lover's mentality) are so damn LEGIT. You couldn't make them now. I'm not talking about graphics and sound, obviously, I'm talking about "Oh, you're not good enough? In that case, piss off." If this were to be released today, people would demand a patch.

[@ShmupJunkie]

I remember Gaiares being marketed as a hard game as well so people had to expect to get their ass handed to them. Lots of games were legit hard around that time, but I still thought they were very fair and beatable with practice. Not like arcade based shmups that were meant to eat your quarters, so they were demanded perfection. The music in Gaiares was one of my favorite aspects too, it was a sick game all around.

[@kenshirootomo6993]

Saw the first part TOP 5 HARDEST SHOOTERS on Megadrive part one.. just some minutes ago... And went to see the part two asap. Never played the 5 games on the first part, altough I always wanted to play HELLFIRE... Now I see one of my favorite Genesis games (in general), taking the place it deserves.. GAIARES!!. 27 years ago, I played the game to exhaustion and finished it -only one time- Then forgot about it for many many years.... Now, I can´t go further than Mission 5. I was better when younger.

[@ShmupJunkie]

You aren't the only one that was better when you were younger 😅 the struggle is far more real now. I could get away with so much more but now the reflexes aren't what they used to be. I always managed to power up with the giant lasers early in the game and just try and keep them as long as possible or indefinitely. It's not as tough as the other game here, but it's a heck of a lot better! Always loved the music and that stage with the wormholes was always a favorite. I'll bet even Jamie Bunker has lost a few steps since those days haha.

[@switchcollect]

I remember playing Gaiares as a kid. It was I believe one of the first 8mb cartridges (also Strider) with fantastic graphics and lots of levels. And it has my favourite soundtrack for the Genesis.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Without a doubt one of the better soundtracks on the console. I wonder how much of the 8MB they used up on the cut scenes throughout.

[@SuperLlama42]

>ZZ Badnasty Now THAT'S a character name. Right up there with Rocketbilly Redcadillac

[@ShmupJunkie]

I guess Shmupper McJunkie doesn’t have the same ring to it 😆

[@bl85gamer]

Gaiares looks so amazing 😍 Twin Cobra on the other hand looks like something I will avoid like the plague 😅 one plague is more than enough for me in 2020 😆

[@ShmupJunkie]

Bruno L 😂 it’s not even pretty to look at. But dude try it on the PCE Everdrive. It’s quite fun and nothing like this port in terms of brutality. It’s simple no frills but surprising how fun it is to play. It’s a fav of many.

[@realguitarthur]

So happy I own both of these games! :)

[@Catovaria]

The only shmups were I saw a black holes is Gaiares and Gradius Gaiden. It's a cool idea anyway.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Given most of these games take place in space at some point you'd think there would be more right?

[@roberto1519]

So, as you suggested, I came here and checked this one, I'm kind of surprised I made it as far as level 7 without using continues, as I'm not really, by far, a shot-em-up expert. I didn't know this was the hardest version of the game, there's something about the Mega Drive version that I like, the graphics, sounds, music and gameplay, other consoles don't have the same touch. Well, if I can make it that far, I can try beating this thing one day. I remember those twin tanks I've done the same, cornered and if I remember correctly I managed to only kill one of them. The thing is, there are some sections where you die and come back with your stock weapon, it's there where the difficulty lies for me.

[@randycruel]

I was a G Beam guy too since 1990. Lately, I have been replaying this game, trying different weapons instead. Dude, the H Laser. Check it out fully powered up. I dunno, it isnt as wide but it seems to be substantially more powerful.

[@darkridearts]

Gaiares is so good. I would like to see a return like we got with Andro Dunos

[@ShmupJunkie]

Seeing a Gaiares sequel would be awesome and also very hard to duplicate. We are getting the Telenet shooting collection coming next year so it’s possible they do something with the license one day. Andro Dunos 2 was fantastic and glad I got a chance to review it.

[@professorpenne9962]

twin cobra is awesome, I love the sega genesis port

[@ShmupJunkie]

If only it loved me back 🤣 but yeah the gameplay is really well done. Just gets so brutal. They really cranked the difficulty on the first loop compared to other ports.

[@thehumbleone1983]

Enjoyed the video ❤️🕹Sega MD

[@ShmupJunkie]

Thank you. Do you love it enough to grow a mullet? hehe

[@AkiraSendo12]

gaiares looks beautiful but twin cobra...omg what a difference,is it really the same hardware?! good video,i subscribe

[@ShmupJunkie]

Thank you. Yes twin cobra is not a very pretty game. It actually looks better on the pc engine. But damn is it hard as balls 🤣. Gaiares is wonderful all around. Just a fabulous game.

[@jamesalger9561]

Looking forward to the dreamcast list

[@ShmupJunkie]

James Alger Dreamcast is going to be bitchin’. Lots of awesome shooters to choose from and some super difficult ones too. It’s going to make for a really fun episode.

[@jamesalger9561]

@@ShmupJunkie Loved the 'dance' Ikaruga made you do and watching vids of pro players makes me feel so inadequate :).

[@wadestoss3325]

I finally finished Twin Cobra on the easiest setting. The reason the bosses are so hard is because when they stretched the aspect ratio they didnt consider how it would change the gameplay and basically you have a fraction of the maneuvering room that the original arcade afforded players. Level 5, 8, and 9 bosses are all pretty ridiculous, I was pretty relieved to find the last boss was easier than all three of them.

[@ShmupJunkie]

I have to admit I prefer the PCE version of that game. Just the bullet AI is incredibly difficult and I was reminded of it playing Raiden DX earlier this week, which is like Twin Cobra only worse, with even faster bullets and a pretty slow ship, just like the helicopter here. But at least there the screen is vertical so it's not cramped, just the bullets are crazy fast and they have that same painful AI. I agree the last boss wasn't bad... it was those two tanks at the end that had my number.

[@wadestoss3325]

@@ShmupJunkie Oh ya the AI is brutal, your skynet analogy was on point lol

[@PortableXombie]

My mom and I used to love twin cobra. I do not remember it being frustrating. I think that means I have some repressed memories. Because I definitely did not beat the game.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Ha! That’s awesome you guys used to play it. It’s not crazy at first and fun but it gets really hard later on. I never played this one back in the day though. I wish I could repress some of my memories like playing ghosts n goblins on nes though 🤣

[@PortableXombie]

@@ShmupJunkie I played gould and ghosts..err one of them in the arcades and yes I would love to forget that experience. Or at least get my quarters back....even if I continue to play the game to this day.

[@ShmupJunkie]

@@PortableXombie I love the second one but man the first game was pure evil on a stick 🤣

[@predaking2wings]

I played twin cobra only with a code too hard without it! Great code you get powered up or 8 bombs, best code for the mega drive!!

[@turbinegraphics16]

Well made video. I wonder how swiv, battle squadron and xenon 2 would compare, they are Amiga ports. Amiga must have a couple hundred shooters but I don't know of any are as a good as Lords of Thunder but still there are some good ones.

[@ShmupJunkie]

I remember Xenon 2 being janky and unusual to play, but it's been ages. I never did own an Amiga and I imagine it had some really great ones, along with what I heard was a slew of really bad ones haha. I've got plans to do an Amiga exploration vid one day and pick out the coolest of all the shooters I can find.

[@MikeMoranX13]

I beat Gaiares when I was 16 or so. I doubt I have the patience for that now LOL!!! Loved that game though.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Mike Moran the patience or the reflexes ... I find mine were much better at 16 as well 😅. It’s getting harder

[@NexusVerbal]

I've always pronounced it as GUY-UH-RESS, which I think makes more sense since it's supposed to be engrish for Gaia-Less, meaning without Gaia. This is according to the game designer. Mr. Yokota.

[@ShmupJunkie]

I guess I was pretty close then! I think back then I pronounced it way off and had no clue, but it’s fun to learn the original pronunciation as I research it. I was pretty shocked at the right way to say Darius (dar-eye-us) as well. Would never have guessed it back then.

[@mushihimesarna728]

Keep on fighting the good fight, man! You know, if you want brutal shmups for the Mega Drive, give Battle Squadron a go.....it might make you update your list! oh, btw, keep the lube at hand....

[@ShmupJunkie]

Mushihime Sarna Never even heard of that one! I made a note I’ll have to check it out. It’s always great to discover a new one I’ve yet to even see. As long as it’s a decent game 😅

[@mushihimesarna728]

@@ShmupJunkie it IS decent...not great, but a pretty acceptable port of an amiga game, and while the original is better, the Mega Drive port is still playable. The original was somewhat easy, so they pumped the difficulty up in a HUGE way. You can nerf the game in the menu...but I guess that's not the idea. If you play it as intended, it's a vicious beast.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Mushihime Sarna absolutely I would try it on default difficulty and see how it goes. I’m not allowed to nerf it. I can hear the anime girls starting to snicker at the very mention of it 😂.

[@opaljk4835]

Not only is Twin Cobra a pain in the ass, it's not all that fun or fun to look at. Mines on the shelf until I get a bit better

[@ShmupJunkie]

Adam J K I always thought the PCE version was more fun even if it was easier. Go figure. Really a pain playing this on MD for whatever reason. It’s quite a slog.

[@SegataNoKen]

DA HOMIE BACK AT IT AGAIN!!!!!

[@ShmupJunkie]

SegaSaturnSNK Always at it dude 😂. Every week. Next week Neo Geo 🤘

[@jordanjackson6151]

Love Gaiares. Probably take that over Hellfire.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Especially as an exclusive and not being an arcade port. Gaiares is impressive all around. I feel it's harder too on the standard difficulty. But damn not much is as brutal as Twin Cobra was.

[@OhmiKuma]

You ever try Wings of Wor? The last boss in that game is something I couldn't beat without cheating. I think Hellfire would be night-and-day easier if it had a weapon switching system like Radiant Silvergun.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Hellfire is actually not too bad I find it less difficult than RSG, if anything that RSG is much longer and forces you to play a certain way to level up your weapons or have no chance to progress too far. I agree though being able to fire any at once, or at least cycle in either direction would make it easier too. Wings of Wor gets tough toward the end yeah, I almost had it in this episode. It starts out fine but really ramps at the end. It's been a long time since I played or finished it. Really cool game though I dig the art direction and creativity of it.

[@digitalworms]

On gaiares there's kind of a cheat if you miss with your pod 6 times then on the 7th attach it and you will get the strongest weapon in the game! Awesome but with enemy placement and bullets it's hard to do lol

[@ShmupJunkie]

Really? That's damn cool I had no idea. Would help a lot in recovering later during more difficult sections. I'm going to have to try that next time I play and see if I can pull it off.

[@digitalworms]

@@ShmupJunkie You have to redo it every level tho! But the weapon is so strong you can keep the screen mostly clear!

[@RyokoYaksa]

I only recently got to be able to beat Gaiares in a 1-life clear. Then I tried VHard mode and it ate me alive. Game becomes bullet hell in that mode. 😣 Definitely is my favorite shooter from that era, though.

[@ShmupJunkie]

I never tried Gaiares in the harder modes... it felt tough enough on the normal though not as crazy as some people say. It's just a great game. I enjoy it along with the music whenever I pick it up again. I'll try that mode next time and see how long I can last haha.

[@chrisgardiner2215]

"try not to die" lol : O

[@ShmupJunkie]

We all try. We usually fail 😅

[@iwanttocomplain]

You might want to try using the basic forward shot in Twin Cobra. It upgrades something like 15 times unlike the other weapons and puts out alot more damage than the blue ball shot. Also, on the boss with the two things, I just flew round and round the lower one, making it fairly easy to avoid all his bullets long enough for the game to move on. PS. I thought they were leading their shots! I was joking to myself they had advanced targeting ai built in and you confirmed they actually do!

[@ShmupJunkie]

Jackamomo Good tip! It was my first time on the MD port having only played it on PCE before. It was easier to keep the screen under control with the spread shot so I didn’t think to try another. But it’s lack of power definitely made some bosses tough once I ran out of bombs. I’ll definitely try the forward shot and try to fully upgrade it next time I play and see how I fair.

[@iwanttocomplain]

@@ShmupJunkie I only knew about the forward shot by watching the demo. Otherwise, the increments it improves on each power up is barely noticeable.

[@tomtodd6143]

I think Truxton is the most brutal game I've ever played.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Tom Todd it’s a beast of a game especially on the PCE but it’s so damn fun too. Just wait til my next vid on the Neo Geo. I ran across an indie game that puts anything else I’ve ever played to shame it’s so impossible haha

[@tomtodd6143]

@@ShmupJunkie cant wait, I'm really enjoying Blazing Star on Neo Geo

[@ShmupJunkie]

@@tomtodd6143 Blazing Star is my all time favorite Neo Geo shooter! Love that game to death. And it just may make the Top 5 next week just so I can show off the most disturbing final boss in the history of shooters hahaha'

[@MOXIEchannel]

Gaiares Is wonderful to watch. I think it's the most rare game on md isn't it?

[@ShmupJunkie]

MOXIE channel most rare? I think MD has many very rare games not the most. But it’s one of the coolest for sure 🤘. Beautiful graphics very easy on the eyes 👀

[@MOXIEchannel]

@@ShmupJunkie I remember watching some video on this and I remember this game. For sure is amazing

[@orderofmagnitude-TPATP]

Yay twin cobra is here! That first level as the music starts....and the "thumps" as you kill the enemies. I always power up the 'lollipops' what you start with. Edit- you are the final tiger! That's what I'm calling u herin

[@ShmupJunkie]

You can call me the final tiger as long as I don't have to try and finish this port of the game again! 😂 Funny that now I am working on a video for the upcoming M2 Toaplan collection for this.

[@orderofmagnitude-TPATP]

@@ShmupJunkie ahhh KZbin deleted my comment. Gutted.

[@ShmupJunkie]

@@orderofmagnitude-TPATP It did? That’s weird. It’s got a pretty aggressive spam filter I can’t turn off. I’ve had it do it to me too on my own videos I think 🤣 sorry about that.

[@orderofmagnitude-TPATP]

@@ShmupJunkie not your fault. Happens on my channel also. My subs get well barked!

[@orderofmagnitude-TPATP]

@@ShmupJunkie (trying everything to get this comment to you. I will not be beaten!)

[@Johnnygrafx]

I've never thought of Twin Cobra as a chess game against a wildly over-qualified opponent, but yeah, that's pretty accurate lol. Great video as usual! 🙂

[@ShmupJunkie]

Johnny Grafx the bullet trajectory feels similar to Tatsujin but you’re much slower. So it starts to feel like chess yeah. Where it’s predicting where you’ll be and you’re predicting where you think it’s predicting lol. Makes me curious what made them want to implement it when doing the mega drive port.

[@paulunetourtel9601]

Hi did you review some NES games ? ps : after 2 intense weeks I finally manage to finish Gaiares in nearly 1CC! So proud, my best performance up to now

[@mintyretro]

Twin Cobra looks unbearable... bit like "GUY-ARE-US" dudes haircut. Awesome vid mate, you put these together expertly 👌

[@ShmupJunkie]

Minty Retro Thx man. Twin Cobra is one of those that’s fun but also kicks your ass haha. Next week it’s Neo Geo time so some gorgeous games to show too.

[@chrissawyer1484]

One of these games is NSFW. Me: Got to be Twin Cobra. I never used as much profanity as I did when I played it.

[@ShmupJunkie]

LMAO yeah that AI is brutal. I heard the rumors but wasn't quite prepared for what it would do, especially on that one boss. I think I will stick to my easier PCE version next time and I don't say that very often. What a beast.

[@qwpeoriu]

So ... uhhh ... where exactly do I buy some of that Thumb Chum? Asking for a friend.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Coming to a pharmacy near you wherever adult diapers are sold 😂

[@qwpeoriu]

@@ShmupJunkie Hahaha. Cannot wait for your next vid!

[@ShmupJunkie]

Michael McClenney Just finished up the Neo Geo episode for this Sunday 🤘

[@dangunheadachron1603]

PCE version of Twin Cobra is definitely easier. Genesis will make most humans hair grey

[@ShmupJunkie]

David Medina by far! Found that out the hard way. If playing ridiculously hard games greys hair I’ll be the white wizard before end of this year 😅

[@diemdem3076]

Hi, I'm quite new to your channel. Love your content big time! I would love to hear more about the publisher, dev team, reprogrammed by ... especially when doing game comparison on different systems. Not so sure about the next thing: but maybe giving a spoiler warning as you are regularly showing the final level / final boss?

[@ShmupJunkie]

Thanks! I’m glad you found my channel and I really appreciate the good feedback. Good idea about a quick spoiler warning at some point I didn’t consider it. They’re old games and shmups aren’t too story driven so I didn’t know if people would care or not to see late game stuff, but for comparisons I kind of have to. Or if I’m discussing difficult games like here. So a quick spoiler blurb is a good idea. I’ll take all the suggestions for the next videos so thank you. I spend a lot of time talking about the devs in my indie spotlights to highlight them, so I can always give a bit of background in these too. It’s a balancing act as I often have to cut content already because some of these videos get really long! 😅

[@diemdem3076]

@@ShmupJunkie Thx for repleying! I'm kinda torn back and forth about that spoiler warning. Ultimately I WANT to see the final level / boss of all these great games I cannot play. I know the production and editing effort must be enormous. Maybe showing the final level / boss in an obscured way? Nah, forget about it, just a crazy idea ;)

[@ShmupJunkie]

@@diemdem3076 Well at a minimum the spoiler warning is a good idea. That’s something easily added into a video without taking up much time. 👌

[@argedismun2]

I hate shooters that sends you back all the way to the beginning of the stage

[@ShmupJunkie]

Most of these have checkpoints so it's not back to the beginning, but usually part of the way back for sure. The checkpoints in Gaiares are pretty rough though yeah... they send you a good ways back.

[@ambience4245]

You thought twin cobra was the only one with ai's that predict? Check out ratchet and clank.

[@samahell9488]

Hi Shmup Junkie ! Please can you say to me what is the shmup in the end of the intro ? The one where you head-banging . Ps : Sorry if my english is not good . I love schmup , there are for me like the gate of paradise and i like your you-tube channel . Thx for all your video and long live to you and all the best !

[@ShmupJunkie]

Oh, that’s Lords of Thunder of course! The best game for head banging haha. Don’t worry about your English I have a lot of great viewers around the world. I’m happy to see you enjoying and commenting. 😃

[@samahell9488]

@@ShmupJunkie Ho tank you very much for this reply , and so fast also =) It is better to play on him under sega CD or on turbographix ?

[@ShmupJunkie]

@@samahell9488 I prefer it on the Turbografx. By the way I made a special comparison video of Turbo vs SegaCD versions. You can find it on my channel! Search for lords of thunder comparison. It’s a very fun video you’ll enjoy it. 👍🏻

[@samahell9488]

@@ShmupJunkie Thx my friend long live to you ! God is a gamer =)

[@samahell9488]

@@ShmupJunkie Ho Yeah i play it just now on turbographix and i understand now why you head-banging on them ... It's supa good =) PS : He's hard but he's good and the music are one of the best i've ever listen on a shmup =)

[@johngavalas74]

I have Gaiares on Switch through Telenet Shooting Collection that game is awesome hard yes but not like Eliminate Down hard i can't even pass the first level 😂

[@HandsomeRob7]

Whoever disliked this video was just jealous that they couldn't beat it lol

[@ShmupJunkie]

I can see why some people get mad from some of my tech videos where I talk some smack, but if I'm just doing gameplay footage, it's likely some random pricks who go around disliking videos because their life sucks. There are always a few.

[@mazonemayu]

Purely out of scientific curiosity, what is your difficulty level for twin cobra (while still able to finish it off course 😂), I’ve been at it since it came out, and still can’t manage on the harder levels, from Hard B and upwards, it’s just death bullets galore 😂😂

[@ShmupJunkie]

Oh I’m not as hardcore as people like to think. I don’t plsy on easy mode (cause we all know anime girls will mock you when you do that 😆), but just the default standard difficulty for me. Especially twin cobra that game is brutal enough as is. There are some games I’ve played a million times like lords of Thunder I’ll crank difficulty up on but mostly I don’t unless it’s just too easy on it’s default. I don’t know how some people play games like that or tatsujin on hard mode.

[@mazonemayu]

@@ShmupJunkie that’s still pretty good mate, the standard difficulty setting is Hard A (or at least it is on my Japanese version), which as you say, is brutal enough as it is 😂😂. I posted something on the Sega version on facebook the other day, and there was someone claiming the PC Engine version was more difficult...I think not 😂🔫

[@ShmupJunkie]

@@mazonemayu lol yeah no. The PCE version is my preference. I love the music in it and the difficulty is fun but less brutal. Much more brutal on the MD no doubt about it.

[@mariowario5945]

This was only 2

[@ShmupJunkie]

Yeah. The original video had my top 5. This part two was a follow up to the first.

[@chrisgardiner2215]

friend of mine from Japan told me to focus my eyes on my ship, and don't look at the enemies .... Is that right ?

[@ShmupJunkie]

No you don’t want to focus on your ship directly, but keep it in your periphery. You need to see what’s incoming to position yourself correctly. Your ship is not the threat, and neither are the enemies unless they run into you. It’s the bullets. It also depends on the type of game. I play mostly old school shooters so the focus is mainly on your screen position and taking out enemies quickly and proper aiming. With bullet hell its about knowing the incoming pattern so you need to see what’s coming 2/3rd of the way up the screen and move your ship in advance. It’s too late to react by the time they are close if you are focused directly on your ship. The only time I’m doing that is very dense bullet hell where you are micro dodging through tiny openings. But that’s not so much my expertise. Check out Electric Underground for bullet hell tips he has some great videos called how to shmup. I made a couple called Shooter 101 that focuses more on the basics and older style shooters. Depending which kind you play most.

[@chrisgardiner2215]

@@ShmupJunkie okay ... thanks for the info : )

[@traphousegamer1906]

Yo dude you should have a discord

[@ShmupJunkie]

Check my top pinned comment, the link is there.

[@fazares]

i can made to the 2nd half of the 2nd stage on gaiares..no further...lolol...

[@ShmupJunkie]

I like that at least it has chances to power up your weapons again from the enemies. But it's much harder vs having a good weapon and keeping it. Lots of people got stuck on stage 2 I remember that.

[@AlchemistTongueDrums]

Any chance of doing Top 5 EASIEST videos? lol. I'm bad.

[@ShmupJunkie]

Ears must be burning. I'm working on a Best Shmups for Beginners video right now, and there will be a couple mega drive games in there. 👍

[@AlchemistTongueDrums]

@@ShmupJunkie Yesssssss. You rock, dude. Can't wait.

[@fabioriva77]

But.... Thunder force III and IV? This it's not hard shooter on MD? And Musha Aleste where is?

[@ShmupJunkie]

I had to pick my hardest 5. Thunder Force and Musha are amazing games but they are not harder than the games in this video. Try them you will see 😉

[@fabioriva77]

@@ShmupJunkie yes I understand 👍 but for me Gaiares are not difficult like thunderforce IV but it's a personal opinion, obviously... anyway good job 👍 and great collection 🔝