2D Shmups - History, Prospects?

Thanks to Gamers.com for their article discussing a brief survey of the 2D shoot-em-up (shmup) market. The article summarizes: "Shooters seem to have a very basic appeal, rewarding as they usually do indiscriminate destruction. They're also a pure example of the most basic of videogame challenges - simple, instantaneous, twitchy response... there are still a few gamers who seek classic shooting action, and a few companies willing to support them." It goes on to reference classic Japanese shmup companies such as Irem, Treasure, and Cave, and provide information on their former and current projects.

Comments

2d shooters for linux?

[croddy]

are there any good side- or top-scrollers for linux? FPS are fine, but I'd much rather be playing duke nukem 2.

Re:2d shooters for linux?

[patch-rustem]

... are there any good side- or top-scrollers for linux?

There's plenty.
Also there's the universe of games that you can play via an emulator.

Re:2d shooters for linux?

[Tirel]

0verkill !

Re:2d shooters for linux?

[Goner]

I think of the free ones, Chromium B.S.U. is the best. Abuse is good, but it's not really a side scrolling shooter in my opinion, it's more like Contra or something. If Chromium could only get more than the three weapons, some sort of phalanx type thing would be awesome. -Rich

Re:2d shooters for linux?

[Qzukk]

Noiz2SA

Admittedly its developed for Windows, but it uses SDL, and with just a bit of tweaking I had it compiled and running just fine on Linux. (You'll need to hunt down and compile the bulletML library as well as edit the provided Makefile to link against the appropriate lib*.so instead of the .dll's. It also doesn't "install", it expects to be run from the root of the directory created when you extract everything)

The music and the action in this game rocks. The artwork is way abstract, which makes it cool to look at. In my opinion the only thing that this game lacks is weapon upgrades.

Classic shmups got nothin

[AvitarX]

The "classics" got nothing on the newer 2-d games.

Mars Matrix owns 1942 any day of the week.

With the new games having well over 1000 things on screen at a time and awsome sound it makes the classics look, well, classic.

Re:Classic shmups got nothin

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree and as was mentioned the other day, Starscape is an excellent example of modern schmups trying to take things in new directions. Anyone who enjoys a good top down blast should check it out here, the only thing missing is multiplayer otherwise very good.

No Mention of Gradius

[mmdurrant]

I'm surprised that there is no mention of Gradius, my favorite 2D shooter of all time.

Re:No Mention of Gradius

[ASkGNet]

No mention of the game that was one of the biggest milestones in 'shmups', Tyrian...I believe I wasted at least 50 hours of my life on that game. Starscape borrows from Tyrian heavily as well. It was the one-of-a-kind 'shoot-em-up' and 'upgrade your ship' game that could go on and on for hours. Would you get Dual missile spread or perhaps upgrade your proton guns 2 levels and get the Smart Bomb instead. Or perhaps ditch it all for a Blaster and a heavy-duty photon blast.
For a 2d shooter, it was deep enough to keep you interested for hours at end...it was also non-linear (progression in the zones) and had a pretty good backstory, with hidden 'Holocubes' that revealed more of it. Too bad it does not run on modern computers, unless VDMSound and MoSlo are both engaged.

real nerds . . .

[patch-rustem]

2D Shmups...
Real nerds write their own.

Re:real nerds . . .

[John Harrison]

Here you go!

Robo Aleste?

[Mantrid]

Anyone remember Robo Aleste for Sega CD, that has to be one of my all time favorites, along with Raiden Trad, and Thunderforce III.

Consoles

[wickedj]

I would have to say the console market is the best to play 2D shooters. My personal favorites are Radiant Silver Gun for Sega Saturn, Ikaruga for Dreamcast and Gamecube. 1945 Plus was awesome in the arcades. I'm not sure if it made it to console. Metal Storm for NES was great. Soon to be released Half-Life 2D looks like it will rock.

What about Konami?

[Metroid72]

Although it's a big publisher, I guess Konami should have been mentioned.
Hello.... Gradius and the best SNES shooter along Space Megaforce ....AXELAY.
Konami should pay Treasure for a GBA enhanced port.

Bangai-O

[Anonymous Coward]

My vote goes for Bangai-O, one of the most awesome shooters for any console.

Here's some sites for cool shooters...

[Anonymous Coward]

www.mking.com has an exciting shooter called demonstar, plus a sequel, and www.retro64.com has a shooter called bugatron which is pretty funny.

Shmups!

[emilng]

Just in case you haven't figured it out yet. You can find out a great deal more about 2d shootemups on
www.shmups.com

Where the hell is COMPILE?!

[MilenCent]

No mention whatsoever of COMPILE! Those hep cats made ZANAC, The Guardian Legend, Gun-Nac, Power Strike, Power Strike 2, Blazing Lasers, MUSHA, Space Megaforce (named something else in Japan), ZANAC x ZANAC and others!

I think they've been bought out recently, and they've been making mostly Puyo Puyo lately, but still...!

Gauntlet

[quinkin]

Gauntlet Rocked.... I'm still waiting for something quite as fun.

Q.

Major Gaps

[n0wak]

This article has some seriously major gaps. No mention of Gradius/Life Force, and the Parodius games anywhere -- even with Gradius V nearing. Even with Gradius V being (albeit unconfirmed, as far as I've seen) developed by Treasure.