Games

[filterpunk]

Just wanted to pass on that the review of Shoot the Bullet (or any Touhou game) was a nice and welcome addition to the site. Even though I tend to prefer ZUN's more manic stuff (Imperishable Night, etc), Shoot the Bullet was definitely an interesting change of pace. Weirded me out the first time I tried it, when I hit the button to start firing and suddenly heard, "click!" instead.

You mentioned Giga Wing in the review, but are there any other decent shmups you can think of that use similarly off-beat or unconventional systems?

[icycalm]

Well Giga Wing was unconventional when it first came out, but after two sequels and Mars Matrix (which used the same system, more or less) it's not considered unconventional any more.

Other shooters with tripped-out systems are Triggerheart Exelica and Tumiki Fighters. I can't think of much else right now, mainly because I am not quite clear on what you mean by 'unconventional'.

Besides, I am not that much of an expert on doujin shooters (which presumably contain at least a few examples of the kind of thing you are looking for)... Perhaps Carl can enlighten us.

[filterpunk]

Well Giga Wing was unconventional when it first came out, but after two sequels and Mars Matrix (which used the same system, more or less) it's not considered unconventional any more.

Other shooters with tripped-out systems are Triggerheart Exelica and Tumiki Fighters. I can't think of much else right now, mainly because I am not quite clear on what you mean by 'unconventional'.

I suppose anything involving more/something different than "cram your finger on autofire," which I love, but I'm always curious about a different take on the traditional shmup formula...like using a camera, hooking and swinging enemies, etc. From my limited experience, Triggerheart Exelica and the first Giga Wing are two that I found surprisingly fun. I wasn't so impressed with Chaos Field though, which has that bullet canceling wand/sword thing and plays like a shitty Psyvariar clone, or Giga Wing 2, which just felt off in some way compared to the first game.

I don't know Carl, but I'm hoping he can recommend a few things.

[Dale]

You could try Espgaluda or Ikaruga but I imagine you've already looked into those games. The Kento Cho shooter Noiz2A uses a system were every three seconds your invincible, which is kinda different. Souer is a great mouse based control scheme shmup,and its currently my favorite shmup just passing Vulgus. Souer has some of the most brilliant boss attack idea's ever. "Wisp Lisp Hee Haw" is based off a system were you place a shield in front of you and absorb bullets to get a stronger shot, but your not invincible during this better shot, unlike Giga Wing2. Their is a non-manic or non- danmuku shmup called Grid Seeker that forces you to make bullets hit your options in order to get bombs. All of these besides Espgaluda Ikaruga and Grid seeker are freeware.

You might like the versus shmup games Twinkle Star Sprites or Senko No Ronde. Their great just because of what they fundamentally are. I think the Change Aiir Blade games might be of the versus variety too, but I'm not sure.

I wish I knew about more sweet doujin shooters.