man, the C64 had all the cool shoot em ups

[Khephren]

Yeah the computer varient was the CPC+ range, 32 colours from a 4096 palette, as I remember. It was a bit late in the day, and didn't get much use.

Personally, I think the C64 was stretched more than the Amiga in terms of quality as it went along (for shooters, that is).

[Arkhan]

Anyway, it was nice to describe your original posting of "at the time" since "at the time" the PCEngine didnt exist in 1982, and "at the time" the MSX didnt exist either.

Right, and neither did the shooting genre as we know it, because that all happened thanks to Japan.  If round-eye shooters became the standard, good lord would shooters be a joke.  They are generally a mess gameplay wise.

Anyway, its all fairly similar hardware really. The video chips and developers are the big differences.   Japanese games have very distinct qualities that Western games don't.  The CPU itself is mostly irrelevant, and the video chip is what matters in the end.   Noone stares at the cpu instructions and machine language while playing the game, do they? :hammer:

If the c64 had a z80, the average game player wouldn't know any better.

It's just a shame the VIC-II has such an ass-ugly palette.  Its drab.  Washed out.  Gooney.  Some later games managed to overcome that debacle, but a ton of games, R-Type included, are a muddy disaster.

Heres games worth comparing to if were comparing "of the time" hardware:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dihQ8iAQsiY  Gall Force
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-esZGz8PEhw  Salamander
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEZ42uqtkkk  Star Soldier    <<< \o/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkeWijrZGKg  Gulkave
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTrvmjmy1jQ   Laydock

There are tons more.  

Now if we're going to assume the MSX2 can be mentioned, this is where shit gets real.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRjPfucz5G0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cITedbFqpU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OugPDO9sp9s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fnAl4dH5-A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6Gy5PTe4-M

I'm not even going to post any PC Engine shooters because it will make everything else mentioned looked like total crap.


Oh, screw it:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opjCapt4N64
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5t-MEhino8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTym3-Qvadw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otz8kIUqN38
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_W_NhGTN9g


I think the "cool shooters" thing just got beat to the ground.

Though, Parallax is still an awesome game...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfiFDYuxGuY

it really is the coolest shooter on the C64.

I dont remember TGX16 ever coming to Australia, I never saw one up close until much later on when I was in England. Since TGX16 was designed to be nothing but a _games console_, one would hope its shooters would be better quality than something designed 5 years prior as a computer, with its 1 button joystick designed to be compatible with old atari 2600 sticks, whose joystick interface was designed in 1977... maybe in 1977 they didnt think you needed more than 1 button on a stick...

Unfortunately you guys never got the PCE/TG, and that really sucks.  It is the defacto standard for shmups.   You haven't lived until you've played Sapphire, Lords of Thunder, Gate of Thunder, and the Soldier series.  

C64 shooters couldnt have been too bad, afterall it sold 30million units, while TGX16 sold only 10 million..

Well when you factor in that it was also just a home computer/used in schools/businesses, ... the extra 20 million may not have been due to the shooter library....especially since alot of the sales were most likely before the shooter genre took off anyways.

The RPG library is pretty boss.  I think Temple of Apshai Trilogy on the C64 is better than the Amiga one even.

[yakumo9275]

Radiant silvergun... sigh. My dreamcast and my saturn... best shmup consoles ever.

I pumped soo many coins into the arcade playing Raiden 1+2 and Macross Plus..

until I saw the PC version, I think TGX16 had best raiden port...

[Arkhan]

Radiant silvergun... sigh. My dreamcast and my saturn... best shmup consoles ever.

I pumped soo many coins into the arcade playing Raiden 1+2 and Macross Plus..

until I saw the PC version, I think TGX16 had best raiden port...

Dont forget Gunbird 2

[fishy_fiz]

While the PC-Engine has some ok shooters I wouldnt say theyre any better than what's available elsewhere. Graphics, sure, theyre better than c64 shooters, but the games themselves are no better on average. Theyre mostly generic eastern style with nothing to make them stand out from others of the same style.

Yes, that's right, some people do have different tastes.....

[Arkhan]

While the PC-Engine has some ok shooters I wouldnt say theyre any better than what's available elsewhere. Graphics, sure, theyre better than c64 shooters, but the games themselves are no better on average. Theyre mostly generic eastern style with nothing to make them stand out from others of the same style.

Yes, that's right, some people do have different tastes.....

I think maybe someone hasn't played many PCE shooters.

Sinistron, Dead Moon, Lords of Thunder, Forgotten Worlds, and Cotton are all distinctly different.

Blazing Lazers, Steam Hearts, Override, Image Fight,  and Sylphia are too also different.


This is just the icing on top of the cake that is PCE shooters.

If they're generic eastern style with not alot making them stand out, how come the europeans kept trying to jock the style, albeit poorly.

Menace is a good example of how NOT to copy a shmup concept.

[kedawa]

The PCE does have a disproportionately large selection of excellent shooters, that's for sure.  The Mega Drive has it's share as well, and the SNES has a few good ones.

[DCAmiga]

My Fav's on C64 was R-Type and Commando, loved the music on these two!

[commodorejohn]

Sinistron, Dead Moon, Lords of Thunder, Forgotten Worlds, and Cotton are all distinctly different.

Oh hell yes, Cotton is awesome. I'm not even a big shmup fan (R-Type excepted) and I love Cotton.

[Arkhan]

Oh hell yes, Cotton is awesome. I'm not even a big shmup fan (R-Type excepted) and I love Cotton.

Everyone loves Cotton.  its like, a rule.

[kedawa]

Fantasy Zone is another good one.  I forgot that one got ported to PCE.
I'm surprised there was never a PCE Twin Bee game.

[Arkhan]

Fantasy Zone is another good one.  I forgot that one got ported to PCE.
I'm surprised there was never a PCE Twin Bee game.

http://pcengine.co.uk/HTML_Games/Twin_Bee.htm

derp.

[kedawa]

Ah so that's a real Twin Bee shooter afterall.  For some reason I thought PCE game was a platformer like the Super Famicom game.

[Arkhan]

Ah so that's a real Twin Bee shooter afterall.  For some reason I thought PCE game was a platformer like the Super Famicom game.

nope

but rainbow bell adventures is pretty hood gangsta.   I like that game.

[redrumloa]

I am just learning about Salamander, which is called Lifeforce in NTSC land. Very impressive game for a C64.

[runequester]

Who knew that there'd be drama about piss old games that we're the only ones who still give a shit about?

As far as the thread title goes, I was simply surprised at how fun a lot of the C64 shoot em ups were. I hadn't played a lot of them back in the day, so it was an interesting experience to discover.