Finally got my Giga Wing clear. I was about to take a break from the game and switch to something else. Then I said to my self, lets do one final run after dinner, and that's when the stars aligned.

I made a free shmup where no enemy shoots until you kill it. Enemies spawn randomly, so instead of memorizing a route you work out on the fly what to kill and when, without boxing yourself in with the revenge bullets.

Runs are about 2.5 minutes, it can play in the browser (phones too), and every leaderboard score comes with a replay you can watch.

Play: https://ajd578.itch.io/rainbow-revenge

Devlog about why I made it (and how - designed by me, coded with Claude) here: https://ajd578.itch.io/rainbow-revenge/devlog/1712486/rainbow-revenge

Would love to see you on the leaderboard!

Thought I'd show you guys this custom arcade stick I ordered. It's a 2nd Impact arcade stick, a brazilian brand.

As the title says, I'm new to PC shmups but I have some experience with the genre through Bullet Hell Monday Black and Finale on my phone. One thing I liked about that series was how smooth it felt, so I'd rather not play a game which is too ancient and janky. I also don't know what difficulty of game to aim for because I've only played BHM which isn't particularly well known so I don't really have anything to compare my skills to? That said I have quite a high tolerance for failure so something a bit harder than BHM Black on Heaven difficulty would be great, does anyone have a suggestion?

The secondary market on this game is ridiculous. A copy finally popped up at a price I was comfortable at and I bit the bullet. Never played it before today and so far I’m really enjoying it!

About half the price of the avg listing anywhere else that I can see. Incredibly lucky pull.

I'm new to shmups, I've only dabbled with stuff like Earthion, Super R-type and some Touhou games at my friends house. I just ordered some Cave games from Play Asia, because I like to play this stuff on my PS4 with an arcade stick. Games I got:

- Ketsui Deathtiny

- ESP Ra De Psi

- Deathsmiles 1&2

- Dodonpachi Blissful Death Re:incarnation

- Akai Katana Shin

Which one do you think I should start with? I've heard Deathsmiles is supposed to be the most approachable overall but how about the vertical shmups?

Hey everyone! 🚀🐭

My hand-drawn cute ’em up, Hop’s Awakening!, is participating in Steam Next Fest, October 19–26!

I've been developing this game based on characters from comics I drew as a kid. It's packed with crazy enemies, weird surprises, challenging bosses, secret areas, tons of bullets… and FOOD! 🍕😂

The FREE demo is already available on Steam if you'd like to give it a try!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/5010230/Hops_Awakening_Demo/

Hope you enjoy it, and thanks for supporting indie shmups! 💥

Top 3 came Tuesday, Pink sweet came today, and Death Smile and Akai came the last two weeks. Got Progear and Esp. Any other Cave games on switch? As far as I can tell the Ketsui and Dangun are only ps5. I need to get the complete collection and not have to sell a kidney for the 360 ports.

I’m finishing with my silly ideas for shmups :
Testing a slow time spell, reverse time if executed twice idea.
I find it cool but i guess it could quickly became a bad idea for bullet hells.. that’s why i think i’llkeep it as a slow paced shmup.. any advice welcome

Anyone see anything like this in the game or have any other games do this? I was a little peeved because while I’m not that good it was my best run yet..

I got into shmups some weeks ago, alredy did some 1CC that I shared with you people in this great sub. Forgive me if this question is asked a lot, but I couldn't find recent posts that evaluate what's the best deal between buying some specific used older sticks (some are very old) and buying very cheap new to mod it.

The thing is I can't try them before, just buy online, so what I'd like is a comfortable stick both table and lap (don't know what will fit as I'm new to sticks) for PC mainly (MAME and Steam) and if it works in Switch will be a plus, but it is not important.

I tend to prefer build quality, feeling good material, a good weight, I like well designed and well-though products. These are things I can't test so that's why I'm here. I hope this thread could become valuable for me and everyone in my situation discovering the beautiful shmup genre.

I write down candidates and thoughts after a lot of review watching and reading (yes I'm overthinking). Take in account that this is my subjective view with the information I could get. When I say something seems robust, maybe it is not lol, that's why I ask for help from the experts and owners.

- Mayflash F300: 45€ used 75€ new. I just don't like them, seems too plastic, ugly, no brand components, with mods cost I could afford other things.

- Mayflash F300 elite: More expensive, around 60€ used. Not bad, better feeling with better parts and aesthetics but still same materials and format. Don't know why but I feel that people prefer bigger boxes or wider as Horis.

- 8bitdo Arcade Stick: Read a lot that it's less compatible with mods, less weight and little space on the left size. Also wireless doesn't matter to me.

- Hori RAP V Hayabusa: Around 85€ used, which is a bit high, but I think something like this, apparently more sturdy, better components ootb, the form factor and relatively new, appeals more than newer and cheaper.

- Old Hori Raps (Specifically a Hori RAP N3-SA deal at 50€): I just like the vibe. Seems well built, not so big but wide factor, comes with Sanwa components, dig the aesthetic and the older more robust vibe.

- Qanbas: I keep these out since the prices are Hori alikes, and have read a lot of great things about those.

TL;DR: I want to buy something better built, used, older, so it is cheaper. But I'm afraid for example that Hori RAP N3-SA 17 years old for 50€ could be a bad decision just for the shake of age.

Forgive my wording as I'm not native speaker and thank you all kindly, I'll be playing Mushihimesama on a Retrobit Genesis controller in the meantime :).

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EDIT: Thank you all, had a great deal at Amazon and ordered a Mayflash F500v2.

This run goes off the rails at the end, it was definitely a fun one! Happy to have clutched it out.

Man I hope I am in the right place to discuss the games themselves because I just wanted to find an opportunity to gush about the series for its awesome nature.

Recently, I beat one of the games that had a helicopter boss at the very end of the game as I played it in a mini convention, so I am not sure which one it was, but it was the one that has 4 stages where again the very last boss fight is a guy who is on a helicopter.

But man, the series is so much fun to play that I want to play more of the series as I was wondering how people here felt about the franchise.

I started with crimzon clover and gunvein as my first shmups, which use a default control scheme of (top row of buttons):

auto fire | focus | bomb

I was looking at cave games, and the default layout is:

focus | bomb | auto fire

I know it's all personal preference, I'm just wondering if people like the default cave layout, or the newer layout I've seen some games use, more? Maybe you bind the buttons completely differently? Lemme hear how you set your games up :)

The official information regarding the packaged version is as follows:

• Release date: December 17, 2026 (Thursday)
• Supported platforms: Nintendo Switch / Nintendo Switch 2
• price:
  • Nintendo Switch version: 4,400 yen (tax included)
  • Nintendo Switch 2 version: 5,610 yen (tax included)
• Pre-orders will begin sequentially at game retailers nationwide and various e-commerce sites.

Package version bonuses and contents

In addition to the game card, it comes with download codes for a faithful reproduction of the original version, a reversible jacket, special stickers, and a guide.

Vasara anyone? Love picking my Vita and just schmup every now and then. Love this game.

Here is my play of Life Force. Give your advise how to improve!

What an unreal experience. Not only I was lucky to get my game on consoles, but it also has a collector edition. Thanks to everyone who was part in this very long journey.