HellSinker.

2007 | PC

my favorite. often overwhelming. canon enby character playable. it loves to throw jargon at you. i think i'm in love.

focusing on level memorization before i work on scoring

Highscore: 3,970 Spirit
1C Record: Segment 6, Boss
Character: Minogame
Difficulty: Prudently

DoDonPachi Ressurection

2008 | PC

everyone ought to like this one. noisy and arcadey and silly. currently running at it a bit more.

not very good at it but i adore the style and gameplay. what a lovely title.

Highscore: 579,114,753
1C Record: Stage 3 (Boss)
Type: Bomb
Mode: Ver 1.5
Ship: Biaxe (green)

Devil Engine

2019 | PC

wow! what a love letter to the genre. you'll spot references and outrageously good jams throughout your time with it.

hard as shit. makes a good warmup for easier titles, because it knows how to keep you on edge.

Highscore: 89,230
1C Record: Stage 2
Ship: Andraste

Angel at Dusk

2023 | PC

the type of game that gave me full body chills on my first run. it was a hell of a first run, too - hover for major spoilers - but i cannot recommend this game enough, especially to those new to the genre and curious to see some weird shit.

Highscore: 11,343,397 exp
1C Record: 1CC! (Very Hard)

Ikaruga

2001 | PC Port

naturally.
it is not a good beginner shmup, but it's something to recommend folks look at if they're curious about the genre.

i dream of 1cc'ing it but i think it'll continue to elude me. someday.

Highscore: 2,230,630
1C Record: Stage 4
Difficulty: Normal

Radirgy

2005 | Dreamcast

it's so classy. meant to only dabble with it, got hooked bad. kind of a gender.

i've got a lot of love for the series, but it's easy to get lost in the patterns, even with how readable it tries to be. don't forget to read your manual!

Highscore: 8,198,580
1C Record: Stage 4
Ship: White ☆☆☆, Wide Shot

Radirgy Noa

2009 | NAOMI Arcade

god fucking damn. i'm really lucky to have this locally (if you know how to look). it's a ton of fun and a personal favorite, along with the rest of the series.

the artstyle throws me off a little, but the gameplay is such a cool and refined flavor of OG radirgy that it's really hard to dislike. weirdly easier, too? might be even nicer to recommend than the original, given its PC port.

Highscore: 62,984,330 (local highscore!)
1C Record: Stage 6

Rival Megagun XE

2021 | Arcade Exclusive

currently using the non-XE version art as a placeholder. lovely beginner VS shmup. its chain scoring system is really engaging.

Arcade Highscore: 116,776 (local highscore!)
Normal Highscore: 145,808 (local highscore!)
1C Record: 1CC!

TO-PLAY*

Psyvariar 2

2003 | Dreamcast Port

i hear good things, and enjoyed the few runs i've done! ...yet here it sits!

Highscore: TBD
1C Record: TBD

DROPPED TITLES

19XX: The War Against Destiny

1995 | Arcade

lovely game - there used to be a cabinet here in pittsburgh, but it's since moved.
i don't think i need to seek it out again, but learning it was a blast!

Highscore: 2,457,300
1C Record: Stage 5 (Boss)
Plane: Lightning

ProtoCorgi

2023 | PC

dorky little game. i bought it after discovering your bullets spelled out B-A-R-K-! what else could you ask for? decent beginner shmup.

i'm dropping this - it's very slow, inconsistent in difficulty from moment-to-moment, and even gets boring while you're waiting for the screen to scroll. most of its levels don't need to be so long - they simply don't respect your time.

Highscore: 13,035,283
1C Record: Stage 5: Section 7
Difficulty: Puppest