25 of the Best shmups you'll want to play immediately

Drainus was great, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Cool idea, lots of upgrades and a neat story. It's a very VERY easy shmup though. I don't think that's a downside by any means but this game from start to finish took me maybe an hour or 2 with a few replayed stages for some upgrades. There are some nice bonus unlocks though that solve that difficulty issue post game though so for the challenge seekers, it is there just not at first glance.

Mushihimesama (Mushi-Hime-Sama) Mushi means Bug, Hime-Sama means Princess. Bug-Princess is the name of this game.

GUNVEIN IS NOT ON THE LIST WT*?!

Just try Skyracket , Zero Ranger and B.Ark, all 3 hella fun

So many uninspired anime styled ones, it's kinda crazy. No wonder shmups are still niche.

Drainus is absolutely stunning man

Trouble Witches Neo needs to be available digitally on the Nintendo Switch eShop but nope 😢

Horgihugh And Friends looks interested may have to grab it love games like Magical Chase

Darius Cozmic Collection Arcade has the Sega Genesis versions of Darius Sagaia and Darius Gaiden i have it digitally along with G-Darius HD Dariusburst CS Core + Taito/Sega Pack and Dariusburst: Another Chronicle EX+ i have 196 digital shoot em ups and 2 physical Raiden 3 and Raiden IV

Thanks you. Great walkthrough.
Got Caladrius Blaze, Sophstar and Andro Dunis II during the Steam SHMUP sale.
Haven't really played any for more than 20 years at one of my family members's old PC when we visited. Can't remember the name, but I absolutely had a blast back then.

no jamestown in this list???

Keep playing Ginga Force. It is a long term game unlike a lot of shooters. You need to earn money and upgrade your weapons etc to start to feel more powerful. It is my favourite shooter on 360 and maybe ever.

I'm STILL waiting for Drainus (thanks to ordering another game on preorder along with it). This is promising.

been playing a lot of dimahoo and Sōkyūgurentai ( : great games

I got into shmups after my depression phase. At the moment I am playing a shmup which is a runner then transitions to a space invaders style where you tackle a number of stages. Each stage gets you a power up...there's 11 stages; 10 each stage with 3 mid bosses and a final boss stage. Except instead of planes...you have...Running Cats. It is called Kinja Run. I got gameplays so far. It is a niche game that's made in 2022.

As a Touhou fan, I am required to ask.











where touhou

never played any modern shmups didnt know they still made em i still play the hell outta my pc engine

Would be an interesting video if you said what systems these games are available on. I just lost interest as I have no idea which ones I can actually play

The soundtrack to Drainus is complete ass.
What are you talkin about. That shit is just straight up noise.
No soul, no nothin. Game is great, but that sound track is the worst ive heard for any shmup.
Drainus disserves a better sound track.

The list you made is awesome, im new in shumups and im looking some good loking one to play and ive add a lot of the games on the video to my list

What console?

I love this video!!! I’ve been getting into shmups via the cotton games. Primarily play RPGs but I’m looking for something different. RPGs can be long and tedious at times so if I can find shorter games to fit my busy schedule that’s always a plus

Good video!
re: Japanese names… you tried, man. 😅
I learned the Japanese alphabets in 2008 when I knew I’d be going there for work a lot. Then I lived there from 2016-2022.
I recommend Human Japan, an app that has animation, voiceover and scoring.
Maybe once you learn the characters, you’ll keep learning. But unlike English, once you know the sounds you’ll pronounce almost everything correctly.

How about GalShell and Yakouga?

the first R*TYPE was better because more focused and strategic, but final 2 wasn't bad

I really wish Drainus had a physical release for PS4. I dont buy digital games anymore.. if I cant find something physical, then i dont ever buy it. Maybe make a video for your top shmups for physical releases? :) Id love that!

Great video. Just wanted to note, the slowdown in DoDonPachi and many other bullet hell shooters is completely intentional.

Well TIL that drainus has a manga apparently???

R-Type Final 2 is a stutter fest on PC. Drainus rocks.

SHMUP fans, welcome to check out my SHMUP 'Alien Annihilation, in the MS Store.

There is a typo dodonpachi not dodonpaxhi

Rolling Gunner and Akai Katana Shin should be included too

I had Drainus for quite a while now and I still have to play it... maybe I could put Shin Megami Tensei Vengeance down for a moment tonight... uhm... 
Anyway I am actually looking forward for Cigni, a new Konami shooter super next gen coming out on August 6... it looks sooooo cool Reggie have a look at some gameplay footage if u have a moment!

ps. Natsuki and Gga Force both have physicals in EU and are published by 1press games in Germany... I was about to buy them both actually, 1press is also releasing crimson clover that I had added to the order... BUT... they have such bad rep that in the end I did not risk it. Has anyone here had experience with them?

Completely disagree about one comment - I would NEVER recommend Deathsmiles to get people into shmups. I have Deathsmiles Deluxe on the 360 and it is deathly boring. Amazing graphics which are completely OTT, too easy gameplay with infinite continues, always on massive powered gun that does'nt need power ups, little originality in gameplay, sprites all too big, and with all this it's difficult to tell where you are with collision detection. I'll stick with Darius, Air Buster, R type, Bioship Paladin, Darwin 4081, Hellfire, Robotron X and Gaiares. Great vid otherwise.

why aero figthers / sonic wings never enters on these lists?

That first game is amazing, I'm glad you introduced me to it

But you don't say in which platforms are available

Drainus looks awesome! I would also recommend Darius Gaiden and G-Darius. They're both pretty hard but they're also loads of fun.

Gooooooooooooood forever guuuaaaaaaayyyy duro de verdad

@The Radical One what is your top shooters top 10 in order ?

Really liked the chill vibes with the narration, makes me feel like I'm chilling with a friend instead of being at a TED talk or something. :P

Fun fact, DonPachi in Japanese means "Leader Bee" hence the references to the Bee medals in the stages. The backstories are an afterthought but if you hunt them down it's actually pretty dark, and I equate that with the reason why the second game is named the way it is, DoDonPachi, or "Angry Leader Bee."

dodonpachi saidaioujou does not seem to be available on the Sony store. Is it an import only?

Man, I love Twinkle Star Sprites. One of my favourite shmups. Played it constantly at the arcades back in the days. I have it on so many consoles like Dreamcast, Sega Saturn, PlayStation 2 and of course the original MVS cart for CMVS Analogue. Thank you for calling it a competitive shooter since I keep seeing people calling a puzzle shooter (which I can't see any reason for calling it that when it is a competitive shmup).

the rope laser is lovingly reffered to as the toothpaste beam by raiden-heads

I love your voice brother. Thanks for the recommendations. I'm trying to get into shoot em ups. Been wanting too for about 8 or 9 years and I'm finally getting around to it. LOL.

This list is gonna drainus my wallet.... haha Golly it looks so cool tho! Those graphics are SLICK. I'm so bad at shmups (like fighters) but they are like a weird addiction I have.