 I have a confession to make, for many years I unfairly discriminated against most shoot-'em-up games. I knew a couple stood out like the Gradius series, but for the most part, I just kind of shrugged my shoulders and said, meh, they all look exactly the same. What's the difference? What's the point? If you played one, you played them all. And I've realized over the past few years what a stupid and ignorant point of view that was. So to make up for it, I'm making this video, which is to serve as a quick reference for shoot-'em-ups for the Super Nintendo, just to prevent people from having my old shitty attitude towards the genre. I won't be going into much detail, I just want to show off some footage from each game and say a thing or two about what makes the game either worth playing or avoiding. Now, I understand the Super Nintendo isn't the greatest system for shoot-'em-ups. The system hardware just doesn't lend itself very well to that style of game. But the Genesis or Mega Drive and the PC Engine have some shooters that put the Super Nintendo to shame. However, the SNES still does have some great quality shoot-'em-ups nonetheless. And just as an aside, I'm going to continue saying shoot-'em-up instead of shmup. It reads better and looks better in print, but it's kind of weird to say. Shmup shmup shmup shmup schmup schmurff schmurff. Anyway, let's go. There are over 30 shoot-'em-up games between the SNES and Super Famicom, so let's check them out alphabetical style. Acrobat Mission is a top-down vertical scroller on the Super Famicom, not too bad on the difficulty. This game is very average though, and that's the best way I can describe it, nothing spectacular at all but decent enough. Aero Fighters is also a top-down scroller. You might also recognize the title as being one of the most rare Super Nintendo games in existence, so its price tag is over 300 bucks. There's also a co-op mode, which is pretty cool. It's a pretty good game. It's got some solid mechanics, good balance, I don't think it's worth 300 bucks, but it's good enough. Axelay from Konami is one of the three or four best shoot-em-ups on the Super Nintendo. There's lots of variety, with both vertical and horizontal scrolling, and three different weapon types to choose from. The difficulty is tough, but forgiving. Definitely check this one out. BioMetal is a decent horizontal scroller with some impressive backgrounds and pixel art, with kind of a strange soundtrack. Yeah, six stages with moderate difficulty and good pacing makes it a solid game, although this game does have some slowdown problems. Blazion is another horizontal scroller where you're able to freeze enemies and use them to shield from enemy fire, or they allow you to take their form. It's a neat dynamic, but overall this game is very slow. I don't mean the usual Super Nintendo slowdown, but I mean the game is just paced very, very slowly. There's no point in playing this game when you've got much better options. DeForce, known as Dimensional Force in the Super Famicom. Oh boy, this game sucks. The graphics and execution are clumsy and just simply outdated. The game as a whole feels off-balanced and the hit detection is just terrible. Avoid this one. Darius Twin is another game that falls flat. The game just is paced very slowly. There's not a lot going on, especially compared to the action and other shoot-em-ups on the Super Nintendo. Another recommendation to avoid, because Darius 2 for the Genesis is just way, way better. Desi-mon is very interesting. At its core it's a fundamentally solid vertical shooter, but it comes equipped with a graphics editor and a music editor. So it's like a shoot-em-up combined with Mario Paint. Granted, what you're able to do is kind of limited, but it's still a cool idea to mess around with. It's kind of like Excitebike for the NES, but as a shoot-em-up. I'd recommend checking this one out. Firepower 2000, also known as Super Swiv, is a vertical shooter that's pretty well done. It places a little more emphasis on figuring out patterns and having to dodge attacks rather than just brute force blow up everything everywhere. The game is paced pretty well, too. This is one of the better games in the genre. Flying Hero, Buguro no Daibouken, is another vertical shooter for the Super Famicom. A great looking game with a cartoon-type feel, aesthetically it's a bit of a change of pace for the genre. It's very fast and very satisfying to play. Gradius 3 is one of my personal favorites, although objectively it's very hit-or-miss. I really like the power-up system because it implements a layer of strategy. The game looks and sounds great, but it has major slowdown issues. Also the difficulty is brutal. One hit deaths and you start over with nothing. But at least there are checkpoints here and there. And since we're on Gradius 3, there are three Perodius games up for the Super Famicom. Of course, Perodius combines the word parody with the word Gradius, and all three games all play almost exactly like Gradius, only on crack. Unfortunately, they also come with Gradius' flaws, which are bad slowdown and extreme difficulty. Die and start with nothing. Even so, I'd recommend Perodius Dashinwa Karan Oai Ea, in other words, the first Perodius game, since that has the least amount of trouble with slowdown. Imperium is a vertical sclower which is just kinda average. The artwork and backgrounds are pretty nice, but the sound is lousy. The game implements an experience system for destroying enemies to power up your weapons instead of just collecting them, which is a nice idea, but overall the game just feels kind of generic. Makarou scrambled Valkyrie for the Super Famicom. Man, this game is freaking amazing, easily one of the best shoot-'em-ups on the system. A ton of variety with different pilots and power-ups to choose from, and you can alter your ship's form a number of ways. Plus, the graphics are excellent and the sound of destroying an enemy is addicting. You gotta track this game down, it's outstanding. Martian Adventure Cotton 100% is a horizontal scroller for the Super Famicom. Here's anime-style artwork with some nice-looking bosses. It's a perfectly fine game, and it's a bit on the easy side, though. Phalanx, otherwise known as the game with the old dude playing a banjo on the cover, is a horizontal scroller that's unremarkable but solid. It's well balanced, although it's a bit on the easy side. The music here, though, is excellent and some of the best in the genre. Poppin' Twinbee is a vertical shooter released only in Europe and Japan. It's a bit slower-paced, but it's well done. I like how you're able to control the power-up system to a certain extent by shooting the bells to make them a certain color to match what you need. It's a good game that's made better with a second player. Onto the R-Type games. Super R-Type is a beautiful-looking game, but it has major, major slowdown issues. Maybe the worst of any game on this list. Also, if you die, you start all the way back at the beginning of the level. No respawning. This game is frustrating for all the wrong reasons. R-Type 3, the third lightning meanwhile, is a big step up. While the game is still brutally difficult, it's just as great-looking as Super R-Type without the slowdown. Level design does get pretty creative as well. Although, man, it's hard as hell. Raiden Trot is a vertical shooter on both the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis, but both are different versions. The SNES version is more forgiving, although overall the game is just average and kind of generic, not much stands out compared to some of its peers. Space Megaforce, or Super Alest, is hands down the best shoot-em-up on the Super Nintendo. It's a spectacular-looking, fast-paced game that will kick your ass, very addicting, perfectly balanced, with some creative level design. This game is awesome any way you look at it. It is the best shoot-em-up on the Super Nintendo. Sprig & Powered is a horizontal shooter on the Super Famicom. I enjoyed this one. It's got a shielding mechanic that allows you to eliminate all projectiles on the screen, but you sacrifice some life to do so. It's an interesting idea that's implemented well. Otherwise, this game is pretty standard, but it's decent enough. I kind of like it. Strike Gunner STG is a vertical shooter that's hit or miss. I really like the sound. It's addicting to blow stuff up, but the backgrounds are drab and the game is very easy. Still, you could do much worse. Super Earth Defense Force is a fast-paced, no-nonsense horizontal shooter, kind of average and generic at first glance, but it executes the fundamentals really well. There's good balance here. Super Nova is actually Darius Force, the sequel to Darius Twin. It's better than that game, but not by much. This game is hard as hell and reminds me of Super R-Type in the worst ways. It's frustrating for all the rock reasons. I'd avoid this one. Thunder Spirits is a port of Thunder Force III for the Genesis, but really it's a pale shadow of that game. The whole time I'm playing this, all I can think of is I'd rather be playing Thunder Force III. Not that this game is bad at all, it's decent enough, it's just I'd recommend checking out Thunder Force III instead. UN Squadron is a horizontal shooter that's one of the best on the Super Nintendo. There's a ton of customizable elements and different strategies to implement, which drives the replay value sky-high. It lets you choose a trial and error approach to see what works best for you. It's easily one of the three best shoot-em-ups on the Super Nintendo. Whew, okay, we made it. My five best shoot-em-ups on the Super Nintendo and Super Famicom are as follows. Number five is Perodius Dashinwakara Oarae. I think I'm pronouncing that right. Number four is Axelay. Number three is UN Squadron. Number two, Makaross Scrambled Valkyrie. Number one is Space Megaforce. And there you have it, thanks for watching. I really appreciate it. I hope this was at least somewhat useful to some of you people that are not as familiar with the shoot-em-up genre for the Super Nintendo. I hope you have a good rest of your day.