R-type is my all time favorite series. It sure is something else. The pilot takes off the helmet at the end, revealing herself to be a woman, a twist obviously borrowed from The graphics are quite impressive for the NES, and the PSG sound is arguably better than the arcade FM synth, even though it’s missing the voice samples.

Haven't given Darius a go yet.Darius, not really for the gameplay but the mecha sea creature enemies have always appealed to me. I chose r-type for the series (Delta my fav), but for individual games Gradius V is incredible, but I love R-type 1,2 and Final. Still a great series though.Start a new thread to share your experiences with like-minded people.We want to create an inspiring environment for our members and have defined a set of guidelines. ... Life Force.

It uses the graphics of the arcade Salamander, but keeps the Gradius-style power-up system from the Japanese arcade Life Force. Salamander (沙羅曼蛇), retitled Life Force in North America and in the Japanese arcade re-release (see version differences), is a scrolling shooter arcade game by Konami.
Dariusburst Chronicle Saviors can be played with two 16:9 screens (which granted isn't as wide as three 4:3s but close) on PC.

It was never officially announced, but only revealed when one of the developers leaked the Android version to the public. Too many levels are too similar and generally lack interesting features. Category Archives: Salamander / Life Force Lord British Sprite Sheet from Salamander (PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16) So I spent some more time on this great game to rip the Lord British sprite sheet from Salamander, which was also missing from the entire Internet (in this day and age… go figure! Overall, it’s an excellent port, and an outstanding game – easily one of the best shooters on the system.The PC Engine version is much closer to the arcade game, featuring nearly identical graphics.
Not surprised with the Darius lag either.I love them all!

Most of the music is the same, but the themes for stage two, four, and five are different. The second stage is an asteroid field, and introduces a famed recurring enemy, the Tetran, which is similar to the Big Core boss from The graphics are fantastic, especially for 1986, and it’s amazing to see the artistic advances within the single year between The checkpoint system is gone too, so whenever you die, you’ll immediately restart back in the action.

I think Darius is my least favorite, but Darius Gaiden is a goddamn masterpiece. The other takes place in some Egyptian ruins, which totally doesn’t make sense in the concept of fighting through the organs of a gigantic monster, but whatever.

Music is also tops, though I'd put Thunderforce's soundtrack over Darius. I'm totally a sucker for vocals in Shmups. Never played Darius, and something about Thunder Force never really jived with me.Considering one of my favorite hori shooters is is a spin off from the Gradius series (Parodius), it gets my vote appropriately.If Parodius is being counted as part of Gradius, then absolutely Gradius.Thunder Force. It’s called Salamander in Japan, but the exact same game was renamed Life Force in North America and Europe.

It does feature a 30-life cheat, implemented via the famous Konami code. There appears to be some extra functionality to purchase items using real money, but since the game never went live, obviously none of these work.Top 47,858 Games of All Time Episode 108: Captain Blood

I don't think i can realistic pick one series over another, ended up choosing Thunder Force because of my history with it (Mega Drive is my favorite console) but all of them is so good.Gradus, parodius and thunder force in that order. The final stage is mostly the same, except Zelos now has snakes to defend it, and you get sent back several levels if you fail to kill it, instead of just replaying the last stage.Overall, the game is still difficult, but completely manageable compared to the ruthless arcade version.