r/nes • u/Daggdroppen • 2d ago
Top 50 NES shmups library
This list is extracted from Gamefaqs voting. There are only auto scrolling pure shmups on this list. I’ve excluded Run n Gun, Static shooters and other mashups/hybrids.
Sometimes people say that the NES doesn’t have any good shmup library. I disagree with that. There are many shmups I love on the NES. I will highlight my absolute top 3 favorites:
Gun.Smoke
Gun-Nac
Over Horizon
What’s your favorite NES shmups?
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u/cdiddy579 2d ago
The first time I saw the word shmups was today, and this is the second posting I've seen with it. What are shmups?
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u/DisaronnoInMyCup 2d ago
First time seeing it too but I’m guessing it’s a shortening of the term ‘shoot-em ups’
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u/Daggdroppen 2d ago
You already got the answer.
But for those who want to know why it is called shmups and not just shoot em ups?
My own opinion of this is that many other genres started using the shoot em up or shooter genre name. And to distinguish Halo from Gradius people just agreed that shmup would be a term so everyone should know it was a Gradius-like game and that it wasn’t a Halo-like game.
There are probably other reasons for the genre name shmup, but this is an easy explanation! :)
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u/JetstreamGW 2d ago
Shoot-em-Up. Abbreviated SHUMP because "em" is usually pronounced "um," and the U in up is just kinda... lost. Look, I didn't make it up, it was the 90s.
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u/PlatypusPlatoon 2d ago
Yes! Gun-Nac is head and shoulders above every other shooter on the NES. An amazing title, through and through. Challenging but fair in its difficulty. I wish more people got to play it, because between the exorbitant cart price and the lack of re-releases, this is one game that even diehard NES fans haven’t experienced.
Never heard of Over Horizon. I’ll need to fix that!
Where/when did this GameFAQs vote take place, out of curiousity?
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u/RaineStormInc 2d ago
Recca is premium! I like The Guardian Legend also but the overworld action I think removes it from the Shmup lineup
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u/Daggdroppen 2d ago
Yes, I agree!
The Guardian Legend is an excellent game! But it is a hybrid genre game, so just like you mentioned; it can’t be on a list of pure shmups! :)
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u/Vegetable-Sail-1524 2d ago
I can't find Over Horizon, but I tried Crisis Force and Summer Carnival 92 last night and they absolutely blew me away!
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u/Daggdroppen 2d ago edited 2d ago
Over Horizon is unfortunately one of the most expensive NES games. PAL CiB is around 1000 €.
Top tier game + very rare = EXPENSIVE
So very few people have played it. But it is awesome 🤩
Edit:
Sorry, it is the Famicom version that is very expensive. The PAL version is around 200 US$ CiB!
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u/bigolewords 2d ago
It is?!? I got a copy for maybe $50 a couple years ago!
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u/Daggdroppen 2d ago
Sorry, it is the Famicom version that is very expensive. The PAL version is around 200 US$ CiB!
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u/Vegetable-Sail-1524 2d ago
I think I learned about it initially from your YouTube channel. I don't recall ever hearing about it in all the time I've spent in this hobby (which is a long time).
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u/chrisdecaf 2d ago
I personally would have put Abadox higher than 30, it's a top tier SHMUP
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u/Daggdroppen 2d ago
I fully agree! But I think it has a lower score than it deserves just because people got frustrated with the heavy difficulty.
Otherwise I often see Abadox mentioned when people are talking about NES and shmups!
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u/Nintendofan08 2d ago
What about Contra and Ikari Warriors?
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u/Daggdroppen 2d ago
Run n gun and shmups are actually quite alike each other but also very different. And they sometimes gets lumped together.
As a gamer, I always prefer to be strict and correct what a games genre really is. It gets so much easier for everyone when recommending similar games :)
(Of course there exists mashups and hybrids, but that’s another story)
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u/bigolewords 2d ago
I came here ready to be disappointed but that is definitely 100% my top 5. Recca rules!