Brave Blade runs in an emulator called Zinc actually, although that emu is a bit of a challenge to set up.
Bump. Gamestop has Raiden IV now.
Ok Amazon, what’s the deal…
Okay so I’m think about getting into SHMUPS. They look fun as hell but I’ve always sucked at them. What ps2/ps3 games are essential? Also, what type of stick do most people play these on?
shmups.com can teach you all you need to know plus a lot more you probably don’t.
Anyway, for ps2 you’ll find some jp games by cave, like Do Don Pachi and Mushihime Sama. They’ve got decent graphics and options, interesting scoring systems, and that twitchy bullet-hell style.
For PS3, yer f*cked. Everything worth getting is popping up on XBOX360, and mostly only in Japan. You need a JP address to get into LIVE as well as a JP 360 since Microsoft decided region-locking is a “good thing” 
Japanese Cabs use either semeitsu or sanwa sticks. General consensus on other boards is semeitsu all the way for shooters. I dunno, for MAME I use a hrap3 with a sanwa and I suspect I would suck equally well with any other stick.
A few stores in Toronto have it, was thinking of picking it up tonight. Any impressions from people? I thought 3 was bland, but I’m liking the Fighters series after picking up the collection for 360.
There are a few good domestic PS2 shmups that you should be able to get for cheap. Definitely pick up Gradius V and Castle Shikigami 2, I’d say they’re the 2 best PS2 shmups that received North American releases. R-Type Final is also notable, but some people are put off by the pacing of the levels (moments where you’re flying around with no enemies to shoot). As I said above I wasn’t that impressed by Raiden III.
As for PS3, I really, really like Everyday Shooter (PSN). While not a traditional shmup, its level design and overall atmosphere are very well done. It is sort of arty, but don’t let that scare you away. As far as old-school shmups go, though, nikkos is right, the 360 is the system getting all the ports (Raiden Fighters Aces, Raiden IV, Senko No Ronde, etc.).
I only have the JP version of Raiden IV (shouldn’t be any differences between JP and US) and it’s definitely better than Raiden III. At least they made everything right again and they brought back the awesome purple laser.
@Behemoth88: In terms of PS2, it seems the general consensus is the HRAP2/HRAP2SA. It’s been told that Seimitsu sticks are better for shmups, but it all comes down to preference (o wait, nikkos010 beat me to it.)
Do people use 4 way or 8 way on their gates?
Snagged a copy of Castle Shikigami 2 for 5 bucks shipped off of ebay and R-Type Final at gamestop for 8 bucks. Still looking for a decent price on gradius 5 though. How is Raiden 3?
AW SNAP!! I just got the EXACT same game yesterday out of the bargain bin at a gamestop. smokin. I wish that they would put some DLC stuff on for PS3, but I might as well wish for a big booty cutie to hold my joystick while I play it. I’ll just have to get with that 360 buisness sometime soon. Until then, it’s hunt for every piece of property I can get to keep myself shot.
-Starhammer-
It’s not doing anything but playing nice zuntata music. I do see that the Silver Hawk has a ring surrounding it. Is the ‘burst’ in the name a new method of attack like the Alpha and Beta beams from G?
Does it need to do anything else? 
It needs more fish.
Ok so Amazon is confused at the moment. Says Raiden IV is available to ship right now but my pre-ordered copy still says it won’t be available till late October. I shot Amazon a frustrated sounding email and I hope they fix this quick. Game has been out for like a week if not longer and I ain’t playing it. VERY WRONG.
Argh it appears the EBs and HMVs in Toronto are only selling the regular edition of Raiden. Guess I’ll have to hit up more mom and pop shops, or bite the bullet and pay ~$70 to have it shipped from Amazon.com (a bad idea, going by FurryCurry’s current situation).
I really should support the US release but
uh.
Game is region locked, just like RFA’s US release
The LE is identical to the JP version
If I get any more sealed games on my shelf I might as well join a french game forum
It’s Raiden
Ugh.
got Donpachi for the Saturn a few days ago and I have been playing the hell out of it! playing this game only confirms my opinion that the Saturn pad is the best fucking pad in the history of forever. It is such a good port, besides the downgraded sound and occasional slowdown its really impressive. I am planning on getting Dodonpachi and Batsugun in the future for it as well. Why spend so much on these games when I could play them for free on MAME? oh well.
what was that one Cave shmup for the DS? I cant remember for the life of me.
Ketsui Death Label, but it’s a boss rush-only.
is it good? Cave stuff is hard enough, but on a teeny DS screen it seems like (more) suicide.
fuck I love Donpachi. They need to release a Cave collection sometime.
I snagged a copy of Ikaruga for Gamecube of ebay for 26 bucks shipped I’m pretty excited, I’m even thinking about converting one of my cthulhu sticks to MC so I can play on Stick.
Hey, Zuntata tunes confirms there’s at least something about DBurst that’s on par with the rest of the series. So it’s already superior to Thunder Force VI I’d like to see some gameplay vids of course.
I emailed them. They admitted their mistake and fixed it. I’ll have it Friday.
I’ve wanted a donpachi collection for years. One of my favorite shmup series. Gets me hype.
Same here. Soon I’m sure though. But can we get a US release?