

Games you find on the Neo Geo like either Aero Fighters(Sonic Wings), Blazing Star, Andro Dunos, Captain Tomaday, and Strikers 1945 Plus. I prefer stuff spawned of the 80s and 90s from the Galaga and Gradius types to things with a little more nice art style to it like the Capcom arcade games shoveled on the Dreamcast and Einhander on PS1. Those games are just obscenely annoying as they basically dumb down the shooter experience to a rote memorization of pattern game as you have these tiny windows to move into or shield/color/barrier shift into so you're not blown to bits again and again in short order. Often to me the best ones start at anything but bullet hell style for starters. The recent Dariusburst provides almost too much in the way of customization and replay. While I'm okay at shooters, I really suck at the Darius series, but I still enjoy it. The Saturn has a great Parodius collection if you want to track it down. The chain experience/currency system is not complicated to figure out (as with many other shooters of this type) and lead to actual rewards and unlocks as opposed to just high score wankery. When you hew closer to the bullet hell side of things, my favorite Game for sheer repeat play is Mars Matrix, which you can play on the Dreamcast.

I've probably played R-Type too many times to enjoy it the same way I used to, but Delta and Final are still fun and have a lot of replay value.
#Deltatry from gradius gaiden series
The R-Type series is probably my second favorite shooter series. I love this series, and the related cousin games such as Blazin Lazers. My favorite game of that group is probably MUSHA, but Super Aleste for the Super Famicom, Spriggan for the Turbo CD, Power Strike II for the Master System and Zanac x Zanac for the PlayStation are right up there. My favorite shooter publisher is COMPILE, makers of Zanac, Aleste, etc.
