This is how we Shmup

Wow! I am simply amazed, I must say.
Two of the greatest Shmup's (overhead shooter) ever just landed on my laptop.
The first shooter in question was recommended via a 1up article today.
Entitled 101 Free Games, the article features awesome games that are free to download and play, and begins with shooters. Possibly the best on the list is Ray-Hound.

Ray-Hound
Ray-Hound is unquestionably one of the most innovative shooters ever. It can be surmized however as a little bit of Ikaruga and a little bit of Geomotry Wars. Designed and coded by Hikoza Ohkubo under the studio of Hikware, the game was released on January 1st. Before I go on to explain the game, allow me to impart a philosophy. I believe games are meant to be intuitively understood and experienced. This is one reason I like indie games so much, they are designed around this principle. These types of games, and indeed, many triple A titles as well, are much more fun when experienced without prior knowledge or know-how. Instead of me explaining the game and its mechanics, I truly believe that you will be significantly more satisfied by downloading the game and experiencing it first-hand. Its more fun to learn and discover how to play a game then to know the ins and outs entering it, I think. Afterwards, you are more then welcome to come back here and post your impressions. Ray-Hound is absolutely amazing from both a design and gamer perspective (and arent they the same thing anyway? for good design equals good gameplay). One thing to note about Ray-Hound is that there is no background music or sound effects. It could be that my download is broken or that my computer runs it improperly. In place I listened to The Trance Album from Project Majestix Mix. If you do notice any sound or music then please let me know. Thanks. Ray-Hound Get!

Warning Forever
The other shooter is Warning Forever. A cool website that focuses on independent games called Jay is Games tipped me off to it. This shmup was also designed by Hikoza Ohkubo, but was initially released far prior to Ray-Hound in May of 2004. Warning Forever is a vertical scrolling shooter, like Galga, but brings a few very fun and strategic factors into its gameplay. Shmup It!

Tomorrow I will discuss the design of both of these games, so enjoy these games today and come on back tommorrow to check out the designdiscussion. Also, any thoughts you have on these games or shmups in general please post them in comments.

Sources:
1up.com
Jay Is Games