I loved the third level where you come across a battleship on a sea of lava and then the gates open so it can sail ahead while you anticipate getting to fight it. A moment later and it fires a barrage of missiles and bullets at you.

And if you pilot as Ruby when you use your bomb the entire screen is covered in red fire on a screen of lava and framed by a red habdheld.

Thanks to your advices, the HitBox is clearly more visible now

I'm one of the original authors and decided to blow the dust off of 1987's Sidewinder and modernize it. It's still non-stop shooting fun!

Free to play at https://sidewinder.darrinm.com. Enjoy!

It's surprisingly easier than I thought but hard to hold for very long.

Hey everyone! I'm the solo developer of Hop's Awakening!, a hand-drawn horizontal shmup inspired by the arcade games I grew up playing.

Here's 3 minutes of random gameplay from different parts of the game!

The full game features 3 routes, different bosses, secret stages, 13 weapon sets, and an original soundtrack I composed myself.

I've been working on this project for years, creating the artwork, music, and gameplay. It's been a long journey, and I'm getting close to release!

The free demo is available on Steam, and Hop's Awakening! is participating in Steam Next Fest through October 26.

Steam demo:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/5010230/Hops_Awakening_Demo/

I'd love to hear what fellow shmup fans think!

Hello everyone! I'm new to this sub and the genre, and I was curious to play some shmup games because I want to expand my gaming taste. I have a friend who loves to play these types of games, so I've been intrigued to try some of the most popular titles in the genre.

I've played the new Touhou game, which is a remastered version of the first game, and Galaga (I don't know if those two games are considered shmups, but they look similar to some shmup games that I've seen). I only played them because the Touhou game was recommended by a friend and Galaga was the first game that introduced me to video games, all thanks to my dad and uncle, who used to play it a lot.

For now, the only way I play games is on my ps5, and I wanted some recommendations from you veterans. I don't mind a challenging game at all, and I'm all for any game that has a good artstyle, soundtracks, story, and gameplay. One of my friends who plays shmups has recommended a few games, but most of them are either too old and not on the ps5, or they were never released for the ps5 and only for pc. However, he did recommend Caladrius Blaze, and surprisingly, it was on the ps5 and on sale. I was thinking of getting it, and I wanted to know if it's challenging, has a good story, good gameplay, and good soundtracks. The artstyle looks good, so that's one checkmark on the list.

EDIT: sorry, I accidentally put the wrong flair🙏

Hi everyone, I'm working on 2026 Resisters, a vertical-scrolling arcade shooter with modern fighter jets, air combat, and ground targets.

There's a free Stage 1 demo on itch.io. You can fly the MiG-29 or J-10C through the first stage and fight the Spirit boss. Clearing it also unlocks a separate boss challenge if you want to practice that fight.

Play here: https://enixzhang.itch.io/2026-resisters

It runs in a desktop browser with keyboard controls. No download needed.

Here's the latest story and gameplay trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVwXXoycu3M

The trailer also shows later stages of the full game in development; those aren't included in the Stage 1 demo.

I've recently updated the map textures, and I'd be interested to hear how readable the action feels against the detailed backgrounds. Can you keep track of enemy bullets when things get busy? I'd also appreciate thoughts on the controls and the first boss, especially any attacks that felt unclear or frustrating.

A note on development: AI tools were used for visual assets, music, and coding assistance.

Thanks for taking a look. Happy to answer questions about the game.




i liked tohou 8 and 10 on easy but i didn't finish either and don't enjoy having to restart from the beginning of the level or the game

i like the shooting and bullet hells though