ProtötheaWiiWare

The screenshots are pretty impressive dont you think?

Should be fun judging by the video. It would be a lot better if it had co-op and multiplayer.

Very interesting. Still hasn't been the wiiware game i will be hyped for.

Meh...I've seen better.

The graphics look XBLA quality.

I will be keeping an eye on this one.

There is a pc demo of this game on various sites such as cnet.com.

The wii version adds several levels to the pc version. Also that vid isn't a good representation. Search youtube.com for far better videos.

Like this one! http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qQPALc_dClw&feature=related

This is what Star Soldier should have had: carreer mode. Let's hope they dont overprice

too slow paced for a shoot um' up.

At least this game has more for the buck than some other SHMUP on WiiWare with only 2-modes that lasts ONLY 5-minutes at the most.

yea. Another 10 dollar wiiware game that can't match the gameplay of a longer and less expensive classic shmup, but can sure eat up several times the storage.

Again...yawn. I mean yea.

Seems good but does it have enough substance?

I'm still trying to wrap my head around "last-generation spaceship". What's that supposed to mean? Is it a twist on the "experimental prototype" formula of sh'mups? Instead of a hot, new fighter, you get to fly an old cargo ship with no weapons? (Err... wait. That's Firefly. ) Or is it just a poor translation that's supposed to say, "latest-generation spaceship"?

Personally, I'm rooting for the old-clunker theory. Much more interesting than the "Make your time!" theory. .

Well, it was only a matter of time before a "move with the nunchuck, shoot with the pointer" top down shooter appeared and at first glance, although pretty, this seems a bit empty.
I may be wrong, but it will take a bit of convincing to get me excited...
Lost Winds has become a benchmark for wiiware titles for me, and unless a game looks like it could match the creativity or pure unbridled fun of LW, I will pass it on by. I have already paid for 2 VC games I dont want, and with no way of selling them on, Im just left with a distinct feeling of regret.
I want Raiden...

After playing the undeniably awesome Star Soldier R, I am definitely interested in any SHMUP action offered on WiiWare. Review, please!

After pondering the issue for a while, I think ballkirby1 may have hit the nail on the head. The game does not strike me as frantic enough. Usually, you want a multi-directional shooter to look like this

Still, I'm holding high hopes for Protothea. The graphics look great, and the engine is greatly improved over the PC version. With any luck it will be a lot more fun in person.

Oi, just got it. I'm honestly not liking it - very little action on the screen, the music sounds uninspired, and the difficulty is too low. The enemies seem a little special in the mind and take a while to shoot after they get on the screen, and if they crash into you, you barely take any damage. Should've just grabbed Toki Tori or Metal Slug. =/

I think the awesome link thewiirocks posted made my hopes go up way too high, though lol. That game looks amazing, btw.

@DJ_Philanegro - Sorry about that. I didn't mean to get your hopes up! Zero Gunner is definitely a friggin' cool game. It was the game that convinced me to get a Dreamcast. Of course, I only found out AFTER I got a Dreamcast that the copy I saw demoed was an import...

Well the video on this site doesn't make the graphics look too impressive. But this might be my sort of game. I've never tried a shooter before, and this one looks like it's just the right pace. The music is cool too. I'm not really a fan of Star Soldier R's major shooting and how you can only play for two or five minutes, so I avoided buying that one.

I have Soldier Blade. Only buy it if you like having your hindquarters handed to you on a silver platter. i.e. That game is HARD. I personally find Blazing Lazers to be much more rewarding. So you might want to consider how good you are at sh'mups, and make a choice between the two options depending on your skill level.

Well If I do ever start playing shooters, I'd like to start with a fun simple one.

Salutations.. I see some of you are apprehensive of this game.. I was too, but I purchased it anyway and took one for the team. I can say after playing it for the last couple hours and getting my arse handed to me that it is quite challenging and fun. There is alot of details that are not obvious in the trailer.. Example: there are ground targets as well and require the use of a air to ground weapon. They do a great job of dividing your attention, so you have to do some very skilled targeting of them back and forth between airborne enemies. The skill ramps up pretty quick and you will see alot more action after a short time. Also the visuals are quite spectacular. There are many weapons, bullet time and a few other things I have not figured out how to use yet. So there it is.. I recommend if you want a shooter thats gonna test your meat!

@shoemaker - Blazing Lazers is a very accessible sh'mup. (If you ever hear someone refer to "Gunhed", it's the same game.) It set the gold standard for shoot'em ups on the TG16, and directly lead to the creation of the Star Soldier series.

That being said, it's nowhere near as hard as the Star Soldier series. Power-ups practically rain from the heavens, allowing you to create a nearly invincible super-ship in no time flat. All it takes is a little bit of practice and you'll fall in love with sh'mups forever.

Here's my personal gold list of shoot'em ups that you might want to try:

1. Ikaruga (Goes without saying )
2. Zero Gunner 2
3. Blazing Lazers
4. Titan Attacks

If you try any of those, you can never go wrong. Ikaruga can be purchased on XBox Live! or for the GameCube (expensive!) or imported for the Dreamcast. Zero Gunner 2 can only be imported for the Dreamcast. Blazing Lazers can be found on the Virtual Console or purchased for an old Turbografx-16. (Dreamcast games have a short-cut for importing that I will not discuss here. Go look it up if you're interested.) Titan Attacks is linked to above. It's for all computers.

I know that list is kind of small, but it's the shooters you simply CANNOT go wrong playing. I doubt you'll find anyone who disagrees.

@j0mb13 - Thanks for the input. You've restored my slowly waning faith in this title. I imagine that - like many sh'mups - it takes a small investment of time to get to the meat in the middle. I'm downloading the PC version to see what I think of that.

I'm actually having quite a bit of fun with this title, even though it's not perfect. The fact that it plays so different than all the other shooters on the VC is actually it's best strength, as well as being a pretty fun shooter in it's own right. It gets better in the later levels for sure, and becomes quite challenging. The graphics look better in the thumbnails than the actual game, but they still look pretty good, and many of the levels so far have a lot of nice touches from various sci-fi influences. If you like shooters and think this looks interesting, then I would say go for it.

What's a SHMUP by the way?

SHoot'eM UP

Don't forget Lords of Thunder and Gate of Thunder. They're two of my all-time favorite shooters. And if you find you like the Blazing Lazers/Star Soldier titles, you might also track down Space Megaforce for the Super Nintendo system. I'm still hoping it might show up on the Virtual Console at some point. Great shooter that was widely ignored when it was released back in the day.

@Thewiirocks - Ever play Mars Matrix on the Dreamcast? It is far and away the best SMUP I have played. Bitchingly hard though.
I love my DC.

@Quimby - Yeah, I have. As I recall, Mars Matrix was a bullet-hell game, wasn't it? I don't think you'll find all that many Americans who find that sort of game appealing. There is certainly a fan base, but nowhere near as large as the base for traditional sh'mups. e.g. People rant and rave about Tigerheart Elexia. The best I can say for it is that it has infinite continues, so I can finish the game.

Edit: I take that back. I haven't played Mars Matrix. I think I was confusing it with another game. I'll have to obtain a copy at some point. None the less, my point still holds. Bullet hell style games do not appeal to the common player. The gold list I posted above is a list of games that can easily make your average person fall in love with the idea of sh'mups.

If you love shooters, the Saturn is a console to own. TONS of great import shooters. Soukyugurentai, Radiant Silvergun, Steam Hearts, Twinkle Star Sprites, Thunder Force V, Layer Section, Layer Section II, Salamander Deluxe Pack, Sexy Parodius, Twinbee Collection, In the Hunt, Darius Gaiden, Cotton Boomerang, Battle Garrega, Dodonpachi, Gunbird, and tons more.

Oddly enough, I got into shooters with the hardest shooter I could find, though not quite intentionally. My first was Galaga, which wasn't too hard but I never got into it. My second was Nanostray, for the DS(the only shooter on the DS) and it was the hardest game I've ever played, shooter or otherwise, before or since though Soldier Blade comes in a close second and I haven't played Ikaruga yet. I honostly didn't like Blazing Lazers, though mostly because it is dificullt to identify which power-up you were going to get before you got it, along with the fact that it wasn't hard enough for me(not soldier blade hard).

Protothea seems like a walk in an empty room, too easy and not fun.

Ikaruga makes Nanostray seem like a fun game of Candyland. That game kept me up many nights. I love it, but it's brutal in the difficulty department. My first shooter was R-Type at the local arcade back when I was in high school and it was brand new. No one played it because it was so tough so it was normally always open when I wanted to play it. I bet I pumped enough quarters into that game to buy the actual arcade cabinet.

@Corbie - I don't know why you keep referring to Ikaruga as a "brutally difficult" game? It definitely ramps up the difficulty as you go on, but it is never unfair. I've found that with a bit of practice, I get farther on each attempt. Soldier Blade, OTOH, has left me stuck at level 2. If I don't play the level EXACTLY correct, I don't get a shot at the boss. And even if I do, I may not have enough energy left to take him out!

Contrast that with Ikaruga where the powerups are practically delivered by the boss himself. (That black/white system is pure genius.) Oh, and I really need to get a copy of Super Aleste sometime. (aka Space Megaforce) Nearly anything by Compile has "win" written all over it. Sort of like how people view Treasure these days.

@ Quimby - Holy crap...I'm gonna break it out and play it right freakin now...THANKS!!!! I didn't want to sleep anyway!!!!

Fun game. Not anything earth-shattering, but a passable $10 shooter with some fun Geometries Wars-esque gameplay. Nice levels, too; very retro, sci-fi/military throw-arounds.

I played the demo of this and I liked it!

@Corbie

Yah, by now Nanostray doesn't seem so tough anymore, especially considering the fact that the challenge would never actually increase in the higher difficulty levels and only limited the amount of lives that were available to you. Though, considering the fact that not only was it pretty much my first shooter, but also THE game that taught me to appreciate a challenge and not give up when things get tough(until then, I always stuck to easy-peasy games and always had to have my little brother bail me out whenever things got remotely difficult), it was certainly impessive.

Also, I've lately seen videos of Ikaruga and it looks amazing! No wonder so many shooter fans seem to hail that game as the King of Shm'ups. It reminds me a bit of Kenta Cho's rRootage while playing IKA mode, and if that experience has taught me anything, it's that I am going to die a lot going after the matching colored bullets, as I seem to suffer some sort of Eager Beaver Syndrome.

Oh, and Could anyone tell me where I could buy Ikaruga, at least for some sort of budget price? I would hate to have to get a 360 just to get that game at a reasonable price, considering the fact that i have 2 Gamecubes(3 if you count the Wii).

I'm not too into shooters, but I've played enough to know that this Protothea is absolutely boring.

I'm not sure what it was that got me into shooters, all I know is I eventually started playing Gradius, Geometry wars, Nanostray, Galaga, Star Soldier R, and others. My favorites, though, are absolutely everything made by Kenta Cho, that man is a genius! I've never seen anyone create such innovative games in a genre that's become so stale, let alone doing it in there spare time!

@The WiiRocks

Thanks for showing that video. When I go to buy a Dreamcast, I'm going to have to get it modded so it can play import games, so I can play Zero Gunners 2 and Ikaruga(If the Dreamcast is region locked). Sure, I could play Ikaruga on my Gamecube or Wii, and there's an updated port on Xbox Live for when I gat an Xbox, but nothing would beat the sheer joy of playing Ikaruga on the Dreamcast.

I might as well get my PS2 modded while I'm at it, maybe even my PSP and DS, too. Is the Dreamcast backwards compatible? Can it be modded to be if it isn't? I'm just asking because I was thinking about getting Radiant Silvergun too. Edit: Nevermind, both handhelds are region-free, and Radient Silvergun is too expensive.

I doubt anyone cares tbh, but I'm interested to know when Ninty is going to unleash this on Europe. It had been age rated by the PEGI, but it's nowhere to be seen. Not that I want the game - I'm just curious.