Round 3: The Newfoundland and Labrador Bracket

[Kong Wen]

Did anyone nominate Xevious? That always seemed a lot more popular in Japan than here.

Xevious received one nomination in 2010, one nomination in 2012, and none this year.

[VictorViper]

I'd definitely say that there was a direct progression of Space Invaders > Galaxian > Galaga > Xevious...

Bosconian and Sinistar, among others shouldn't be discounted in that progression. Free-roamers definitely became their own offshoot, but I'd place them smack in between Galaga and Xevious.

[TheGreatNads]

Did anyone nominate Xevious? That always seemed a lot more popular in Japan than here.

I'm pretty sure I have nominated it in the past because of its influence, but I didn't this time mostly because my list was based on my own personal whims and I don't enjoy Xevious very much(it's the way the enemies run off screen and the checkpoints that most irritate me).

Xevious was more popular in Japan, although that's true of vertical scrolling shooters in general, and to a less extent it's even true for non-free roam, non-multidirectional scrolling shooters.

[TheGreatNads]

Bosconian and Sinistar, among others shouldn't be discounted in that progression. Free-roamers definitely became their own offshoot, but I'd place them smack in between Galaga and Xevious.

You could look at it that way. Your progression then would be to go from fixed screen + no or limited vertical movement + no ability to turn ship or fire in multiple directions, to multiscrolling free roaming and firing, to scrolling in just one direction but with full movement and without the ability to turn the ship around or fire in alternate directions(of course such games would soon add shots that go in different directions, and some allowed the player to change the direction of them in various ways).

I like to look at games like Sinistar as being a different category, a different path of development. They're like a combination of Spacewar(or Asteroids) and games like Space Invaders(or Galaga). Vertical and horizontal shooters I feel like generally don't show much similarity to Spacewar or Asteroids except insofar as those games influenced games like Space Invaders or Galaga. I wouldn't say that about games like Bosconian or Sinistar.

Of course, you could keep going down this road and distinguish between a game like Defender which is non-auto scrolling. That changes gameplay quite a bit, and would change your three step progression to a four step one with Defender being second.

Alternatively one could stop talking about the progression and go completely off-topic by bringing up Centipede and talking about how great it is and how it's an alternate way of approaching the fixed shooter, and how it has ideas that have been underutilized in STGs.

[VictorViper]

Yep, that's all true, just saying we can shoehorn other notable releases (and I do include Defender) into that progression, even if it kills that lovely linear sequence. I will say Bosconian absolutely informed Xevious (talking about these two specifically) in a lot of ways, however. As for Centipede, if it got a nod you can expect me to vote for that one to the bitter end.

I can't believe you didn't weasel Juno First into your post, BTW - it's the vertical equivalent to Defender, at least in terms of free scrolling. Love that game.

[Claytone]

I voted for Galaga because it's seriously one of the best games ever and for Persona 4: Arena because I will vote for any Persona trash in these brackets.

But I really can't say enough good things about Galaga. It's incredible. You guys have already commented on it, though, saying most everything I would have. Like Nads said, Galaga '88/'90 is also super good. But I suppose that's neither here nor there with respect to this vote. Galaga is simply a must play and an infinitely rewarding game to play and get better at. An arcade masterpiece.

[TheGreatNads]

I can't believe you didn't weasel Juno First into your post, BTW - it's the vertical equivalent to Defender, at least in terms of free scrolling. Love that game.

Oh I did shoehorn Juno First in at one point, but I edited it out. Had Juno First come out earlier, say before Xevious, I of course would have had to mention it. But yes, it's amazing. It's a vertical Defender minus the ability to turn the ship around(so you just fly backwards if you scroll down). To those who haven't played it, that doesn't sound like much, but boy would they be wrong. It's a shame that game isn't out on more platforms. So many people find Defender a bit frustrating to play, if only one could just point them to Juno First which they could play on their console or PC of choice.

[Kong Wen]

Final Fantasy, Day of the Tentacle, and Galaga will advance to the next round!