While I have always liked horizontal scrolling shooters more than vertically scrolling ones, the same formula can apply to both.
For me the pacing of the game has to be brisk, nothing slow and catatonic like Nanostray and R-type Final.
The MOST important element to me in a shooter is for the entire screen to be covered with enemy fire. I want almost every inch of the screen covered with enemy bullets, leaving very little breathing room. Total nirvana I tell ya!
The Gradius 5 boss battle that took place within that asteroid field was just amazing in that respect! You had dangerous asteroids coming at you from the rear and at the same time the boss was bombarding you with a constant stream of bullets from the front, eventually wiping out everything on screen with its energy beams! YES!
I like vertically scrolling shooters that are colorful. Colorful graphics, great music, and huge bosses. If you wanna see total coolness in 2D vertically scrolling shooters than look no further than CAVE. They crank out some high energy stuff
that will test the skill of even the most skilled shooter veterans.
As for gameplay features, I enjoy good defense systems. One particular feature I enjoyed was from Capcom' s Giga Wing (more on that later!). If you held down the fire button long enough your shield would repel enemy fire, and during those brief moments of invincibility you could bombard the enemies with your own barrage of bullets. I liked that better than having the traditional screen clearing special weapons or super megaton bombs!
Another nice defense feature was from Chaos Field, you could use your ship' s wand to wipe away enemy bullets. Nothing fancy but it got the job done.
As for favorite shooters, one of my absolute favorite shooters of all time is Salamander 2 (aka Life Force 2). I love it because the game has both horizontal and vertically scrolling levels, so you get the best of both worlds. You also spend a great deal of the game dodging enemy fire and other hazardous objects. Plus the soundtrack was filled with Konami goodness, the graphics were pretty good and colorful and the power-up/weapons system worked pretty well.
< Message edited by Terry Bogard -- 25 Jan 06 21:46:09 >