So what shmups are better than Ikaruga?

Trizeal has some fairly neat tricks for score (unlocking hidden bits of the levels). It also has some other score method but I haven't played it in awhile.

Then again, I have little to no love for Ikaruga. I 1CC'd it the week it came out and haven't touched it since.

 

My fav shmups are Ikaruga, Layer Section and Imperishable Night. They are the ones I liked most in their specific styles

 

I'm gonna nominate Dodonpachi if I haven't already

 

I've passed kidneys stones that are funner than Trizeal. Triangle System is truly the low-point of the genre. They apparently put zero effort into their games. If they would sell them for what they really are (doujin), then I'd give them a lot more respect.

 

Come on, they're not that bad. I actually like Tizeal. It was pretty basic when you start off but after playing it for a few hours you start to realize the way the scoring system works. You also find out how to open up secret sections of the levels as well.

Yakumo

 

Exactly. For what it was, it was fun. It wasn't the greatest thing ever and yes, it was ugly as hell, but it was fun.

Though IMO the best shmups on the DC are:
Border Down
Mars Matrix
Trigger Heart Excelica

 

With limited time, something has to be brilliantly fun if I have to stomach awful graphics. The fact is Ikaruga has the deepest scoring system on the DC, so, props where they're do. I understand if you don't really like to dedicated 50-100 hours to a shooting game to get a fantastic score that you won't like Ikaruga. Hell, I suck at it and don't play it that much. I still consider it the most well-constructed Naomi game.

 

I have the sudden urge to play Stinger on the NES for some reason...

 

I really, REALLY like Axelay. It's also somewhat powerup-less, so you do get that. It's one of the most awesome Shmups from the Nineties, and the music is awesome.

I'd say Einhänder, Gradius V, Gradius Gaiden, R-Type Final and R-Type Delta are also intensely awesome - on par with, if not better than Ikaruga.

For the DC, there's always Bangai-O, which is tons of therapeutic fun, and yes, Zero Gunner 2 and Under Defeat are Awesome. Giga Wing 2 is not as good as Ikaruga but it's good fun, especially the Engrish readings of the menus.