VG Thought

Only post one game per post.

Metal Torrent (DSiWare)
You caught me! I only said this one because it has Nintendo's name on it. It's really more of a score chaser game than a regular shmup. For the newcomers you can set it so that enemies come in the same pattern every time and pick a ship that is basically OP and doesnt explode on impact. For the pros you can have enemies come in random patterns and pick your standard instant-death-if-anything-happens ship.

Sol Divide

Elemental Master

Jikkyo Oshaberi Parodius

Supercharged Robot VULKAISER

Jamestown
An introduction to bullet hell staples like rapid vs. focus attacks, interesting scoring systems, and of course, bullets a-plenty. Your progress is saved between levels, and there are multiple difficulty settings, allowing you to get your feet wet before really taking on challenge. Jamestown features great stage design, a welcoming difficulty curve, and multiple playable ships.

Harmful Park (PS1)
One of the more custier style games. The goal is to defeat a mad scientist that has taken over an amusement park. Your weapon arsenal includes things like Potatos (bullets), Ice Cream (lasers), and Pies (arc shots). Features equally bizarre enemies and bosses. Just look at that smug dogcopter. You know he's up to no good!

Zero Wing

Metal Black
A 1991 arcade/Saturn horizontal shooter originally planned as Darius III. The game revolves around a simple system where mini DNA power-ups constantly swarming the screen slowly fill a power meter. Meter level increases the power and size of standard bullets and determines the form of the player's bomb-like hyper laser, which itself empties the meter and resets power to 0. The coolest part is that bosses power up / use hyper lasers / power down the same way you do, so DNA collection is a constant tug-of-war. The art and music are also fantastic.