Best Shmup

[Dark]

Raiden or the Caladrius Blaze game from the same dev?

[72.8% Water]

Both of them are among my favourites but if I had to pick one I would probably say Caladrius Blaze for the greater variety, the longer bosses, and for being more of a bullet hell.

Another minor thing I like about Caladrius it was a shmup designed a home console, not a port from the arcade, and you feel the difference, from the UI and menus (which look really nice) and the widescreen display, to the story elements between levels.

Of the two, Raiden is a "purer" shmup, all about dodging bullets. In Caladrius you get a whole variety of characters with crazy shot types, and everyone has ways to cancel bullets, and you can choose how you upgrade your ship based on how you performed in the level.

You can tell they're from the same dev but honestly they are quite different. Both excellent, though.

[Mashiro]

I am a SHMUP fan as well. In case you like SHMUP, you might want to try Mushihimesama, DoDonPachi, Darius Burst CS, Death Smile, Crimzon Crover World Ignition, Eschatos, Crisis Wing, Castle of Shikigami, Jamestown+, Wings of Bluestar, Bullet Soul, Sine Mora EX, Exceed 3rd, Ghost Blade HD, and many more. These are all a great SHMUP.