Through the calm, through the storm, through the delights and through the pain, the fighters of the Federation stood their ground and weathered it all.

R-Type.
Super Stardust HD.
Ikaruga.
Frantic.

These were the four Challenges set forth by the Galactic Federation in this, the 2009 Intergalactic Shmuppreciation Month Contest. There can only be one winner– but to that winner goes an amazing prize: a Japanese Sega Saturn (”This Is Cool” Edition) along with four games! First and foremost among these is Dodonpachi, long considered to be one of the finest shmups ever made, yet never released in America. (Also included are three bonus Saturn games, which shall remain a mystery except to the winner. These games are a gift from our friends at import retailer Mad Gear.)

The Galactic Federation would like to congratulate all of those brave pilots who successfully completed the Challenges set forth during the month. We hope that you’ve found these Challenges to be enjoyable and rewarding, whether or not you are the winner of this Grand Prize. But for one lucky pilot, selected at random from all entrants, the reward is great indeed! And that pilot is…
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Entries in the ISM Contest will be accepted until midnight tonight (March 30). The winner of the contest will be posted here shortly after midnight. Good luck to all of you!

For those of you that are able to complete all four of the Shmup Month Challenges, special recognition will be given here on the main page of the site! Thus far, there is only one such person, and his name… is Deadward. This post is dedicated to you, sir.

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The final Shmup Month Challenge for 2009 is likely to be the easiest of the bunch; yet it should still prove enjoyable for those that are up to the task. Your mission this week, should you choose to accept it, is to acquire the Heart of the Cards badge in Frantic, a browser-based shmup available to play for free at Kongregate.

While a browser-based game is not a very traditional option, the Galactic Federation wishes to have at least one Challenge that is open to everyone. In order to get the Heart of the Cards badge, you must complete the game (it has ten stages). Make sure you create a Kongregate account! Once you’ve obtained the Heart of the Cards badge, email your Kongregate username to Vic Viper and we’ll verify that you’ve successfully completed the Challenge.

Good luck!

You’ve trained for weeks now. Your training has focused first on pure survival, then on building up score multipliers. But to complete this week’s Challenge, you’ll need more than that– you’ll need absolute focus.

This week’s Challenge: Get the Good Grade Achievement. This Achievement is awarded for completing Stage One with a grade of “A” or better.

Apologies for the lack of a strategy guide last week. However, DJ Incompetent has kindly provided a SCIENCE! guide for this particular Achievement, which you can find here.

Once you’ve completed the Challenge, send a message over Xbox Live to Nijhazer. I’ll review your profile, verify that you’ve gotten the Achievement, and put your name into The Hat.

Good luck!

For this week’s Challenge, the Galactic Federation is proud to present this strategy guide, written by DJ Incompetent of Robot Panic. Contained within are general gameplay tips, rules to follow in order to survive, and even a full walkthrough of the first stage of the game for those seeking to complete the Challenge. It’s a massive dose of SCIENCE!, and we’d like to thank DJ for providing this information.

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Shmup-related content on this episode of Drunken Gamers Radio:

• DJ Incompetent returns with strategies and tips for XBLA shmups Omega Five and Triggerheart Excelica, as well as Tips and Tricks for game-within-a-game Star Prince (included in Retro Game Challenge for Nintendo DS)
• Retro Review: Einhander
• News about a new shmup coming from G-Rev
• Episode One of the 2009 Shmopera

For more information about Drunken Gamers Radio, please visit www.RobotPanic.com

While not traditionally considered a shmup, Super Stardust HD is built upon the same mechanics as most shmups: Shoot things to get points, get powerups to shoot things more effectively, with the goal of getting the highest score you can. As twin-stick shooters go, SSHD is one of the best available today– and while the game’s primary focus is on getting the highest score possible, this week’s Challenge is intended to help you master an element of the game that is a prerequisite to getting those high scores: the Score Multiplier.

This week’s Challenge: Get the Multiplier Hero Trophy. This Trophy is awarded for getting the 10x multiplier. I’ll be posting a miniature Tips and Hints guide later tonight to help you get started.

Once you’ve completed the Challenge, send a message over PSN to username Nijhazer. I’ll review your profile, verify that you’ve gotten the Trophy, and put your name into The Hat.

Good luck!

Recently, I was having a discussion with some folks on another forum about the ISM 2009 Contest; and many of them expressed concerns about the use of XBLA and PSN games in this year’s contest. “I don’t own a console,” some say. Or perhaps, “I do own a console, but I don’t own these games, and I don’t want to have to buy them in order to enter.” These are valid complaints, and I’d like to have a discussion with all of you about them. Read on for more…
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A new Challenge has been issued! This week’s Challenge is for R-Type Dimensions for Xbox Live Arcade. This is the first Challenge of ISM 2009 — and while it’s not a cakewalk by any means, most of you should be able to accomplish it without much trouble.

The Challenge is this: Get the Beam Me Up! Achievement. To do this, you must clear the first stage of either R-Type I or R-Type II without dying and without using any weapons other than fully-charged beam shots. Once you have done this, send a message over Xbox Live to Nijhazer. We’ll take a look at your profile and, after verifying that you’ve gotten the Achievement, will enter your name into the Hat for the monthly contest. Entries will be accepted until the end of the month.

Good luck!