# Shmup — user reviews > 34 indexed App Store user reviews of Shmup by Fabien Sanglard, rated 3.40/5 from 5 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shmup/id337663605/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shmup/id337663605.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 3 · 4★ 0 · 3★ 0 · 2★ 0 · 1★ 2 ## Newest reviews (10 of 34) ### 4/5 — Not working on latest iOS *2018-03-23* Hi Fabian, just to let you know the game opens and closes on iOS 11.2 ### 4/5 — Classic fun and classic BGM *2016-03-31* I love the music and although I'm terrible at this style of game, it makes me happy because it reminds me of Amiga days. ### 4/5 — Good, but... *2011-10-09* Please update this and ADD MORE LEVELS! ### 4/5 — Great game but... *2011-07-11, version 1.2* Should easily be 5 stars especially at its price of 99 cents, great graphics and awesome quality game overall, but unfortunately, I don't know what game looks like past act 2...I'm a huge fun of frustratingly difficult games, but it catches me off guard finding that type of thing in this genre...multiple scenes in each act require u to figure out the 1 specific set of steps you must take to not be killed in a situation that u have no chance of shooting your way out of...fun, until u run out lives and have to start the entire game all over again. After 2 days of this, I'm annoyed. In short this game desperately needs a continue button so that players who aren't hard core enough to spend hours and hours on each act memorizing exactly how to not die, may actually get to see and enjoy the rest of the game...it's the difference between this game being awesome instead of annoying ### 4/5 — Simply Amazing.. *2011-05-04* Every so often you come across a gem that makes a system even better. I was actually surprised that this game has what it takes to compete with heavy weight contenders. I initially was on the fence on purchasing an iPad, weighing the pros and cons of what it can and cannot do. This app has made the iPad purchase worthwhile. Definitely looking forward to a sequel! ### 4/5 — Great Game! *2011-04-06, version 1.2* Good - Speed, enemies, strategy! Bad - Needs a pause button that does not reset the game. If you turn the screen off (power button) the game resets. Once you have beaten an act you should be able to start the next act with full lives. Gameplay should change with 2 players. Change the color of the indestructible targets you can barely see them against the background! ### 4/5 — Great graphics *2011-01-07* Current: This game just keeps getting better and better. Last update: The update changed the controls to a relative touch style, which has really made this game enjoyable. There's still a couple of glitches here and there, but it's definitely playable and fun. Also, adding Game Center was great. ### 4/5 — Treasure tribute *2010-12-27* A must for anybody wanting to get involved with an Ikaruga style blast on the iPad. Despite the lack of polarity switch, you can still tear up the screen and destroy enemies with extreme prejudice over nicely rendered 3-d revolving backgrounds. 59p is a bargain. Tunes are pretty cool too! ### 3/5 — Fun ikaruga clone *2010-12-20, version 1.1* Works well on my iphone4 but won't install on iPad. Needs more color. Very difficult! ### 4/5 — A quality game so far! But too difficult from the start. *2010-12-02, version 1.0* ship needs better defenses ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — The crash is back *2020-02-12* Enough said I guess... ### 1/5 — Crashes on startup *2019-08-07, version 1.5* Game won’t even open. Using iPhone XS Max, App Store says “works on this phone”. Please fix, I’d love to play this! ### 1/5 — Does not start. *2019-05-20, version 1.5* Game wont even open ### 1/5 — Don't bother buy this, get the Lite version instead *2012-02-10* Don't bother buy this, get the Lite version instead! You will thank me later. This game is so ridiculously hard, I have yet being able to get past level 2! And I am a veteran SHMUP fan! So don't bother buying this game, you will not get pass level 1 so why not just get the free Lite version instead? ### 2/5 — Not terrible *2010-11-30, version 0* If only this controlled like the Cave shmups!!! The visuals/music are great but the controls BLOW. Weird virtual d-pad crap. Floaty ship blah. ### 3/5 — Does not start on iOS 11 on iPhone 6 *2018-02-27* This app starts and immediately closes. ### 3/5 — Technically adept, but annoying *2012-08-31* Memory-oriented very scroller. Nice visuals, and very smooth. Good relative control. The basics are all here. The first wave demonstrates weakness, however. They explode before they get on screen. Later waves form maze patterns. This isn't a bullet hell shooter, there's no bullet dodging. It's a wave-memorisation game, which is fine, except for the fine. It's kinda weak, actually, considering the potential here. But maybe that's a taste thing. I do not regret the purchase, and admire the technical achievement. Funwise, Shogun, Danmaku and the Cave games sit on this game's face and wiggle. The Taito verts are also superior. Actually, iOS is thick with great verts, and this is not one of them. But it is charismatic and annoying, so thumbs up to the creator. ### 3/5 — Unfinished *2012-04-10, version 1.3* I think the reason people rate this game well is because they haven't been past act 2....well unfortunately there is nothing past act 2. The game ends because the developer needs more money to actually finish the product. He released a patch recently so he is still working on it. Buy the game, support this project, and he will have the funds required to finish it eventually. ### 3/5 — Not bad *2012-04-03, version 1.3* The game seams interesting in enough itself. But it's kinda freakin hard. L00l ### 3/5 — Great mechanics, but difficulty is a downer *2010-12-26, version 1.1* The actual gameplay is great; it plays and feels like a shooter should, in my opinion. The graphics are great, and I like the style. I don't like how difficult it is. When i say "difficult," I don't mean "requires skill" difficult, I mean "unavoidable deaths, no continues, no checkpoints, no save spots" difficult. I have played the first level a ton, and have played the first few seconds on the second level a few times, but then I die and am forced to start at the very beginning of the game again. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — 7 years ago, someone didn’t like it. *2019-11-21* But today, someone does! It’s free (now) too, and does what it says on the box: SHMUP! ### 5/5 — Genuine *2017-07-29* There's something really refreshing about this vertical shooter. Pure game. ### 5/5 — Good game. Multiplayer ?? *2013-10-29* Love the game!! Only problem is I never seem to be able to play multiplayer? Is there a problem with the game??? ### 5/5 — Now it's amazing! *2011-01-26* I had previously reviewed Shmup when it first came out, and criticised its controls. Now the controls have been fixed (thanks!) and the game is WONDERFUL. Apart from the Cave games, this is the best bullet hell game on the iPhone. Lovely simple uncluttered yet very highly polished graphics, great frame rate (even on 2nd gen iPod Touch), and some of the most lovely bullet patterns I have seen in a shooter, especially on an iPhone. ### 5/5 — Great top down shooter *2011-01-10* If you like this genre you really can't go wrong with this, universal and only 59p, swipe controls work well but my dad prefers the buttons and nice that it caters for both playstyles ### 5/5 — AWESOME!!!! *2011-01-08, version 1.2* First off, THANK YOU SO MUCH for making this OS4.0 available! I've really been wanting to play this since you've incorporated swipe controls! Now for my review... This, along with Phoenix, are my two favorite shoot-em-ups in the appstore (that run on my 2nd GEN...) ISUD is pretty decent as well... but I'm getting off topic... With the update, adding swipe controls, a point system, lives... this game has become VERY playable. And VERY challenging! I've just scored 6,000,000+ in Phoenix, and I can't get past Act II in this game. Having difficulty settings is kind of pointless though. The enemies are not harder on "hard" or easier on "easy" - on hard, you get two lives, easy = 6... or 7... but there's no change in actual gameplay. If in hard mode you made the enemies shoot faster, or more projectiles, that would make this game A LOT better! That being said, this is still a 5 star app, especially at 99 cents. The frame rate is solid (even on my 8GB), the graphics are pretty decent (the enemies pink ball projectiles look kind of fruity... but in Act II, some of the enemies blue+grey/silver projectiles look pretty bad@$$... hehe), I don't see anything about Retina Display in the description, so I'm guessing it looks the same on newer generation iDevices... but it's also never crashed, and given me hours of entertainment. Thank you for keeping with this game, and planning on making updates and changes to it in the future. Can't wait! =o) ### 5/5 — Fantastic *2010-12-21* This is a really great arcade shooter with slick visuals and fast paced action. After playing for only a few minutes i upgraded from the lite version to the full version. You get a great sense of speed and action with this game, with the attack hordes moving in intricate patterns. Awesome! ### 5/5 — Amazing indie shooter. *2010-12-15* In a single update, this caring dev has just produced one of the finest vertical shooters on iOS. The brilliant 3-D engine rivals what you've seen from AAA development teams, and backs it up with fantastic ship designs and bullet patterns. The soundtrack and audio create a moody futuristic vibe. Control is now pitch-perfect, and scoring is handled through Game Center. Fans of hardcore vertical shooting and quality indie developers should grab Shmup without delay. PS- GameCenter doesn't work on pre-3rd gen devices running pre-iOS 4.0. ### 5/5 — So fun! *2010-12-02* Seriously can't believe it's just one guy working on this. Graphics are wicked. Definitely the best shoot em up game! ### 5/5 — Awesome shooter *2010-11-29* Great visuals and lots of bullets flying from my ship...that's just what I want to play. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-06-10.*