If you are interested in another hard (but doable) shmup that not too many people have heard of, take a look at Jets’n’Guns Gold. Fantastic soundtrack, pure carnage, an absolutely insane story, astonishing creativity and variety and an excellent upgrade system. It’s filled with clever ideas from the first minute to the last and controls absolutely perfectly with every input method. I’ve been playing it every once in a while ever since the original version came out 20 years ago and it has lost none of its appeal since.