Two arcade boards built their whole reputations without ever leaning on the Neo Geo: Taiwan's PolyGameMaster and Japan's Psikyo SH-2. One rented its cartridge slot to Cave's bullet-hell royalty; the other grew its own. Set them side by side and you get the two opposing philosophies of the shoot-'em-up in a single comparison—and, today, both running on the same little FPGA.
Over the last two posts I pulled apart the two great arcade boards that made their name entirely outside SNK's shadow. IGS's PolyGameMaster was the Taiwanese powerhouse that out-muscled the Neo Geo and, for a couple of strange years, rented its cartridge slot to Cave. Psikyo's SH-2 board was the Japanese shmup house that grew its own dynasty—Strikers 1945 II, Gunbird 2, Dragon Blaze. Put them next to each other and something clicks: they aren't just two boards, they're two opposing answers to the same question—how do you fill a screen with bullets?
The Neo Geo neither of them needed
Both boards defined themselves against SNK, and neither blinked. PGM out-spec'd it head-on—a 68000 running at 20 MHz where the Neo Geo idled near 12, sprites that zoomed instead of merely shrank. Psikyo took the other path and simply ignored it, specializing so hard in one genre that comparison stopped mattering. Neither needed the Neo Geo's library or its fame, and both won followings SNK never reached: PGM owned the Asian arcade floor with four-player brawlers, Psikyo owned the hearts of shmup players worldwide.
Two ways to fill a screen with bullets
Here's the payoff of looking at them together, because the contrast is the whole genre in miniature. On PGM, the Cave shooters—DoDonPachi DaiOuJou, Ketsui—are dense, choreographed curtains: you survive by learning the pattern until your hands run it without you. On Psikyo's board, the bullets are fast and aimed straight at you: you survive by reading angles and reacting in the moment. Memorization versus reflex. Both get filed under "bullet hell," and both ask the opposite thing of your brain—which is exactly why loving one has never obligated anyone to love the other. The argument between the two camps is as old as the genre itself.
There's a lovely irony baked into the hardware, too. The purest Japanese bullet-hell of its era landed on a Taiwanese brawler board; the most single-minded Japanese shmup house of its era went and built its own. The games crossed borders the boards never did.
Both live on the same little board now
And this is the part that still gets me. Thirty years ago, choosing between these two libraries meant two cabinets, two sets of increasingly rare boards, a lot of money, and a fair amount of luck—so much of this never left Asia. Today, wickerwaka's PGM core and srg320's Psikyo SH-2 core sit on the same MiSTer on my bench: one FPGA that becomes either board on demand. That's the case for the MiSTer in a single sentence—not emulating a game, but re-creating the hardware, so a Taiwanese brawler board and a Japanese shmup board can swap places in the same slot. (The full pitch is in my MiSTer explainer.)
So which board wins? Wrong question. PGM and Psikyo are two halves of a genre that spent the Neo Geo era quietly doing some of its best work off to the side. Play DaiOuJou and Strikers 1945 II back to back—one you memorize, one you read—and you've held the entire shoot-'em-up in your hands inside twenty minutes. That both of them now live on one small board on my bench still feels like a minor miracle.
Frequently asked
What is the difference between PGM and Psikyo shoot-'em-ups?
On IGS's PolyGameMaster, Cave shooters like DoDonPachi DaiOuJou and Ketsui are dense, choreographed bullet-curtains you survive by memorizing, while Psikyo's SH-2 board threw fast, aimed bullets you survive by reading and reacting—memorization versus reflex.
How did the PolyGameMaster compare to the Neo Geo?
The PGM ran a 68000 at 20 MHz where the Neo Geo idled near 12, and its sprites zoomed rather than merely shrank, so it out-spec'd SNK's board head-on.
What games defined the Psikyo SH-2 board?
Strikers 1945 II, Gunbird 2, and Dragon Blaze.
Can you play PGM and Psikyo games on a MiSTer?
Yes—wickerwaka's IGS PGM core and srg320's Psikyo SH-2 core both run on the same MiSTer FPGA.
Further reading
- Part 1: The PolyGameMaster—the board that out-Neo-Geo'd the Neo Geo
- Part 2: Psikyo's SH-2 board—the shmup dynasty the lifers swear by
- Arcade-IGSPGM_MiSTer—wickerwaka's PGM core.
- Arcade-PsikyoSH2_MiSTer—srg320's Psikyo SH-2 core.
- What is MiSTer? The FPGA that plays every Atari I don't own (Bench Notes)—how one board becomes many.
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