I do most of my gaming on a Retroid, which can run a lot of PS2 games well, as well as obviously earlier games. I really liked the GBA Macross game - you got to level up ship stats after each stage to make it more durable, or your weapons stronger, and shit like that.
What other shmups have similar mechanics? Dont care if theyre horizontal or vertical. I already have Radiant Silvergun's Saturn port loaded on my device, so inb4 that one.
Depending on how far back you want to go: Solar Winds 2: Galaxy was a favorite of mine as a kid. It's as open world as you could get in 1993, but I remember loving it even though I didn't understand everything (I was 6 years old). Ship leveling, unique NPCs, and shooter elements as well.
The Guardian Legend is like a Zelda-ish open world top down thing but the dungeons are shmup sections. The powerups you accumulate upgrade your abilities in both
Sigma Star Saga for the GBA is a shoot em up RPG - might be the closest execution of what you're looking for.
I have it on my device but havent tried yet, will give it a go today!
In UN Squadron for the SNES you can buy different planes and weapons if that counts.
Falcom made a whole-ass shmup RPG called Star Trader in 1989, and I just found out there's an English version on the Switch shop.
Xenon 2 for the Amiga has a shop mechanic, Tyrian 2000 (originally a DOS game but now freeware and has an open source port) has one too.
In UN Squadron for the SNES you can buy different planes and weapons if that counts.
Ayyy came in here to mention UN Squadron. Another Capcom shmup Forgotten Words has shops were you can buy blasters and options and such.
A bunch have currency acquisition which you use to get weapons, etc. It ends up beign RPG-ish since you're effectively investing in a build from ernemy-harvest resources. Games like Lords Of Thunder, Space Fantasy Zone, Magical Chase. Also a bunch of overhead walk-'n-shoots set in medieval fantasy lands that operate like vertical shmups with RPG-ish mechanics like Undead Line, Gain Ground, etc.
Ginga Force on 360/PC has a pretty extensive weapons shop/customization to get parts between stages.
Any specific older ones you like most? Again, gotta be on ps2 or earlier, since these are going on a handheld emulator
Lords Of Thunder and Magical Chase, probably. And Gain Ground has a PS2 remake with a great soundtrack.
