Shoot the Core! is an infamous phrase that has become synonymous with shmups. The phrase originates from the Gradius series, starting with Gradius II. When the player reached a boss with a Core, a blue sphere that was the heart of a mechanical boss, a voice would shout "Shoot The Core!" letting the player know what to destroy.
The Stuff of Legends[]
Over time, many various phrases have been mentioned pertaining to shmups, but Shoot the Core has stood the test of time and has had many a parody and icon made from this simple saying.
Shoot The Core[]
A shmup dedication website was created which goes by, Shoot The Core. The site was made with the intention to review and showcase freeware shmups, similar to shmups!. Within the site is a showcase giving 1-2 sentence explanation of a game and a link, if any, for download. There is also a news area that shows any important shmup happenings, new games, events, etc. In addition to this is a message board where members post about shmup related issues and contribute to reviews and news. In the links section, one can find some websites also dedicated to shmups, including sites where others have posted pictures of ship models. However, some of the links may be gone.
The creator of the site has also set up a YouTube page and has reviewed several games, including Ether Vapor and Kamui.
Apparently, as of early September 2009, the site has been shut down. See: this thread.
Links[]
Shoot The Core - An excellent site dedicated to shmups.