Experiments performed in recent years using the Euroball and Gammasphere spectrometer arrays to search for hyperdeformed shapes in Hf, Nd, Xe and Ba nuclei are discussed. In ¹²⁶Xe and ¹²⁶B ridge structures in quasi-continuum \gamma -ray correlation spectra with a small energy separation are observed, probably resulting from rotational bands with large moments of inertia. These ridges are only found when the highest-multiplicity cascades are selected in the data from experiments with the highest bombarding energies. A statistical analysis shows that the ridges are formed by ten or more bands and that the intensity of the individual bands is below 10^-6 of the reaction-channel intensity. Selected examples of results for normal-deformed and superdeformed states are also presented.

PACS numbers: 21.10.Re, 21.60.-n, 27.60.+j, 27.70.+q