Gun Smoke (aka “Gun.Smoke“) is an arcade shooter by Capcom, first released in 1985. It is basically a ‘wild west’ version of their previous hit Commando, only this time you’re playing as a cowboy, shooting at outlaws.
Tag Archives: Bullet Hell
1943: The Battle of Midway, Arcade
1943: The Battle of Midway is the sequel to Capcom‘s 1984 arcade hit, 1942, and it really takes this WWII-themed bullet hell shooter to another level. It was first released into arcades in 1987.
1942, Arcade
1942 is a vertically-scrolling bullet hell shooter from Capcom, first released into arcades in 1984. The game is loosely based on the Battle of Midway of WWII and sees you piloting an American P-38 Lightning, fighting against Japanese forces.
Forgotten Worlds, ZX Spectrum
Created by Arc Developments and published by US Gold in 1989, the ZX Spectrum port of Capcom‘s side-scrolling arcade game is an excellent late-stage shooter that demonstrates the Spectrum punching well above its own weight.
Phoenix, Atari 2600
Taito‘s 1980 arcade hit, Phoenix, was converted to the Atari 2600 by Michael Feinstein and John Mracek and first published in February 1983 by Atari. Although it is a decent attempt at bringing the arcade version to the 2600, it still falls short of the original. I’d say that it’s still one of the better fixed-screen shooters on the VCS, though.
Spider Fighter, Atari 2600
Created by Larry Miller and released by Activision in 1982, Spider Fighter sounds like it could be a really exciting game, something on a web, or a heroic character fighting off hoards of spiders with a sword maybe? No. In this case it’s a fairly bog-standard Galaxian rip-off, although it is a very well-made one.
Defender, Atari 2600
It’s no secret that the Atari 2600 port of Defender sucks. Thankfully, though, the 2600 has a saviour in form of Defender II, the much better sequel.
Legendary Wings, Arcade
Legendary Wings is an arcade game from Capcom, first released in 1986. It uses a loose interpretation of Greek mythology to style its visuals and gameplay.
Salamander, ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum port of Konami‘s classic arcade shooter, Salamander, was programmed by Andrew Glaister, with graphics by Stuart Ruecroft, and was first published by Imagine Software in 1988. While aspects of the game are very good, it is unfortunately a good example of an unfinished and cut-down game being rushed to market…
Salamander, Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 version of Konami‘s arcade hit, Salamander, was programmed by Peter Baron, with graphics by Bob Stevenson and music by Mark Cooksey. It was first published by Imagine Software in Europe in 1988, and Konami themselves in North America in 1989. It is considered by many to be the best 8-bit home computer version of Salamander, and it’s not difficult to see why…
The King of Grabs 