Space Invaders, owned and manufactured by Taito, is the best-selling video game and highest-grossing entertainment product of all time.
Tag Archives: Bullet Hell
R-Type, Arcade
Released into video game arcades in 1987, Irem‘s side-scrolling shoot ’em up, R-Type, is considered by many to be the best of its type (pun intended).
Bedlam, ZX Spectrum
Another classic ZX Spectrum game from Beam Software, Bedlam is a straightforward vertical-scroller, but done in an incredibly finessed manner.
Defender II, Atari 2600
The original Defender on the Atari 2600 is rubbish, but Defender II is the shizzle.
Smash TV, Super Nintendo
I was thinking to myself: “What’s the best out-and-out blaster on the Super Nintendo?” and a couple of names came to mind. Axelay I’ve already featured on here. Smash TV, I’ve featured the arcade parent, but not the 1991 SNES version.
Granada, Megadrive/Genesis
Granada is an obscure-but-brilliant overhead tank shooter on the Sega Megadrive/Genesis that was developed by Wolf Team Japan and published by Renovation in North America in 1990. Granada was never given an official European release.
Rendering Ranger: R2, Super Nintendo
Rendering Ranger: R2 is a rare run-and-gun game from the end of the life of the Super Nintendo. It was published by Virgin Interactive in Japan only in 1995. Which is strange for a German game…
Nemesis/Gradius, Arcade
Known as Gradius in Japan – but Nemesis everywhere else – Konami‘s classic 1985 shoot ’em up is one of the earliest progressive weapons blasters, with distinct levels and boss battles.
The game is somewhat reminiscent of the classic side-scrolling Scramble (also by Konami), but in Nemesis you fly a ship called the “Vic Viper”, and which has a variety of different weapons which can be powered-up by collecting capsules left by destroyed enemies.
ESP Ra.De., Arcade
Japanese developer Cave made a name for itself in the mid 1990s with a series of manic vertically scrolling shooters, including ESP Ra.De. from 1998.
Axelay, Super Nintendo
Konami‘s Axelay is considered a cult classic among shoot ’em up fans.
First released on the Super Nintendo in 1992, Axelay cleverly mixes side-scrolling and vertically-scrolling blasting action, and also makes excellent use of the Super Nintendo‘s infamous ‘Mode 7’ scaling technique, to create a weird ‘cylindrical’ rolling effect on some of the levels.
The King of Grabs 