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).
Tag Archives: lasers
Giants: Citizen Kabuto, PC
This obscure 2000 release from Planet Moon Studios and Interplay pretty much sank without a trace on first release – in spite of being a great game. Thankfully, Giants: Citizen Kabuto has been given a new lease of life, thanks to GOG.com (and other outlets) giving it a re-release, and it seems to have found a new audience. Looking at the reviews on GOG.com in particular it seems that this game is receiving a lot of love.
Astro Boy: Omega Factor, Game Boy Advance
Astro Boy: Omega Factor is a fun and visually spectacular scrolling beat ’em up on the Nintendo Game Boy Advance.
The game was created by famous Japanese development house, Treasure – in association with Hitmaker – and was published by Sega in 2003.
Dark Side, ZX Spectrum
Dark Side is the 1988 sequel to Driller is a very early example of a first-person, full 3D, explorable world, that can be viewed from almost any angle.
The game engine – Freescape – has gone on to become famous as one of the earliest examples of its type, and one that was hugely influential on every 3D exploration game that followed.
Star Fox, Super Nintendo
I’m going to use the Japanese and North American name for this game – Star Fox – rather than the European name (Star Wing, which was chosen because the name “Star Fox” was apparently too similar to a German company called “StarVox”!).
Star Fire, Arcade
Exidy‘s Star Fire is one of the earliest colour video games ever made. It was first released into arcades in 1979, when most arcade games of the time used black and white displays.
Super Metroid, Super Nintendo
The third game in the Metroid series is a top class Super Nintendo classic.
Super Metroid (1994) is more detailed than both previous Metroid games put together, although the basic structure is the same – explore various levels to find your latent abilities, all of which have been lost (“Why does this keep happening in Metroid games?” you may ask. “It’s in the script,” is my answer).
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.
Jet Pac, ZX Spectrum
Ultimate Play The Game‘s amazing Jet Pac is an early ZX Spectrum classic, first released onto an unsuspecting world in 1983.
Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, GameCube
Throughout history, man has always striven to recreate the original Star Wars battles on video-gaming hardware, to enable grown men to act like children…
And 2003‘s Rebel Strike is a veritable ORGY of Star Wars-related combat, from run-and-gun style, third-person shooter sections, to piloting virtually every craft in the Star Wars universe (including an enemy scout walker).
Continue reading Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, GameCube
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