First released by Ocean Software in 1986, Parallax is a wild overhead shooter from legendary UK gamedev company Sensible Software.
Tag Archives: shoot em up
Academy, ZX Spectrum
Sub-titled “Tau Ceti II“, Pete Cooke’s stunning Academy is a brilliant mission-based surface shooter that combines great presentation and atmosphere, with interesting use of light – quite radical for a humble ZX Spectrum.
Starstrike II, ZX Spectrum
The sequel to Realtime Software‘s brilliant Starstrike 3D, Starstrike II is another excellent and groundbreaking first-person space shooter, only this time with impressive “filled” polygons, instead of the simpler wireframe graphics of the original.
Starstrike 3D, ZX Spectrum
More than just a clone of Atari‘s arcade classic Star Wars, Starstrike 3D (or 3D Starstrike, whatever you prefer) is a wireframe, shooter masterpiece on the humble ZX Spectrum that really set the gaming world alight, back in the early Eighties.
Wizard’s Lair, ZX Spectrum
Steve Crow‘s colourful and fun Wizard’s Lair is clearly a tribute to the brilliant Ultimate Play The Game title Atic Atac. It has the same overhead viewpoint, similar gameplay and graphics and sound effects.
Zynaps, ZX Spectrum
Zynaps is a smart side-scrolling shoot ’em up, developed by Dominic Robinson, John Cumming and Stephen Crow (with music by Steve Turner), and published by Hewson Consultants for the ZX Spectrum in 1987.
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”!).
Medal of Honor: Infiltrator, Game Boy Advance
The second Medal of Honor game on the Game Boy Advance, and a fantastic, all-action overhead shooter, first released Electronic Arts in 2003.
Continue reading Medal of Honor: Infiltrator, Game Boy Advance
Twinkle Star Sprites, Neo Geo
SNK‘s Twinkle Star Sprites was released for the Neo Geo in 1996 and is an interesting mix of vertically-scrolling shoot ’em up and head-to-head puzzle game. Yes, I know that sounds weird, and this game IS weird, but weird in all the right ways…
Todd’s Adventures in Slime World, Megadrive/Genesis
Todd’s Adventures in Slime World is a game developed by Epyx and first released on the Atari Lynx in 1990.
This Megadrive/Genesis version came later – in 1991 – and in my mind is better than the original, because you can see more of the play area in this version (because the graphics are higher resolution), and there’s also simultaneous split-screen play.
Continue reading Todd’s Adventures in Slime World, Megadrive/Genesis
The King of Grabs 