Zaxxon was arguably Sega‘s flagship game during the early 1980s so it was ported to most home computers and consoles. The Japan-only SG-1000 version first came out in 1985 and is a reasonable conversion of the classic isometric shooter.
Tag Archives: shoot em up
Shadow Squadron, Sega 32X
Developed and released by Sega in 1995, Shadow Squadron (also known as Stellar Assault in Europe) is a first-person, 3D space combat game with fast-moving filled polygons. The game can be played by one or two players and features a co-op mode where one player steers the ship and the other mans a gun turret.
Xybots, Atari Lynx
The Lynx port of Atari Games‘ 1987 arcade game, Xybots, was developed by NuFX, Inc. and first released by Atari Corporation in 1991. It is a futuristic third-person shooter where you explore a maze full of deadly robots, to ultimately confront the ‘Master Xybot‘ and defeat it.
RoboCop 3, ZX Spectrum
RoboCop 2, ZX Spectrum
Based on Irvin Kirshner‘s underrated 1990 sequel to RoboCop, in RoboCop 2 you once again take the role of the cyborg cop of the future in order to uphold the law and protect the innocent. RoboCop 2 was developed and published by Ocean Software and released soon after the film came out.
Ordyne, Arcade
Released in Japan only, Ordyne is a cute and colourful (and very Japanese) one or simultaneous two-player ‘bullet hell’ shooter that was developed and distributed by Namco in 1988.
U.N. Squadron, Arcade
Released in Japan as “Area 88” and based on the Manga series of the same name, U.N. Squadron is a horizontally-scrolling bullet hell shooter arcade game developed and distributed by Capcom in 1989. It features three playable characters, each flying a different aircraft, and one or simultaneous two-player gameplay.
RoboCop, ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum version of RoboCop – based on the 1987 film of the same name – was developed and published by Ocean Software in 1988, and was such a hit that it went on to become the top-selling Spectrum game of 1989, according to Gallup (the company that used to collate and publish the UK’s music and video game charts). The Spectrum version actually remained in the sales charts for over a year and half – it entered the charts in December of 1988 and was still in the top five in February of 1991, which is insane… THAT is what you call a “big hit“!
Vradark’s Revenge, ZX Spectrum Next
The sequel to Vradark’s Sphere on the ZX Spectrum, Vradark’s Revenge is another fantasy-based Roguelike from the same development team, SaNchez, only this time it has been created specifically for the ZX Spectrum Next, which is an enhanced, modern ZX Spectrum remake/variant that first came out in 2017.
Vradark’s Revenge was initially released in 2022 and an emulated version, that runs in Windows, was later released on Steam in 2023 through publisher “Drunk Fly Oy” (which is a bizarre company name if ever there was one).
Fire Shark, Arcade
Fire Shark is a vertically-scrolling shoot ’em up developed by Toaplan and first distributed into arcades in 1989. It is the sequel to Flying Shark, which came out in 1987, and once again features biplanes that must blast their way through ten different stages of military mayhem.
The King of Grabs 