Contra is a run-and-gun arcade game developed and published by Konami in 1987. It is the first game in the long-running Contra series and was renamed as Gryzor – and tweaked slightly – for European arcades.
Tag Archives: shooter
Battle Zone, Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 conversion of tank battle game Battle Zone (aka Battlezone) is considered to be a decent port of the classic 1980 arcade game, but I’m not entirely convinced…
Cannon Fodder, Game Boy Color
Believe it or not: Sensible Software‘s classic Amiga game, Cannon Fodder, was also released for the Game Boy Color, and it’s actually not a bad game at all. It was developed by Sensible Software themselves – so is very authentic to the original – and was published by Codemasters in 2000.
Apidya, Amiga
Developed by German studio Kaiko and published by Play Byte in 1992, Apidya is a horizontally-scrolling, progressive weapons shoot ’em up appearing only on the Amiga.
Galaga: Destination Earth, PlayStation
Galaga: Destination Earth is a modern re-imagining of the classic Namco arcade game, Galaga, developed by British studio King of the Jungle and published by Hasbro Interactive for the PlayStation and Windows in 2000.
Robotron: 2084, Atari Lynx
The Atari Lynx conversion of Williams‘ classic arcade game, Robotron: 2084, was developed by Shadowsoft, Inc. and first released in 1991. And it is a decent port of the twin-stick shooter.
Ikari Warriors, MSX
The 1987 MSX2 version of the classic coin-op, Ikari Warriors, is arguably the best 8-bit conversion of this scrolling shooter around. It was converted by SNK themselves, so is about as authentic as an MSX fan could hope for. In fact: the producer of this port was Koji Obada, who designed the original arcade game.
Thunder Force IV, Megadrive/Genesis
Known in North America as “Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar” (shouldn’t that be “Lightning Force“?!), Thunder Force IV was developed and published by Techno Soft for the Sega Megadrive in 1992.
Thunder Force III, Megadrive/Genesis
Thunder Force III is a shoot ’em up developed and published by Techno Soft for the Sega Megadrive in 1990. It drops the overhead view stages from the first and second games and is entirely side-scrolling, which personally I find a little disappointing.
Thunder Force II, Megadrive/Genesis
Techno Soft‘s Thunder Force II originally came out for the Sharp X68000 home computer in 1988 and this Megadrive port followed later, in 1989. It’s official title is “Thunder Force II MD” – the ‘MD‘ of course meaning ‘Megadrive‘.
The King of Grabs 