A 1990 release into arcades by Tecmo of Japan, Raiden is an action-packed shoot ’em up with a vertical screen and impressive 2D graphics.
Tag Archives: shooting
Sidewinder, Amiga
Sidewinder – by Arcadia – is a well-respected, and quite exciting, vertically-scrolling shooter on the Amiga, first released in 1988 by Mastertronic.
What makes it exciting are the excellent graphics – in particular the explosions, which are beautifully animated – and the rapid fire Bullet Hell action, which is extremely challenging.
Aliens versus Predator 2, PC
Not to be confused with Alien vs. Predator from British developer Rebellion, this gaming sequel was created by Monolith Productions and published by Sierra On-Line in 2001.
Whatever you think about the AvP series you can’t disagree that the concept does work extremely well as a video game, and this first-person shooter arguably proves that.
Alien 3, Megadrive/Genesis
Probe Software developed this side-scrolling version of Alien 3 for Acclaim in 1992.
It is a run-and-gun platform game with you playing a bald Ripley trying to rescue cocooned prisoners while fending off waves of attacking aliens.
Terra Cresta II, PC Engine
This 1992 sequel to the arcade classic Terra Cresta is a PC Engine exclusive – it did not appear in arcades first.
It’s more of a remake than a sequel, but is incredibly varied and a more than worthy successor to Terra Cresta. As far as mainstream ‘Bullet Hell’ shooters go there are few better.
Terra Cresta, Arcade
Terra Cresta is the sequel to the classic Moon Cresta and is a beautifully-made, vertically-scrolling shooter with progressive weapons build-up, and challenging ‘Bullet Hell’ action.
It was developed by Nichibutsu and released into arcades in 1985.
Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri, PC
Looking Glass Technologies are probably best known for their Ultima Underworld series of games, but this 1996 tactical shooter from them is also a retro-gaming classic.
Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri is a first-person, futuristic ‘combat suit’ type action game with an interesting mix of styles.
Jet Pac, VIC-20
Jet Pac on the Commodore VIC-20 is pretty much the same as the classic ZX Spectrum version. It even has ‘colour clash’ like the original…
Tau Ceti, Amstrad CPC
I wrote quite a bit about the original ZX Spectrum version – because it’s so good – but this 1986 Amstrad version of Tau Ceti is possibly even better than the original…
Tau Ceti: Special Edition, ZX Spectrum
Tau Ceti: Special Edition is an updated, enhanced version of the original game, released for 128K Spectrums in 1987.
The Special Edition contains a number of new features that make playing Tau Ceti easier and more well-rounded.
