Released into arcades in 1985, TwinBee is a cute, vertically-scrolling shooter that is much more challenging than it looks.
Tag Archives: vertical scrolling
Firetrack, BBC Micro
Released by Electric Dreams Software in 1987, Firetrack is a fast vertical shooter, designed and programmed by Nick Pelling (aka Orlando), the guy who made Frak! (among others).
Aleste, MSX
I’m not a hundred percent sure if the MSX2 version of Aleste was released before the Sega Master System version or not. There are conflicting reports.
What is almost certainly true, though, is that they were both developed side-by-side in 1987 and released in Japan in 1988.
Aleste, Sega Master System
Japanese developer Compile – who made Aleste – has a history of producing classic shoot ’em ups. This one was released for the Sega Master System in 1988.
Pastfinder, Atari 8-bit
David Lubar‘s 1984 classic, Pastfinder, originated on Atari 8-bit home computers.
It’s a strange, vertically-scrolling shoot ’em up with strategic overtones.
Bounder, Commodore 64
Back in 1985 Bounder was a fresh idea, like a bolt out of the blue to gamers… It’s an overhead ball/maze game where the maze is miles above the ground, and the idea is to make sure the ball bounces on the platforms of the maze, and not in the air.
Gunhed, PC Engine
Gunhed is a classic vertically-scrolling. progressive-weapons shooter released for the PC Engine in 1989. It is based on the Toho film of the same name. In North America the game goes by the name of Blazing Lasers.
Ikari Warriors, Arcade
SNK‘s famous arcade shooter, Ikari Warriors, was released in 1986 at a time when many Commando clones were saturating the market, but managed to stand out against the competition.
Firebird, MSX
Known in its native Japan as Hi no Tori Hououhen, and Firebird in the West, this 1987 Konami release for the MSX2 is a vertically-scrolling shooter of some repute.
Rainbow Islands, PC Engine
The PC Engine version of Taito‘s classic arcade game Rainbow Islands was only made available on CD-ROM, so you had to have a CD compatible PC Engine to play it.
[That was: until emulation was invented…] 🙂
The King of Grabs 