Introduction Strikers 1945 was developed and published by Psikyo, released in arcades in 1995 as the Japanese shoot ’em up studio’s tribute to Capcom’s earlier 19XX series, borrowing that franchise’s WWII fighter-plane theme while building an entirely original game around it. Players choose from a roster of real and fictional World War II-era aircraft, each…
Introduction 1943: The Battle of Midway was developed and published by Capcom, released in arcades in 1987 as the direct sequel to 1984’s 1942. Set once again during World War II, the game puts players back in the cockpit of a fighter plane, this time a Lockheed P-38 Lightning battling through a campaign loosely themed…
Introduction Elevator Action Returns was developed and published by Taito, released in Japanese arcades in 1994 as the sequel to the studio’s 1983 original, Elevator Action. Players once again control a spy infiltrating tall, multi-floor buildings, riding elevators and escalators between levels while shooting enemy agents, collecting secret documents from marked red doors, and avoiding…
Introduction 1944: The Loop Master was developed by Eighting and published by Capcom, released in arcades in 2000 as a direct continuation of the 19XX series that began with 1942 back in 1984. Set in the closing stages of World War II, the game returns players to the vertical-scrolling shoot ’em up formula of its…
Introduction Three Wonders, known in Japan as Wonder 3, was developed and published by Capcom on CPS-1 hardware, released in arcades in July 1991 as an unusual multi-game cabinet offering players a choice between three entirely different games on a single board. Midnight Wanderers: Quest for the Chariot is a fantasy action-platformer following a hobbit-like…
Introduction Galaxian was developed and published by Namco, released in arcades in 1979 as the company’s answer to the runaway success of Taito’s Space Invaders the year before. Players control a starship at the bottom of the screen, firing upward at a formation of alien insect-like enemies that, unlike the steadily advancing rows in Space…
Introduction Space Invaders was developed and released by Taito in 1978, designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, who reportedly spent close to a year building both the game and the custom hardware needed to run it. Players control a small cannon at the bottom of the screen, moving left and right to shoot down descending rows of…
Introduction 1942 was developed and published by Capcom, released in Japan in 1984 as the studio’s first vertically scrolling shoot ’em up, with early development work credited to Yoshiki Okamoto, who would go on to shape many of Capcom’s most important arcade titles. Set during World War II, the game puts players in control of…
Introduction Gun.Smoke began as a 1985 Capcom arcade shooter designed by Yoshiki Okamoto, who would later oversee the studio’s biggest hits like Final Fight and Street Fighter II, with programming by Takashi Aoki and a soundtrack by Ayako Mori that helped make it one of Japan’s highest-grossing arcade games in early 1986. Capcom brought it…
Introduction Life Force was developed and published by Konami, originating as the 1986 arcade shoot ’em up Salamander, a spin-off of the studio’s hit Gradius built instead of an immediate direct sequel and released internationally under the Life Force name. Rather than a straight arcade port, Konami used the NES conversion, which reached Japan in…
Introduction Gradius began as a 1985 arcade shoot ’em up from Konami, developed under the working title Scramble 2 as a spiritual successor to the studio’s earlier Scramble, and it became one of the biggest arcade hits of the following year. Konami ported it to the Famicom in April 1986 and brought it to the…
Introduction The Steel Empire is a horizontally scrolling shoot ’em up developed by Hot-B and released for the Sega Genesis in 1992, originally launched in Japan under the title Koutetsu Teikoku (literally ‘Empire of Steel’), then brought to North America by Acclaim’s Flying Edge label as The Steel Empire and to Europe under the more…