Introduction Namco released Battle City for the Famicom in 1985, a tank shooter played on a single screen viewed from above. The player commands a tank whose mission is to defend a base marked by an eagle from waves of enemy tanks. Each stage is made of brick walls that can be destroyed, steel walls…
Introduction A.S.P. Air Strike Patrol was developed and published by Naxat Soft, released for the SNES in 1994 as a helicopter combat shooter with an overhead perspective, tasking players with flying attack helicopter missions against ground and air targets across a series of increasingly difficult stages. Players manage a limited but upgradeable arsenal of missiles…
Introduction Aero Fighters was developed by Video System, ported to the SNES in 1993 from its arcade original, a vertically scrolling shoot ’em up letting players choose from a roster of pilots and aircraft from different countries, each with distinct stats and a unique special weapon. Its stages take players across real-world locations rendered in…
Introduction Zombies Ate My Neighbors was developed by LucasArts and published by Konami, released for the SNES in 1993 as a top-down run-and-gun that parodies decades of horror movie tropes rather than any single film. Playing as one of two suburban teenagers, Zeke or Julie, players race against the clock through each level to rescue…
Introduction Star Fox was developed by Nintendo in collaboration with the British studio Argonaut Software, released on the SNES in Japan in February 1993 as one of the first console games built around real-time 3D polygonal graphics, made possible by the custom Super FX chip embedded directly in the game cartridge. Players pilot Fox McCloud’s…
Introduction DoDonPachi II: Bee Storm was developed by International Games System and published by Capcom, released in arcades in 2001 as a sequel to Cave’s original DoDonPachi, notably the only entry in the DonPachi series not developed by Cave itself. The game kept the series’ core vertically scrolling bullet-hell shooting intact, tasking players with weaving…
Introduction Galaga was developed and published by Namco for arcades in 1981, led by longtime company veteran Shigeru Yokoyama, and released in North America by Midway. It exists as a direct sequel to 1979’s Galaxian, Namco’s first genuine arcade hit, and came about somewhat by necessity: as Galaxian cabinet sales began slowing by the early…
Introduction RoboCop for the NES was developed by Japanese studio SAS Sakata and published by Data East in 1989, following on from Data East’s own 1988 arcade version but built as a distinct, console-tailored adaptation of the Paul Verhoeven film rather than a straight port, with Ocean bringing it to Europe in 1991. Players control…
Introduction Gun-Nac was developed by Compile, a studio best known for shooters like Zanac and the Aleste series, and released in Japan by Tonkin House in October 1990 before ASCII Corporation brought it to North America the following September. It turned out to be the last game Compile ever made for the NES, closing out…
Introduction Duck Hunt was developed by Nintendo R&D1, the mostly hardware-focused team also behind the NES Zapper light gun itself, with Shigeru Miyamoto directing, Gunpei Yokoi producing, and Hiroji Kiyotake handling the game’s graphics and character designs. It first appeared in Japan in April 1984 for the Famicom and as an arcade cabinet, before becoming…
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…
Introduction Whip Rush 2222 A.D. is a horizontally and vertically scrolling shooter developed by Vic Tokai for the Sega Genesis, published by Sega in Japan on May 26, 1990 and by Renovation Products in North America that October. Set in the 22nd century after humanity has exhausted the Solar System’s resources, the story follows three…