Astrowar1983

In Astrosmash you control a laser canon at the bottom of the screen; your goal is to earn as many points as possible by destroying the various incoming meteors, bombs, and other objects. Points are earned for destroying objects, while points are lost for letting them get past you. Meteors are the most common item you need to defend yourself against. They come in various sizes and colors, and some even split into two smaller meteors when shot. Mixed in with the meteors are white spinning bombs. While letting a meteor get past you will only lower your score, you have to shoot the spinners. If one gets past, you will lose a life. On the more difficult levels, ufo's and guided missiles will also appear occasionally and attempt to destroy your canon.

Conceived as an entry for a game development competition, this game would later be published by Naxat Soft in 1992. This frenetic shoot-'em-up taxes the Famicom system and the player's reflexes with huge quantities of enemies while maintaining smooth, fast gameplay! In addition to a single player campaign, there are also score attack and time attack modes available.

Moon Cresta is an arcade game released in 1980 by Nichibutsu. A moving starfield gives the impression of vertical scrolling, but the game is a fixed shooter in the vein of Namco's Galaxian. Incentive Software published a version of this arcade game for many 8-bit home computers of the time. Dempa also released a port of both Moon Cresta and Terra Cresta for the X68000. It was also released on the Wii Virtual Console in Japan on March 9, 2010 and PlayStation 4 (Arcade Archives) in 2014.

The Player controls a spaceship viewed from "above" in a 2D representation of space, by rotating the ship, and using thrust to give the ship momentum. To slow down or completely stop moving, the player has to rotate the ship to face the direction it came from, and generate the right amount of thrust to nullify its momentum. The ship has a limited amount of fuel to generate thrust with. This fuel comes in the form of "Energy" that is also used for the ship's Shields which protect it against collisions and enemy fire. Once all Energy is gone, the player's ship is destroyed. The ship can shoot to destroy asteroids and enemy ships. The ship can also be transformed at will into 3 different versions, namely the "Speeder", the fastest version, the "Fighter", which has the most firepower, and the "Warrior", which has extra armour.

Alzadick is a vertical shooter released for the Summer Carnival '92 competition hosted by Naxat Soft. While it was made available for commercial release it was originally programmed as a time attack challenge for 'athletes' to earn as many points as they could in the few minutes of competittion. While the game is not long, it features stunning visuals, processing effects and a rather impressive soundtrack.

Not only Super Stardust did equal its predecessor in every conceivable way, it added more flair, features, gameplay, special effects, colors and animations. Advertised as “the first true arcade shoot-em-up for home platforms”, the game was a critical and commercial success, receiving rave reviews, and was released on Amiga, Amiga CD32 and, in 1996, also on PC. To this day it’s still considered one of the most technically impressive Amiga and PC games ever made. Players controlled their trusty starship, which they could upgrade with five different weapons, missiles and shields. Super Stardust 96, the latest incarnation of the game, featured five different worlds (all connected via 3D hyperspace tunnels) and 30 levels chock-full of asteroids, enemies and bosses. A true arcade-quality experience for PC!

Earthion is an upcoming aftermarket shooting game developed by Ancient primarily for the Sega Mega Drive. Physical MD versions will be published by SUPERDELUXE GAMES in Japan and by Limited Run Games in North America. The game will also get a 16:9 version for modern platforms. Earthion is published under the label YKGGG, a brand name covering all the retro-style games developed at Ancient. If Earthion meets success, Ancient will go on the venture of releasing video games designed for retro consoles. A separate version of the game for Arcade was confirmed by Ancient and published by exA-Arcadia, which features a new, exclusive mode that will not be available in the Mega Drive version.

The first ever ‘Recharged’ full-size commercial-grade arcade from Atari, featuring mechanical haptic feedback devices, real arcade controls, Major League Esports tournaments, and improved gameplay. Based upon the classic powerhouse arcade title that was released by Atari in 1979, Asteroids Recharged: Arcade Edition takes that beloved title and packs in more action and features to stand out for today’s arcade scene.