

A vertical scrolling shooter/shmup released only in Japan. It's notable for using the DMG Game Boy's passive-matrix image retention (ghosting) to simulate transparency and multiple layers of parallax.

Shooter / Action / Science fiction
Released in 1998 on Nintendo 64, by Hudson Soft.

Shooter / Action / Science fiction
RayForce (released in western Arcades as "Gunlock") is a top-down shooter. There are seven levels to play, ranging from battles in the atmosphere of planets to battling over mountain ranges, each with their own standard huge bosses at the end of these levels. The player takes control of a starfighter called the RVA-818 X-LAY, out to destroy any opposing forces.

Shooter / Puzzle / Indie / Action / Science fiction
In this vertical scrolling spaceship shooter, you control a ship that can change its polarity at will. As blue/white, the ship can easily destroy red/black enemies, and vice versa. Bullets of your polarity can be collected to fuel your energy gauge, but those opposite will kill you. Destroying an enemy ship causes them to fire revenge bullets which can be absorbed and fired back by the player. Different difficulties exist to change exactly how you interact with polarized points, or how they appear. It is the spiritual successor to Radiant Silvergun, featuring similar level and boss design, as well as it's buddhism inspired themes and aesthetics. Both are directed by Hiroshi Iuchi, who also composed Ikaruga's soundtrack.

Shooter / Arcade / Action / Science fiction
DonPachi is a 1995 vertical manic shoot-'em-up originally in arcades and was the first game from the developer Cave. Settings are mainly woodland and enemies are military vehicles and robots, culminating in the final boss, a huge robotic bee. One of three weapon configurations is chosen at start and then leveled up through dropped power-ups. DonPachi was ported to the Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation in 1996.

Shooter / Action / Science fiction
When enemy forces wipe out the jets of the Aero Fighters, they must scramble using heavily-modified World War II warplanes in the third installment of the comical Aero Fighters series.

Shooter / Arcade / Action / Science fiction
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.

Shooter / Action / Science fiction
Cyber-core is a vertically scrolling shooter in which the player fights insects. The basic idea is traditional: shooting everything before they can shoot/touch the player: after three hits the chitin armor breaks and a life is lost. Besides flying enemies which are disposed of with the standard gun, the player also has to deal with enemies on the ground which need to be hit with one of the unlimited bomb. The player has the choice between four insect forms which are changed by collecting the associated extra symbols. Collecting more of the same symbol upgrades the insect, but this also rises the difficulty level. Other extras include smart bombs, extra lives, armor refreshments or a protection shield. The game features the possibility to turn on rapid fire or to slow down the speed as well as big boss enemies at the end and within the levels.

Shooter / Action / Science fiction
Caladrius AC is an Action game, developed and published by Moss, which was released in Japan in 2013.