

Deathsmiles II: Makai no Merry Christmas is a horizontal side scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game by Japanese developer Cave, released in 2009. It is the third Cave shoot 'em up to be played using a horizontally-oriented monitor (preceded by Progear and the original Deathsmiles). Deathsmiles II is also the first CAVE arcade game to use polygons instead of their traditional sprites for graphics.

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 / Puzzle / Adventure / Action / Science fiction
Fear Effect is an action adventure waiting to unfold! Wee Ming Lam disappears a few days before her 18th birthday under mysterious circumstances. Three ruthless mercenaries conspire to track her down and ransom her off to her father, Mr. Lam, a powerful Triad leader in Hong Kong. An extortion mission to retrieve Wee Ming Lam becomes a lesson in survival against the most unimaginable of enemies.

Mushihime-sama Futari is a bullet-hell shoot 'em up where players control one of two insect-themed warriors through relentless waves of enemy fire. The game blends precise dodging with strategic weapon use in a vibrant, high-speed world filled with colorful enemies and bosses. Originally released in arcades, this version delivers the purest form of the game's challenging gameplay, requiring sharp reflexes and pattern recognition to survive its intense bullet patterns. The iOS adaptation, titled Bug Princess 2, brings the same core experience to mobile devices, adapting controls for touchscreens while maintaining the game's signature intensity.


Shooter / Adventure / Indie / Action / Science fiction
As the title implies, Gloom is an attempt at recreating Doom for the Amiga. In 1995 this was a big target for programmers, as it was felt that the Amiga 1200 was capable of bringing the first person 3D action to life.

Espgaluda II is a manic shooter originally released by Cave in the arcades in 2005 as a sequel to Espgaluda.