

Amiga / Amiga CD32 / DOS
Developed by Bloodhouse for Team17.
Shooter / Arcade / Action / Science fiction
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!

Shooter / Arcade / Action / Science fiction
Men are lined up the right side of the screen and alien ships fly out, swirl around the screen and eventually try to grab the men. This was one of the first all color graphics games and might be the first one that used speech. Some of the phrases are "Help Me! Help Me!", "Very Good", "We'll be back" and "Lucky!"

Shooter / Arcade / Action / Science fiction
A second version of G-Darius was released in the arcades in 1999, with the following changes: - Increased difficulty. - Default play cost is increased to 2 coins per credit from 1 coin per credit. - Added Beginner Mode; in this mode, the game ends after completing only 3 zones. - Standard auto-fire button. - When using a Capture Ball, the player is no longer invulnerable. - With the super shield, the player is vulnerable to obstacles; with the hyper shield, the player can take a single hit from obstacles. - All stages include mid-bosses; moreover, they all fire the spiral laser from First Captain at the player. - Boss battles include a timer - three minutes for normal bosses, seven minutes for the final boss - with 10000 bonus points added to the player's score for each remaining second upon destroying the boss. - The high score table records high scores for each zone. - After continuing, the player is given one of each Missile, Bomb, Arm and Capture Ball power-ups, instead of a single item that provides the first three.

Shooter / Adventure / Indie / Action / Science fiction
ZPF is a retro-inspired horizontal shooter for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. Blast your way through a cosmic gauntlet of epic boss battles, addictive scoring, and hidden secrets in a thrilling arcade-style adventure through fantasy, sci-fi, and alien-themed worlds.

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 / Arcade / Action / Science fiction
High-speed action-packed game play returns with the addition of exciting head-to-head battle modes, a challenging new time attack mode, and expanded game play progression that goes beyond Fever Time to SUPER FEVER TIME! Space Invaders Extreme 2 - faster and more exhilarating than ever before!

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 / Arcade / Action / Science fiction
Space Invaders Extreme combines the captivating essence of the original game with a stunning alliance of futuristic graphic design and cutting-edge audio. The gameplay experience has been developed to maximise on the consoles' abilities, offering players a whole new range of amazing features including a vast array of new power-ups.

Shooter / Arcade / Action / Science fiction
R-Type is set in the 22nd century, and the player flies a futuristic fighter craft called the R-9a "Arrowhead", named for its shape, and because it is the ninth model in the 'R' series of fighter craft (but it is the first of the series to actually be used in combat; the previous models were all prototypes). The mission is to 'blast off and strike the evil Bydo Empire'. The R- in the series title originally stood for "ray", as in a ray of light. It was a reference to the many different types of ray-like weapons in the first R-Type. his was later retconned in R-Type Final to refer specifically to the production code as well as a term of endearment for the player fighter craft, the "Round Canopy". The original R-Type was well received by most gaming critics. However, it was also infamous for its relentless difficulty. It earned 7th place in IGN's Top 10 most difficult games to beat. The gameplay of R-Type is noticeably distinct among shoot 'em ups. Invariably the player will lose, not because of an inequality in firepower, but because of the design of the levels themselves. There is usually a 'correct' way to get through a level, but players must learn these by experience - i.e. by losing and restarting from earlier in the level. The game innovated with its weapon system compared to contemporary shooters, featuring a chargeable shot (beam-meter), and detachable 'force' pod; levels were designed to require different tactics and ideal weapons (air-air, diagonal, or air-ground laser).