Tag Archives: shmup

In the grand pantheon of arcade shooters, few are more prestigious than 1981’s Defender. While the William Electronics-developed coin-op wasn’t an immediate success (creator Eugene Jarvis has blamed the groundbreaking five-button control method), the game ...

For the last decade or so space games have been on a steady decline. Whether you crave an on-rails experience similar to Starfox or a more complex space simulator provided by the X series, one ...

The old cliché “variety is the spice of life” has been the driving concept behind in a number of noteworthy games. Early coin-ops such as Tron or Gorf were conceived around the notion that an ...

What is the concept? Savvy shmup enthusiasts might be familiar with Mamoru-kun wa Norowarete Shimatta! (direct translation Mamoru-kun Has Been Cursed!). Originally a NAOMI-based arcade coin-op, the game was ported onto Japanese consoles with an ...

What is the concept? Behind every critically-acclaimed shooter is at least one captivating hook. 1985’s Gradius rose above its contemporaries with a creative risk/reward device known as the Power Meter. A press of the button ...

Despite an ever-shrinking amount of physical space as well as a dwindling number of television inputs, a Dreamcast remains a permanent fixture in the office. The reason for its enduring residency is simple: the console ...

In European territories, Rising Star Games is a prolific publishing juggernaut, with an output that matches the combined efforts of XSEED, Aksys, Natsume, and Ignition Entertainment. The company’s opening salvo on this side of the ...

Anyone who’s ever read Carl Zimmer’s Parasite Rex knows how unsettling the microscopic domain can be- a realm where tiny organisms are capable of castration, mutilation, disfigure, and even zombification. Far worse that the hackneyed ...

When top-tier shmups such as Bullet Soul and Eschatos fail to obtain localization, it’s evident that the genre may heading towards its last continue in the U.S. For a brief moment, Otomedius Excellent’s amalgam of ...

A few weeks ago, I finally jumped on board the PSP train. Like with everything unfamiliar, there’s a learning process that takes a little time to get through. Until last week, I really didn’t know ...