Best Arcade Classic
Taito's 1993 arcade vertical shooter, developed partly by former Gun Frontier staff, is noted for its bleak narrative atmosphere and a charge-beam mechanic shared between player and bosses.
Forgotten Worlds is a multidirectional shoot 'em up arcade game developed and published by Capcom in 1988. The game is distinguished by its use of a unique rotary joystick, which allows players to independently control their character's movement and aim their weapon in any 360-degree direction. Desi...
After Burner II is a combat flight simulator and rail shooter developed by Sega and released for arcades in 1987 under the direction of Yu Suzuki. Players pilot an F-14 Tomcat fighter jet through fast-paced, third-person, into-the-screen missions while fending off enemy aircraft. The game achieved s...
Xexex is a horizontal scrolling shoot 'em up developed and published by Konami for arcades in 1991. Players pilot a spacecraft equipped with a unique weapon known as the Flint, a detachable tentacle-like appendage used to grapple and destroy enemies. The gameplay requires players to navigate detaile...
Sky Shark is a 1987 vertical-scrolling shoot-'em-up developed by Toaplan, released as Flying Shark in Japan and Europe. Players pilot a WWII-era biplane through vertically scrolling stages, dropping bombs on ground targets and shooting enemy aircraft. The arcade version was ported to several home co...
1989 Irem arcade shoot 'em up set inside a human body, where the player pilots a microscopic craft and attacks parasites using extendable mechanical arms.
V-V (marketed as Grind Stormer in Western regions) is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up developed by Toaplan and released for arcades in 1992. The player controls a fighter craft through successive stages of enemy formations, collecting items that grant selectable weapon upgrades. The Japanese and...
"Cotton 2: Magical Night Dreams" is a horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Success in 1997. It is part of the "Cotton" series, which follows a young witch named Cotton and her fairy companion Silk. The game runs on Sega's ST-V arcade hardware and was released for...
Slap Fight is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game developed by Toaplan and released in 1986. Distributed in North America under the title Alcon, the game distinguishes itself with a progressive weapon upgrade system. Players collect colored power-up icons to selectively enhance their shi...
Varth: Operation Thunderstorm is a vertical scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game developed and published by Capcom in 1992. The game is set in an alternate World War II-style conflict and runs on Capcom's CP System arcade hardware, allowing for large, detailed sprites. Players pilot aircraft equipped...
Fantastic Night Dreams: Cotton is a horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game developed and released by Success in 1991. The game follows a young witch named Cotton who rides a broomstick through various fantasy environments while battling monsters using magical attacks. The storyline revolves...
Carrier Air Wing is a 1990 horizontal-scrolling arcade shoot 'em up developed and published by Capcom. Released under the title U.S. Navy in Japan, the game is themed around modern carrier-based naval aviation. It supports two-player cooperative gameplay, allowing users to pilot fighter jets across...
Prehistoric Isle in 1930 is a horizontally scrolling shoot-em-up arcade game developed and published by SNK in 1989. Players control early 20th-century biplanes tasked with navigating a mysterious, time-displaced island populated by hostile dinosaurs and other giant prehistoric fauna. The game is re...
Tiger-Heli is a vertical-scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game developed by Toaplan and released in 1985. The player controls a military attack helicopter tasked with destroying enemy forces across various land and sea landscapes. It is historically significant as one of the Japanese developer's first...
Moon Cresta is an arcade fixed shooter game developed by Nichibutsu and released in 1980. The gameplay requires players to defend against waves of alien attackers while controlling a vessel that can split into three distinct parts. Its most notable mechanic allows players to dock the separate ships...
Phelios is a vertically scrolling shooter released by Namco for arcades in 1988. The player controls Apollo riding the winged horse Pegasus through settings and encounters drawn from Greek mythology, fighting airborne enemies while attempting to rescue Artemis from Typhon. Its charged projectile att...
Data East's 1990 arcade vertical shooter, titled Kuuga in Japan, offers three selectable aircraft with distinct weapon loadouts across its military-themed stages.
Namco's 1989 arcade vertical shooter features a modular ship that separates into three distinct components or merges for concentrated firepower against enemies.
Visco's 1992 Neo-Geo horizontal shooter lets players choose from four distinct weapon types at the outset, each upgradeable through several power-up tiers during play.
SNK's 1991 Neo-Geo arcade vertical shooter is set during World War II, casting players as biplane pilots fighting through waves of period-accurate enemy ground and air forces.
Psikyo's 1997 arcade fantasy shooter blends conventional shooting mechanics with close-range sword attacks and magic spells, giving the genre an action-RPG character.
