Raiden Trad - SNES Review

Arcade port for the SNES. The game is alright, nothing special. It seems to run at a lower framerate than any other version that I have played. It is very choppy at times which is more of a frustration than anything.  It is a simple shoot em up with minimal power ups.  You have machine gun and lasers that you can switch back and forth from by getting red or blue power ups.  You also have straight missiles and homing missiles that fire automatically. Everything seems the same as the arcade except for the choppiness.  Overall, I give the game 6 out of 10.  There are much better ports of the game.  If you have the means, play this port on the Genesis or Turbo Grafx 16.

Einhander - PS1 Review

 

This is a shoot em up released in 1998 by Squaresoft.  A very colorful game with polygon sprites.  There is a difficulty select  of easy, normal, and difficult.  The game is pretty challenging on easy mode.  You can choose between 3 ships, each with different attributes (of course).  Weapons upgrades come from blowing up bigger ships that drop the weapons that are attached to them.  You can get cannons, missiles, vulcans, etc.  Gameplay is pretty good, although I got bored in about 15 minutes.  Music is pretty good and ranges from a weird opera at the beginning to rap at the end of the first stage.  One thing I don't like about the game is that is switches automatically from side scrolling to a weird angle view.  It likes to do this view switching for boss fights.  Overall the game is an above average shooter but I don't see myself going back to it for replay.  The game gets a 6 out of 10.

The Guardian Legend - NES Review

 

Do you like Zelda style adventure games?  Do you like shoot em ups?  How about both combined into one?!  The Guardian Legend combines both genres into a masterpiece of an 8 bit era game.  This has remained one of my favorite NES games since I was a child.  I have replayed though the game at least 20 times.  I just got through with another play through that took about 4 hours.  You control a spaceship when you first start the game.  After you beat the first shoot 'em up stage, your ship transforms into a person.  Once transformed, you can walk around and explore the surface of the "star" you are on called Naju.  The premise of the game is to find the self destruct mechanism and blow up the "star." You will run into mini bosses along the way that will drop power ups and special weapons when they are defeated. There are tons of bosses in this game! There are shops that you can buy weapons / power ups at.  The game also has a feature whereas when your score increases, you power up the width of your normal shot.  There are a lot of special weapons and you will find yourself only using about 1/3 of them ever.  Be careful using power ups however because they consume "Chips" and your normal shot will decrease in width. The graphics are pretty decent for the time on the NES.  The sound and music are above average with some catchy music along the way.  The game play is outstanding, especially if you like shoot 'em ups, and top down adventure games with RPG elements.  Replay-ability with this game is high up on the scale.  If you don't want to do the adventure part of the game and just want the shoot 'em up levels, enter TGL for the password.  Overall, I give this game a perfect 10 out of 10.  This game for sure is one of my favorite games of all time and has stood the test of time.  The only thing that I could think of that is a negative thing is that there is no battery in the cart for saving the game.  It unfortunately uses a password system that really sucks (I hate all password systems though to be fair).  I highly recommend that you pick this game up and play it now! 

Override - PC Engine Review

 

Another PC Engine Shoot Em Up.  There are quite a few aren't there?  This one is pretty decent.  It starts off slow and easy on the first stage but gets progressively harder as you go on.  The power ups are abundant and come out in pods that you shoot.  The speed at which you level up is also pretty fast.  I do appreciate the distinct sound that is made you you get hit.  I however do not like the fact that there is no cool down or "grace period" when you get hit.  This means that you can get hit 3 times very fast and lose a ship.  Energy comes out in power up pods every so often, but it is rare.  It doesn't appear that you can really get anything different than you main shot.  You can get power ups to make it wider, but it doesn't really change.   The secondary weapon could be chase pods that shoot lasers or side shot pods.  Nothing really too special in the weapons dept.  The "mega bomb" or entire screen killer is a bunch of wide fast shots that take up the whole screen for about 3 seconds.  You have unlimited use of this feature, however you have to remain still for 3 seconds without shooting to charge it.  This sounds easy but in reality you will probably only ever use it on boss fights.  This game does have the feature where you can slow down and speed up on the fly by pressing button II.  This feature does come in handy at times.  The game play in this game is fun and challenging after the first stage.  The graphics and sound are good and on par with a PC Engine huCard.  Overall, I give this game a 6 out of 10.  It's just a small notch above average.

Sigma Star Saga - Game Boy Advance Review

This is a unique game.  It's a shoot 'em up, adventure, and RPG combined.  There is a story tied to the game that is actually pretty good.  When you are walking around exploring, you will get random battles where you go into shoot 'em up mode and have to eliminate a certain number of enemies to win the battle.  There are plenty of upgrades for weapons that you will find while adventuring.  Graphics are decent and on par with the GBA and sound is pretty good.  Some of the music gets repetitive after awhile.  The game play is pretty good, but you will find the game to play really slow at times.  Sometimes you have to play a level 5 or 6 times to learn it before you can beat it and move on to the next stage.  There are experience points in the game and you can level up to make your ship stronger and more powerful.  Overall, I give this game a 7 out of 10 stars.  I recommend that you pick it up and play it.  You can get a loose copy on ebay for about $10.

1942 - Game Boy Color Review

This game is pretty much the same version as the NES version.  Nothing special about it, just a port of the arcade version.  Same repetitiveness, horrible beeping, and flickering water.  Not a terrible game, just a primitive arcade game.  It has the same feel and game play as the NES version.  Overall, it gets a 5 out of 10 stars.  Just a normal shoot 'em up.

Violent Soldier - PC Engine Review

A pretty decent shooter on the PC Engine (there are a lot of them).  Its kind of like R-Type and Life Force had a baby.  The first few stages are pretty easy and then the difficulty picks up considerably after that.  Good sound, good graphics, decent power ups, and decent game play.  If you like shooters then you will probably like this horizontal shoot em up.  I did notice a little slow down when fighting one of the bosses however.  I think it is because every time your weapon hits a target, it displays a big blue circle where it hits for about 1.5 seconds.  This causes slow down when there are a lot of sprites on the screen.  Its minor, and doesn't really affect game play.  Overall, I give this game a 6 out of 10.  It is better than average but not super spectacular.

Final Soldier - PC Engine Review

PC Engine is known for its shooters, and this one does not disappoint. Fast paced, smooth, beautiful graphics, and superb music and sound.  You can select between normal, hard, and expert.  The difficulty settings on hard and expert are insane to play.  The thing that I like about this game is that there are ample power ups, yet there are not too many that it becomes confusing or just stupid like some other games.  You can access a setup menu where you can select what the power ups do, for example, missiles can be dumb fired or homing.  The game doesn't get boring during play with a mini boss and a main boss on every stage.  You also have the ability of setting 3 different speeds for your ship with the press of a button so you can do it while playing.  You don't  really have bombs like most games.  Instead you collect 2 companion ships that follow you and you can detonate them at any time to use as a bomb that wipes through the screen.  Very fun and challenging game overall.  I give it a solid 8 out of 10 stars.

Vapor Trail - Sega Genesis Review

A pretty solid shooter for the Genesis. Moderate difficulty even on the easy setting.  You can choose from 3 different planes that have different speeds and shots.  Its fun to play with all 3 and master them.  I like the idea of the score and info on the side so you can see the whole screen without distractions.  I have noticed this feature in a lot of Genesis shoot 'em up  games.  The only complaint I really have about the game, is that the power ups are few and far between.  It seems like it takes at least half of one stage to get a shot power up.  Then when you get the power up, it doesn't seem like it is much more powerful.  You have to grind for sure to power your ship up.  The music in this game is some of the best I have heard on the Genesis but it does get repetitive very quick.  Game play is fun and keeps you interested so you want to keep playing.  Not the best shooter on the system but solid for sure.  Overall, I give it a 7 out of 10 stars, pretty good, but there is room for improvement.  I recommend that you try it out.

Harbor Escape - Atari 2600 Review

Released in 1983 by a company called Panda.  This is a direct rip off of River Raid by Activision.  In this game you are a submarine under water and you have to squeeze your way through some pretty tight areas.  The fuel tanks from River Raid are replaced by air tanks and there are other subs and moving mines.  I think this version may be a bit harder than River Raid but it still pretty much plays the same and is the same game.  Overall, it gets a 3 out of 10 because of the crappy graphics and the fact that they stole River Raid's code.

Grind Stormer - Genesis Review

A shoot em up game for the Sega Genesis.  I didn't find this one to be particularity that good.  It is kind of sluggish at times when there are a lot of sprites on the screen.  It is a playable game, just nothing really jumps out about it.  I will say that out of all the power ups in the game, the Search power up is the strongest that I have seen.  The game play is ok except for the slow down that occurs once or twice a level.  The music is alright, on par I guess for Genesis.  Overall, I give this one a middle of the road 5 out of 10 stars.  Like I said, its playable, just nothing special here. 

Espial - Atari 2600 Review

A shoot 'em up game for the Atari VCS.  Very colorful and flashy looking.  You control a ship that shoots lasers and there is a target in front of you.  The enemies seem to be lurking below the background or in the shadows.  You must line your target up with the enemy ship or ground target to kill it when you shoot.  After about a minute, you clear the level and move on to the next.  When you get to the 3rd level, it gets crazy hard.  Enemies now come at you from behind!  Overall, not a bad game and pretty challenging.  I give this one a 6 out of 10 overall.  Worth checking out for sure.

Aero Fighters - SNES Review

Pretty solid shooter for the SNES.  This was an arcade game and plays just like the arcade version.  Typical you versus the entire world type shoot em up.  In true SNES fashion, there is an options screen where you can select difficulty and lives etc.  I found it to be pretty challenging on normal mode and I made it to the 6th stage using 3 continues.  The power ups are straightforward with 5 levels of power that upgrade your shot.  You do however lose a level based on time it you don't keep collecting power ups.  You also have 3 bombs that you start with.  There are giant bosses at the end of each stage that are challenging and I believe I saw a few mini bosses on the first couple stages.  There is a little bit of slow down / lag when there is a lot of sprites on the screen at once.  I experienced the slow down about 3 or 4 times.  Overall I give this one a 7 out of 10 stars.  Graphics and sound are SNES awesome and the game play is great.

Space Tunnel Atari 2600 Review

This game is absolute garbage.  Number one, you barely have any movement.  Number two, it is not even challenging.  Number three, it is so repetitive that you can literally sleep will playing it.  The only good thing about the game is that you can fire in four directions. It is borderline unplayable.  Overall, I give it a 1 out of 10 stars.  It is just horrible, especially for a shoot em up.  

Skykid NES Review

This game is terrible in my opinion.  The graphics are sub par for the NES, even early NES.  The music is repetitive and not very good.  The game play is atrocious.  It is difficult to control the plane and it seems like you never get the hang of it.  The purpose of the game is to fly your plane through each stage, picking up a bomb, bombing a target, and then landing.  I think this is a direct arcade port.  Overall, I give the game 3 out of 10 stars.  Maybe people like this game? Not I.

Gun.Smoke NES Review

This is a forced vertical scrolling shoot 'em up that takes place in the old west.  Your goal is to find or buy a wanted poster of each villain on each stage.  If you don't find or buy a wanted poster, the stage loops back around and you replay through it.  There are about 5 gun power ups that you have to buy and enemies drop bullets and money after you shoot them.  You also gain money instead of points for shooting enemies.  There is also a horse power up that you can find or buy that speeds you up and allows you to get hit twice before you die, instead of the usual once.  The graphics are OK and on par with the NES, the sound and music are decent and above average, and the game play is great.  I give this game an 8 out of 10 stars.  It is always fun to play and you can play it for a long period without getting bored.

Space Invaders '91 Genesis Review

An upgraded 16 bit version of a not so great game.  The graphics and sound are obviously better with this remake.  The game play however is exactly the same.  They could have done something to make the game play a little different.  You get power ups like lasers and better shields and some of the enemies have to be shot multiple times to kill them.  Basically, it is still Space Invaders.  Very weak in my opinion and not very fun just like the original.  Overall, I give this game 4 out of 10 stars, and I am being extremely generous. 

Lords of Thunder Sega CD Review

Side scrolling shoot em up for the Sega CD, a good one!  This game is pretty awesome.  You fight through seven stages that you can select to play in any order.  You have four types of armor to select from, all four elements, earth, fire, wind, and water.  Which ever armor you choose is a strategy in itself because it helps with the stage you play.  The game play is smooth and fluid and the graphics are awesome.  The music is an awesome heavy rock soundtrack and the sounds are pretty decent.  This is one of the few Sega CD games that I find myself playing again and again.  There is also a cool feature where you collect crystals of different values and spend them at a store between stages to power up.  The bosses are huge and challenging as well.  Overall I give this game an 8 out of 10 stars.  I definitely recommend picking it up and playing it if you are a shoot em up fan.

Cosmic Commuter Atari 2600 Review

Released in 1984 by Activision. This game is not really well known.  The goal of the game is to land and then detach from your lander into a speedy craft.  Next, you fly through a series of obstacles that you can shoot with lasers that kind of steer as you move up and down while firing.  The object is to pick up the commuters at the bottom of the screen all while avoiding the objects which move at a different speed than the ground.  You also have to be mindful of your fuel gauge as it runs down quite quick.  After you pick up all the commuters on the stage, you fly back to your landing point and dock with the lander.  Next you take off while avoiding the obstacles again.  You start a new stage, the obstacles change, and you do it all over again.   The game play is fun and fast paced as most Activision games are.  The sound and graphics are pretty good for the Atari VCS.  A fun and challenging game.  Overall, it gets a 7 out of 10 rating.  Not one of my favorite games but fun to play nonetheless.