Top Down Run N' Guns |
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Ikari Warriors |
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2 Player |
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Stand out versions - Amiga |
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Ikari Warriors has to be the game from the genre that I have the oldest, and fondest memories of, who didn't love the fact that you could steal your opponents tanks and go on a rampage? |
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Jackal |
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2 Player |
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Stand out version - NES |
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Another great Konami game for the NES, it's a nice 2-player shmup which has you bombing prison camps and rescuing POW's amongst the usual classic top down gunplay. |
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Marauder |
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1 Player |
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Stand out version - Spectrum, Amstrad |
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At it's core, Marauder is quite simply a well crafted and great playing shmup, other than the interesting timing based power-ups it doesn't really do anything that new but the whole thing just works, the fantastic music also needs to be mentioned as it really helped to give the game a driving force forward. |
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Mercs |
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1 Player |
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Stand out versions - Mega Drive |
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Mercs was always a pretty good shmup in the arcades but when it came out on the Mega Drive it came with many new improvements and an even better original mode, where you could pick up new characters on the fly and swap between them, great shame about the loss of the 2-player mode though. |
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Pocky and Rocky |
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2 Player |
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Stand out versions - SNES |
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Pocky and Rocky is a really nicely realised top down shmup, I think the artwork style is brilliant and lends a lot of character to the game, the gameplay doesn't dissapoint at all either, this is actually the 2nd game in the series as the little known first was released exclusively for the PC Engine. |
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Pocky and Rocky 2 |
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2 Player |
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Stand out versions - SNES |
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The sumptuous graphics and brilliant anime style with impressive presentation are some of the first things that really hit you when you start playing the Pocky and Rocky games, and they just got more and more impressive as they went on. |
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Rambo 3 |
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1 Player |
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Stand out version - Mega Drive |
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One of the first games ever released for the Mega Drive Rambo 3 managed to really stand out with it's great action and differing play styles, another thing that I like about the game is the different weapons it alows you to use, shooting one second and running away from planted bombs the next. |
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Shock Troopers |
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2 Player |
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Stand Out Version - Neo Geo |
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The Shock Troopers games are by far some of the most impressively crafted and fun top down shooters ever created, think massive explosions big guns and even bigger bosses, very fluid and accurate controls with excelent retreat firing and dodge buttons help to keep the level of action always bearable even at it's most hectic. |
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Shock Troopers 2nd Squad |
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2 Player |
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Stand out Version - Neo Geo |
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Shock Troopers 2 carries on the exceptional quality of it's predesessor and really builds on it, throwing you immediately into the action with commandable vehicles from the get go. I've always thought this would've been what Metal Slug would've been like if it was in top down perspective. |
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Super Smash TV |
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2 Players |
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Stand out version - SNES |
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Finally the Arcade classic had been done justice by a console port, after many lacklustre attempts marred by inferior control methods the SNES version appeared with it's fantastic music and action, as well as in this case, an elegant replacement control method that worked nearly as well as the original. |
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Twinkle Tale |
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1 Player |
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Stand out version - Mega Drive |
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A pretty nice, classy shmup released only in Japan for the Mega Drive.It plays very nicely and gives you the ability to swap between 3 weapons in game to choose the best tactics, it also has you dodging evironmental hazards and fighting massive bosses. |
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Victory Road |
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2 Player |
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Stand out version - Amstrad |
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The sequel to Ikari Warriors was a massive departure for the series, now instead of fighting an army through the jungle you were in outer space fighting aliens, very few ports turned up of this game and most were pretty awful, luckily one nice conversion made it through to the Amstrad. |
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Zombies Ate my Neighbours/Zombies |
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2 Player |
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Stand out version - SNES, Mega Drive |
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It's the usual fare of shooting the bad guys and saving the hostages but when it's done this well who cares? the great style and humour in the game really gives it some personality of it's own. |
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Honourable Mentions
Alien Breed Special Edition - Amiga
Bloody Wolf - PC Engine/TG16
Heavy Barrel - NES
Iron Tank - NES
Kiki Kakai/Pocky and Rocky 0 - PC Engine/TG16
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