you are one ship against an entire enemy
force may God have mercy on your enemies
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’ll
be counting down our picks for the top
10 classic shoot-’em-up games for our
list we rank the best games from the
classic 2d shoot-’em-up genre or Smuts
for short we excluded games with a 3d
perspective so titles like starfox 64 as
much as we love them are out as usual
one game per franchise number 10
geometry wars retro evolve too
you
here’s a dual stick shooter that’s just
as bright and colorful as it is
addictive you control a small ship that
can fire and move in any direction when
you successfully hit and destroy enemies
they leave behind bright green orbs
which you collect to increase your
multiplier sound simple right well it’s
a game where high scores matter so
you’ll want to grab as many as you can
for bragging rights
on the leaderboards number nine un
squadron as much as we enjoy a simple
shoot-’em-up combining them with other
genres to create bizarre hybrids can be
amazing too
that’s one of the many reasons we can’t
get enough of this title which adds RPG
mechanics like acquiring cash to help
customize your plane you won’t get bored
of it too quickly because it has three
playable characters each with a
different plane
number eight Raptor call of the shadows
despite the difficult learning curve we
used to be hooked on this one it’s
graphics were exceptional for the time
and the music and sound mix can really
get you immersed in the action
you’ll love trying to avoid all of the
enemies who try to either crash into you
or the turrets that try to pick you off
don’t be too intimidated because the
phase shields that you buy and find
throughout the game allow your jet to
endure a lot of damage there’s no one
touch deaths for you here
number 7 1942 long before the Call of
Duty’s and Medal of Honor Sprott the
world war ii shooter into the 21st
century there was this game you control
an American fighter plane trying to make
its way into Tokyo and you face a horde
of opposing Japanese planes along the
way thankfully you can use the game’s
role or loop-de-loop maneuvers which
help you to avoid enemy fire number 6
Thunder force 4
whereas many other shoot-’em-ups can be
beaten through mere button-mashing
and a bit of joystick expertise this
title requires you to use your brain and
strategize the game gives you a range of
options for weapons like the chargeable
thunder sword when it’s powerful blast
you can also choose the order in which
you tackle the stages giving you a good
deal of control over your shoot-’em-up
experience number 5 space invaders even
though infinity Jean was notable for
bringing the series into the seventh
generation of consoles and introducing
the concept of evolution to the games
nothing matched the original for pure
shoot-’em-up fun the title was a pioneer
in the industry as a whole and it set
the bar high for years to come ever
since its release gamers have loved
trying to destroy the mystery ship on
top of the screen to get bonus points
number 4 r-type final
the r-type games have been beloved by
gamers ever since the first title in the
series but this installment took the
franchise to a new level and the change
yielded fantastic results providing more
weapon configurations than any other
game on this list with a vast array of
unlocks available you’ll have fun trying
to collect the over 100 playable ships
number three radius five
this installment didn’t do much for the
series other than perfect the experience
it takes the mechanics of the earlier
games and combines them with graphics
that push the ps2 to its limits it
features flawlessly designed levels with
clinician bosses waiting at the end of
each you’ll be in good shape to face
them because now you have way more
control over the multiples those small
satellites that add to your firepower
number two radiant Silvergun this is one
of the rarest games to find today with
the eBay listings for the original
starting at 170 bucks thankfully it was
re-released on the Xbox Live Arcade in
2011 allowing gamers today to experience
it’s brilliant take on the jar its
unique weapon system allows you to
combine three different main guns to
create six weapons if those aren’t
enough options for you you can still use
the energy sword and absorb bullets with
it
before we get to our number one let’s
take a look at some honorable mentions
number one Ikaruga
there’s a ton of sweet shoot-’em-ups out
there but we had a feeling that one
title would be at the top of this list
even before we started ranking it it’s
unique gameplay mechanism allows you to
switch between light and dark polarities
allowing you to absorb bullets from
enemies whose polarities match your own
without taking any damage
you’ll get to know the system pretty
well because the hardest parts of the
game fill your screen with bullets and
if you’re not on your toes to better get
used to blowing up a lot there’s
literally dozens of more 2-d shooters
out there and it’s impossible to put
them all on this list so let us know
what your favorite classic shoot-’em-up
game is and for more action-packed top
10s published daily be sure to subscribe
to watchmojo.com
force may God have mercy on your enemies
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’ll
be counting down our picks for the top
10 classic shoot-’em-up games for our
list we rank the best games from the
classic 2d shoot-’em-up genre or Smuts
for short we excluded games with a 3d
perspective so titles like starfox 64 as
much as we love them are out as usual
one game per franchise number 10
geometry wars retro evolve too
you
here’s a dual stick shooter that’s just
as bright and colorful as it is
addictive you control a small ship that
can fire and move in any direction when
you successfully hit and destroy enemies
they leave behind bright green orbs
which you collect to increase your
multiplier sound simple right well it’s
a game where high scores matter so
you’ll want to grab as many as you can
for bragging rights
on the leaderboards number nine un
squadron as much as we enjoy a simple
shoot-’em-up combining them with other
genres to create bizarre hybrids can be
amazing too
that’s one of the many reasons we can’t
get enough of this title which adds RPG
mechanics like acquiring cash to help
customize your plane you won’t get bored
of it too quickly because it has three
playable characters each with a
different plane
number eight Raptor call of the shadows
despite the difficult learning curve we
used to be hooked on this one it’s
graphics were exceptional for the time
and the music and sound mix can really
get you immersed in the action
you’ll love trying to avoid all of the
enemies who try to either crash into you
or the turrets that try to pick you off
don’t be too intimidated because the
phase shields that you buy and find
throughout the game allow your jet to
endure a lot of damage there’s no one
touch deaths for you here
number 7 1942 long before the Call of
Duty’s and Medal of Honor Sprott the
world war ii shooter into the 21st
century there was this game you control
an American fighter plane trying to make
its way into Tokyo and you face a horde
of opposing Japanese planes along the
way thankfully you can use the game’s
role or loop-de-loop maneuvers which
help you to avoid enemy fire number 6
Thunder force 4
whereas many other shoot-’em-ups can be
beaten through mere button-mashing
and a bit of joystick expertise this
title requires you to use your brain and
strategize the game gives you a range of
options for weapons like the chargeable
thunder sword when it’s powerful blast
you can also choose the order in which
you tackle the stages giving you a good
deal of control over your shoot-’em-up
experience number 5 space invaders even
though infinity Jean was notable for
bringing the series into the seventh
generation of consoles and introducing
the concept of evolution to the games
nothing matched the original for pure
shoot-’em-up fun the title was a pioneer
in the industry as a whole and it set
the bar high for years to come ever
since its release gamers have loved
trying to destroy the mystery ship on
top of the screen to get bonus points
number 4 r-type final
the r-type games have been beloved by
gamers ever since the first title in the
series but this installment took the
franchise to a new level and the change
yielded fantastic results providing more
weapon configurations than any other
game on this list with a vast array of
unlocks available you’ll have fun trying
to collect the over 100 playable ships
number three radius five
this installment didn’t do much for the
series other than perfect the experience
it takes the mechanics of the earlier
games and combines them with graphics
that push the ps2 to its limits it
features flawlessly designed levels with
clinician bosses waiting at the end of
each you’ll be in good shape to face
them because now you have way more
control over the multiples those small
satellites that add to your firepower
number two radiant Silvergun this is one
of the rarest games to find today with
the eBay listings for the original
starting at 170 bucks thankfully it was
re-released on the Xbox Live Arcade in
2011 allowing gamers today to experience
it’s brilliant take on the jar its
unique weapon system allows you to
combine three different main guns to
create six weapons if those aren’t
enough options for you you can still use
the energy sword and absorb bullets with
it
before we get to our number one let’s
take a look at some honorable mentions
number one Ikaruga
there’s a ton of sweet shoot-’em-ups out
there but we had a feeling that one
title would be at the top of this list
even before we started ranking it it’s
unique gameplay mechanism allows you to
switch between light and dark polarities
allowing you to absorb bullets from
enemies whose polarities match your own
without taking any damage
you’ll get to know the system pretty
well because the hardest parts of the
game fill your screen with bullets and
if you’re not on your toes to better get
used to blowing up a lot there’s
literally dozens of more 2-d shooters
out there and it’s impossible to put
them all on this list so let us know
what your favorite classic shoot-’em-up
game is and for more action-packed top
10s published daily be sure to subscribe
to watchmojo.com
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