I picked up the latest issue of Retro Gamer and was excited to see that as well as featuring awesome art by Oliver Fray (who I have really like) it had an article on shoot 'em ups. Whilst reading the article and munching on old skool treats I got to thinking about the genre. My first experience at the arcade was when I was 6 and it was at my local video store, there was Pacman and Space Invaders. I suppose that was my first intro to shoot 'em up games, that little sit down cocktail cabinet.

Retro Gamer and retro sweets, a winning combination.

They've always held a special place in my heart as once the enemy patterns are learnt and memorised you can look like a boss completing a game. I have a vivid memory of playing Rtype at Heathrow airport and getting to level 3, that huge base ship. I bought the game on the Amstrad CPC 464 and felt like a bad-ass as my little ship took down a warship that was bigger than a screen, in fact it was a whole level in and of itself. Over the years I bought RType again on the Master System and then progressed to the Megadrive where I continued my love of shoot 'em ups.
Unfortunately over the last few years bullet hell games have taken over, I like them as I feel Zen when I play them but they are not the same as shoot 'em ups. Bullet hell games, especially the ones that have made their way West in the last few years on console including Deathsmile and Akai Katana have a place but they do feel stagnant compared to Dodonpachi and Ikaruga, the true exciting innovators of bullet hell. But generally bullet hell games have a different feel and mechanics.

So here these are some of my favourite shoot 'em ups, there are no SNES shoot 'em ups as I only had a Master System and Megadrive growing up and only got a SNES later in life. I'm playing some of the SNES shoot 'em ups now so this list will be updated later.

RType

RType

R-Type on the master system is a shooter I ploughed tonnes of hours into but never completed, it’s just so darned tough. The only way I saw the end of the game was on infinite life mode on the ipad recently.

Rtype Master System

A beautifully crafted game that looked superb on the humble Master System, there was a lot of screen flicker but what do you expect with all those enemies and bullets flying around?

RType

This first level boss is iconic, he looks fierce but is taken down easily!

RType Master System

The third level is iconic as you battle an enormous green mothership of the Bydo Empire

Fantasy Zone

Fantasy Zone

The title screen does it all, bright and cheerful!

Fantasy Zone Genesis

You can go either left or right in this game and there is no time limit- but it is tougher than the cutsy visuals imply.

Fantasy Zone Megadrive

The bosses are big and quite tough to beat.

Ranger X

Ranger X

Before each level it has some interesting visuals showing the target enemy (boss)- impressive visuals and ideas for a game made in 1993!

Ranger X Megadrive

The explosions in this game are spectacular and the soundtrack is suitably bombastic, driving you forward.

Ranger X Genesis

Huge bosses that take up a lot of the screen

Thunderforce III

Thunderforce III

This game has one of the best soundtracks of any 16 bit game… truly amazing, my favourite is the track for Ellis (the ice planet)

Thunderforce III

The select screen of Thunderforce 3 allows you to choose the order in which you want to take the planets on.

Thunderforce III

Gorgon, the fire planet has a shimmering and swirling background- the visuals are truly impressive.

Thunderforce III

Ellis (the Ice Planet) has a multi directional auto scrolling feature which makes this a tricky level. It has the best music of the game in my humble opinion.

Thunderforce III

Haides (the asteroid field) has the level constantly shifting with the land masses closing in on you to crush you… it features the heart stopping moment when you are stuck down a gorge but the screen slowly reverses and you escape, the first time this happened I nearly wet myself

Thunderforce III

Hydra (the forest planet) has some interesting parallax scrolling to make it visually interesting

Thunderforce III

Seiren (the water planet) is difficult as it has water currents that push your ship around.

Thunderforce IV

Thunderforce IV

The introduction screen the TF4 is amazingly bombastic and well worth a watch.

Thunderforce 4

As with Thunderforce 3, you can choose the order in which to take on the missions.

Thunderforce 4

TF4 has a larger play field than in TF4 which means the screen scrolls up and down to give a more strategic game. This is Strite, the mountainous planet. As you go near the water submarine type enemies fire projectiles at you. If you stay at the top part of the screen you get more aerial attacks.

Thunderforce 4

Air raid has you fighting against an armarda which constantly targets you and once they get you in their sights they release a load of ammo.

Thunderforce 4

Ruin features fighting your way through blasted and destroyed cities against plenty of mechs.

Thunderforce 4

Daser is the desert planet and features great sand storm effects, 16 bit shoot em up graphics at their best.

Zero Wing

Zero Wing

The intro is suitably epic and anime-ish