*Xenocide Updates*

[Neo Rasa]

Rez / Panzer Dragoon / Space Harrier, are not shmups. They are awesome shooters, but their gameplay works on a 3D environment: ie, the enemies you fight are not on the same plane as your avatar is.

So where does that leave Zaxxon?

[Turrican]

So where does that leave Zaxxon?

Err... maybe every rule allows some exception to confirm it?

Yeah, Zaxxon is one of the most debated cases.

[Neo Rasa]

That's what I figured.

I don't know how the community views it, but to me the defining factors are the automatic scrolling and constant shooting action. I always thought of games like Space Harrier/Panzer Dragoon/etc. as shmups, as an example because the gameplay isn't really 3D. You're just flying "forward" instead of "right" or "up." You're not really moving three dimensionally at all. In a way those games are less "3D" in their gameplay than Zaxxon despite the graphics.

[Shatterhand]

I was thinking about that yesterday before sleeping.

Anyone ever played Zaxxon for the Atari 2600? The game has a view from behind, like Space Harrier (Or the SMS version), and as incredibly as it may sound, it plays much like its arcade counterpart. (It was also an amazing feat considering the hardware).

So, I'd say Zaxxon and Space Harrier are in the same league... Zaxxon just turned the camera 45o to the left.

I am in a hurry now, but when I have some time I'll add some Atari 2600 games.

[Zweihander]

Which raises the ever-present question of: what borderliners are allowed? Hell, I see Contra: HC in the Megadrive list, yet no Gunstar Heroes.. Also, I see Tempest and Gyruss, but no Rez or Panzer Dragoon. wth?

Actually, now that i think of it.. Space Harrier would be a better comparison for rail shooters like Panzer Dragoon or Rez. Tempest and Gyruss are in a different vein.. sorry, had a momentary lapse of grey matter. ^^;;

[Herr Schatten]

If Action Fighter is considered a shmup, it has to be added to the Sega Master System list, too.

The Xenocide files are missing an Amstrad CPC category yet. I started compiling a list a long time ago, but I never finished it and it got lost somewhere (it's probably still on my old computer). Off the top of my head I can think of only a few titles. The Amstrad CPC got excellent ports of Cybernoid and Cybernoid II (better than the Spectrum original and the C64 versions, imo) and Zynaps. It also got the worst version of R-Type I ever played. My memory is a bit hazy, but I think there was a port of Flying Shark, too. I'm not completely sure though.

The CPC got many more games that were originally released for the C64 or for the Spectrum, often the ports were of surprising quality. (It's a borderliner, but the port of Gryzor/Contra was simply amazing and graphically really impressive. Best version for home computers period.)

An entry for the Atari XL/XE series of home computers is also missing. It's got the best version of Dropzone available. The only other game I can think of right now, would be Transmuter, a substandard Gradius clone, but I'm sure there are plenty more.

Here are some games for the Atari 2600 list:

Beamrider
Defender
Defender II
Galaxian
Solaris
Space Invaders
Spider Fighter
Stargate
Vanguard

[CMoon]

I don't know if this is just for games NOT listed, or games listed, but not reviewed or BOTH, but of course there is toaplan goodness that I believe is listed but not reviewed--Daisen Pu/Twin Hawks, Truxton, Slapfight.

That and Grind Stormer needs a BETTER review!

[Turrican]

I don't know if this is just for games NOT listed, or games listed, but not reviewed or BOTH, but of course there is toaplan goodness that I believe is listed but not reviewed--Daisen Pu/Twin Hawks, Truxton, Slapfight.

That and Grind Stormer needs a BETTER review!

No, this is only a list for games that are missing from the Xenocide lists: whether they are reviewed or not is irrelevant here.

Herr Schatten - gotcha, I will remember about SMS Action Fighter if the game does fit the shmup criteria.

EDIT: Yowza!!! I checked a CPC game database, and Whoa!!! It's official, CPC is my Underrated Hardware Choice for year 2005. I mean, UN Squadron, Turricans, even Jim Power! Now I must discover more about this nice 8bit.

That's what I figured.

I don't know how the community views it, but to me the defining factors are the automatic scrolling and constant shooting action. I always thought of games like Space Harrier/Panzer Dragoon/etc. as shmups, as an example because the gameplay isn't really 3D. You're just flying "forward" instead of "right" or "up." You're not really moving three dimensionally at all. In a way those games are less "3D" in their gameplay than Zaxxon despite the graphics.

Space Harrier and Zaxxon work the same: you control "altitude" and move horizontally. Well, in fact, if we based purely on that "geometric" definition, Zaxxon would be out, just like Space Harrier is, (and unlike Viewpoint, of course). But this only shows that a single definition is never enough to define the genre. There are many other definitions we can consider, which don't take geometry and planes into account but relies on other factors, like forced scrolling, enemy swarms and such.

In the end, I think the geometric one works the best because it's quite strict and precise: Zaxxon is one of the few games it would exclude. On the other hand, other elements like forced scrolling and such are a lot more complicated: just think to Defender or In the Hunt, when you are scrolling the screen, or all the proto-shmups where the screen doesn't scroll at all.

[Shatterhand]

The CPC is a great 8 bits computer, but it's a shame it barely got any original games on it, everything is a port of other systems.

When I found out the CPC, I was gobsmacked to see some of my Spectrum favourites with COLORS!

A few more Atari 2600 shmups

Laser Gates (Imagic, 1983, Horizontal
River Raid (Activision, 1982, Vertical - I hope no one is going to say this is not a shmup)
River Raid 2 (Activision, 1988, Vertical)
Demon Attack (Imagic, Single screen - This was also released on the C64 by Imagic too)
Centipede (Atari, 1982, single screen)
Astro War (Horizontal)
Cosmic Commuter (Activision, 1984, Defender alike)
Chopper Command (Activision, 1982, Defender alike with a chopper)
Pigs in Space (Atari, 1983, stupid space invaders clone)
Planet Patrol (Spectravision, Horizontal, also the first (Maybe the only?) horizontal shmup that scrolls from left to right, instead of right to left)
Buck Rogers (Sega, 1982 - I don't know if this counts, at least in the Atari 2600 you only move "into" the screen, and left and right. There's no "up/down" movement)
Gyruss (Parker Brothers/Konami , Single Screen)
Cosmic Corridor (Zimag, Vertical)
Deadly Duck (20th Century Fox, 1982, Single Screen)
Dragon Defender (Ariola, Single Screen)
Desert Falcon (Atari, 1987, It's a bit like Zaxxon, so I dunno if it should be
added)
Exocet (Panda, Horizontal)
Flash Gordon (20th Century Fox, Horizontal)
Sinistar
Gorf (CBS Videogames/Bally Midway , Single screen)
Great Escape (It's a bit like Bosconian)
Moonsweeper (Imagic, 1983)
Tac Scan (Sega, 1982)
Phoenix (Atari, Single Screen)
Seaquest (Activision ... does this count as a shmup?)
Snoopy and the Red Baron (Atari, 1983, Head-to-Head defender alike)
Solar Storm (Imagic, Single Screen)
Megamania (Activision, 1982, Single Screen)
Sea Hawk (Froggo, 1982, Defender alike)
Xevious (Atari, 1983, Vertical)
Space Cavern (Apollo, Single Screen)
The Empire Strikes Back (Parker Bros, 1982, Defender alike)
Subterranea (Imagic, Defender alike)
Super Cobra (Parker Bros/Konami, 1982, Horizontal)

No Escape (Imagic, 1983, Single screen... can someone play that and see if it fits as a shmup or not? This game is so original, so different... you have to shoot bricks in the top of the screen, so they fall and kill enemies.. if you shot an enemy, he splits in 2, and you have to dodge incoming fire from the enemies...)
Space Master X-7 (20th Century Fox, 1982, Other game I am not sure it fits into the shmups category)

There was a very cool vertical shmup which you were inside a human body... does anyone remembers the name of this one?

That's what I can remember now

And please add this to the MSX list:

Moonsweeper (Imagic)
Kyokyugen (M-Kai, 1997 (It's right, 1997), Vertical )

[Shatterhand]

Now that I checked Turrican original post, I want to add a small comment.

The MSX xenoicide file was 90% or more compiled by myself. Many many years ago I made a .TXT file with all MSX shmups I could remeber, with some info on them, and I sent to Akira.

Akira just made a table of it, and put in the "comments" the info I had wrote.

I always thought some of the comments there were horribly written (My english is far from perfect) and some are completely out of place (Like my totally biased view towards the Aleste series ). It was never a big thing, so I never complained or anything.. (Not to mention the wrong info about Zanac 3 and the Laydock series)

But looking at it now, it looks like a real mess. I think we should get ridden of most comments there, and just make it simple - Put year of release, developer/publish and just a small comment when necessary, like "Good arcade port", "Straight port from the spectrum version" or "An MSX classic".... stuff like that.

[Shatterhand]

Ok, found out the name of the vertical shmup where you go inside a human body.

Atari 2600:

Fantastic Voyage (Fox, 1982, Vertical)

And I just found out that Super Cross Force (Spectravideo, Single Screen) was also released for the Atari 2600 (Not only the MSX)

[Damocles]

Planet Patrol (Spectravision, Horizontal, also the first (Maybe the only?) horizontal shmup that scrolls from left to right, instead of right to left)

Nope. Scarlet 7 on the MSX scrolls from right to left. Dunno when Planet Patrol came out, but Scarlet 7 was released in 1986. No, I really have nothing important to add.

*shrug*

[Shatterhand]

damn, forgot about scarlet 7

It surely came out after planet patrol.

Scarlet 7 had some great music

[llabnip]

One of my favoriate classic systems (though not for shooters) is the TI-99/4a. We have few shooters - but those that exist are good.

TI-99/4a
-------------------
Parsec - 1982 - Horizontal scrolling shooter with pre-programmed voice on the speech synthesizer. Beautiful colors, great sounds, precise control (with a non-TI joystick). The best shooter on the system and an exclusive. Too cool!

TI Invaders - 1981 - A space-invaders clone that was one of the very best in 1981. Fast, colorful with nice ramping difficulty. Love how a new ship ramps up from a bunker under the playfield when you die.

Super Demon Attack - 1983 - A souped-up Demon Attack for the TI-99 that had much improved graphics, enemies, etc. but the control was a bit off.

Meteor Belt - 1983 - another speech game that is more a 2D corss-screen-shooter borderliner but it's fun enough that it should be on the list.

Moonmine - 1983 - pseudo 3D shooter with guns at the 4 cardinal positions that converge to a point on the screen (think Crossfire). It tries to be 3D-ish, but the gameplay remains almost totally 2D. Unique for the time and very fun. This one also uses the speech synthesizer to great effect.

Buck Rogers - Planet of Zoom - 1983 - This isometric shooter is a solid conversion of the Sega arcade game released a year earlier. Not as good as the Colecovision version of the same vintage but still good.

Defender - 1983 - Atari made several games for the Colecovision and TI-99 during the early 80's and most of those conversions were quite good. Defender is a little spartan on color choices and the sounds are fairly pedestrian, but the gameplay is good ole-defender madness.

Tunnels of Doom - 1982. Ok, not a shooter at all, but if you're going to have a TI-99/4a, you may as well have the best game ever made for it!

The best part is that none of the games above will run more than a few bucks as the TI-99 wasn't the most popular system.

[Vexorg]

I haven't seen any mention of PocketPC stuff on this thread... There's actually quite a few PPC shmups out there. Offhand, I can think of these (I'm probably missing some). I had put together a comprehensive list at one point, but I think it was on the MK2 forum:

Turjah 1 and 2
Gikadiver
Siberian Strike X
Fire Power
Darklaga: Cannonball Symphony
Sky Force
Clay Gun

[Accutron]

TI-99/4a

Another shmup for the TI is Buck Rogers Planet of Zoom.

[Shatterhand]

Add this to MSX

Zorax (Discovery - Horizontal )

This was the first comercial MSX game produced here in Brazil... this game is a joke today in the MSX Brazilian scene, everytime someone wants to say something is bad, they say it's "Zorax". It had some great ads in Brazilian MSX magazines (A first, as no other MSX game was released oficially here), which hyped it so much that it was just hilarious.

It's a shame, as the programmers seemed to know what they were doing, the game isn't half bad programmed, it's just completely flawed in its design (You always start the game losing a life, because as soon as the game starts, there's an enemy who just point blank at you)

Some of the guys who made that later produced the first (And only, as far as I know) Brazilian Amiga game, called "Barravento - O Mestre da Capoeira), a fighting game which again was a reasonable effort in the programming side, but it lacked any decent gameplay features.

http://hol.abime.net/4161 <- Barravento, for anyone who may be interested

[Herr Schatten]

I did a little research and came up with more additions to the Amstrad CPC list:

1942 (US Gold/Elite, 1986)
1943 (US Gold, 1988)
Action Fighter (Firebird, 1989)
Afteroids (Zigurat, 1988)
Ahhh!!! (CRL, 1984)
Airwolf II (Hit Pak, 1987)
Bedlam (Go!, 1988)
Blasteroids (Imageworks, 1989)
Cerberus (Players, 1986)
Chronos (Mastertronic, 1987)
Classic Axians (Bubble Bus, 1987)
Classic Invaders (Bubble Bus, 1987)
Copter 271 (Loriciel, 1991)
Dive Dive Dive (Tynesoft, 1987)
Dominator (System 3, 1989)
Dragon Breed (Activision, 1991)
Dragon Spirit (Domark, 1989)
Energy (Mastertronic, 1987)
Fire! (New Deal, 1990)
F1 Tornado Simulator (Zeppelin, 1990)
Galachip (Chip, 1985)
Galactic Plague (Amsoft, 1984)
Galaxia (Kuma, 1984)
Gemini Wing (Virgin, 1989)
Guardian II: Revenge of the Mutants (Hi-Tec, 1990)
Gunsmoke (Topo Soft/US Gold, 1987)
Gunstar (Firebird, 1987)
Havoc (Players, 1990)
Island of Dr. Destructo (Bulldog, 1987)
Killapede (Players 1986)
Killer Cobra (Mastertronic, 1987)
Killer Ring (Reaktör, 1987)
Laserwarp (Amsoft/Mikro-Gen, 1984)
Last Duel (US Gold, 1989)
Light Force (FTL, 1986)
Mega Apocalypse (Martech, 1988)
Meganova (Dinamic, 1988)
Megaphoenix (Dinamic, 1991)
Megawar (Genesis, 1990)
Mission Genocide (Firebird, 1987)
Mr. Heli (Firebird, 1989)
Moon Cresta (Incentive, 1986)
Nuclear Heist (Players, 1986)
Outlaw (Players, 1990)
Out of this World (Reaktör, 1987)
P-47: The Freedom Fighter (Firebird, 1990)
Plasmatron (CRL, 1988)
Q10 Tank Buster (Zeppelin, 1991)
Radius (Players, 1987)
Rath-Tha (Positive, 1989)
Rock Raid (Kuma, 1985)
Sabotage (Zeppelin, 1988)
Side Arms (US gold, 1987)
Silkworm (Virgin, 1988)
Slap Fight (Imagine, 1987)
Solar Coaster (Optyx, 1987)
Sonic Boom (Activision, 1990)
Speedzone (Mastertronic, 1988)
Star Firebirds (Insight, 1986)
Steel Eagle (Players, 1990)
Super Space Invaders (Domark, 1990)
Swiv (Storm, 1991)
Tanium (Players, 1988)
Thrust (Firebird, 1986)
Thrust II (Firebird, 1987)
Transmuter (Codemasters, 1987)
Typhoon (Imagine, 1988)
Ultima Ratio (Firebird, 1987)
Warhawk (Firebird, 1987)
Weetabix vs. Titchies (Romik, 1984)
Wizball (Ocean, 1987)
Wriggler (Blaby, 1985)
Zarkon (Budgie, 1987)

[Turrican]

Here, let me update a bit...

I didn't find a reason why Action Fighter or Spy Hunter wouldn't be shmups. Moreover, Spyhunter and Battle Formula are already in the NES Xenocide, so that settles it. I tried the SMS Action Fighter and I must say it's quite addictive, nice!

btw, the more obscure platforms are added, the less I can claim any knowledge on their library, so I'm basically doing a copy/paste of your suggestions.

I didn't put Senko no Ronde, there's a thread by Cthulhu that explain why (Senko no Ronde impressions).

I wonder if all the work we're doing for 8bit systems is close to Malc's original vision of shmups. I got this feeling that single screen, one movement axis shooters (the so-called proto-shmups) weren't taken in consideration in the beginning. However, Space Invaders is listed pretty much everywhere, and that is enough of a reason to list the others as well.

Finally, let me list the Xenocide files that haven't been updated so far. This probably means that these lists are already pretty accurate, but I'm sure that an in-depth research could spot some obscure titles for these systems too.


* Atari ST

* Commodore 64

* Mega CD & 32x

* NEO GEO

* NEO GEO Pocket

* Nintendo 64

* PC Engine CD

* Saturn

* SNES

[EDIT]

Here's a couple of interesting links I found on the web while looking for CPC, TI-99 and such:

http://www.cpcgamereviews.com/

http://www.99er.net/

http://www.ti99.com/

[llabnip]

btw, the more obscure platforms are added, the less I can claim any knowledge on their library, so I'm basically doing a copy/paste of your suggestions.

Seems fair enough - feel free to use what I wrote for the TI-99/4a. I went back and edited my post for the TI-99 to add Buck Rogers (thanks Accutron!) and Defender and added a bit of detail to some others. Thanks for keeping such a great resource (i.e. Xenofiles) up to date!

http://www.99er.net/

http://www.ti99.com/

Good sites. For the TI-99, I'd add: http://www.videogamehouse.net/parsec.html which is a nice little capsule summary of Parsec which is a fine 2D scrolling shooter for the system.

[Tar-Palantir]

These games can be added to the NES section:

Gyrodine (port of the arcade game, actually better)
Uchuu Keibitaii SDF (scoreless shmup, reminds me a bit of Nexzr)
Parodius Da!

[zyloj]

I took the posted Amstrad CPC list and added some titles more available for ZX spectrum machines:

Afteroids (Zigurat, 1988)
Ahhh!!! (CRL, 1984)
Axons (Software Saur, 1991) Czech clone of Xenon 2
Blasteroids (Imageworks, 1989)
Classic Axiens (Bubble Bus, 1988)
Dr. Destructo (Bulldog, 1987)
Energy warrior (Mastertronic, 1987)
F1 Tornado Simulator (Zeppelin, 1990)
Galaxian (Atarisoft, 1984)
Gunsmoke/Desperado (Topo Soft/US Gold, 1987)
Havoc (Players, 1990)
Killer Ring (Reaktör, 1987)
Light Force (FTL, 1986)
Mega Apocalypse (Martech, 1988)
Meganova (Dinamic, 1988)
Megaphoenix (Dinamic, 1991)
Outlaw (Players, 1990)
Out of this World (Reaktör, 1987)
Plasmatron (CRL, 1988)
Q10 Tank Buster (Zeppelin, 1992)
Rath-Tha (Positive, 1989)
Sabotage (Zeppelin, 1988)
Side Arms (US gold, 1987)
Silent shadow (Topo Soft, 1988)
Sonic Boom (Activision, 1990)
Speedzone (Mastertronic, 1988)
Stardust (Topo soft, 1987)
Star Firebirds (Insight, 1985)
Steel Eagle (Players, 1990)
Super Space Invaders (Domark, 1990)
Thrust (Firebird, 1986)
Thrust II (Firebird, 1987)
Ultima Ratio (Firebird, 1987)
Weetabix vs. Titchies (Romik, 1984)
Wizball (Ocean, 1987)


Corrections:
Game over II is the same game than Phantis. Slightly modified graphics and story for better sales in UK (Game over tittle was popular because of it censored cover)

R-type (Electric Dreams,1988)


Tested with the World of Spectrum database

[Shatterhand]

Game Over is NOT the same game that Phantis.

The 1st part of Game Over is a platform action game, which only goes from left to right

The 1st part of Phantis is a shmup with 4 levels.

The 2nd part of both games is an open platform game with many rooms and places to go, but they are COMPLETELY different. I've finished both games, and I am 100% sure they are NOT the same game.

I think Phantis is a sort of sequel to Game Over (Or is it the other war around?) , but they definitely are NOT the same game. (In Game Over you control a guy who has to save a girl, and in Phantis you control that Girl, but I think she's trying to save her planet or something)

Game Over has no place in the xenocide files, as it doesn't have anything shmuppy about it. Now Phantis has 4 levels of shmup action before going into the "arcade adventure" mode.

Also, Desperado was an OFFICIAL port of Gunsmoke? I never knew that, I always thought Topo Soft just ripped off Gunsmoke with no shame - Pretty much like they did with Pacmania when they released Madmix or Rally-X when they released Rock'n'Roller, though those 2 games try to be better than the games they ripped off.

EDIT: Oh, sorry.. now I see you meant Game Over 2 (TWO!!!) . I never knew Phantis was released as Game Over 2 anywhere, but I always knew it was supposed to be a sequel to Game Over.

[zyloj]

Also, Desperado was an OFFICIAL port of Gunsmoke?

Desperado was first released in Spain without license from Capcom. I think they finally got a legal agreement with Capcom (and avoid problems), so the game was released as an official conversion in UK.
More info, here

I never knew that, I always thought Topo Soft just ripped off Gunsmoke with no shame - Pretty much like they did with Pacmania when they released Madmix

I consider Mad mix game as a improved remake of Pac-man: better graphics, extra power-ups. This game was its more popular international game because Pepsi used it in a promotion. There is a sequel called Mad mix game 2 with isometric view and bigger graphics (and here, pac-man can jump like in Pacmania).

or Rally-X when they released Rock'n'Roller, though those 2 games try to be better than the games they ripped off.

This company published several rip-offs of well known arcades, like Tekhan world cup (Emilio Butragueño futbol!), Trojan (Metropolis) or remakes like Zona 0 (remember Tron races?).
Topo soft Spectrum games

Other Spanish companies also had problems with Capcom. Dinamic released Satan, game where the first phase is like Black tiger.

EDIT: Oh, sorry.. now I see you meant Game Over 2 (TWO!!!) . I never knew Phantis was released as Game Over 2 anywhere, but I always knew it was supposed to be a sequel to Game Over.

As I said before, the game originally was released as Phantis in Spain. To get better sales in UK market, they decided to modify some graphics, the cover, the story and the name to use the popularity of Game over. Its cover had a very "suggestive" woman (an excellent ilustration by Luis royo), so British censorship decided to change the original bra for a bigger metallic one, and hide some anatomic parts with a screen of the game.
Find the differences:
Spanish cover
English cover
First British advertisement
Second British advertisement

Sorry for the off-topic, but I think the illustration is very interesting

[Shatterhand]

I already knew Game Over's cover, I used to drool over it when I was a little kid. You could see half a nipple there

I am a big fan of Topo Soft, I think I've played it all the games they've made, or at least nearly them all. They managed to do some awesome games in spite of using such a limited hardware as the Spectrum, and they also ported nearly all of their games to the MSX. I've played both Emilio Brutagueno Soccer games, Zona 0 and Metropolis. Their games usually had some awesome music in the title screen, made by a guy who was called "Gominolas" (I think this means "Candy" in spanish)... Titanic, Rock 'n' Roller, Madmix, Drazen Petrovic Basketball, Stardust, Colt 36 and a lot more all had music from him.

Now, I find funny how any soccer game with an overhead view released in the 80s is considered to be a Tehkan World Cup rip-off... people said the same about Microprose Soccer in the C64 (None of them are as good as the arcade game though, which still is one of the most fun soccer games to play to this day).

Have you ever played Rock 'n' Roller? It's for Rally X what Mad Mix was for Pacmania... the concept is the same (Control a car in a maze getting flags while avoiding computer cars), but it's full of power ups and crazy stuff like Mad Mix was (There's even a part where your car is chased by a chopper firing at you! )... awesome stuff.

[zyloj]

Now, I find funny how any soccer game with an overhead view released in the 80s is considered to be a Tehkan World Cup rip-off...

I think in this case they copied Tehkan world cup for sure. It was a very popular arcade in Spain. Emilio Butragueño isn't as good in playability, but you can score goals shooting in midfield, and screen design is almost the same. People who don't know these games can compare them here:
Emilio Butragueño
Tehkan world cup

Have you ever played Rock 'n' Roller? It's for Rally X what Mad Mix was for Pacmania...

Yes, I have it, and it's an interesting game, although I enjoy more Mad mix game. It's more playable and fun for me. I usually have it in my gba to play in emulator in any place.

Again sorry for the off-topic.
In compensation, I add some more shmups available in Spectrum:

Army moves (Dinamic, 1986)
Comando Tracer (Dinamic, 1989)
Commando (Elite Systems Ltd, 1985)
Delfox (Dinamic 100%, 1988)
Eliminator (Hewson, 1988)
Jackson city (G.LL soft, 1990)
Mag max (Imagine, 1987)
Meganova (Dinamic, 1988)
Mercs (U.S. Gold, 1991)
Navy moves (Dinamic, 1989)
Soviet (Opera soft, 1990)
Thunder blade (U.S. Gold, 1989)

Platform horizontal shooter:
Astro marine corps (Dinamic, 1989)
Exolon (Hewson, 1987 )
Gunrunner (Hewson, 1988)

[Shatterhand]

Astro Marine Corps used to be at the "Borderline" section in the old site. As I think Soviet, Army Moves, Navy Moves, Exolon and Gunrunner should be too. (I remember when I was making the list for MSX shmups, I asked if I should include Army Moves, and Akira promptly said "no".). I think Mercs also is a borderline too, as commando should be.

Also I am not sure if Comando Tracer fits into the "shmups category" either, the game feels more like a platform game to me. I mean, the scroll is not forced, you can go either to right OR to left (Which feels a bit like defender for sure), and there's gravity and your vehicle can JUMP.

And shit mate, you surely know your spectrum games . Soviet was one of the only 2 Operasoft games that I found enjoyable (The other one was Last Mission ... which nearly fits into the shmup category too)... and Astro Marine Corps... oh God, I remember when I finished this little beast, I felt like it was a real acomplishment back at that time, I think I was around 5 or 6 years old, and I jumped and yelled around the house for like 10 minutes or something

Ugh, I keep on going off-topic, heh

So I'll add some Spectrum shmups too, which I just noticed are missing from the Xenocide files:

F.I.R.E. (Fuxoft - 1988 - horizontal)
Turbo Girl (Dinamic - 1988 - vertical)
Void Runner (Mastetronic - 1987)

And I'll also add that License To Kill is not a shmup. There's only one stage where you control a chopper, but even that stage is not much of a shmup.

[zyloj]

Astro Marine Corps used to be at the "Borderline" section in the old site. As I think Soviet, Army Moves, Navy Moves, Exolon and Gunrunner should be too.

I added Navy moves and Army moves because they have some levels in the first part where you are using helicopters, submarines,... with a continuous scroll.
I consider Soviet as a multidirectional shoot'em up (like Asteroids) where you must rescue people (like defender).

(I remember when I was making the list for MSX shmups, I asked if I should include Army Moves, and Akira promptly said "no".). I think Mercs also is a borderline too, as commando should be.

We need a clear definition about what's a shoot'em up.

F.I.R.E. (Fuxoft - 1988 - horizontal)

This game possibly is amateur. Do you know if it was oficially released and distributed by any company?

Turbo Girl (Dinamic - 1988 - vertical)

Ups, I forgot this one in my list of Spanish shmups.

[Shatterhand]

Hmm.. the first part of Navy Moves is a lot similar too Moon Patrol. The same can be said about the 1st level of the 1st part of Army Moves too, but the 2nd level is more of a shmup indeed... I never beat level 2 though.

Yes, there's some chance F.I.R.E. is amateur. In the intro it says it was made in checholosvakia (Is that the way it's spelled in english?), and the game is a rip-off from Gradius (Though a LOT better than the oficial port )

Soviet is a multi-directional shooter, so it's not a shmup. Some people don't consider even Asteroids a shmup... Soviet is more closer in gameplay to Alien Syndrome, Gauntlet or stuff like that than to a real shmup. It's an awesome game though

[rolins]

NEC PC98

Rude Breaker (Compile)
E.S.P (A-Inn)
Hell Ogre (Ziggo Watt)
Burning Dragon (WIZ)
Kuru (Ascomoid)
Space Destroyer: Kuru 2 (Ascomoid)
Galaga (Namco)
Xevious (Namco)
Garudius '95 (CO2-PRO)
Flame Zapper Kotsujin (CO2-PRO)
Throw Lance: Incite Steb Shooter (Esperanto)
Thexder (Game Arts)
Steam Heart's (Giga)
Net Guardian (Moguraya Soft)
Metal Force (Chime)
Revival Astro Wars Part II (Taka)
Disaster (K2 Studio)
Metal Fork (Kuni-soft)
Felis (Cocktail Soft)
Story of Eastern Wonderland (Zun Soft)
Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream (Zun Soft)
Lotus Land Story (Zun Soft)
Mystic Square (Zun Soft)
Carax '92 (Bio 100%)
BK Turb (Bio 100%)
eForth (Bio 100%)
Goggle-2 (Bio 100%)
Goggle-3: Super Spartan (Bio 100%)
Markadia (Bio 100%)
Stardust Chaser (Bio 100%)
Super Depth (Bio 100%)
Super Depth 2 Finalty (Bio 100%)
Owl-Zoo (Bio 100%)
NyaHax '93 (Bio 100%)
Camal-Zoo (Bio 100%)
Twins (Bio 100%)
Twins 2 (Bio 100%)
Weapons Free (ABA)
Fangs Out 2 (ABA)

Source: http://pc98.acheronx.com/


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