Vertical arcade games that AREN'T SHMUPS

[soupbones]

Recently been on a buying spree for JAMMA boards for my vertical cabinet. It's obviously been a bit heavy on shmups since that seems to be the majority of games released in that format, but was looking to get some non-shmup games...

So far I've picked up:
Bakuretsu Crash Race (lethal crash race)
Speed Rumbler
Wrestle War (pending)

On the hunt for:
Out Zone
Fixeight
Change Air Blade (I guess that's technically a shmup though...)

Any recommends?

[rancor]

APB

[Austin]

Contra and Super Contra.

[Ruldra]

Gaiapolis is a vert beat-em-up.

[soupbones]

Gaiaopolis! Forgot about that one - good pick!

Super C is another I need to pick up - thanks!

Not sure about APB - it's a great game, but isnt it a steering wheel game? (should have mentioned this is for a stick panel)

[Mortificator]

Well, there goes my Arkanoid recommendation. Anyway, Namco Classic Collection volumes 1 & 2 are full of awesome, particularly the first. Some other great old-school games with vertical monitors are Qix, Burger Time, and the Donkey Kong trilogy.

There are quite a few games similar to Out Zone and Fixeight, though that pair is more shmup-like than most. Some of my favorites are Commando, Mercs, Ikari Warriors, Heavy Barrel, and Guevara (balls hard).

[Austin]

Time Soldiers is awesome, but unfortunately it requires those rotary joysticks in order for the game to be any fun.

[RNGmaster]

Pacman?

[neorichieb1971]

Most oldies are verts.

Donkey kong, Pacman, Pacmania, Bombjack/twin etc etc.

[Sumez]

Gals Panic

(oh, and several other Qix games)

[Dave_K.]

Already a thread for this here.

Anyway, my suggestions:
Gunbarich
Volfied
Nitroball/Gunball
Gundhara
Cybattler
Bomb Jack Twin
Desert War
Ghox

[emphatic]

http://maws.mameworld.info/maws/romset/atetrisc

[jonny5]

Driftout

[Aquas]

Psychic 5

[BrianC]

Despite horizontal scrolling, Jr. Pac-Man is definitely a vertically oriented game. It's funny how the 2600 version is horizontally oriented with vertical scrolling due to hardware limitations.

[1up]

King of Boxer

best damn boxing game ever made, only rivalled by punch-out!!

[Despatche]

Games like Out Zone, Mercs et al = shmups, at the moment. Now how Cybattler would ever be considered something other than a shmup is beyond me.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Tecmo's Pinball Action PCB is a cool arcade pinball game displayed in tate. One uses a button on the 1P side for the left flipper and a button on the 2P side for the right flipper. Odd layout for choice of buttons but it works like a charm nevertheless. Be aware that PA tates in the opposite direction of most modern-day tateable PCBs + there's no dipswitch setting to flip the screen orientation 180 degrees either. Despite PA's soft-core presentation, it does have a few tables worth checking out, complete with the proper alpha-numeric display for score keeping purposes (typical of pinball machines during that era & before the advent of the LED based scoreboard pins indeed).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[BrianC]

King of Boxer

best damn boxing game ever made, only rivalled by punch-out!!

Ring King!

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Another cool unreleased Atari Games produced shooting game by the name of "Nightmare" (developed in 1985) utilizes a vertical monitor setup + it uses the same controller layout like that of Bally Midway's classic Tron arcade game (digital 8-way joystick with trigger button for firing + a rotary knob spinner for aiming). Unfortunately, only one prototype upright cabinet was made and was shown for the first time at the 2010 California Extreme show. It made an return appearance at the recent 2011 CAX show as well. It is a surprisingly solid shooting game with the additional tension factor like that of Williams' Robotron 2084 arcade game (as all enemies head towards the player forcing you to shoot your way out to survive type of frantic & crazy gameplay) and would've done well in the arcades if it was properly green-lit to be released.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~