Amiga shoot 'em ups: Are any worth playing?

[Leon Retro]

Katakis runs quite fast and smoothly. Looks impressive overall.



Starush looks a bit amateurish in some ways, but there's some impressive stuff going on at speed.



Ziriax runs reasonably quick and has quite a lot going on graphically.



Tubular Worlds looks a bit basic, but runs at a decent pace with quite a lot going on.


Please post more shoot 'em ups that you think are worth a few goes.

[buzz909]

I don't play any these days but R-Type was my favourite at the time. The best conversion before the PC Engine version came along. It plays really well. It was made by the developers of Katakis after they got caught in a legal row for copying R-Type too closely - they then got handed the official version because they did such a good job!

Xenon 2 is surely still worth a blast. I can't think of many schmups that have such a cool power-up system - where you get massive laser cannons and missile launchers floating next to you. Also the shop with the alien listening to the tune on his headphones was a great touch.

I haven't played it but people seem to rate Apidya. I like the music and the insect theme

[Brad]

Silkworm IV was good!

[Asura]

Just gonna say it, haters be damned, I loved Xenon 2; though I was a kid. Haven't played it since it came out.

Also X-out.

They may both be terrible.

[Cassius_Smoke]

I had SWIV which is a vertical Shmup. I remember playing the hell out of it

[JazzFunk]

Datastorm was a great Defender variant. Lots of exploding pixels, very slick but hard as futch.

Hybris was also decent, a vert shooter in the vein of Terra Cresta (visually, at least). Was very good in 1990 but ain't played it since so don't know what it's like now.

[JazzFunk]

The 2D sidescrolling bits in Turrican 2, *OBVIOUSLY*.

Most "arcade quality" moments the Amiga ever pulled off!!!

[eastyy]

[Baseley09]

Yeah man, Menace by Psygnosis...gfx blew me away when it was out, certainly an R-Type derivitive but great for it.

[_SD_]

Quite randomly, this popped up in my recommended videos earlier on today...

[samanosuke]

Deluxe Galaga was amazing and free. Incidentally I played the f*ck out of Deluxe Pac-Man too.

[Leon Retro]

I haven't played it but people seem to rate Apidya. I like the music and the insect theme

I've played it a few times -- and can see why people like it. It has nice graphics, feels smooth to play, and the music is catchy. I just wish they'd made the graphics more cutesy, because the realistic look is a bit jarring to my eyes.

Silkworm IV was good!

Yeah, SWIV was something special. Got ported to the Mega Drive and SNES.

Just gonna say it, haters be damned, I loved Xenon 2; though I was a kid. Haven't played it since it came out.

I have fond memories of it because the music really was incredible for the time -- and the overall design was attractive. But I didn't find it a very fun game to play. I wish the gameplay were faster and more direct, similar to Gunhed. Xenon 2 has a lot to admire, but the slow pace kills it for me.

Datastorm was a great Defender variant. Lots of exploding pixels, very slick but hard as futch.

Yeah, it received good reviews. A really well-made Defender style experience.

Hybris was also decent, a vert shooter in the vein of Terra Cresta (visually, at least). Was very good in 1990 but ain't played it since so don't know what it's like now.

I really liked the colouful graphics and excellent music. It's quite a slow game, but I had fun with it. Quite an early[1988] game.

The sequel, Battle Squadron, is also something special. It seemed quite amazing back in 1989.

Yeah man, Menace by Psygnosis...gfx blew me away when it was out, certainly an R-Type derivitive but great for it.

An early[1988] game that showed off the potential of the A500 hardware. I remember seeing screenshots and thinking it looked stunning.



The sequel, Blood Money, was also something special. It's a bit too slow, but still impressed.



The intro was truly amazing -- I used to show it off to friends and family.

[Leon Retro]

Deluxe Galaga was amazing and free. Incidentally I played the f*ck out of Deluxe Pac-Man too.

Looks really good.

[Leon Retro]

A 2019 shoot 'em up designed for the AGA chipset. Looks like a modern indie shooter.

[samanosuke]

Whilst we are all coming up to middling to poor shmups (in comparison to PCE/MD stuff), aren’t we all overlooking one particular shmup that plays to the Amiga’s strengths and at the same time manages to be awesome to play?