Burai Fighter

The action franchise that started it all is celebrating its 20th anniversary with an all-new adventure on Nintendo DS! Set after the events of Contra III: Alien Wars, the game follows mercenaries Bill Rizer and Lance Bean as they battle to save the world from a new extraterrestrial threat. Contra 4 takes advantage of the dual screens of the Nintendo DS to deliver larger than life action, with massive enemies, detailed platforming and mind-blowing set pieces.

In Söldner-X 2: Final Prototype, you will return to Gota IV as part of the Soldner-X defense force. Mankind will once more rely on your battle against new mysterious powers. Staged across seven unique action-loaded levels accompanied with an adrenaline pumping soundtrack, Söldner-X 2: Final Prototype combines traditional 2D gameplay with detailed high definition graphics and a taste of fresh innovations. Twenty years after the Virus Wars, you return to Gota IV as part of the newly formed Söldner-X defense force. Your mission: to free the galaxy from the D'aarg, a technologically superior race that is threatening mankind. Staged across up to 10 unique action-loaded levels, Söldner-X 2: Final Prototype delivers a must-have, shoot' em up experience, blending classic gameplay with the astonishing audio-visuals.

Abadox is a video game for the NES, subtitled The Deadly Inner War. It is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up in the vein of Gradius and R-Type. The game is notable for its unique visual design, as the game takes place inside the intestinal tract of a giant alien organism. Abadox is also known to be difficult, since it takes one hit from an enemy projectile to be killed. In Abadox, if a player is killed, they must restart from the last checkpoint before death.

Gradius V is the fifth entry in Konami’s Gradius series, originally released for PlayStation 2. It introduces new mechanics while retaining core side-scrolling shooter gameplay. One notable addition is the ability to control the firing direction of "Options" (the yellow support pods) using the analog stick. While adjusting direction, the player’s ship remains stationary, adding tactical risk and challenge. The rest follows standard Gradius mechanics: avoid collisions and enemy fire while collecting power-up capsules to upgrade weapons. Gradius V was later released on PlayStation 3 as a PS2 Classic but has since been delisted and is no longer available for purchase.

Tyrian is a scrolling shooter computer game developed by World Tree Games Productions and published in 1995 by Epic MegaGames. The game was officially released as freeware in 2004, and the graphics were made available under an open license in April 2007. Tyrian was programmed by Jason Emery, illustrated by Daniel Cook, and its music composed by Alexander Brandon and Andras Molnar.

This game features two playable characters to choose from, with two different attack types each. Reimu Hakurei can pepper a wide area of the screen with weaker attacks, while Marisa Kirisame relies on her power to compensate for her narrower attack spread. The bombs also exhibit unique behavior and damage amounts depending upon the character chosen. Lotus Land Story is the first game in the Touhou Project to feature bombs that auto-collect items, graze counting, the ability to move more slowly by holding the shift key, and a non-trivial scoring system that involves the collection of special dream items that boost the player's ultimate scoring potential. The game's scoring system also marks the series' first instance of score bonuses for the elimination of bullets following the defeat of mid-bosses and bosses.

Turrican is a 1990 video game programmed and designed by Manfred Trenz. It was first developed for the Commodore 64 by Rainbow Arts, but was ported to other systems later. In addition to concept design and character creation, Trenz personally programmed Turrican on the Commodore 64. A sequel, Turrican II, followed 1991 for the Commodore 64 and other platforms.

The game is a side-on scrolling shoot-em-up. The story revolves around Ikuro, whose wife Yuri has been poisoned by Hexaae, an evil lord of black magic. Ikuro uses magic to transform into a deadly bee and vows to find an antidote for Yuri and wreak revenge on Hexaae.

Giga Wing 2 (ギガウイング2?) is a 2000 vertical scrolling shooter arcade game developed by Takumi and published by Capcom on Sega's NAOMI arcade system board and later ported in 2001 to the Dreamcast console. The arcade version is notable both for its excessive scores (scores in the quintillions are not unheard of), and for using a horizontally aligned monitor (much like Treasure Co. Ltd's Radiant Silvergun), something that is considered rare for a vertical shooter.

In the darkest reaches of infinite space, pure evil lies in wait ... The Dark Forces led by the god of destruction, Bacterian, prepare to launch a massive onslaught against the planet Gradius. Possessing unstoppable power, the Dark Forces threaten to plunge the Universe into total war and complete annihilation. Their invasion force smashes the Gradius defenses, and the surrounding planets soon fall like dominoes. Now Bacterian's evil grasp reaches for the heart of the resistance...planet Gradius itself... To counter the oncoming threat the United Gradius World Forces gather all their fighter craft. Half of them form a defensive net - the other half a strike team. But they are badly outnumbered and The Dark Forces easily tear through their thin frontline. No fighters survive the slaughter.... In a last gasp move, the United Gradius World Forces send out two fighters, previously considered too dangerous for combat missions: The InterDimensional VIC VIPER fighters. The Fighters take off for the heart of darkness to join the fray that will decide the fate of the Universe...