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Ah shmups. Call them shooters or what you will, there’s no denying their appeal. Dashing through space, killing all in your path…it’s a most satisfying way to spend an afternoon; however, sometimes the glory isn’t worth the pain. Take Taito’s Master of Weapon, for instance. If ever a game should have stayed in the arcade, this was it.
Talk about shmups to any gamer, and one company is sure to come up: Toaplan. It’s been around forever and has created some of the best games in the genre, which have virtually all found a home on one console or another. Twin Cobra arrived on the Genesis in 1991, and while it didn’t set the world on fire, it was a pretty decent play.
Air Buster, a Kaneko arcade game that also saw a great release on the Turbo Grafx-16, looks and plays great on the Genesis. As it just so happens, we have a full review for it. Two-player simulataneous gameplay for the win!
One of the more unique shmup concepts was the use of insects as ships. Though Insector-X tried to pull it off, it was Sega’s own Biohazard Battle that came the closest to conveying the coolness of using a raging hornet as your craft. Sound weird? It should, as this is one weird game.
Christmas 1994 saw the release of a game that many anticipated, but relatively few bought. The irony was that sales were hampered not by the game itself, but by the hardware it was on. Though many people wanted to play Star Wars Arcade on the 32X, few were willing to shell out the cash for the add-on. Sales were decent enough initially, but it was a sign of things to come. Did gamers miss out on something special? Should they have taken the plunge just to play this arcade port? Why not read our full review and find out?