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Within the vast library of Genesis shooters are a select few that follow a “cute” theme. These games are often portrayed as being simpler and more kid-friendly than their more serious counterparts, but looks can be deceiving. Gametek’s Gadget Twins is one title that’s adorable to look at, but its frustrating gameplay is not something to make your little siblings suffer with.
Lots of arcade shooters made the jump to the Genesis, but some suffered great changes. Insector-X is an example of a game that went through massive graphical and audio alterations on the trip home. The cartoony visuals were traded for some seriously robotic bugs, and the soundtrack was completely swapped out. Some argue that it’s all for the better, while some say the game is worse off for it.
To celebrate the publishing of our 700th review, we’ve chosen a shooter that’s aptly named. Toaplan’s Hellfire was released by the shortly-lived Seismic, and it’s pretty darn hard. Though it may not be visually stunning compared to other games in the genre, it’s a great game that offers solid gameplay and a rockin’ soundtrack to compliment its difficulty level.
Rare games always create controversy, and fewer games of the 16-bit era are rarer than Uzu Keobukseon, known outside its native Korea as Space Turtle Ship. A shooter that conjures up images of Truxton and Twin Cobra, it’s one of those games that few people know about and even fewer have played. The question is: is it worth tracking down?
The Mega Drive has a ton of shooters that never saw release outside of Japan. Unfortunately, for every gem like Battle Mania 2 there is a dud like XDR: X-Dazedly-Ray. If you ever needed a game to cure insomnia, Unipacc has filled your prescription to the letter. Read our full review for more details, and trust us. It’s more fun than the actual game itself.