The best shoot 'em up games
Shoot 'em ups were extremely popular in the '80s and '90s. In a classic shoot 'em up, the player controls a vehicle, a spaceship or an aircraft with the only goal of destroying the largest number of enemies as possible while dodging bullets and staying alive. Through the years, shoot 'em ups evolved to include features like end level bosses, multiple weapons and power-ups. Some of the most popular DOS shoot 'em ups were: Raptor, Tyrian 2000, Xenon 2.
Most popular shoot 'em up games
shooterDOS
shooterDOS, Windows XP/98/95, Mac OS
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River Raid remake
DOS1995freewareremake
Super Stardust
DOS1996 Housemarque
Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf
DOS1994 Electronic Arts
Defender
DOS1983 Williams Entertainment
Airborne Ranger
DOS1988 MicroProse Software
Star Control 2
DOS1992protected Toys for Bob
Rotox
DOS1991 Creative Materials
Jungle Strike
DOS1995 Electronic Arts
Taito's Super Space Invaders
DOS1991 Taito
Super Space Invaders is a video game developed and published by Taito Corporation, released in 1991. It's a sequel to the classic arcade game Space Invaders, which was originally released in 1978 and is one of the most iconic video games of all time.In Super Space Invaders, the core gameplay mechanics remain similar to the original Space Invaders, ...
Tyrian 2000
DOS1999freeware Eclipse Software
Tyrian 2000 is an old DOS science fiction classic shoot'em up, developed by Eclipse Software and designed by Alexander Brandon, Jason Emery, Daniel Cook. Tyrian 2000 is one of the most popular shoot'em ups ever published for DOS and it's still remembered by retro gaming fans to this day.
Ack-Ack Attack!
DOS1995remake PLBM Games
Invaders 78
DOS2000freewareremake
Tempest 2000
DOS1996remake Atari
Tempest 2000 is a video game developed by Llamasoft and published by Atari Corporation. It was released in 1994 for DOS, Mac, the Atari Jaguar console, etc. Tempest 2000 is an enhanced remake of the original Tempest, which was released in arcades in 1981.In Tempest 2000, players control a claw-shaped ship that moves around the edges of geometric sh...
Seek and Destroy
DOS1996 Safari Software
Seek and Destroy was a shoot'em up published by the well known Epic Megagames in 1996 that tried to change the usual shoot'em up gameplay for the better. Instead of wave after wave of enemies to shoot down, you are given short missions to accomplish with your helicopter or your tank (yes, you can choose). At first, missions could seem a bit repetit...
Xenon 2: Megablast
DOS1990 Bitmap Brothers
Xenon 2: Megablast is a classic shoot'em up developed by Bitmap Brothers and released by Image Works in 1990 for DOS and for a plethora of other systems. Xenon was good, Xenon 2 was far better. Compared to today standards Xenon 2 is perhaps a mediocre shoot 'em up, but at the time every shooter fan loved it. Plus, it was developed by Bitmap Brother...
Soviet
DOS1990 Opera Soft
Star Wars 2
DOS1989
Raptor: Call of the Shadows
DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac OS1994protecteddemo Cygnus Studios
Raptor: Call of the Shadows is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up video game developed by Cygnus Studios and published by Apogee Software. The game was first released in 1994 for MS-DOS and later ported to other platforms. In Raptor, players control a fighter jet through various levels filled with enemy aircraft, ground targets, power-ups and boss...
Darius Gaiden
Windows XP/98/951998 Taito
Flying Tigers
DOS1994 Ticsoft
Flying Tigers is an abandoned vertical-scrolling sci-fi themed shoot 'em up game developed and released by Ticsoft in 1994 for MS-DOS only. Flying Tigers is the first chapter of the two parts Flying Tigers video game series.
Raiden
DOS1994 Seibu Kaihatsu Inc.
Raiden is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up game developed by Seibu Kaihatsu and first released in arcades in 1990 and later for many home computers and consoles. Raiden follows the classic vertical scrolling shoot 'em up format. Players control a spaceship known as the R-9C "Red-Ray" and navigate vertically scrolling levels filled with wave...
Star Goose!
DOS1988 Logotron
Star Goose is a classic video game developed by Logotron and released in 1988 for various home computer systems of that era, including the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and Amstrad CPC. It is a top-down, vertically scrolling shooter that combines elements of shoot 'em up gameplay with exploration and power-up mechanics.
Space Federation
DOS1994 Interplay Productions
Sopwith
DOS1984freeware BMB Compuscience
Solar Winds: The Escape
DOS1993 Stone Interactive Media
Xatax
DOS1994 Pixel Painters Corporation
Spacewar
DOS1985
Spacewar is one of the earliest digital computer games and is often considered the first interactive video game. It was created in 1962 by Steve Russell, Martin Graetz, and Wayne Wiitanen at the MIT. The game was developed on the PDP-1 minicomputer; this is a DOS port, released in 1985.Spacewar! features two spaceships, controlled by players, that ...
Forgotten Worlds
DOS1991 Capcom
Wings of Fury
DOS1989 Broderbund
Star Control 3
DOS1996protected Legend Entertainment