SHMUPS!

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PC Engine: I'll stick my neck out here and say that the tiny 8-bit PC-Engine is the best machine for shooters, ever. For once home consoles caught up with the arcade. Coming on tiny credit-card sized 'HuCards', Irem's R-Type was absolutely perfect, not to mention Salamander, Gradius/Nemesis and Image Fight. It still annoys me that NEC never saw fit to release this console in the UK. Perhaps after the lacklustre US effort, they decided that us westerner's taste in games was too different to make it worthwhile.

The Pc-Engine came in a huge variety of flavours, from the white core unit, black core unit, the handheld GT, the laptop LT, the SuperGraphx, through to fully fledged CD systems like the Duo , not to mention the amount of upgrade cards and strap on CDs available either...

Many great Japanese titles weren't brought over to the US (big surprise there) and instead there was a glut of poor western produced platform and sports games, which didn't have the sophistication of the Megadrive counterparts. As for emulation, there's David Michel's shareware MagicEngine, and the badly named but surprisingly good HU6280.

GAME	COMPANY	INFORMATION
1941 Counter Attack	Hudson Soft	1991, Vertical (Port of the Capcom arcade game; runs only on the SuperGrafx)
1942 Kai: The Battle of Midway	Naxat Soft	1991, Vertical (Port of the Capcom arcade game)
Aero Blasters	Hudson Soft	1990, Horizontal (Inter State/Kaneko; the game is also known as Air Buster)
Air Zonk
Aldynes : The Mission Code for Rage Crisis	Hudson Soft	1991, Horizontal (Runs only on the SuperGrafx)
Armed Formation F (arcade review)
Atomic Robo-Kid Special	UPL	1989, Horizontal
Barunba	Namco	1989, Horizontal
Bouken Danshaken Don San-Heart Hen	I'Max	1992, Horizontal
Burning Angels	Naxat Soft	1990, Vertical
Coryoon	Naxat Soft	1991, Horizontal
Cyber Core	IGS	1990, Vertical
Daisenpu	NEC Avenue	1990, Vertical (Port of the Toaplan arcade game; also released on CD)
Darius Alpha	NEC Avenue	Horizontal (Promotional item; both PCE and SuperGrafx compatibility; contains "boss mode" play also included in CD version)
Darius Plus	NEC Avenue	1990, Horizontal (Port of the Taito arcade game; both PCE and SuperGrafx compatibility; the core game also released on CD)
Dead Moon	TSS	1990, Horizontal
Deep Blue	Pack-in-Video	1989, Horizontal
Detana! Twinbee	Konami	1992, Vertical
Download	NEC Avenue	1990, Horizontal
Dragon Saber	Namco	1991, Vertical (Sequel to Dragon Spirit)
Dragon Spirit	Namco	1988, Vertical
Fantasy Zone	NEC Avenue	1988, Horizontal (Port of the Sega arcade game)
Final Blaster	Namco	1990, Vertical
Final Soldier	Hudson Soft	1991, Vertical
Formation Armed F	Pack-in-Video	1990, Vertical
Galaga '88	Namco	1988, Vertical (Released in the U.S. as Galaga '90)
Gokuraku Chuka Taisen	Taito	1992, Horizontal (More widely known as Cloud Master)
Gradius	Konami	1991, Horizontal
GunHed	Hudson Soft	1989, Vertical (Compile; released in the U.S. as Blazing Lazers)
Hana Tahka Daka	Taito	1991, Horizontal
Hani in the Sky	Face	1988, Vertical
Heavy Unit	Taito	1989, Horizontal
Image Fight	Irem	1990, Vertical
Kyuukyoku Tiger	Taito	1989, Vertical (Port of the Toaplan arcade game; more widely known as Twin Cobra)
Magical Chase	Palsoft	1991, Horizontal (Game by Quest, developer of the Ogre Battle and Tactics Ogre games)
Metal Stoker: Neo Hardboiled Shooting	Face	1991, Vertical
Mr. Heli No Dai Bouken	Irem	1989, Horizontal
Ordyne	Namco	1989, Horizontal
Override	Data East	1990, Vertical (Game by Sting, developer of the Baroque and Evolution series, as well as Treasure Hunter G for Square on SFC)
P-47: The Freedom Fighter	Aicom	1989, Horizontal
Paranoia	Naxat Soft	1990, Horizontal (Released in the U.S. as Psychosis)
Parodius	Konami	1992, Horizontal
PC Denjin	Hudson Soft	1992, Horizontal (Released in the U.S. as Air Zonk)
Powergate	Pack-in-Video	1991, Horizontal
Psycho Chaser	Naxat Soft	1990, Vertical
Rabio Lepus Special	Video System	1990, Horizontal
Raiden	Hudson Soft	1991, Vertical (Port of the Seibu Kaihatsu arcade game)
Rock-On	Big Club	1989, Horizontal
R-Type I	Hudson Soft	1988, Horizontal (Port of the Irem arcade game; first half of the first game)
R-Type II	Hudson Soft	1988, Horizontal (Port of the Irem arcade game; misleading title; second half of the first game)
Saint Dragon	Aicom	1990, Horizontal
Salamander	Konami	1991, Vertical/Horizontal
Side Arms (arcade review)	NEC Avenue	1989, Horizontal (Port of the Capcom arcade game; also released on CD)
Soldier Blade	Hudson Soft	1992, Vertical
Space Invaders	Taito	1990, Vertical
Super Star Soldier	Hudson Soft	1990, Vertical (Inter State/Kaneko)
Tatsujin	Taito	1992, Vertical (Port of the Toaplan arcade game; more widely known as Truxton)
Terra Cresta II	Nichibutsu (Nihon Bussan)	1992, Vertical
Thunder Blade	NEC Avenue	1990, Vertical (Also contains 3D sections; port of the Sega arcade game)
Toilet Kids	Media Rings	1992, Vertical
Toy Shop Boys	Victor	1990, Vertical
Violent Soldier	IGS	1990, Horizontal (Released in the U.S. as Sinistron)
Volfiev	Taito	1989, Vertical (Perhaps it's merely a puzzle game, yet your little spaceship can actually acquire a laser; better known as Qix)
W Ring	Naxat Soft	1990, Horizontal
Xevious	Namco	1990, Vertical

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