Arkanoid is a 1986 block breaker arcade game developed and published by Taito. In North America, it was published by Romstar. Controlling a paddle-like craft known as the Vaus, the player is tasked with clearing a formation of colorful blocks by deflecting a ball towards it without letting the ball leave the bottom edge of the playfield. Some blocks contain power-ups that have various effects, such as increasing the length of the Vaus, creating several additional balls, or equipping the Vaus with cannons. Other blocks may be indestructible or require multiple hits to break.
Alien Syndrome is a run and gun video game developed by Sega and released in arcades in 1987, and later ported to the Master System the same year. The game utilizes a side-scrolling feature that allows the player to take control of either a male (Ricky) or female (Mary) soldier whilst hunting aliens and saving hostages before they run out of time.
Flying Shark, known as Sky Shark in North America, is a vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game originally developed by Toaplan and published in 1987 by Taito in Japan, Romstar in North America and Electrocoin in Europe. Controlling the titular biplane, the players must fight endless waves of military vehicles while avoiding collision with their projectiles and other obstacles. The plane has a powerful bomb at its disposal that can clear a portion of the screen of bullets and damage enemies when fired. It was the third shoot 'em up game from Toaplan, and their eighth video game overall.
Choplifter is a military-themed scrolling shooter developed by Dan Gorlin for the Apple II and published by Broderbund in 1982. It was ported to the Atari 8-bit computers the same year, and also to the VIC-20, Commodore 64, Atari 5200, ColecoVision, MSX, and Thomson computers.
Star Wars is a first-person rail shooter designed by Mike Hally and released as an arcade video game in 1983 by Atari, Inc. It uses 3D color vector graphics to simulate the assault on the Death Star from the 1977 film Star Wars. There are three connected gameplay sequences: combat against TIE fighters in space, flying across the surface of the Death Star, and the final trench run. The sequence repeats with added complications and the Death Star regenerating for each. The player's X-Wing fighter has a shield which only protects against damage a certain number of times, then the next hit ends the game. Speech synthesis emulates actors from the film.
Ghosts 'n Goblins, known as Makaimura in Japan, is a platform video game developed by Capcom and released for arcades in 1985. It is the first game in the Ghosts 'n Goblins franchise, and it has been ported to numerous home platforms.
Spelunker is a 1983 platform video game developed by Timothy G. Martin of MicroGraphic Image. It is set in a cave, with the player starting at the cave's entrance at the top, and the objective is to get to the treasure at the bottom.
Solomon's Key is a puzzle game developed by Tecmo in 1986 for an arcade release on custom hardware based on the Z80 chipset. It was ported to multiple systems including the Nintendo Entertainment System and Commodore 64. The PC Engine version was known as Zipang and the Game Boy version as Solomon's Club. A prequel, Solomon's Key 2, was released in 1992 for the NES. The NES version of the game was also released in emulated form on Virtual Console for the Wii in 2006, Nintendo 3DS and Wii U in 2013 and later to Nintendo Switch Online in 2018.
Rygar is a 1986 side-scrolling platform game created by Tecmo. Originally released for Japanese arcades in June 1986, the game was subsequently ported to the NES (1987), Commodore 64 (1987), ZX Spectrum (1987), Amstrad CPC (1987), Master System (1988), Atari Lynx (1990), and X68000 (1994). Emulations have also been released for Xbox (2005), Sprint mobile phones (2005), Wii (2009), PlayStation 4 (2014), Nintendo Switch (2018), and Android (2023), with an unofficial fan-made emulation released for Amiga AGA in 2019. A remake, Rygar: The Legendary Adventure, was released for PlayStation 2 in 2002. The Legendary Adventure was remastered for the Wii in 2008 as Rygar: The Battle of Argus.
Bomb Jack is a platform game published by Tehkan for arcades and later ported to home systems. The game was a commercial success for arcades and home computers. It was followed by several sequels: the console and computer game Mighty Bomb Jack, the arcade game Bomb Jack Twin, and Bomb Jack II which was licensed for home computers only.
RoboCop 2 is a platform shooter video game based on the 1990 film of the same name. The game was released for several platforms, including Amiga, Amstrad GX4000, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Boy, Nintendo Entertainment System, and ZX Spectrum. Ocean Software developed and published several versions, and Data East manufactured an arcade version.
Action Fighter is an overhead vehicular combat game released by Sega for arcades in 1986. It was ported to the Master System the same year, and then to the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and IBM PC compatible computers.
Atomic Robo-Kid (アトミック・ロボキッド) is a horizontally scrolling shooter released in arcades by UPL in 1988. In the US, the game was published by Nikom. The PC Engine version is an adaptation of the arcade original and published as Atomic Robo-Kid Special.
Mr. Heli, fully titled in Japan as Mr. HELI no Daibōken is a multidirectional scrolling shooter developed and published in arcades in 1987 by Irem. It was released in North America as Battle Chopper.
Silkworm is a horizontally scrolling shooter video game developed by Tecmo and first released for arcades in 1988. In 1989, it was ported to the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC systems by The Sales Curve and released by Virgin Mastertronic in 1990. Sammy released a version for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi is an isometric scrolling shooter released as an arcade video game in 1984 based on the film from the previous year. It was the second arcade release by Atari based on the Star Wars franchise, but using raster graphics rather than the vector graphics of the first and third arcade games. Several home ports were released by Domark for the Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and Amiga in 1988. The game is included as an unlockable extra on Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike for GameCube.
Space Gun is a 1990 first-person shooter arcade game released by Taito. The game is set aboard a crippled space station that has been overrun by hostile alien creatures. The objective is to rescue human crew members while destroying the alien creatures. The game lets the player shoot limbs off the creatures, resulting in blood splatters.
Tiger Road is a hack and slash platform game originally released in 1987 as a coin-operated arcade video game.
Rolling Thunder is a run and gun video game developed by Namco in Japan and Europe and released in 1986 as a coin-operated arcade video game using the Namco System 86 hardware. It was distributed in North America by Atari Games. The player takes control of a secret agent who must rescue his female partner from a terrorist organization. Rolling Thunder was a commercial success in arcades, and it was released for various home computer platforms in 1987 and the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1989. The original arcade game has been included in various classic game compilations as well. It influenced later arcade action franchises such as Shinobi and Time Crisis, which borrowed mechanics such as taking cover behind crates. On March 17, 2022, the arcade version of the game got ported as part of the Arcade Archives series.
Sonic Boom is a vertical scrolling shooter developed by Sega and released in the arcades in 1987. Home computer versions for the Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum were released in 1990 by Activision. The original arcade version was released on the Sega Astro City Mini console in 2021.
