Snow Bros. is a 1990 platform arcade video game originally developed by Toaplan first published in Japan, then in North America by Romstar and later in Europe. Starring the eponymous snowmen twins Nick and Tom, players are tasked with travelling through 50 stages, throwing and building snowballs, jumping on and off platforms to navigate level obstacles while dodging and defeating monsters in order to rescue the princesses Puripuri and Puchipuchi from captivity. Although first launched in arcades, the game was later ported across multiple platforms, each one being created by different third-party developers and featuring several changes or additions compared with the original version. Conversions for various microcomputers were in development but none were officially released to the public.
Axelay is a 1992 scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Konami for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Set in the fictional solar system Illis where an alien empire known as "Armada of Annihilation" invades its planets including the Earth-like Corliss (Mother), players take control of the titular D117B space fighter craft as a last resort to stop the alien invasion by recovering its lost weaponry. The gameplay mainly consist of both vertical-scrolling and horizonal-scrolling stages in the same vein as Konami's own Life Force, with players choosing three different weapon-types that increase in number as they progress through the game.
Tumblepop is a 1991 platform arcade video game developed by Data East first published in Japan by Namco, then in North America by Leprechaun Inc. and later in Europe by Mitchell Corporation. Starring two ghosthunters, players are tasked with travelling across different countries, capturing enemies and throwing them as bouncing ball, jumping on and off platforms to navigate level obstacles while dodging and defeating monsters in order to save the world.
R-Type Leo is a 1992 horizontal-scrolling shooter arcade game developed by Nanao and published by Irem. It is a spin-off of the R-Type series and the last R-Type entry to be released in arcades. In Leo, players take control of the titular space fighter to travel the man-made mechanical planet Eden and destroy its supercomputer core Major. The game was initially conceived as an original shoot 'em up by Nanao before being retooled into an R-Type project by Irem. The title was met with positive reception from reviewers. It has since been re-released as part of Dotemu's 2010 Irem Arcade Hits compilation.
Blood Bros. is a 1990 arcade game developed and published by TAD Corporation in Japan and Europe, and later published in North America by Fabtek. It is a spiritual sequel to the 1988 game Cabal, with almost identical mechanics. A bootleg of Blood Bros. is known as West Story.
Teki Paki is a 1991 puzzle arcade video game developed by Toaplan and published in Japan by Tecmo, Hong Kong by Honest Trading Co. and Taiwan by Spacy Co. Ltd.
Carrier Air Wing, released in Japan as U.S. Navy, is a 1990 side-scrolling shooting game released for the CP System arcade hardware by Capcom. It is the spiritual successor to U.N. Squadron, which was released in the previous year. As with the original, players chose any one of three different jet fighters and battle their way through ten enemy-packed stages. Other ideas carried over from U.N. Squadron include the shop, which allows players to buy weapon and shield upgrades for their jet fighter between stages, and the energy bar, which is replaced by a "fuel bar" which starts full at the start of each stage and decreases as time passes with some fuel lost each time the plane is damaged. The game has two different endings, depending on whether the game is finished with only one coin or not. A version for the Capcom Power System Changer was planned and previewed but never released.
Blade Master is a scrolling hack and slash arcade game released by Irem in 1991. Two selectable heroes, Roy and Arnold, try to save their land from hordes of monsters. There are items to break and power-ups to collect, typical of this genre in the 1990s.
Detana!! TwinBee, released in Europe and North America as Bells & Whistles, is a 1991 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and released by Konami. It is the fifth entry in the TwinBee series and the second to be released for arcades following the original TwinBee. Set several years after the events of TwinBee, players assume the role of Light and Pastel taking control of TwinBee and WinBee to defeat invading forces of the evil alien Iva and save planet Meru after receiving an SOS message sent by Princess Melora.
Xexex, released as Orius in North America, is a 1991 side-scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game by Konami. It draws on Irem's R-Type and Konami's other shoot 'em up Gradius, while adding the tentacle mechanics of Irem's other shoot 'em up XMultiply. In the game, players take control of the Flintlock space fighter in a mission to rescue Princess Irene La Tias of Planet E-Square, who has been captured by the evil galactic warlord Klaus Pachelbel.
Varth: Operation Thunderstorm is an arcade game in the vertical scrolling shooter genre, published by Capcom in 1992. The game did not see a console port following its initial release, but 14 years later Digital Eclipse Software would port the game onto the PSP handheld, and later onto the PlayStation 2 and Xbox.
Metal Black is a 1991 scrolling shooter arcade video game originally developed and published by Taito. Set in the dystopian future of 2052, players assume the role of rogue pilot John Ford taking command of the CF-345 Black Fly space fighter craft to defeat the Nemesis alien race and save humanity.
Gun Frontier is a 1990 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and originally published by Taito in Japan. Set on the fictional planet of Gloria in the 22nd century, where an alien race of space pirates known as the Wild Lizards have invaded the location and enslaved its inhabitants for gold extraction, players assume the role of settlers who were part of the planet's colonization team taking control of revolver-shaped fighter aircraft in an attempt to overthrow the invaders and free their surviving civilization from slavery.
Thrash Rally is a top-down perspective rally racing video game developed by ADK and released by SNK Corporation for the Neo Geo system. It was released by SNK on December 20, 1991 and would be followed by an spiritual successor in 1996, Over Top.
Vimana is a vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed by Toaplan and published in Japan by Tecmo and Europe in June 1991. It is notable for being one of the few titles by Toaplan that has not received any official port to home consoles as of date and for its unique combination of science fiction with brief Hindu references. In the game, players assume the role of the titular warriors taking control of powerful ancient space fighter crafts in order to reclaim their home planet by fighting against military machines gone wild. The title received positive reception from critics and reviewers alike after release in regards to the gameplay. However, it was considered a flop in arcades. As of 2019, its rights are owned by Tatsujin, a company founded in 2017 by former Toaplan member Masahiro Yuge and now-affiliate of Japanese arcade manufacturer exA-Arcadia alongside many other Toaplan IPs.
Major Title is a golf sports video game that was released by Irem to arcades in 1990. A version of the game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as well as an arcade sequel, Major Title 2: Tournament Leader, were released in 1992. The SNES game and the arcade sequel were released in the United States as The Irem Skins Game.
Puzzled is a falling-block puzzle video game developed and published by SNK that was released for Neo Geo arcade hardware in 1990, the Neo Geo home console in 1991, and the Neo Geo CD in 1994. The game was ported to mobile phones in 2005, then was re-published by D4 Enterprise on the Wii Virtual Console in June 2011, and it is also one of the twenty games that came pre-loaded on the Neo Geo X console released in 2012. It was also ported in August 2017 to Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 as part of Hamster Corporation's ACA Neo Geo series.
Robo Army is a beat 'em up video game developed and published by SNK that was released for Neo Geo arcades and home consoles in 1991 and the Neo Geo CD in 1995.
Riding Hero is a hybrid racing/role-playing arcade video game developed and originally published by SNK on July 24, 1990. It was the first title for both the Neo Geo MVS (arcade) and Neo Geo AES (home) platforms that featured "Multi Play" (Multi-Link) support, which allowed two systems to be connected via a phone jack port integrated into each cartridge for versus LAN play.
Super Spacefortress Macross is a 1992 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed NMK and published by Banpresto. Based upon the 1984 anime film Macross: Do You Remember Love?, it is the first arcade entry in the Macross franchise. In the game, the players control the VF-1 Valkyrie variable mecha fighters, piloted by Hikaru Ichijyo and Max Jenius, in a battle against the Zentradi alien race.
