R-Type is a horizontally scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and released by Irem in 1987 and the first game in the R-Type series. The player controls a star ship, the R-9 "Arrowhead", in its efforts to destroy the Bydo, a powerful alien race bent on wiping out all of mankind. The R-9 can acquire a glowing orbicular device called a "Force", protecting it from enemy fire and providing additional firepower. The arcade version was distributed by Nintendo in North America; it is the last arcade title Nintendo distributed.
Shinobi (忍) is a side-scrolling hack and slash video game produced by Sega, originally released for arcades on the Sega System 16 board in 1987. The player controls ninja Joe Musashi, to stop the Zeed terrorist organization from kidnapping students of his clan.
Out Run is an arcade driving video game released by Sega in September 1986. It is known for its pioneering hardware and graphics, nonlinear gameplay, a selectable soundtrack with music composed by Hiroshi Kawaguchi, and the hydraulic motion simulator deluxe arcade cabinet. The goal is to avoid traffic and reach one of five destinations before time runs out.
After Burner is a rail shooter arcade video game developed and released by Sega in 1987. The player controls an American F-14 Tomcat fighter jet and must clear each of the game's eighteen unique stages by destroying incoming enemies. The plane is equipped with a machine gun and a limited supply of heat-seeking missiles. The game uses a third-person perspective, as in Sega's earlier Space Harrier (1985) and Out Run (1986). It runs on the Sega X Board arcade system which is capable of surface and sprite rotation. It is the fourth Sega game to use a hydraulic "taikan" motion simulator arcade cabinet, one that is more elaborate than their earlier "taikan" simulator games. The cabinet simulates an aircraft cockpit, with flight stick controls, a chair with seatbelt, and hydraulic motion technology that moves, tilts, rolls and rotates the cockpit in sync with the on-screen action.
Space Harrier is a third-person arcade rail shooter game developed by Sega and released in 1985. It was originally conceived as a realistic military-themed game played in the third-person perspective and featuring a player-controlled fighter jet, but technical and memory restrictions resulted in Sega developer Yu Suzuki redesigning it around a jet-propelled human character in a fantasy setting. The arcade game is controlled by an analog flight stick while the deluxe arcade cabinet is a cockpit-style linear actuator motion simulator cabinet that pitches and rolls during play, for which it is referred as a taikan (体感) or "body sensation" arcade game in Japan.
Operation Wolf is a light gun shooter arcade game developed by Taito and released in 1987. It was ported to many home systems.
Fantasy Zone is a 1986 arcade video game by Sega, and the first game in the Fantasy Zone series. It was later ported to a wide variety of consoles, including the Master System. The player controls a sentient spaceship named Opa-Opa who fights an enemy invasion in the titular group of planets. The game contains a number of features atypical of the traditional scrolling shooter. The main character, Opa-Opa, is sometimes referred to as Sega's first mascot character.
Gunstar Heroes is a run and gun video game developed by Treasure and published by Sega. It was Treasure's debut game, originally released for the Sega Genesis in 1993. The game's premise is centered around a pair of characters, the Gunstars, in their efforts to stop an evil empire from recovering four powerful gems. The characters can fire guns and perform a series of acrobatic maneuvers to fight enemies across each stage. There are four weapons in the game which can be combined with one another to create different shot types.
Super Hang-On is a motorcycle racing arcade video game released by Sega as the sequel to Hang-On. It uses a simulated motorcycle arcade cabinet, like the original game. An updated version was released in arcades 1991 as Limited Edition Hang-On.
Sega Ages is a series of video game ports, remakes, and compilations published by Sega. It consists of Sega arcade games and home console games, typically those for the Sega Genesis and Master System. The series was launched on the Sega Saturn in 1996. Entries were published for the PlayStation 2 as Sega Ages 2500, a reference to its bargain ¥2500 price point. The series later came to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 as Sega Ages Online, and finally to the Nintendo Switch as simply Sega Ages. The name Sega Ages is a palindrome, with "Ages" being "Sega" backwards — this was previously used by Sega in European marketing strategies from the late 1980s to early 1990s.
G-LOC: Air Battle is a 1990 combat flight simulator arcade video game developed and published by Sega. It is a spin-off of the company's After Burner series. The title refers to "G-force induced Loss Of Consciousness". The game is known for its use of the R360 motion simulator arcade cabinet. The arcade game was a commercial and critical success upon release.
Double Dragon is a 1987 beat 'em up video game developed by Technōs Japan and distributed by Taito for arcades across Asia, North America and Europe. It is the first title in the Double Dragon franchise. The game's development was led by Yoshihisa Kishimoto, and it is a spiritual and technological successor to Technos' earlier beat 'em up, Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (1986), released outside of Japan by Taito as Renegade; Kishimoto originally envisioned it as a direct sequel and part of the Kunio-kun series, before making it a new game with a different cast and setting.
Wonder Boy is a 1986 platform game published by Sega and developed by Escape. Originally designed for arcades, it was later ported to the SG-1000, Mark III/Master System and Game Gear video game consoles by Sega, and to the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC home computers by Activision. The game is also known as Super Wonder Boy for its Sega Mark III release in Japan and Revenge of Drancon for its Game Gear release in North America. A high definition remake of the game, titled Wonder Boy Returns, was developed by CFK and released on Steam on October 12, 2016. Wonder Boy was rereleased in 2022 as part of Wonder Boy Collection for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 which includes its versions on arcade, Master System, SG-1000 and Game Gear.
Power Drift is a kart racing game released in arcades by Sega in 1988. More technologically advanced than Sega's earlier 2.5D racing games, like Hang-On (1985) and Out Run (1986), in Power Drift the entire world and track consist of sprites. The upgraded hardware of the Sega Y Board allows individual sprites and the background to be rotated–even while being scaled–making the visuals more dynamic.
Cobra Command, known as Thunder Storm (サンダーストーム) in Japan, is an interactive movie shooter game originally released by Data East in 1984 as a LaserDisc-based arcade game. Released as an arcade conversion kit for Bega's Battle (1983), Cobra Command became one of the more successful laserdisc games in 1984. A Mega-CD port of Cobra Command developed by Wolf Team was released in 1992.
Enduro Racer (エンデューロレーサー) is an arcade racing game from Sega. It was released in 1986 with two arcade cabinet versions, a stand-up cabinet with handlebars and a full-sized dirt bike cabinet. It is often seen as a dirt racing version of Hang-On, as it uses a similar engine and PCB. The game was later released for the Master System in 1987, the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 in 1988, and the Amstrad CPC and Atari ST in 1989.
Galaxy Force is a rail shooter video game developed and released by Sega for arcades in 1988. The player assumes control of a starship named the TRY-Z, as it must prevent the Fourth Empire from taking over the entire galaxy. Gameplay involves shooting down enemies using either a laser shot or a limited supply of heat-seeking missiles, all while avoiding collision with projectiles or obstacles and making sure the ship's energy meter doesn't fully deplete. It ran on the Sega Y Board arcade system, and was released with a motion simulator cockpit arcade cabinet version like previous Sega Super Scaler games.
Bionic Commando, released in Japan as Top Secret is a run and gun platform game released by Capcom in arcades in 1987. It was designed by Tokuro Fujiwara as a successor to his earlier "wire action" platformer Roc'n Rope (1983), building on its grappling hook mechanic; he was also the designer of Commando (1985). The music was composed by Harumi Fujita for the Yamaha YM2151 sound chip.
A stereoscopic video game is a video game which uses stereoscopic technologies to create depth perception for the player by any form of stereo display. Such games should not be confused with video games that use 3D game graphics on a mono screen, which give the illusion of depth only by monocular cues but lack binocular depth information.
Sega 3D Reprint Archives is a series of video game compilations for Nintendo 3DS developed by M2 and published by Sega, each featuring enhanced versions of older Sega games with added stereoscopic 3D.
