So we all know shoot em' ups have always been a big hit. It seems lately since Ikaruga has been released on XBLA this has been the gaming genre topic of choice. I think this is just a glimpse of how many of us grew up to love this type of game play. Were going to take a look at a few games where the player controls a vehicle or the character and shoots stylized bursts of color. Joy stick is the best weapon for control, but many games have a been a huge success using the D-pad. With swarms after swarms of enemies delivering attacks from every angle it is impossible to stay in one place. With more than the average human can handle concentrating on at one time, us gamers find it fun flying around them, dancing between our enemies rays. Blast your way through this digital maze. You must maneuver through the vast galaxies of invaders to make it to the boss/next level. So lets take a look at a few of my favorite Shoot em' up style games.
In no particular order :
First we have Chaos Field.
Chaos Field was origanally just an arcade game but was soon ported to the Dreamcast, Playstation 2, and the Gamecube. The level is not so much swarm after swarm of enemy, but one single hard-to-kill boss type enemy. The player can choose between 3 characters. Each character has their own abilities, and their own firepower style, and each ship has 2 special attacks. This is a excellent game. I played it last Thursday and by Sunday i had to get it. Now i know
6.5 does not sound like its something you want to go out and get, but i urge you to give it a try. You might be like me and enjoy it.
Next up is Zero Gunner II.
Released in Japan in 2001 this 2D Dreamcast Shooter lets you pick from three helicopters. Each vehicle looks bad ass. There are 9 modes of difficulty, ranging from "Child", to "Very Hard". In this game you are not limited to one direction, you can move your chopper 360 degrees. Enemies come from every angle of the screen. You have a special meter that recharges when you collect the "E's" you can power up your primary weapon when you collect the "P's". If you or a friend has a Dreamcast I strongly suggest you go try this game out.
Here we have Shikigami no Shiro 2 I just newly discovered this beautiful game. A friend in vent referred me to try this out and I completely love it. This is a vertically scrolling shooter, released in the arcades. Later it was ported to the Gamecube, then to the Dreamcast, Playstation 2, Xbox, and Windows pc. It has been known by the name Castle Shikigami 2 or in Europe Castle Shikigami 2: War of the Worlds. The game has 5 stages, and 10 bosses. It includes eight playable characters. This game has 5 levels of difficulties. Extreme mode is the hardest level where your enemies fire when destroyed. There is even an alternate soundtrack available "S2MIX". Check this one out.
This is Psyvariar 2: The Will to Fabricate Psyvariar 2 is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up style game. This shooter is very unique. You can gain points destroying your enemies or you can "buzz" your enemies bullets by using the invincible part of your aircraft. Yes i said Invincible. You get points by getting close to being shot but not actually hit. This action shooter features very cool weapon upgrades and a very in depth story..too bad mines in Japanese.There are 2 selectable characters. A women named Kei , agile, and a better shooter. Next we have a man called Yuhei, slow and best for his "buzzing". The concept of "buzzing" takes a while to get used to but its all around a very good game. Go get a copy. Its worth it.
Soon to come...BORDER DOWN..Rayforce and Shienryu Explosion
This is going to be a month to remember. My girlfriend got me a brand new in the box Sega Dreamcast and a few games as a early birthday gift. Class is going to be over in a few days and, while i was waiting on the Dreamcast to be shipped i heard news that i won the gaming pc from Destructoid. I Fucking Flipped! It took a second to fully sink in but i was happy as hell. Running through my house screaming at the top of my lungs I knew this was going to be the best damn month of my life.
So i was taking a shit on sunday afternoon and i hear a knock at the door. I hear my mom talking to someone and think nothing of it. I squeeze the rest of my turd out, pull up my pants (no cool people do not wipe) and wash my hands, on the way out i turn on the little switch that sucks up the poo smell. My mother asks me if she can open it.. As i approach i ask what? Shes holding a cardboard box. Instant smile.. I snatch the box and cheese at her My Dreamcast got here on my birthday. I was excited to try out this long missed arcade of all my favorite fighting games.
I burned a few of the games i already own to cd's...in other words "I CRANKED THAT LEMON" I'm a nice guy so I planned on waiting until my girlfriend got over to my house to open the package, but then i got a little antsy and decided to go ahead and enjoy it.
First 2 games i tried were Jet Set Radio and Ikaruga. They both failed. So i got a boot disk thinking that it was needed. Still no luck. So i played Soul Calibur for a while.
One hour later i got my few dummy games working. I must say Ikaruga is very challenging. I think Its alot like Shikigami No Shiro. Both are beautiful games. I tend to play Shikigami a little more the Ikaruga. The two games even have maps in common. Does any know the map on Ikaruga where u have to shoot the boxes/ wait for them to move in order to pass through? Well Shikigami has one just like it, and i always die on that part..
Later that day my girlfriend takes me to Game Works in Tampa. Like always she kicks my scores ass in house of the dead.
This was our first time playing House of the Dead 4. The Arcade we usually go to only has number 2. With added grenades and shake to reload i had no complaints.. If you think i suck because a girl beat me at a arcade shooter i dare you to put money on a game with my girl, in fact i will even bet her accuracy is 70% or above...We move on to a nifty flying game called After Burner Climax. This game moves your seat as you fly. You have a throttle on your left hand on the seat, and in your right hand, a joystick with bomb and machine gun buttons.. I personally think it looks like Warhawk. It was a hella fun game.
We fucked around played a few Racing games. (this place has the Nascar ones that move) Even better than the racing game itself was the midget black thug guy running it.. i could smuggle 6 of him into Mexico. A little freaked out by this mans size i went back to the shooting section. We selected Time Crisis 3.. Thank god the pedal wasn't broken on this one...once again my score was murdered.
After the shooter i let her win a few rounds of Tekken 5. Then i lay into her with consecutive PERFECTS! We decide to head out due to lack of credit on the game card. on the way home i spot a sick ass wall and had to get a picture of it. Heres one of the three beautiful pieces.
We meet my family at Mugs & Jugs for some wings.
As I'm eating my bbq wings every one starts singing me happy birthday. Including the karaoke people. My girlfriend attempts to own me with a cake but misses and gets the frosting that got on my arm wiped all over her jacket..heres a sad picture. a perfect cake wasted.
Home at last! Back to the Dreamcast
also, epic Sega emulator
Pretty Much to sum it all up. I won a beast of a computer. I played a shit load of games. I got a new Dreamcast, a shit load of games , the fishing pole controller, and a light gun. I have 4 regular Dreamcast controllers on the way. I didn't get to go jet skiing..but its cool, I had a blast. I also got my boaters license for no reason. Spider Monkeys.
look I have a gamer dog. His favorite game is Halo 3.
Like most journalists and professional types, sometimes we move on to bigger and better things ... or we just fade away off into the sunset. I wanted to write a unique post, just to say that I have resigned as Destructoid editor in chief and that I am moving on. I know for some of you, you came to Dtoid because of my switch and you've found a whole new site to love as your own. I hope you'll continue to show Dtoid the proper love and I wish all the success in the world to Niero and crew.
As for me, I have been hired by the Global Gaming League to be their editor in chief and with that, I will also assume an associate producer role with Epileptic Gaming. So, you know, I'm not fading away into the sunset, I'll just be somewhere else.
I want to say thank you to everyone who read Destructoid, ran Destructoid, and who have given their time and effort into making it one of the best video game sites on the Web. What Dtoid does is something truly unique, and I hope each and every one of you can see that. And I also hope that my time and effort put into the site has made your involvement that much better.
At GGL and Epileptic Gaming, I hope to bring that same edge and level of authenticity that you saw from me at Dtoid. I encourage you to check both out while still at the same time giving Dtoid the proper amount of love it absolutely deserves.
Again, I thank you all and I wish everyone the best.
Dell Latitude C610
1-GHz/733-MHz Pentium III-M CPU, 256MB of SDRAM, 512KB L2 cache, Windows XP Professional, 14.1-inch active-matrix screen, ATI Radeon Mobility graphics with 16MB of DDR SDRAM, 20GB hard drive, 8X DVD-ROM and 8X/8X/24X CD-RW combination drive, built-in V.90 modem and network adapter, touchpad and eraserhead pointing devices, 7.8 pounds
i have to use this shitty laptop as my desktop pc since my old emachines caught on fire.
battery does not work..must be plugged in to power on.
it over heats frequently .(must keep it up on a book)
some times the mouse pointer just strays to the left or right..
only one usb port.
it has to run counterstrike 1.6 in software mode
pretty much sucks ass.. im always in vent while people are playing all these cool ass games and i can never join in due to my lack of funds...
Hello, the name is "Altaïr" it is Arabic for "the flyer" or "the bird" when im in mid-air my shadow looks like a eagle.you do not see my face much but you can tell its me by my sexy white outfit catches the light. Throughout the game I kill nine key men who are involved in a conflict threatening to tear apart the Holy Land.All of this action takes place in the year 1191, during the Third Crusade in the of cities Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus. In the Xbox 360 game play demo I have a small crossbow (however it has been confirmed that my crossbow will not be available in the final version. (but still looked cool), a longsword, throwing knives, and a long dagger/short sword. Before each mission the clan leader gives me a feather from a messenger bird which I am to soak in the blood of my main victim and bring back as proof of his successful assassination. I also have a mechanical dagger that I utilize for close-range assassinations (this is my "hidden" weapon)It uses a complex system of gears to extend and retract. It protrudes from a gauntlet on my forearm and out through the space created by my amputated ring-finger on my left hand. I have over 12,000 animations in the game. At the very start of the game the player plays a short level with a fully upgraded Altaïr. However if the player fails to assassinate the target. Altaïr is downgraded to the lowest rank ("Uninitiated") but is given a second chance. So please use my skills wisely and dont worry abouot me wasting your time, you wont loose your game due to no save points, the game is based on an atomatic save system. Your progress is being saved whenever you achieve a goal, no matter if relevant for the storyline or not. Since there are so many possibilities that will cause a saving of the game(from collecting hidden flags to assassinating targets)your progress will be saved frequently without big gaps. So now that you know so much about me i feel comfortable giving you my home number (281) 330-8004. Im dead sexy and possibly up for furry anal sex...so callll meee in the break of dawn
I snatch the box and cheese at her 
I burned a few of the games i already own to cd's...in other words 
I think Its alot like Shikigami No Shiro. Both are beautiful games. I tend to play Shikigami a little more the Ikaruga. The two games even have maps in common. Does any know the map on Ikaruga where u have to shoot the boxes/ wait for them to move in order to pass through? Well Shikigami has one just like it, and i always die on that part..
