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NOTICE: You can emulate most of these games released before 2002 with MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator).Some games (Capcom, SNK) run better on WinKawaks.Playstation/Namco-based hardware (most 3D Arcade games) runs better on ZiNc.Nebula also has additional optimization for SNK, Capcom, Konami and PolyGameMaster systems.
Title Year Genre
19XX: War Against Destiny 1995 Shmup Fourth in the 1945 series.
Armed Police Batrider 1998 Shmup
Alien vs. Predator 1994 Shmup
After Burner II 1987 Shmup

Fly a plane and shoot other planes. INCREDIBLE in an actual sit-down arcade machine.

Rereleased all over the goddamn place. You'll more often see Climax at arcades though.

Battle Bakraid 1999 Shmup
Battle Garegga 1996 Shmup
Boogie Wings 1992 Shmup Features plane flying, which lets you grab and throw stuff and ground running, which has a ton of weapons.
Dragon Blaze 2000 Shmup
Dimahoo/Great Mahou Daisakuen 2000 Shmup
Dangun Feveron/Fever SOS 1998 Shmup
DoDonPachi 1997 Shmup
ESP Ra.De. 1998 Shmup
Giga Wing 1999 Shmup Ported to the Dreamcast
Gradius 1985 Shmup Rereleased to the Wii's Virtual Console
Guwange 1999 Shmu
Ikari Warriors 1986 Shmup Plays like Commando in that you run around and shoot enemies in an overhead view.
Mars Matrix 2000 Shmup Ported to the Dreamcast.
Pro Gear no Arashi 2001
Pulstar 1995 Shmup Ported to NeoGeo and NeoGeo CD
Raiden 1990 Shmup
Raiden Fighters 1996 Shmup
Raiden Fighters 2 1997 Shmup
Raiden Fighters Jet 1998 Shmup
Radiant Silvergun 1998 Shmup Ported to the Saturn. Japan-exclusive.
R-Type 1987 Shmup Re-released all over the goddamn place.
R-Type Leo 1992 Shmup
Raystorm 1996 Shmup Ported to the PS1 and Saturn
Smash T.V. 1990 Shmup

BIG MONEY. BIG PRIZES. I LOVE IT.

Features dual joysticks for shooting+aiming and moving. Made to eat your quarters.

Space Harrier 1985 Shmup

WELCOME TO THE FANTASY ZONE. GET READY.


Similar to After Burner, but you fly in 8 directions instead of steering.

Good luck finding a sit-down machine, but you'll enjoy the hell out of it if you can.

Strikers 1945 1995 Shmup Rereleased all over the goddamn place.
Strikers 1945 II 1997 Shmup Rereleased all over the goddamn place.

Strikers 1945 III/Strikers 1999

1999 Shmup
Strikers 1945 Plus 1999 Shmup
Viper Phase 1 1995 Shmup







Title Genre Description
Battlezone Retro
Berzerk Retro STOP THE HUMANOID. STOP THE INTRUDER. Run through mazes and blast robots.
Bosconian Retro
Blaster Retro
Bump 'N' Jump Retro
Burger Time Retro Make gigantic burgers by dropping ingredients downward and avoiding enemies.
Centipede Retro Similar to Space Invaders, but involves bugs and mushrooms instead of shields and aliens.
Defender Retro
Dig Dug Retro Tunnel underground and shoot monsters with a spike that fills them up with air until they explode.
Discs of Tron Retro
Donkey Kong Retro Run and jump through 4 stages to rescue Pauline from Donkey Kong. KILL SCREEN COMIN' UP.
Frenzy Retro
Frogger Retro Cross the highway and avoid getting splattered.
Galaga Retro Shoot aliens. Protip: Get one ship captured and save it, now you have DOUBLE SHOT POWER.
Dorf Retro
Gravitar Retro
Gyruss Retro
Joust Retro
Jungle Hunt Retro
Kangaroo Retro
Kung Fu Master Retro Aka Spartan-X and Kung-Fu. Kick assholes and save your girlfriend.
Lady Bug Retro
Lode Runner Retro Get gold and escape. Dig holes in front of or behind you to trap enemies.
Mario Bros. Retro Collect coins, stun monsters then kick them. Avoid Fireballs. Much more fun in later remixes with 4 players.
Millipede Retro
Motos Retro
Mr. Do! Retro
Ms. Pac-Man Retro If you've played Pac-Man, then you've played Ms. Pac-Man. Fortunately, it's just as good as its predecessor.
Nibbler Retro
Pac-Man Retro Eat pills in a dark room and chase ghosts while listening to repetitive techno music.
Pole Position Retro Drive through a course to get the best time. Alot harder than it sounds.
Q*Bert Retro Jump on every panel to make them the same color. Avoid enemies by jumping away or jumping on flying saucers.
Qix Retro Try to make a picture by clearing away the cover sheet with careful navigation.
Rally-X Retro
Roboron: 2084 Retro Dual-stick shooter, later copied by Smash T.V. Shoot robots and save humanity. This game doesn't pull punches.
Sinistar Retro I AM SINISTAR. BEWARE, I LIVE. Shoot aliens and asteroids to collect crystals and stop a planet-sized monster from eating you.
Space Invaders Retro Kill all the invaders as they advance and reverse direction until they land.
Space Zap Retro
Star Wars Retro
Tapper Retro Serve (Root) Beer to customers.
Tempest Retro
Tutankham Retro
Vanguard Retro
Wizard of Wor Retro Explore a maze and shoot enemies.
Xevious Retro Legendary shmup that pretty much defined the vertical playstyle from then after.







Title Year Genre Description
Battle Circuit 1997 Beat em' Up Almost similar to Captain Commando only more awesome.
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs 1993 Beat em' Up 3 player simultaneous beat em'up. Fight dinosaurs, drive cars, and shoot guns, all in the dystopian future. Extreme amounts of awesome.
Captain Commando 1991 Beat em' Up Choose one of four superheroic characters to smash and bash through enemies. Notable for its gruesome death sequences.
Dungeons and Dragons: Tower of Doom Beat em' Up A classic arcade beat em' up with tons of depth. Up to four players.
Dungeons and Dragons: Shadow over Mystara Beat em' Up The amazing sequel to Tower of Doom features two new characters, and branching pathways with magic items and tons of secrets for replayability. Hard to get tired of this one.
Final Fight Beat em' Up The mayor's daughter has been kidnapped by gangsters. Instead of asking for some bad dudes to save her, MIKE HAGGAR and his boys, Guy and Cody personally decide to take care of business.
Golden Axe Beat em' Up Medieval esque beat'em up that features weapon combos, powerful magic spells, and stealing enemy monsters to tear through their lines.
Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder Beat em' Up
The Simpsons 1991 Beat em' Up The Simpson family sets off to save Maggie from Mr. Burns. Features some really trippy stages and enemies.
Splatterhouse Beat em' Up Horror-themed beat 'em up that features grotesque enemies and bosses. Sequels on Genesis and a parody/spin-off on NES
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time 1991 Beat em' Up

The Turtles are back with new moves and power ups. Had an updated port on SNES and a remix on Genesis.

Remake released on Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network though it plays a little differently.

The Punisher 1991 Beat em' Up Combines traditional beat'em up fare with pseudo-light gun shoot out sequences. Great if you're a Marvel fan or not.
X-Men Beat em' Up Xbox hueg arcade game with two monitors, six players, crappy dialogue, and stupid amounts of awesome.







Title Genre Description
L.A. Machine Guns Light Gun Rip through L.A. with you huge ass machine gun. Fight in 4 epic levels with huge boss battles and then fight the secret boss in the secret level (Oh my!). However, you can't take forever as the clock is ticking even when you lose all your lives as you insert your quarters into the machine.
Lethal Enforcers Light Gun
Time Crisis Light Gun WAIT. ACTION. RELOAD.

The classic light gun game that started them all. It's aged terribly, but it's main gameplay mechanics still stand up to the throws of time. It's still good.

Time Crisis 2 Light Gun Arguably, the best of the Time Crisis series. Introduced co-op to the series and the same old gameplay that is refined from its prequel. Story sucks, but still fun to play with a bro.
Time Crisis 3 Light Gun The sixth gen Time crisis, same lame VA, similar lame plot. Now with multiple weapons, and a special enemies that when shot, gives you extra ammo!
Time Crisis 4 Light Gun Same as it's sequel, but now it's a tad more refined. You'll find this version in most "higher-end" arcades.
Silent Hill Light Gun That's right, it exists!
You play as one of two characters, researching the disappearance of the Little Baroness, then a bunch of your friends go missing and die and shit, typical SH-fan fare, really. Nurses, Gumheads, Dogs, thoes-bird-things-from-the-first-game, and (surprise!) Pyramid Head all make an appearance. No I haven't played to see the bosses yet, dammit.Extra items that heal and whatnot, plays like House of the Dead, but now with 200% more Silent Hill.
House of the Dead Light Gun Agents called out to investigate a disappearance of a chick at a huge mansion. Upon arrival, you find zombies with axes and shit murdering scientists, now you have to go around and find out what the fuck is going on.

This game pretty much started the whole multiple paths, extra life/continue/score items and multiple endings formula for the Light Gun Genre in general.

House of the Dead 2 Light Gun Same concept, new story, new monsters, new bosses. Do want.
House of the Dead 3 Light Gun Ditch that lame water pistol and insert a shotgun and you have House of the Dead 3. Even though it came out before HoTD4, storywise, it is placed right after it. Is much easier than the first two games and it is also shorter, however, after the first level, (aside from the last level) you can choose the stages any way you want like Mega Man. You can no longer save civilians like the first two, but instead you save your partners and sometimes you will get an extra life for it for no apparent reason. Still a fun game in the series. At this point, it had nothing to do with being in a house which raises the question. Why is it stil being called "HOUSE" of the Dead?
House of the Dead 4 Light Gun OH, LOOK, ZOMBIES IN shiny 3D! This is the second game in the series to play in the 6th-gen field, and do it well. It uses a machine gun (Uzi) for your main weapon and a button for a secondary attack, grenades (limited, but clear a whole screen at a time). A new function is where the zombies grab hold of you, or push you to the ground, and you gotta shake the gun like you have parkinson's to fill a bar up that pushes the zombies back, or you lose a life point. Continues the same (somewhat interesting) plot, and introduces new characters, weapons, continues the great trend of naming the bosses after the Tarot cards and multiple endings. HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HOUSES ANYMORE.
The Maze of the Kings Light Gun Incerdibly obscure as in I ONLY FOUND THIS IN A CRUISE SHIP OF ALL PLACES, BUT NO OTHER ARCADE obscure. You can barely find it on the internet for that matter, but this game is incredibly fun. Take command of treasure hunters and use you pew pew magic staff into ancient rooms and fight your way to the bosses. It has a TON of replayability mainly because it is always different (except fo the bosses) every time you play the game again exploring new rooms that you didn't play in your previous playthrough. Everytime you beat the boss you have a chance to nab the treasure in a sort of mini game. Fail and just move on. Good luck finding one.
Point Blank Light Gun Famous game known for it's wacky and compeditive shooting-range/carnival style levels. Probably one of the most common shooters you'll find in arcades today.
Point Blank 2 Light Gun Makes better of everything the first one did. Now with a fuckton of all new stages. Is seen a LOT less then it's prequel (sadly)
RAMBO Light Gun Fire a fast-shooting machine gun and go through stages based off the movies. Do well enough and for short bursts of time, you can use infinite ammo and become invincible by the power of pure rage. This game's so intense it was advertised by the guy who played Segata Sanshiro.






Title Genre Description
Garou: Mark of the Wolves Fighting SNK's answer to SF3. A sequel of sorts to Fatal Fury. Features a form of parrying and the ability to choose when you want to be able to use Super Combos.
Street Fighter Alpha 3 Fighting The alpha series is a black sheep to some (not as much as EX), however it's still damn good. You have more options of Super Combos, and now you can choose your "style". This let's you determine the kind of fighting you'll be doing (Balanced, speed, or power). Features some Final Fight characters, some from SF1, and DAN.
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Fighting LET'S GET IT ON NOW. A masterful entry in the SF series. Choose your character then choose your Super Combo, which determines how quickly you can use it. Features different characters from 2, but they mostly resemble their counterparts to an extent, just better.
Super Street Fighter IV Fighting Now considered to be the best Street Fighter (of this gen), as it's not really a Ken Fighter any more. Also, Korean babe Juri is in it nao. If you aren't too keen on SF3, then IV is more of a return to 2's roots.
Mortal Kombat II Fighting FINISH HIM. The almost comedically gory fighting game that everyone played as a kid. It's lost a bit of luster, but it's still worth a nostalgia trip every now and then.
Tekken 6 Fighting I <3 JUGGLAN.Seriously though, it's one of the prettiest fighters around, and it's still going too. Getting a bit unrealistic with a cyborg-chick who can throw her HEAD at opponents and an illegitimate son of the Mishima bloodline who has dragon ball styled hair. Regardless of all this, it's a hugely great fighting game.






Title Genre Description
In the Groove Rhythm

The American version to Dance Dance revolution, with USB customization. You can upload your own songs from your USB drive on the machine and play them. Virtually infinite replayability. It's considered much more difficult than DDR. The Japanese DDR tourneyfags refuse to play it due to it being "harmful to their legs."

Dance Dance Revolution Rhythm In this game, you use your FEET to play!

That's pretty much the premise of the game, and has done unbelievably well with it. You step on the designated platforms in time to matching it up with the arrows up top of the screen. You'll most likely see the EXTREME version or Super Nova/Super Nova 2 or DDR X. There's been a "Extreme Plus" been seen around, but it's just a hacked 8th Mix, now with optional speed settings~

beatmania IIDX Rhythm A DJ Sim game, where you play using a turn-table (scratching) and key sounded buttons, pressing or scratching in time when it hits the red line at the bottom. Big learning curve, but for those willing to learn, it's great fun. The Simulator to this is BePatchi Music, as this is the only one that's still in development (and is looking very promising).
pop'n music Rhythm Simliar to IIDX, but with with either 5, 7 or 9 big coloured buttons arranged in a horizontal zig-zag pattern. Pretty much for kids, or man-children. Only the mightiest of music masters need apply. Contains nothing but pure unadulterated J-Pop/rock/dance.
jubeat Rhythm A strange new rhythm game by BENAMI (guy who made DDR, IIDX & all the rest). The game consists of a cube where you have to push certain pressure-sensors in time to the music.
Guitar Freaks Rhythm Just like Guitar Hero (GF came first) you hold the correct button-chord and strum the guitar when the note hits the appropriate line; Can link up with DrumMania for serious RAWKIN' OWT. Despite what ANYONE tells you, Guitar Hero ripped it's concept of this very same game, but GF contains more Eastern-style music, whereas GH contains western-style music. Go figure.
DrumMania Rhythm Same deal as Guitar Freaks, but with a drum set. This got ripped off from Rock Band, but they majorietly got their ideas from GH, but now with added drum set flavour.
DJMAX Technika Rhythm Rhythm game that uses a touch screen for play. Difficluties that span from easy to start to god damn near impossible. Has four game modes, Lite mixing (easy mode, this is where you start off to get the hang of the game), Popular mixing (normal mode, this is where you get good at the game), Technical Mixing (hardcore mode for hardcore gamers, I did not make this up it says that word for word in the game), and Platinum Crew (online mode where you need a card to play, cards are usually 8 bucks and are worth it if you want to get into the game). Lite mixing and Popular mixing have three stages, stages increase in difficulty. Technical mixing is where you choose a set which has 8 songs to choose 3 to play in a set order, final song in the set is a boss song to be determined by your performance on the 3 songs you chose yourself. Platinum Crew allows acess to misions which unlock songs to play in popular mixing, weekly challenges, and monthly special charts for songs (the special charts are extremely hard).