Guns, ships and lasers

The vertical action shooter - genre has been around almost forever. Initially there was asteroids on early Atari systems - which though it didn't "scroll" was possibly the earliest action shooter on the market. Calling it an early twin stick shooter may be more accurate.

Titles like R-Type and Tyrian 2000 may be familiar to you as well, and are certainly one of the better known classics in the vertical shooter genre. Some more obscure but certainly noteworthy names include Raptor, Project-X (for the music if anything), Swiv, Silk worm and even Turrican 2 had some side scrolling shooter action. No links for those I fear, but feel free to look them up on YouTube and enjoy the music.

For twin stick shooters you may or may not (depending on your age) have heard of Smash-TV. Most early games were a mess in one way or another but this one was certainly fun in multiplayer.

Around 1990+ a sub genre "bullet hell" entered the market, and features more bullets to dodge. Perhaps because horizontal/vertical shooters were getting too easy, and some masochist decided "let's change that". The games labeled "Touhou" are probably some of the more well known ones, but searching for that tag quickly shows the name is used/abused for more than just bullet hell.

No screenshots this time - a video can show you ever so much more, and these games just happen to have pretty decent intros to watch ^_^

Vertical shooter - Jamestown+

Jamestown, and later Jamestown+ is a vertical shooter that gets progressively harder - right up there in bullet hell territory. The best part is that you can play it with 2 player cooperative on the same screen (or remote). But it goes beyond that. Up to 4 players cooperatively. Unfortunately the difficulty scaling is a bit "off", and the game is near impossible to solo. Well, it was to me. Jamestown+ brings you two more levels, four more ships and a few graphical improvements. It's a shame it wasn't a free DLC / patch, but if you get the choice - ignore the older version and go straight for the plus edition.

Vertical shooter - Sky force reloaded

Sky force was (to my knowledge) originally a game released on phones/tablets. And it did good there, was quite enjoyable and actually free to play. Later on the reloaded version was released and it's only a few dollars during steam sale. Make sure you get "this" version and not the anniversary or other older versions if you decide to give this one a spin.

Graphically it's top notch for a vertical shooter. The difficulty scales pretty steep, and it's quite noticeable that this was a mobile game initially. Still, good game, and supports two player mode. Or twin stick it on your keyboard + mouse if you need a little extra firepower for free.

Twin stick - Assault Android Cactus

Assault Android Cactus is a friendly anime-ish twin stick bullet hell. It's also a multiplayer same screen couch game. Controller preferred, or at least keyboard+mouse for one of the players.

It thrives on some lighthearted comedy and narration as you complete the missions - you can skip most and go straight for the bosses to unlock the other androids. Each has their own set of weapons and playstyle.

Twin stick - Rive

Rive actually touches on the Metroidvania genre as well. But it's on this page because it's a good fun and narrated twin stick shooter. It's cheap too, and been bundled a few times so it shouldn't be too hard to get a copy.

Many more bullets to dodge

• Beat Hazard 2 - play your own music and customize ships.
• Enter- / Exit the gungeon - modern pixel graphics action adventure.
• Jets 'n Guns 2 - with music by Machinae Supremacy.

Steam's page filter houses many more. What are your favorite games in this genre?

Mechanical Metroidvania

Jump in and explore this review. Metroidvania seems an odd term at first, since other games that are derived form a specific genre are generally suffixed with "-like". E.g. souls-like, or rogue-like.

Metroidvania comes from merging the two names Metroid, and Castlevania. Games in this genre are generally a mixture of the two as you may expect. Featuring a large map, and having to locate/obtain certain key items which will allow you to progress or go back and find certain secrets. It's a classic genre and as you may have noticed from earlier reviews - one I quite enjoy.

While the classic metroidvania game is 2D, even 3D games like Darksiders have metroidvania aspects. Other recent metroidvania in the reviews here include UnEpic, Dust, Sundered and last but certainly not least Yoku's Island Express.

Ghost 1.0

By the same creators of UnEpic, UnMetal (Upcoming) and Mini Ghost. Ghost 1.0 features a similar comedy as UnEpic and is worth a few chuckles and a playthrough for that reason alone.

You play as the same character as in Mini Ghost, but rather than a very short metroidvania, Ghost 1.0 is a proper full game instead of the 1$ prequel game called Mini Ghost.

Ghost 1.0's graphics are quite similar to UnEpic in a way that the game is likely running on the same engine, but now at a higher resolution. You play as ghost, a secret operative hired to infiltrate and retrieve the A.I. for a new type of robot. Stealth is optional - and quickly thrown out the window - but always optional.

What makes this game unique from most metroidvanias is the characters. The guys who hired you will bicker and joke at each other. Ghost will often respond as their voice line is left open by accident. In short, you're not just playing one character alone in a mission to save the planet. You've got a small crew of remote hackers helping you in the space station you're trying to infiltrate. And they're good - but not always very fast. Meaning you're left to your own devices in terms of "not stealth" and shooting your way out of trouble quite a lot.

Also interesting is the way the game works it's save system. You're a ghost - but you control a robot. If you're broken, you find yourself back at the latest 3D printer and able to take control of a new robot suit. Secondly, if you save/scan, quit and come back later you will get a small "previously on ghost" cinematic that tells you what you achieved recently. It greatly helps with getting back into the game after a long drunken weekend.

Upgrades left and right

As mentioned you control a robot (ghost), but you can also control "other" robots around the station. This gives you a unique way of solving puzzles and fighting. Just keep in mind you always need to come back to your original suit at some point or other. Sorry, you can't keep that heavy armor guard bot that tried to shoot rockets at you.

Ghost's progression areas unlock by finding keycard fragments which basically has you progressing the map areas in a haphazard way. There are several challenge rooms to encounter while exploring. These serve mainly as progression locks and for farming extra energy to use on weapon upgrades. Similar to how UnEpic has some farming for materials. That said - dying will cause you to lose most energy cubes, so try to stay alive. The cubes are used to power replicators in the "not a shop" which provides you with different weapons and upgrades

Another thing the game encourages is clearing all rooms. If you find a few floating sparks - collecting them all for that room will award you with either a single use item or other upgrade.

Another nice perk is that you get a free bonus familiar if the game detects UnEpic in the your steam library.

Release date: 7 Jun, 2016

Minimum system requirements: Windows XP or later, 2 GB Ram, honestly you should be quite fine with almost anything from the last 10 years.

Axiom Verge

True to the Metroid heritage, Axiom Verge looks and feels a lot like Super Metroid. It comes with a very wide variety of guns... Or rather, a wide variety of bullet types since you always use the one gun.

Excellent retro graphics and unique abilities. Not your usual roll / double jump stuff. Sure the extra health and firepower is there, but those "need" to be, right?

You're a scientist in a strange biomechanical world. A lab accident got you here. Or rather you, the clone of said scientist. The story unfolds very well and you'll quickly wonder what actually happened to land you in this situation. It's hard to explain without spoiling the story - so, we'll skip on that ;)

Guns, so many guns

From simple blaster, 6 way remote detonated bullets, lightning, lasers, flamethrowers, grenades and so many more. 23 different weapons. You can find and use at will - with the exception of one, these are optional to find in secret areas and will help you fight the different bosses.

Guns aside you'll need to find a lab coat, and "glitch" equipment. Each with their own unique abilities to help you travel through terrain otherwise unreachable.

Release date: 14 May, 2015

Minimum system requirements: If your potato can't run this - get a better potato.

Plenty more

Those two recent ones aside I've played a good bunch more metroidvanias over the years that are worth checking out. But, I just don't think I can do justice to them all in a single post right now. Have a peek at these - they are GOOD games. If you like the genre, then stick them on your wishlist.

• Cave Story +
• Guacamelee
• Hollow Knight
• Momodora
• Out There Somewhere
• Owlboy
• SteamWorld Dig
• Strider (tm)
• Valdis Story

Also good - hopefully, but I haven't played it yet: Dead Cells. And there's no doubt a few dozen more that should be on the list. Feel free to suggest them in the comments below.