Electronic Gaming Monthly's Top 61 Shoot 'Em Ups of the 16-Bit Era

With all this excitement surrounding Eliminate Down, I wondered what Electronic Gaming Monthly thought of this era of shoot ‘em up? What is their favorite 16-bit shooter? As it turns out, EGM reviewed a total of 61 shooters between 1989 and 1995. That includes the heyday of the early arcade ports all the way through the genre trying to find its place in an ever-changing industry. In order to compile this list, I’ve decided to focus solely on the traditional vertical and horizontal shooters of that era, skipping the off-shoots, like the run ‘n gun shooters, 3D shooters and so on so forth. So, for this list, don’t expect to see classic action games like Contra, Smash TV or even Star Fox. We are keeping it simple and straight-forward, and let me tell you, there’s more than enough to make a great list of games. What we’re going to do today is count down the top 61 shoot ‘em ups using Electronic Gaming Monthly’s own words and scores. There’s no editorializing here, we're just going to focus on what the critics said back when these games first came out. So, get ready to save the universe all by yourself, because we’re taking that experimental fighter jet straight into the heart of Electronic Gaming Monthly’s Top 61 Shoot ‘Em Ups of the 16-Bit Era! Pre-Order Eliminate Down: https://retro-bit.com/eliminate-down 0:00 – Introduction 2:07 – Commercial: Sega Genesis (U.S.) 2:38 – Deep Blue (TG16) 2:59 – Terraforming (TG16) 3:33 – Ordyne (TG16) 3:56 – Battle Squadron (Genesis) 4:18 – Super Air Zonk (TG16) 4:45 – Bio-Hazard Battle (Genesis) 5:12 – Vapor Trail (Genesis) 5:34 – Strike Gunner STG (SNES) 6:00 – Super Thunder Blade (Genesis) 6:25 – BioMetal (SNES) 6:47 – Viewpoint (Genesis) 7:04 – Lords of Thunder (Sega CD) 7:33 – Android Assault (Sega CD) 7:51 – Super Nova (SNES) 8:08 – Arrow Flash (Genesis) 8:31 – Whip Rush (Genesis) 8:58 – Commercial: TurboDuo (U.S.) 9:33 – Earth Defense Force (SNES) 10:01 – Truxton (Genesis) 10:21 – BlaZeon (SNES) 10:47 – Galaga ’90 (TG16) 11:11 – Soldier Blade (TG16) 11:37 – Grind Stormer (Genesis) 12:04 – Dragon Spirit (TG16) 12:30 – Magical Chase (TG16) 12:55 – Cyber-Core (TG16) 13:16 – Sub-Terrania (Genesis) 13:47 – Wings of Wor (Genesis) 14:08 – Super Star Soldier (TG16) 14:32 – Dead Moon (TG16) 14:57 – Robo Aleste (Sega CD) 15:23 – Curse (Genesis) 15:48 – Commercial: Blazing Lazers (U.S.) 16:22 – Air Zonk (TG16) 16:49 – Raiden Trad (Genesis) 17:13 – Raiden Trad (TG16) 17:35 – Twin Cobra (Genesis) 17:57 – Sagaia (Genesis) 18:21 – Firepower 2000 (SNES) 18:48 – Silpheed (Sega CD) 19:22 – Thunder Force II (Genesis) 19:47 – Blazing Lazers (TG16) 20:10 – Sol-Deace (Genesis) 20:36 – Hellfire (Genesis) 20:58 – Insector-X (Genesis) 21:16 – Ranger-X (Genesis) 21:47 – U.N. Squadron (SNES) 22:09 – Choplifter III (SNES) 22:33 – Commercial: Gradius III (Japan) 22:51 – Keio Flying Squadron (Sega CD) 23:09 – Forgotten Worlds (Genesis) 23:30 – Psychosis (TG16) 23:53 – Gradius III (SNES) 24:15 – Super R-Type (SNES) 24:38 – R-Type III (SNES) 25:04 – Phelios (Genesis) 25:24 – Fire Shark (Genesis) 25:40 – Thunder Force III (Genesis) 26:04 – Aero Blasters (TG16) 26:25 – Gate of Thunder (TG16) 26:50 – Lords of Thunder (TG16) 27:16 – Axelay (SNES) 27:40 – Space Megaforce (SNES) 28:04 – Gaiares (Genesis) 28:35 – Commercial: Super R-Type (U.S.) 29:07 – Question of the Day Join our brand-new Discord Server:   / discord   Defunct Games is on Twitter:   / defunctgames   Defunct Games is on Facebook:   / defunctgames   Defunct Games is home to thousands of reviews, articles, comedy pieces, podcasts, features and more: www.defunctgames.com #Shmups #ShootEmUps #16bit