Top 10 Classic Shoot 'em up Video Games - grsgames.com

Top 10 Classic Shoot ’em up Video Games

WatchMojo.com
Views: 635952
Like: 6090
You are one ship against an entire enemy air force; They don’t stand a chance. Join as we countdown our picks for the Top 10 Classic Shoot ’em up games. Check us out at , and

Special thanks to our users “ryan” “Andre Pringle” & “Roderick L. Strong” for suggesting this topic on our website Watchmojo.com/suggest

If you want to suggest an idea for a WatchMojo video, check out our interactive Suggestion Tool at 🙂

We have T-Shirts! Be sure to check out for more info.

570 Comments

  1. Gotta say, this is an interesting list. A lot of games that I wouldn’t expect, and some I would. Good list

  2. GALAGA IS AN HONORABLE MENTION??

    You absolute fucking TWATS. And yeah, Raiden and Tyrian are off the list, you miserable piles of matter.

  3. Shocking that Raiden is nowhere in here, simply from its sheer ubiquity. Yet, understandably missing for the same reason (while near and dear to my heart) was Twin Eagle. Released in 1988, it felt years ahead of its time. It had a real digitized rock soundtrack with vocals, digitized photos as sources for sprites and background, and just felt like nothing else before it. Nothing cartoony here. It was like Top Gun with a helicopter. If I remember right it had overhead speakers, possibly in stereo? I just remember the cabinet experience being really immersive. Ahh nostalgia.

  4. Can anyone tell me the name of a game I'm looking for. Played as a kid. It was like Truxton. Blue, Green and Orange ammo packs. But the bombs on screen were circular in the shaprof a skull that would roar once detonated.

  5. Wait… they said they will only pick 1 per franchise but radiant silvergun and it karuga are both in the same franchise because it ikaruga was known as project radiant silvergun 2

  6. Where's Tyrian? You can adjust your spacecraft, the kind of bombs it uses, what it shoots, and best you have shields and a health bar. Best of all it's FREE! Look it up and download it! You won't regret it!

  7. Einhander, Musha, elemental master, gigawing2, blazing lazers, magical chase

  8. Not enough saturn and genesis in this list. Most of the great shooters were on sega or turbografx or NES. The SNES does not deserve a top 10 in this category.

  9. These . . . Aren't . . . Shoot em' up games. Shoot em' up would be something like Doom, Halo, and Duke Nukem for examples.

  10. Where the hell is Einhinder, Mars Matrix and Raiden?

  11. "Or smups for short " No Mr Narrator the word you script writers are looking for is Shmups.

  12. "smups for short" while showing video of a game running with horrendous slowdown.

    I'll find a different video

  13. Im probably the only person who thought chicken invaders was gonna be on this list

  14. anyone remembers the game that says "warning warning warp malfunction"

  15. Commodore64: Terra Cresta, Nemesis, Katakis, Lightforce
    Amiga500: Sidewinder, Hybris, Battle Squadron, Xenon2, Blood Money, Silkworm, S.W.I.V., X-Out, Z-Out
    iphone: R-Type

  16. Uh…!!!!! Einhander?????? Thank you ! N°1

  17. Metal slug? Contra? Gunstar heroes? Aren't they shoot em ups too?

  18. The real list here Gates of Thunder, Blazing Lazers, Soldier Blade, NEXZR, R-Type, Lords of Thunder, Thunder Force 3, M.U.S.H.A, Space Mega Force, Aleste 3

  19. 1. Gyruss (best) 2. Space Invaders 3. Galaga 4.1942 5. Exerion
    then random- 1943, Alcon, Defender, Grobda, Moon Cresta, Phoenix, Raiden, R type 2, Tactician, Terra Cresta,
    tTiger Heli, Time Pilot 84 and Xevious

  20. Galaga…honorable mention?? No Einhander? This video was a thumbs down.

  21. As always, WatchMojo leans heavily on modern games and not actual classics. This list could’ve been great if they only showed games from the 8 and 16 bit eras.

  22. What is this ?!?!? Well at least you listed Thunder Force 4. By the way 1942 sucks

  23. Were the DOS games recorded from DOSBox?

  24. PLS HELP ME I AM FINDING THAT GAME IN WHICH I HAVE TO FLY A BLUE SPACESHIP THE SPACESHIP CAN BE LEVEL UPPED TP LVL5 THE GAME WAS A BIT SIMILAR TO DEMONSTAR BUT BETTER PLS IF ANYONE KNOWS HELP ME😭😭😭

  25. U.N. Squadron is actually Area 88, which is based on the manga and anime of the same name.

  26. I wish Musha was on the list, but I can’t argue with their number 1&2 choices. Nothing beats ikaruga and radiant silvergun

  27. Sonic Wings / Aero Fighters?

  28. i need some help to find a game, it was up to 4 players, and you were some kind of gangster, with a nice suit, and a hat, all i remember is that you could pick up guna from the ground to kill the other gangsters or idk what they were, and that you could shoot courtains and hide behind them, also you could dodge bullets, like do a roll on a side

  29. A Top 10 list isn't enough when it comes to shoot 'em up video games. There are just too many good ones.

  30. HOW WAS RAIDEN NOT EVEN ON THE LIST WHAT THE FUCKKKKK

  31. Me: "If they put a Raiden game in the #1 spot I'm going to throw this can of Cherry flavored Mountain Dew Game Fuel against the wall."

    They put Ikaruga in the top spot.

    Me: "I LOVE WatchMojo!" 😉

  32. I am surprised that Layer Section aka Galactic attack and Aero Fighters aka Sonic Wings weren't on this list of shoot'em ups.🤔🤷‍♂️🎮🕹

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.