If you are ever looking to get an old console and are not sure where to begin, the Playstation 2 is the easiest bet. The large selection of games from just about any genre in existence makes it a great choice for whatever games you may be into, even shoot em’ ups which had lost a lot of its steam by the 6th generation.
The Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, and especially the TurboGrafx-16 were all littered with many amazing shoot em’ ups but as the new consoles were released, focus shifted more towards 3D games rather than 2D, the genre began seeing a lot less attention. Luckily, the mighty Playstation 2 still has many great shoot em’ ups with 10 of the best being collected here so they can get some more recognition!
10 Mushihime-Sama
Mushihime-Sama or Bug Princess was developed by the legendary shoot em’ up creators at Cave who developed other great games like Death Smiles and Akai Katana. Mushihime-Sama is a bug-themed shoot em’ up with enemies resembling butterflies, beetles, and other insects and is set in different locations throughout the forest. The game was later ported over to the Xbox Live Marketplace with enhanced visuals and arranged, novice, and Xbox 360 mode in 2012 as well as later being ported over to Steam. Mushihime-Sama received a sequel on mobile phones in 2006 called Mushihime-Sama Bug Panic.
9 Silpheed: The Lost Planet
Developed by Treasure and published in North America by Working Designs, Silpheed: The Lost Planet is a direct sequel to Silpheed. Because it was localized and published by Working Designs, the game comes with a high-quality, holographic book and cover, similar to their previous releases.
In Silpheed: The Lost Planet, you can equip two weapons at once, each residing on either the left or right of your ship - each correlates with the circle and square buttons and both can be fired simultaneously with the X button. The game is not quite top-down like other shoot em’ ups but instead, has an angled view slightly behind your ship.
8 Mobile Light Force 2
While the box art may lead you to believe that you are about to play a game based on the Charlie's Angels franchise, Mobile Light Force 2, known as Shikigami no Shiro in Japan, is heavily steeped in anime and Japanese culture.
In Mobile Light Force 2, when you hold down the fire button your character slows down and all near-by items are absorbed. The game also focuses heavily on a risk versus reward system and will grant the player points when enemy bullets are in close proximity to their character.
7 Castle Shikigami 2
Castle Shikigami 2, or Shikigami no Shiro 2 in Japan, is actually the sequel to the previous entry Moblie Light Force 2, or Shikigami no Shiro 1 - confusing, right? It’s just a small example of how western developers were afraid that western audiences would appreciate attractive protagonists with swoopy hair.
Castle Shikigami 2’s gameplay is very similar to the previous game in the series but added more characters, bringing the total number of playable characters to 7. There are 5 different stages, each consisting of 2 parts with a boss at the end of each part.
6 Dragon Blaze
Dragon Blaze, developed by Psikoyo, plays out more like a bullet-hell than a typical shoot em’ up. Bullet-hells are defined by their massive amount of bullets on the screen that you must dodge while also trying to take out your enemies. Each character in the game has a standard shot, charged shot, and a bomb, but each character also rides a dragon which can be dismounted and also used as a weapon. The dragon does an initial piercing attack then acts as a stationary option until it is called back.
5 Espgaluda
Espgaluda, developed by Cave, uses 3D models in a 2D overhead world similar to other games from the developer. Espgaluda is a spiritual prequel to Esprade and was later followed up by Espgalunda II.
Gameplay should feel familiar to any who have played a Cave shoot em’ up in the past. You use your normal attack by pressing the fire button and holding down the fire button will send out a more focused straight-ahead attack call the rapier. Like other Cave games, there are many other gimmicks to the gameplay which must be figured out to get the best possible score and do the most damage.
4 Gunbird Special Edition
Psikyo released 4 different compilations which included 2 games from legendary shoot em’ up series including Strikers 1945 I & II and Gunbird I & II. Gunbird Special Edition includes arcade versions of both Gunbird and Gunbird 2.
New features were added including eight different difficulty modes, multiple view options including letterboxed, vertical, full screen, and horizontal, as well as a practice mode for beginners. The Gunbird games started off on arcade but the first one was ported to the Sega Saturn, PlayStation 1, Steam, and the Nintendo Switch. Gunbird 2 was ported to the Sega Dreamcast and Android.
3 Raiden III
Raiden is a long-running shoot em’ up series developed by the arcade connoisseurs Taito, with the first game coming out in 1990 and seeing release on multiple platforms on the Atari Jaguar and PC Engine.
Raiden III plays similarly to other games in the series, while also adding new mechanics. The primary weapon has been upgraded to a piercing proton laser and their missiles upgraded to radar missiles. The flash shot multiplier mechanic was also introduced which rewards players with more points the faster they destroy an enemy once they have appeared.
2 R-Type Final
Developed by IREM and made to be the final game in the series, R-Type Final takes place following multiple wars against the main antagonist of the series, Bydo. Though R-Type Final was meant to be the last game released in the series, it was followed up by R-Type Tactics on the Playstation Portable with a direct sequel called R-Type Final 2 set to come out this year.
R-Type Final allows you to choose from 101 different ships to use, some of which are altered versions of ships that had appeared in the previous titles in the series. New ships are unlocked through a branching system that is accessed in the R Museum, giving the game plenty of replayability.
1 Gradius V
Gradius V was developed by Treasure, G.rev, and Konami. Treasure, the developers behind amazing games like Gunstar Heroes and Ikaruga, is a group of ex-Konami members who left Konami in the early ‘90s to start their own company. Gradius V marks the first time the two (Konami & Treasure) had worked together since they split in the early 90s.
Unlike previous entries in the series, in Gradius V when you lose a life you appear in the exact same place you had died, where in previous games you’d have to start from the beginning of the level.