Raiden IV / 2007 / MOSS Ltd. / Arcade + Xbox 360
solid shooting action! huge step up from Raiden III. 360 port has great dual mode support (two ships on one controller) and a couple extra levels on the 360 mode.
Nitro Ball / 1992 / Data East / Data East MC68000 Hardware
there’s a pretty decent chance you haven’t played this, unfortunately. i hadn’t even played it until tonight. here’s a brilliant thing that nobody else could’ve ever dreamed to do with the kind of finesse Data East did: make a top down run n’ gun with pinball elements. amazing game.
Joyful Road / 1983 / SNK / SNK Z80 Hardware
this isn’t even good, i just discovered it last night and can’t stop laughing at it
Brave Blade / 2000 / Raizing - 8ing / Sony ZN-1 Hardware
have i posted this one yet? either way, Brave Blade is a masterful piece of work from the guys at Raizing. makes awesome use of low-poly 3D to make every boss do a lot of really cool things. in the fire stage when the jet boss flips over and slams into the lava and transforms into a giant robotic phoenix thing? that blows me away. the scoring system is a ton of fun if you like fidgeting all over the screen to juggle items (which i do!)
i only had a brief chance to play this at one point on an expedition to a mall. i got home that evening and bought the PCB without hesitation. it’s a killer.
Ghostlop / 1996 (unreleased) / Data East / Neo-Geo MVS
speaking of (x)-alikes, here’s a Puzzle Bobble-alike, also produced by the masterful entertainers at Data East. really colorful graphics, goofy as hell sound effects and voices, and fast-paced gameplay. it’s kind of like a more controlled Puchi Carat (a pong-infused Puzzle Bobble-alike by Taito).
