In my last post I only intended to mention scrolling shooters, but Ill mention top down shooters in this post also. Theres so many games around the internet Ill probably miss one that deserves mention. Ill try to add more in the future.

Bubble Tanks - By Hero Interactive - youve probably heard of it - if not go play it immediately. Its a top down arena style shooter. Much like the style of fl0w except with guns! You travel around in a tank.. made of bubbles.. shootings tanks.. made out of bubbles… with bubbles… in bubbles! There are 2 games, the sequel is ALOT better than the origional in my opinion.. but the origional stands on its own as a brilliant game. The sequel improves on everything in the origional.. adds tons of extra depth and a unique boss battle at the end. The controls are nice and smooth, as are the menus and visuals. The bubble field system is a great idea, splitting a massive world into managable portions, removes lag and allows for more focused little play areas, and a good sense of acheivment at clearing each one. Also the upgrades in BT2 are really well done, plenty of variation, you can be a big slow beefy tank, or a tiny little thing flying around at high speed. Theres also alsorts of unique little things like mines, homing bullets and even AI controlled allies depending on which upgrades youve chosen.

Zunder Fury - This game visually is very cool and comic book like, you are given a choice of two ships, a focused projectile fire or a spread flame thrower. There is an upgrade shop between levels which I think is nicley balanced with the ability to buy lives. Im my experience this didnt just give ‘inifinite lives’ but was more of a trade off between possibly avoiding death or more power - which is pretty fun. There are alot of enemies, each requiring some unique way of killing them effectivly, which keeps you on your toes.

Pararalyzer -This game was recomended to me by a couple of people. A very impressive verticle scrolling bullet hell shooter, classic pixel graphics and 3 ship choices at the start, each offering a different style of play. It is very hard, but with it being so arcade like I think its just sticking to its roots. The reason this game stands out is the bullet curtains. They are much more along the lines of what I want in Frantic 2. Tons of enemies to take on and the bosses are pretty epic and varied.

Fracture 2 -Another very stylish shooter, this one I really enjoyed, the tenstion built up as things progress is cool - alot like Geometry Wars. The visuals are very ‘in your face’ with tons of colour. The game has plenty of power ups and funky enemy patterns to deal with. Fun!

Grey Matter - As the auther says this is an ‘Anti-Shooter’ a shooter without bullets. The idea is to run into the enemies using yourself as the ‘bullet’. Its pretty unique and fun with stylish visuals, effects and plenty of variety in the enemies. The game is pretty hard from the start, the controls take a bit of getting used to. But all-in-all its a very unique experience, and gets pretty intense. Go Play!

If your interested in downloadable games Ide recomend (as a start):

 http://www.doujinstyle.com/

This is the home of Touhou, this game is insane. Theres also quite a few other games on there if you look around.

http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~cs8k-cyu/

ABA games - Plenty of interesting unique games here. Some are classic shooters, others vary.. Ide recomend Torus Trooper if you like speed! rRootage is fun, its a pure boss - bullet hell shooter. It also has an Ikaruga mode, if your a fan.

Anyway, must get back to work on Frantic 2.