The Super Nintendo was just before the rise of first-person shooters on PC, which means shooting games on the system were much different than what we think about these days. That doesn’t mean shooting fans didn’t have plenty of options. Between great shoot ’em ups and fun shooting galleries, there were several solid games for shooting fans. That said, many of them feel a bit primative by today’s standards. While the games below won’t blow you away graphically, they are the best way to see what shooters were like on the SNES in the ’90s.
Here are five SNES shooters that still hold up today.
Several years later, Star Fox 64 came around and ate the original’s lunch, but that doesn’t make the first rail shooter any worse. It was one of the first Nintendo games to use polygons thanks to the Super FX graphics chip, making it an important historical relic, even if the gameplay wasn’t great.
Thankfully, Star Fox is exceptional. You can blast enemies in third- or first-person, and player choice is made important throughout. There are several routes through the campaign, giving it quite a bit of replayability. Again, Star Fox 64 is a clear improvement, but the original is still worth checking out. If only to see some of the wild stuff Nintendo was cooking up in the middle of the SNES generation.
U.N. Squadron is a side-scrolling shooter based on the manga series of the same name. Unfortunately, if you played the North American version, references to the manga were completely omitted. Still, it’s a nifty shooter from Capcom in the style of 1942, but it does have a few changes to the formula.
Most notably, you have a life bar, which means you can take several hits before your aircraft blows up. There are also three different pilots to pick from, each of which uses a different plane. Finally, you can purchase new upgrades between levels, giving U.N. Squadron some extra strategy. That depth makes it a relatively easy game to go back to.
R-Type III was the latest in the long-running series, and it was the first game to add new Forces. That meant players could choose among several weapon sets and special enhancements to switch up gameplay. It also included several refinements to the R-Type gameplay you know and love.
That made it one of the best shooters on the SNES. It upped the difficulty, added better graphics, and made strides in the sound department. When you factor in the expanded strategy from the new Forces, you have an attractive package that did well both critically and commercially. Plus, the two-player mode made it a blast to play with friends.
I’ve always been a proponent of more Wild West-themed video games. We have enough fantasy and war games; it’s time for more developers to explore this underloved genre. Thankfully, games like Wild Guns satisfied that itch in the ’90s. Sure, it’s mixing Wild West themes with mech-heavy sci-fi, but it works.
This third-person shooting gallery is relatively short, with just six levels, but it’s plenty difficult, so don’t expect to rush through it your first time. The boss fights in particular can get hectic. Thankfully, you can jump in with friends, which makes it slightly easier and much more fun. Sadly, it didn’t turn into a massive franchise, but you can pick it up relatively easily these days, thanks to the Wild Guns Reloaded remake that launched in 2016.
Konami had several great shoot ’em ups over the years. Gradius is generally the fan-favorite, but Axelay deserves more love from fans of the genre. This one was produced by Kazuma Kitaue, who fans might know from his work on Super Castlevania IV. Plus, most of this team went on to find the game development studio Treasure, which created Gunstar Heroes. What I’m saying is there is a lot of legacy behind this great game that should be better appreciated.
Those in the know love Axelay‘s weapon selection and music. There are several great options for raining death on your enemies. That includes everything from a multi-way shot to a vulkan cannon that eats up the screen. Plus, Axelay will transition between horizontal and vertical scrolling, giving it even more visual variety. If you’re able to finish Axelay, you’ll loop back around to the first level, but Konami turns the difficulty up for your second playthrough.
Players who could get through Axelay‘s gauntlet a second time were treated to a screen promising Axelay 2. Unfortunately, that never happened because of low sales. The good news is that it was re-released on Virtual Console at one point. It’s hard to track down now, so hopefully, it’ll eventually come to Switch Online.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
