Okano’s Top Five Shooting Games

1. Salamander: I was a high school student when this came out and it came as a shock to me in the arcade. The idea of an organic world that was in the game was so unique. There was nothing like it anywhere else, even in movies or mangas, so it had a really profound impact on me. It illustrates the superiority of games at that time in being able to transport us to places that no other media could have shown.

2. Tatsujin: This simply features one of the best game balances in the genre, without doubt. It stands between the very simplistic (perhaps too simplistic) Xevious and the really too manic Dodonpachi. I love this game so much I bought the original arcade board.

3. Space Harrier: I suppose I’m cheating a bit with a 3D game, but like Salamander it transported you to a totally new and original world. I remember that when I was younger, I spent all the money you traditionally get at the New Year (Otoshidama) in the Space Harrier cabinet to clear it, no less than 5000 yen! I normally like to make a distinction between 2D and 3D shooters, but Space Harrier just goes beyond such classification.

4. Darius: This is a hell of shooter which featured 3 big screens horizontally! Can you imagine that, the space you had to fight your way through? It had another incredible world with such strange names. Sea Food! Body Sonic! This title may just mark the peak of the genre during those golden years of arcade gaming. It also really shows that shooters were the coolest genre in the arcade at that time!

5. Chorensha: This is a game I spent a lot of time on and gave me lots of fun. It’s a very minor title that was developed by amateurs on the X68000 computer – you can find it really easily online. It’s not ruled by arcade business models so the game does not need to actually actively try to defeat the player. There is some kind of rule in the arcade which is to defeat the player in 3 minutes: if we don’t do so, the game won’t be profitable and won’t find a place in arcades. Chorensha experimented with what a shooting game would be like without this rule. One play would last something like a dozen minutes: if it lasted more, players would feel bored, less and they would feel angry. It works!