Abandonware DOS title

The best shoot 'em up games

Shoot 'em ups were extremely popular in the '80s and '90s. In a classic shoot 'em up, the player controls a vehicle, a spaceship or an aircraft with the only goal of destroying the largest number of enemies as possible while dodging bullets and staying alive. Through the years, shoot 'em ups evolved to include features like end level bosses, multiple weapons and power-ups. Some of the most popular DOS shoot 'em ups were: Raptor, Tyrian 2000, Xenon 2.

Most popular shoot 'em up games

Raiden
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Tyrian 2000
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Spacewar
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darius-gaiden-05

Darius Gaiden

Windows XP/98/9519984.4/5 Taito
starcontrol2-11

Star Control 2

DOS1992protected4.2/5 Toys for Bob
in-the-hunt-02

In The Hunt

Windows XP/98/9519934.2/5 Irem Software Engineering
rotox-06

Rotox

DOS19914.2/5 Creative Materials
super-stardust-02

Super Stardust

DOS19964.2/5 Housemarque
desert-strike-04

Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf

DOS19944.2/5 Electronic Arts
seek-and-destroy-06

Seek and Destroy

DOS19964.2/5 Safari Software
Seek and Destroy was a shoot'em up published by the well known Epic Megagames in 1996 that tried to change the usual shoot'em up gameplay for the better. Instead of wave after wave of enemies to shoot down, you are given short missions to accomplish with your helicopter or your tank (yes, you can choose). At first, missions could seem a bit repetit...
space-federation-07

Space Federation

DOS19944.2/5 Interplay Productions
superspaceinvaders-1

Taito's Super Space Invaders

DOS19914.2/5 Taito
defender-4

Defender

DOS19834.2/5 Williams Entertainment
ackack-attack-03

Ack-Ack Attack!

DOS1995remake4.2/5 PLBM Games
jungle-strike-01

Jungle Strike

DOS19954.2/5 Electronic Arts
xenon2-4

Xenon 2: Megablast

DOS19904.2/5 Bitmap Brothers
Xenon 2: Megablast is a classic shoot'em up developed by Bitmap Brothers and released by Image Works in 1990 for DOS and for a plethora of other systems. Xenon was good, Xenon 2 was far better. Compared to today standards Xenon 2 is perhaps a mediocre shoot 'em up, but at the time every shooter fan loved it. Plus, it was developed by Bitmap Brother...
airborne-ranger-04

Airborne Ranger

DOS19884.2/5 MicroProse Software
invaders78-03

Invaders 78

DOS2000freewareremake4.2/5
raiden-05

Raiden

DOS19944.1/5 Seibu Kaihatsu Inc.
Raiden is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up game developed by Seibu Kaihatsu and first released in arcades in 1990 and later for many home computers and consoles. Raiden follows the classic vertical scrolling shoot 'em up format. Players control a spaceship known as the R-9C "Red-Ray" and navigate vertically scrolling levels filled with wave...
solar-winds-1-2

Solar Winds: The Escape

DOS19934.1/5 Stone Interactive Media
river-raid-remake-01

River Raid

DOS1995freewareremake4.1/5
soviet-04

Soviet

DOS19904.1/5 Opera Soft
tyrian2000-02

Tyrian 2000

DOS1999freeware4.1/5 Eclipse Software
Tyrian 2000 is an old DOS science fiction classic shoot'em up, developed by Eclipse Software and designed by Alexander Brandon, Jason Emery, Daniel Cook. Tyrian 2000 is one of the most popular shoot'em ups ever published for DOS and it's still remembered by retro gaming fans to this day.
star-wars-2-04

Star Wars 2

DOS19894.1/5
flying-tigers-1-03

Flying Tigers

DOS19944.1/5 Ticsoft
Flying Tigers is an abandoned vertical-scrolling sci-fi themed shoot 'em up game developed and released by Ticsoft in 1994 for MS-DOS only. Flying Tigers is the first chapter of the two parts Flying Tigers video game series.
raptor-1

Raptor: Call of the Shadows

DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac1994protecteddemo4.1/5 Cygnus Studios
Raptor: Call of the Shadows is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up video game developed by Cygnus Studios and published by Apogee Software. The game was first released in 1994 for MS-DOS and later ported to other platforms. In Raptor, players control a fighter jet through various levels filled with enemy aircraft, ground targets, power-ups and boss...
tempest-2000-03

Tempest 2000

DOS1996remake4.1/5 Atari
spacewar-splash

Spacewar

DOS19854.1/5
Spacewar is one of the earliest digital computer games and is often considered the first interactive video game. It was created in 1962 by Steve Russell, Martin Graetz, and Wayne Wiitanen at the MIT. The game was developed on the PDP-1 minicomputer; this is a DOS port, released in 1985.Spacewar! features two spaceships, controlled by players, that ...
sopwith-2

Sopwith

DOS1984freeware4.1/5 BMB Compuscience
space-invaders-clone-1

Space Invaders

DOS1995remake4/5
xatax-1

Xatax

DOS19944/5 Pixel Painters Corporation
wings-of-fury-02

Wings of Fury

DOS19894/5 Broderbund
stargoose-1

Star Goose!

DOS19884/5 Logotron
Star Goose is a classic video game developed by Logotron and released in 1988 for various home computer systems of that era, including the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and Amstrad CPC. It is a top-down, vertically scrolling shooter that combines elements of shoot 'em up gameplay with exploration and power-up mechanics.