Best Shoot 'Em Up Unforgiving Games on PC

SpinZap

SpinZap is a challenging game in classic arcade style. Use your reflexes, dexterity and boss skills to conquer 81 levels of circle zapping madness.

Your task is to steer the spinning circles using various control methods, such as halting, reversing and skipping forward, in order to find a clear path to fire at the plasma ball hiding at the center of the circles. Hit the plasma ball enough times before the time runs out to win the level. Failure to do so results in your cannon being instantly blown up in retaliation.

Depending on how quickly and cleanly you finished the job, you are awarded one, two or three stars upon completion of each level.

The full version of the game spans nine worlds, each world containing nine levels and its own theme song to set the mood.

SpinZap starts off very easy, but grows harder for every world you conquer. In the end, you will need nerves of steel, perfect control and excellent timing to get the highest possible score.

Single-player vs co-op mode

SpinZap was originally designed as a single-player game, but has turned out to be a lot of fun to play in local co-op mode and in ”Remote Play Together” mode. All controllers are active in parallel, letting each player contribute to the team’s successes (or failures) in the best way for each level. Note that there are no differences between the single-player and co-op modes - in fact, they are the same mode.

Control options

Keyboard and joypad / joystick controls are supported. Only keys or buttons are used to play the game. When playing alone, using the keyboard or an arcade stick is highly recommended. Using a joypad in single player mode is possible, but can be regarded as self-punishment, or the equivalent of a self-chosen difficulty level “insane”. When playing cooperatively, joypads work verk well since each participating player only has to worry about their part.

Resolutions and aspect ratios

The game supports a wide range of aspect ratios, making it suitable for ultra-wide and ultra-tall display setups (provided that the GPU and its drivers support such configurations).

Demo

Remember to try the demo to get a hands-on understanding of what the game is about, and how well it plays on your system and with your controller setup.

Warning

This game contains circular rotating patterns which may make it unsuitable for people with photosensitive epilepsy or other photosensitive conditions. Player discretion is advised.

Read More: Best Shoot 'Em Up 2.5D Games.

SpinZap on Steam

Rocket Blasters

this game is very fun :3

– Real player with 11.6 hrs in game

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This game is great fun! For anyone who is into arcade style score chasers, this is a must have! At 1$, this is a total bargain. It is repetitive, but, somehow, that isn’t really a negative with this game. It really works with it. It is light-hearted from the art style, to the music. Lots of fun and a good way to just jump into a game and unwind.

– Real player with 3.3 hrs in game

Rocket Blasters on Steam

Sniper Ships: Shoot’em Up on Rails

Very cool! A good mix of FPS with shoot up, with a very psychedelic look, is quite challenging. These neon lights look like 80s movies trying to imagine what the future looks like

– Real player with 2.2 hrs in game

Read More: Best Shoot 'Em Up Score Attack Games.

Really cool shooter game, flashy LSD visuals, two shooting patterns, one frontal and one mouse driven, very hard, but very satisfying to play. Climb the leaderboards, fight harder and harder challenges. The Shooting Ships bundle is really filled with little delightful gems!

– Real player with 2.1 hrs in game

Sniper Ships: Shoot'em Up on Rails on Steam

Neon Ships: The Type’em Up Shooter

At first glance, the game seams like any other spaceshoot but when you start playing it you realize that the “type system” add a whole new level of gameplay and this makes for a unique experience! Recommended for anyone who wanna try something different and challenging.

– Real player with 3.1 hrs in game

This is a nice idea, but has way too little of everything. It’s not a bad value game, cause it’s oh so very cheap, but I’d like way more content. This is just too good of a game to leave with 3 levels / 0.2 hours to complete the content. Also I’ve seen no issues with Linux which is nice (i3, multiple displays).

What I’d like to see:

more levels
more phrases, srsly, I’ve got the same phrase twice in a row in 12 mins and so many repeats.
more mechanics? Diffferent ships, different modes (like shmups often have slow mode), power-ups (maybe certain ships drop “bombs” and you have to activate bombs by typing a certain phrase, like in typing maniac?).

– Real player with 2.7 hrs in game

Neon Ships: The Type'em Up Shooter on Steam

TechBeat Heart

I’m not a shmup kind of girl, but even for me, I found this game very enjoyable.

It’s hard, but also very rewarding, you simply cannot stop playing.

If you don’t have a lot of time and yet want to experience some dope gameplay, this game is for you.

(Mads is def my inner spirit!)

–————————————

Update Nov 24th: Halloween mode is absolutely amazing, you play as the spider! Revenge, finally!

– Real player with 25.8 hrs in game

At its basic level it’s fun enough to play. Controls well, things work, not buggy, etc. But as a score attack it’s really not ideal. It’s achilles heel is RNG! Bad RNG? You’ll be given a spawn far away from your reach to connect your combo, get bad weapon (Don’t pick V-Shot, please, its coverage for the sides and the back is BAD), or spawns that are more about chunky enemies than plentiful popcorns. Scoring and rougelite is like water and oil: They don’t work!

The end boss is fun enough, though and the soundtrack is nice. The fact that the game switches its music for each new run is also nice.

– Real player with 7.7 hrs in game

TechBeat Heart on Steam

Typomancer in the Feather’s Way

A very different proposal with a very frantic gameplay this is Typomancer. At first I thought that having to type in the middle of a game would make for a strange experience, but I was totally wrong. The fact of typing brought something quite innovative, where we can have frantic moments when it is necessary to type very fast or even moments when we can prepare for the worst by anticipating typing. I really liked the game’s proposal in combination with the effects. 10/10.

– Real player with 1.4 hrs in game

The game has a very nice experience, with a very well polishing done and with a very interesting cost-benefit.

– Real player with 0.9 hrs in game

Typomancer in the Feather's Way on Steam

Tybot Invasion: The Typing Runner

Simple, clean, fun and challenging game! It’s also very didactic, not only for approaching typing skills in a really ludic and laidback way, but also for offering the opportunity to learn and fix English vocabulary. Very addictive, just like all the other games from Sensen, making every run exciting with the right touch of difficulty. Every new game is a good surprise for me. Keep it up, guys! (:

– Real player with 7.4 hrs in game

The best key response this typing game can give to you.

Graphic: Not gorgeous but cool.

Game: Neat & Crispy.

Many typing games stayed a while and got uninstalled from my PC.

but I think this one will somehow survive.

Not gorgeous but good.

– Real player with 1.5 hrs in game

Tybot Invasion: The Typing Runner on Steam

HyperCore : Rhythm Bullet Hell

HyperCore is a “Rhythm bullet hell”, mixing the frenetic action of classic bullet hell shoot’em up with semi-procedurally generated encounters based on the music.

Survive by avoiding the countless obstacles sent towards them by the core in sync with the music.

Score attack: Earn more points by taking more risks! Hug obstacles to increase your score multiplier.
Time Attack: Get hit. Die. Repeat. Try to stay alive for as long as possible in this unforgiving game mode.
Custom Song: Play with your own songs!
Local 2 player versus: compete with a friend locally.

HyperCore : Rhythm Bullet Hell on Steam

King Bullseye: The Chess Strike