Best Top-Down Shooter Retro Games on PC

Hyper Bullet

Hyper Bullet is a top-down action game replenished with agreeable vaporwave aesthetics, pure joy of combat and gunplay rhythm.

First, and quite possibly last, the game is pretty okay for one dollar, it doesn’t support HD resolution and the it only has the most basic of top down shooter game-play and a story that might as well not exist, but hey it’s only a buck and it works i guess, oh and the music is pretty alright too.

– Real player with 0.1 hrs in game

Read More: Best Top-Down Shooter Cyberpunk Games.

Legion of Scorn on Steam

Mission 1985

Love the Retro look.

Gotta Metal Slug / Contra Feel to the intro

I like that the POW’s are extra lives.

Used an Xbox one controller, it worked great

Controls feel good, Moving Diagonal works good.

Only suggestion would be adding an option for Twin stick shooting if possible. Where you shoot with the right stick in any direction its pointing.

Game seems like a love letter to Commando on NES/Arcade Hence the 1985 its release year. Very nice.

The Graphics look much better here.

At First the shooting on the pause, I was like wtf, then I realized it shoots the screen, I actually like this touch. Good stuff.

– Real player with 10.3 hrs in game

Read More: Best Top-Down Shooter Shoot 'Em Up Games.

I admit to losing a lot of coins to this type of games back in the 90s when visiting an arcade,

Mission 1985 Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kA9B6XU2gQ

just as i was fascinated with those arcade moto racing games how the physical motors you had to sit on could control the game’s little pixelated motor by leaning your weight left or right seemed hot to me as well as interesting to play these top down shooters because of the different weapons that also fire multiple bullets in the different directions.

– Real player with 1.8 hrs in game

Mission 1985 on Steam

AST-Hero

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AST-Hero is a top-down space-shooter, with unique graphics and sounds.

Everything was custom-handmade.

It offers a great player experience and is difficult to master although the game learning curve is easy.

AST-Hero is inspired by the 1979 hit Asteroids. It comes with a lot of new and interesting features and answers our main question:

If asteroids would have been done in 2020, how would it look like?

Are you ready to fight through 40 levels and defeat the mighty mothership?

Some of the features of the game:

Gamepad compatible
Fun to play
Quick and reactive gameplay
Easy learning curve
40 levels
5 difficulty levels
A tutorial to help new players understand the gameplay
Voice-overs during the tutorial and in the shop
Subtitles during the tutorial
Endless playing environment
Mini-Bosses and End Boss
Locked screen pre-boss mechanics
Multiple weapons to choose from
A shop to buy weapons and upgrades
Special bonus weapons
Amazing and tailored soundtracks
Unique handmade design
Handmade sound-effects
Coded without libraries

AST-Hero on Steam

Centipede: Recharged

Fantastic! I’ve loved Centipede since the old days in the arcades and still like to play it occasionally on Mame. There was a good reworking of it on the Xbox 360 and I even occasionally considered digging out the old console just to play it. But this surpasses them all! It’s the best retro-reworking I’ve seen, adding some nice touches (like the power-ups) and taking out some of the nastier elements of the original (fast spiders rushing in without warning from the sides).

This is really well done and I would love to see similar reworkings of some of the other arcade greats (Defender, Robotron, Joust).

– Real player with 37.5 hrs in game

Centipede is my all-time favorite arcade game. I built my own arcade cabinet, with a classic trackball, just to play it. So once I found out about this game, I had to try it. I will admit, I was put off by the large amount of negative reviews, but the game is at a fair price, so I figured I would try it out, and I’m happy I did.

First off, just to be clear, this game is NOT the classic Centipede from 1981 and the game clearly doesn’t try to be. I think the problem the reviewers are having with this game is they are expecting the classic game, but doesn’t make a lot of sense to me because the promotional images and footage make that clear. If you want the classic arcade, go play it. This game is not going to give you the same classic experience.

– Real player with 20.8 hrs in game

Centipede: Recharged on Steam

Retro Classix: Heavy Barrel

The arcade version that most of us likely never played, having only had access to the NES and its simplified controls. You can easily tell the vast difference between the two when you go up a couple screens and dozens of enemies flood the screen very slowly. The difficulty is not really balanced for two people and is more like Serious Sam. You get sections where enemies just pile up on the screen and even have multiple bosses join in and follow you if you try to push through dying repeatedly. You have unlimited credits, but this is not something you can speedrun alone, since enemies chase you and those jetpack guys will circle you forever. BRING A FRIEND.

– Real player with 0.7 hrs in game

Now I don’t have to bug my mom for more quarters.

– Real player with 0.5 hrs in game

Retro Classix: Heavy Barrel on Steam

CROSSFIRE II (2002)

I had some real fun playing this retro gem!

For a casual like myself the difficulty was hard but fair and i liked the tactiical aspect of the fights. i enjoyed hiding behind my fierce allies or asteroids before unleashing a swarm of rockets against the UW or alien fools! The controls are simple but very intuitive. I got my money’s worth.

– Real player with 4.2 hrs in game

It’s a timeless space shooter. Worth the price. Very nostalgic.

Thank you to the developers for bringing it back to life on PC.

I really do appreciate the revival of this game.

story is short, but varied
different weapons
cool extras
achievements

don’t care for multiplayer, it’s deatchmatch or horde only

– Real player with 3.7 hrs in game

CROSSFIRE II (2002) on Steam

Retro Classix: SRD - Super Real Darwin

One of the all time table top classics from the 80’s on PC! Shoot your way through enemies with different power ups to repel the invaders from Cokyo. Save the planet and top the leaderboard!

https://youtu.be/kggicsXjKCY

– Real player with 6.3 hrs in game

Data East 3

– Real player with 0.1 hrs in game

Retro Classix: SRD - Super Real Darwin on Steam

Rockjack

Yes! Any fan of asteroids will like this one. You can collect pill pick ups that increase your fire, sheilds, tone down rock behavior, and more I haven’t discovered yet. Nice flashy explosions and there is more to this game than meets the eye. Game is actually FUN to play and look forward to entering the rock swarm and getting to know jack, because I don’t know jack yet. cheers!

– Real player with 11.1 hrs in game

Really fun game!! The game mechanics are super smooth, and it gets surprisingly challenging. I still haven’t passed level 3! The game feels very well polished, for example, the retrograde thruster has less thrust available than the main thruster, and the damage to your ship / your health is reflected in a circle (and the ship has directional damage)! It would be cool if you could land on an asteroid, although that wouldn’t follow the original Asteroids arcade game :) I’m just a big fan of Lunar Lander..

– Real player with 5.7 hrs in game

Rockjack on Steam

Slordax: The Unknown Enemy

An ancient enemy has returned.

It has been seven centuries since the cruel race of superbeings known as the Slordax were thwarted in their attempt to conquer the galaxy. Now, the Intergalactic Defense Alliance has detected that the Slordax are gathering once again in the Slordian System. You must pilot the fastest, deadliest ship in the galaxy into the Realm of the Slordax in a dangerous first-strike mission to annihilate the alien threat before they become too strong to defeat. Strap in, pilot, it’s going to be a bumpy ride!

Softdisk’s classic top-down shoot ‘em up programmed by legendary developer John Carmack sends you flying deep into Slordax territory to stop an existential threat to the entire galaxy. Take out the Slordian threat and preserve galactic peace!

Soar through five levels of white-knuckle shoot ‘em up action through an asteroid belt, over a planet’s surface, into ancient fleet construction tunnels, and more.
Become an unstoppable force! Upgrade your Reddog Adaptive Strike Ship’s weaponry with power up capsules dropped by enemy ships.
Face off against enemy ships, vicious creatures, and formidable bosses.
Keep going! Take on a more challenging campaign after you’ve finished your first.

Slordax: The Unknown Enemy on Steam

Hyper Bullet#

Contents:#

Legion of Scorn#

Mission 1985#

AST-Hero#

Support us by Wishlisting:#

Centipede: Recharged#

Retro Classix: Heavy Barrel#

CROSSFIRE II (2002)#

Retro Classix: SRD - Super Real Darwin#

Rockjack#

Slordax: The Unknown Enemy#