Stargunner

It's really hard, but the upgrade system is fun. This is probably the best free game on here.

This brought back such memories of what it used to be like to be a PC gamer. Before consoles came along and stole the show for the most part. This shooter has so many amazing elements such as a decent shop/upgrade system and amazing colours/smoothness and speed along with cool enemy patterns. If you love games like R-type you will love this game. Personally I like it better than R-type as it has a lot more depth. I would have gladly paid for this but as a gift from Gog this is awesome. There is more personality and talent gone into this game than a lot of so called AAA titles today. This really shows that Apogee were incredible. I just love the whole sprite look to this too as quite often outside indy this is a forgotten look today. Aside from a few exclusives on PS3 , I have pretty much dumped console gaming for good now as I just can't get into what people class as a decent game nowadays for the most part and games like this just install such good feelings again . Play it just for nostalgia but keep playing because it actually is a challenging and well put together shooter , which you just won't see in new games.

I have no nostalgic glow to fall back on, never having played this game before its GOG release, and I don't consider myself to be a fan of side-scrollers (though I've played quite a few), but I found Stargunner to be thoroughly enjoyable from the very first mission. Here's what appeals: 1. A great selection of controls, encompassing keyboard, mouse, joystick and gamepad. 2. The generous pre-mission load-out. Instant replayability is guaranteed. 3. Even with your starter engine and weapons, it only takes a couple of power-ups to feel as if you could take on the galaxy. 4. You have instant access to multiple levels, with a variation in terrain and enemies. 5. There are secrets scattered about. They're not essential, but they are rewarding. 6. There's a suitable skill jump between fighting swarms of minions and encountering the end of level boss. 7. The music is very lively. Put simply, the urge to have "just one more go" is woven into the programming.

Run StarGunner Graphics Mode Setup Select Basic Settings: Graphic Mode: Direct3D, enable Full screen Select Advanced Settings: Scaling engine: normal2x Set Windows screen resolution to 640x480 Hint: Setup the Stargunner icon properties, compatibilty to 640x480, this will make you have fullscreen graphics when you start the game, and go back to high resolution after quit. Nice pure skill fun game.

I've got to admit up front, I'm no good at side-scrolling shooters- even on easy mode, I couldn't beat this game. But that's what cheat codes are for. So, without going too much into difficulty or tactics, here's my impression: The game is pretty fun, and while it gets kind of stale quick, the wide variety of weapons you can buy adds some replay value and encourages you to try everything out and see what works best for you. There are a lot of secrets to find too, which means you'll likely spend some extra time searching for those in each level- the downside being that you probably need them to survive, so it's almost required to know where they are, especially the extra lives, which only pop up very briefly. The game is meant to be short and simple, so its lack of depth isn't a huge problem, but it might overstay its welcome. The graphics are fine for the era, but the enemies are pretty generic, most of them either classic UFO-style ships, various kinds of sea life, or Star Wars rip-off designs. The game certainly makes no effort to hide the Star Wars influence, as evidenced by the yellow text crawl in space before each mission. The bosses are disappointing- the few other shooter games I've played featured elaborate, impressive bosses that really made an impression, but here most of them are nothing but larger versions of normal enemies attacking you in groups of two or three. The backgrounds are nicer, if a little repetitive, and the fact that a third of the game is underwater is pretty cool, and something I haven't seen in this type of game before. Overall, it's okay but not great. But considering the era it was released in and the fact that it's available for free, a lot of these imperfections can be forgiven. It's definitely worth a play, but it probably won't make a big impression.