Tyrian 2000

one of my favorites :)

Though I'm not a huge aficionado of the genre, this is easily one best Scrolling Shooters I've ever played. The music ranges from good to excellent, and really gets your blood pumping when it wants to. The visuals are pretty good; it's very obviously a relic of the VGA era, but manages to be colorful enough throughout. The game actually has a story, and it has a few interesting spins on science fiction, and even video games in general. The actual writing is top-notch; there are a lot of good jokes in the data cubes that you read. The best, though, is the gameplay. There are a ton of different weapons available: front weapons, back weapons, left and right weapons, and even new fighter models, engines, and shield generators. You don't lose your weapons when you die - or even your progress, really; you have multiple save files and there is no lives system - and can upgrade them so long as you have the cash. Just buy something you really hate? No problem; you can exchange it in for a FULL refund! The game gives you the freedom to experiment with different options and layouts, and has a ton of choices to make that meaningful. The actual stages vary in degree of difficulty, but a lot of it is shield management. Your shield regenerates depending upon your engine power, but each ship also has armor, which takes permanent damage if your shield is out. This leads to some strategic gameplay, where sometimes, taking a shot is the best option. If you enjoy, or even just don't hate Vertically-Scrolling Shooters, you owe it to yourself to give this a try; it's a dream come true!

I know other people say this isn't configured well on GOG, and personally I hate playing this on a mouse and keyboard. It was meant for an aracade cabinet, but the fact that GOG is giving this to you for free is pretty cool. Despite growing up in the 90s and early 2000s I was lucky enough to be exposed to some classic arcades where I was growing up and I love top-down shooters. They're simultaneously mindless since you get to just lean on the fire button and leave it there, but also strategic and intuitive. If you're a fan of the genre, be thankful this is free to play. Enjoy!

I didn't expect much but good lord. This is one awesome vertical shmups. Maybe one of the best. It's pretty good, got awesome graphics and amazing music. It got it all rocking. But on top of it all it got PC features, so to say. Story mode with saving. Said story mode also includes lore that you can grab during gameplay, most of which extremely amusing. And then you can upgrade your ships, while having to make sure to upgrade generators so you can have shields regenerating while shooting just fine. Trying out different builds is fun, you can 'sell' items for same price after all, so to say. The game is also fairly forgiving. It got a regenerating shield. So it's just like Call of Duty. HA! The original game had only three episodes, so it really feels this way. The next version of a game came with Episode 4, which is super long. It goes and goes and goes until devs give up on sanity and it gets ludicrous. Glorious. And latest 2000 version added short Episode 5, which is awkward and nothing much special. There are two flaws that take away from five stars rating. First, you upgrade too quickly. By Episode 3 I was running my favourite build with no incetive to change much. Second, it's too long for arcade mode, just doesn't pace too well to beat it this way, so console shmups are better this way. Oh, and keyboard controls. Why do I have to press button to use weak weapon? When I only have to hold button to fire main weapons continuously. Plus, you know, ghosting or something. But eh. Great. Super awesome for a free game!

free. epic. comes with dosbox wich needs a bit of tweaking but generally awesome