Guides & Editorial

Fire away: the best shoot 'em ups on PS4 and PS5

From old-school high score chasers to white-knuckle next-gen stunners, there's a shmup for any skill level.

Terminology: What is a 'Shmup'?

A cheeky portmanteau of 'shoot 'em up', a 'shmup' is the modern short-hand for any traditional, arcade-style shooter. It spans a range of subgenres, but if you're shooting and dodging, you're probably playing a shmup.

Keep it movin'

Run-and-gunners

Blazing Chrome | 2019

A true homage to the side-scrolling shoot 'em ups of the early '90s, Blazing Chrome mixes together myriad influences from the arcade shooter heyday, delivering a mixture of modern and retro which is just as much fun to master in solo runs as it is to tear through with a friend. 

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Contra: Operation Galuga | 2024

A new entry in Konami’s legendary Contra series (also check out the Anniversary Collection), Operation Galuga reimagines the run-and-gun action of the 1980s with modern visuals and sound, new play mechanics, an updated weapons system and co-op combat for two to four players.

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Huntdown | 2021

Huntdown embraces the look and feel of the 1980s so whole-heartedly it could almost pass for a 16-bit platform shooter. Its pure action-movie excess and snappy side-scrolling action is as addictive as it is engaging and the pure passion poured into the project oozes from every pixel.

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Terminology: What is 'Bullet Hell'?

An intense, skill-based genre where you're bombarded with lethal projectiles, explosives and hazards. 'Bullet Hell' games put as much focus on positioning, planning and dodging as they do on shooting.

Point and shoot

Twin sticks and side-scrollers

Cuphead | 2020

Combining the 'rubber hose' animation stylings of the 1930s with the masterful boss-rush, run-and-gun mechanics of classic arcade games, Cuphead is at once one of the most visually sumptuous and downright fiendishly difficult games on this list. You make a deal with the devil; you pay the price.

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Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions Evolved | 2014

Infused with the same frenetic, claustrophobic twin-stick shooting mechanics as the first two games, Dimensions breathes new life into the classic genre with innovative 3D level layouts. Everything else remains satisfyingly familiar though: dodge, shoot, destroy enemies and scoop up their bonuses to smash the scoreboards.

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AN ARCADE LEGACY

The evolution of Housemarque

Formed in 1995 from the burgeoning Finnish indie demoscene, Housemarque’s longstanding dedication to arcade-style shooters has won it a devoted fanbase and a fearsome reputation. Its unique blend of bleeding-edge tech and tight, old-school gameplay made its PlayStation debut in 2007, with 2021's Returnal winning widespread critical acclaim.

Notable releases

Star Strike Ultra | 2015

Building on the PS3's modern re-imagining of this Amiga classic, Star Strike Ultra brings the series' signature astroid busting action to PS4 along with a broad suite of multiplayer options, improved performance and visuals, and global online leaderboards to challenge friends and best rivals.

More in this series: Star Strike HD [PS3] 2007, Star Strike Portable [PSP] 2008, Star Strike Delta [PS Vita] 2012, Star Strike Ultra VR [PS VR] 2016

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Dead Nation | 2014

Dead Nation saw Housemarque evolve their design, switching to a fresh angle and a grungy new aesthetic. The same dash, multiplier and power-up mechanics that made its prior games so addictive are all here, but now bolstered by sprawling level design, environmental hazards and a deeper, post-apocalyptic narrative.

Also available on: PS3, PS Vita

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RESOGUN | 2014

A return to the old-school aesthetics of Housemarque's earlier games, RESOGUN puts on a dazzling technical display, using 3D voxels and GPU accelerated particles to create massive, morphing alien hordes and screenfilling ballistic effects. Dashes, score multipliers and power-ups are key, alongside a frantic race to rescue Earth's last human survivors.

Also available on: PS3, PS Vita

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ALIENATION | 2016

Using the same twin-stick approach as Dead Nation, ALIENATION combines the tight, top-down gameplay with added role-playing elements, weapon upgrades and three different character classes to choose from. With a surprisingly deep end-game, online leaderboards and tactically focused co-op, ALIENATION is a hugely replayable arcade experience.

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Nex Machina | 2018

Co-created with industry luminary Eugene Jarvis (creator of classics like Robotron 2084 and Defender), Nex Machina is Housemarque's thumb-shredding tribute to hardcore arcade classics. Tight controls and blistering bullet hell encounters make for an intense, fast-paced shooter focused on mastery, multipliers and pure technical finesse. 

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Returnal | 2021

A cutting-edge culmination of two and half decades of development, Returnal combines many of Housemarque's signature motifs (power-ups, dashes, bullet hell and boss battles) with stunning new visuals and a deep science fiction narrative. Harnessing the cyclical design of a roguelike, each death in Returnal informs the next randomized run through Atropos's deadly alien environments.

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Terminology: What is 'Tate'?

Pronounced “tah-tay,” this Japanese term literally means “vertical” and refers to the orientation of screens in arcades that would sometimes match the top-down gameplay, rotating a screen on its side so that it was taller than it was wide. Some console editions continued this, leading to actual TVs being turned on their side for maximum at-home authenticity.

Proudly old-school

Classic arcade shooters

IKARUGA | 2018

IKARUGA’s central mechanic is simple but elegant: your ship flips between dark and light modes that absorb matching oncoming projectiles. This leads to wildly shifting patterns of screen-filling projectiles through which you must carefully navigate, taking down enemies and honing your skills.

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SOL CRESTA | 2022

Join the fourth battle in the Cresta series, stretching back to the Japanese arcades of the 80s. Fast forward four decades and the saga continues with this full-on, finger-twitching shmup with patterned enemy waves, retro visuals and the ability to dock with ally ships and merge into a super-ship.

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R-Type Final 2 | 2021

R-Type’s formula, forged in the febrile atmosphere of the '80s arcade scene, has changed little over the years: a lone ship, waves of invading aliens and a hefty suite of power-ups to collect. Customise your ship, stack your power-ups and unleash screen-shattering attacks to lay waste to the game's grotesque, bio-mechanical bosses.

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Terminology: True Last Boss

Shoot ‘em ups are already tough, but classic games sometimes hid an extra, optional final boss that could only be revealed by performing a truly great showcase of skill such as surviving the entire game on a single life (“no-miss”) or without continuing (“1cc”).

A matter of perspective

Isometric shooters

RUINER | 2018

Drawing influence from the Japanese cyberpunk scene of the '80s, RUINER is a feverishly tense and violent tech-noir action shooter. The classic twin-stick controls are combined with a clever time-stop mechanic that encourages you to mix strategy and brutality to pull off some bone-crunchingly satisfying kill-streaks.

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Assault Android Cactus | 2016

AAC infuses its twin-stick shooting with a kind of candy-colored flair that complements the tight controls and lightning-fast gameplay. Though the odds are stacked sky-high (with your battery power constantly draining), power-ups are plentiful and the tables can turn on a dime – important because the levels are constantly changing size and layout!

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HELLDIVERS | 2015

A chaotic co-op shooter with personality to spare, HELLDIVERS puts a strong emphasis on team play and trust as you air drop onto remote alien planets, gunning down enemies and gathering resources as the proud ambassadors of Super Earth. A tongue-in-cheek homage to sci-fi B-movie classics and the predecessor to an acclaimed sequel, HELLDIVERS is as hazardous as it is hilarious.

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