update september 2010: "The Arena Shooter Tribute - 93 Arena Shooters In 10 Minutes" http://www.pixelprospector.com/2010/09/the-arena-shooter-tribute/
(6 sec clips of each game)
for new discoveries and gameplay videos i recommend to check out the arena shooters on my site.
(every game mentioned here is featured there... it is also much more convenient to browse and each game comes also with a gameplay video etc)
http://www.pixelprospector.com/tag/arena-shooter/
http://www.pixelprospector.com/indev/tag/arena-shooter/
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if you know more good ones, please mention them. here or in the
Related Forum Thread
Best Free Arena Shooters (Part2)
Best Free Arena Shooters (Part3)
Great Top Down/Arena Shooters (No Freeware)
Enjoy :)
Echoes
8MB
http://www.binaryzoo.com/games/echoes/index.htm
this arena shooter is pure awesomness. it plays like a charm.
graphics, sounds, music...great!
seems like asteroids got a huge update, plus its also
"a bit like geometry wars"
(according to the description of the game page) ;)
the controls are very smooth and you can decide in the options menu
which control scheme you prefer
(keyboard, mouse, gamepad...)
i prefer mouse movement (which is very fast and accurate and
shooting with wasd)
check it out. superb game. period!
DOU
4 MB
http://www.binaryzoo.com/games/duo/index.htm
not an arena shooter but a great innovative shooter. (so ithought i
make a little exception and list this game anyways)
you can move left and right while you are fixated on the middle of
the screen (or on the bottom) , shoot the enemies and gain powerups
while watching all the eye candy stuff.
while you shoot in both directions (with different ammo) at the same
time you can turn your ship by presing the right mouse button.
(from the same team that made the excellent arena shooter echoes)
mono
5 MB
http://www.binaryzoo.com/games/mono/index.htm
arena shooter with smooth controls and a special mission:
shoot the colored circles so they will left a paint mark.
color the whole screen that way and get powerups.
(from the same team that made the excellent arena shooter echoes)
Rainbow Wars
2MB
http://www.volition-inc.com/Staff/LukeSchneider
thats a very well designed arena shooter.
i prefer dual analog gamepad in this game but the other control
schemes work also pretty good.
wasd movement + mouse aiming. shoot with left mouse button
and hold it down to charge a power shoot.
right mouse button beams you to a random place on the screen.
two different powerups will appear when you reach a specific score:
the bomb or a black hole.
made by a designer from volition inc (descent, free space, red faction,
the punisher).
very good game!
NAAC
10MB
Normal Version:
Dual Analog Gamepad Support Version
http://www.bloodymonkey.com/temp/NaacDualAnalog.zip
so whats this? gliding through a blood filled room with your jetpack
on your back and shooting enemies down. splatter included.
wasd movement and mouse for aiming. great. switching through your
weapons and collect the powerups to survive and shoot down the
massive amount of enemies.
controls, graphics, sound effects = very good.
Grid Wars 2
3MB
http://worldofstuart.excellentcontent.com/grid/wars.htm
thats the ultimate geometry wars clone.
very well made with nice graphics and effects.
decide between different control schemes and graphic options.
Debrysis
4MB
http://oueo.ateamworks.com/debrysis/debrysis.html
so what do we got here?
controlling a fast car while you shooting the enemies in different
settings, collecting the different powerups and weapons and drive at
good speed.
great!
VECK SE
2MB
massive eye candy.
control with dual analog gamedpad or with keyboard (wasd for
directional shooting and arrow keys for movement, but its on you
cause its customizable).
psychedelic in some way with the music and the background that
looks like a space tunnel in which you fly through.
gain more fire power during the game and shoot the enemies.
Ancient Ants Adventure
15 MB
http://www.yoyogames.com/games/show/34591
very cool game...funny...its a top down shooter (so its also a form
of an arena shooter) in which you control an ant and your team
follows you...
movement is wasd and you aim with your mouse...plus some
additional things which i have listed below in the controls section.
graphics are well done and fluid... !
watch this 24 sec gameplay trailer (then you will see that its worth it)
http://gmakers.ru/page/ants/AntsTrailer.avi
list of features
http://hotimg10.fotki.com/p/a/84_157/183_73/antz_adventures_features.gif
Mechatron 2154
4 MB
http://norrish.force9.co.uk/robotron/
so the ultimate arcade shooter and prime father of all arena shooters
robotron:2084 got an great remake...
its mechatron 2154 and the gameplay is the same like in the 80s...
frantic, fast and funny...awesome!
Pteroglider
11 MB
[installation required]
http://codeminion.com/blogs/maciek/2008/05/pteroglider-full-version-free
graphics are pretty nice and fluid, 2d gameplay with 3d animated
objects.
controls the glider with WASD and aim with your mouse 360°. shoot
with Left Mouse Button and fire missiles with the Right Mouse Button.
Robotron 2084 Remake
4 MB
http://www.remakes.org/comp2006/screenshots.php?page=3
very good top down shooter...the controls and the gameplay is great...
when you got enough points you will get powerups such as drones
and weapon upgrades.
Destruction Carnival
2 MB
very funny arena shooter with fluid retro graphics.
controls and gameplay are great.
lots of enemies and cool weapons...blood is also included
movement are arrow keys
you can strafe (hold your aim in one direction while moving in another)
by holding shift
shoot with ctrl
special weapons:
space for missile and
enter for bomb
Engage to Jabberwock
4 MB
Download
Its a Zelda Dungeon Bullet Hell Shooter...its an arena shooter with lots
of bullets and special abbilities....blasting enemies with various mag
spells and items...first it was a commercial title but the developers
released it now as freeware.
if you dont have a gamepad change first the controls into keyboard
cause gamepad is set as default...on the above mentioned site, on
which the game is mirrored cause of download difficulties on the
original site, you will find a few infos about the game as well...on
the original site all is in japanese...therefore hard to understand unless you understand
japanese :)
additionally here is a map to the whole dungeon....its made by a fan
of the game
Full Map Of "Engage To Jabberwock
R-Tronic
7 MB
http://rtronic.merseyremakes.co.uk/index.html
basically a robotron remake...good stuff...there is also a sequel to
this one but the problem with the sequel is: the controls are soooo
slow that i stopped playing before i finished the first level...
Neocron Arcade - The N.M.E. Project
35 MB
[installation required]
http://ng.neocron.com/index.php?id=105
a well made top down shooter...action scrolls so its not limited to
one single screen...
therefore not an arena shooter...but a top down shooter.
good controls and fluid gameplay...graphics are very good for a 2d
top down shooter...if you hold your fire and keep moving you can walk
and firing in the same direction...
you can also use a slow-motion effect....can be refilled by killing
enemies...
plus you can throw grenades and get different weapons during the
game...
the game contains 4 levels with storyline...
GlobotWars Final Edition
1 MB
[installation required]
http://www.tphf.karoo.net/pc.htm
fun gameplay, smooth action and 40 levels...i made it to the 30 level
with the second try)
with 40 levels (level save:you can start from every level which you
have finished...)
with energy (if a enemy touches you you loose energy instead
loosing a life)
with bosses every 10th level
with different powerups
Warning Forever
1 MB
http://www18.big.or.jp/~hikoza/Prod/
a great boss fighting shooter.
only you against a big boss.
movement with arrow keys.shoot with Z, move slowly with X and activate
aiming with D.
when you pushed D you can now move around with arrow keys and
set your fire direction.
when you now push fire you shoot fixated at this direction while you
can move around the boss.
gamepad is also supported.
Vrazda
3 MB
a funny arena shooter with similarities to crimsonland.
shoot your way through hordes of enemies and kil them mostly with
your machine gun, your flame thrower and an electric weapon.
morevover when you see a viagra pill on the screen get it. you will
be invunerable, bigger and stronger for a limited time and the screen
turns red. in this time you can run through the enemies and they
die when you hit them.
->i have contacted the developer and he helped me out by fixing
the control issue with different versions. a very social guy.
for my ps2 $tyle logitech rumblepad 2 this worked fine
http://pivostudios.hustej.net/vrazdaRZ.exe
for xbox $tyle controllers this should work
http://pivostudios.hustej.net/vrazdaXBC.exe
moreover heres a screen of the controls screen.
http://hotimg23.fotki.com/a/84_157/181_88/vrazda_controls-th.jpg
Gamma Bros
20 MB
http://pixeljam.com/gammabros/
(for the case that the original site is down heres a mirror)
http://www.tucows.com/preview/504034
well this is a great pixelated retro shooter. its not an arena shooter
but it has some similarities with the movement and shooting scheme.
you can fire with wasd and move with arrow keys + space for pause
and to see your currenty stats (or if you prefer it you can change it i
the options menu)
the game offers great playability through the good controls and
variety through the different enemies (with cool and different movemen).
you collect coins to buy stuff like weapon upgrades and new ships
and powerups...in the game itself you can also find weapon, speed
upgrades, energy and bombs. when your energy is empty your ship
and you leave it with a jetpack then it comes your bro' and you can
take his ship. in the meanwhile its possible that you collect another
ship so that your bro' has also a ship again. i was nearly destoryed
by the last boss battle but managed to save the world and
destroyed him.
you can check also the info in the beginning to see which weapons
and upgrades you can get.
also you can type in a password and hit enter to go to a specific
level (if you were destroyed and dont want to start from the beginning)
for this case i have made a screenshot with the passwords (this
screen will be shown when you have beaten the game)
http://hotimg20.fotki.com/p/a/84_157/183_73/gammabros_passwords.jpg
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