I spend some of my free time looking through old magazines on The Internet Archive. Retro Gamer, being British, is one that I did not have the opportunity to read. It is still published today.
Every few years they publish their 100 Games To Play Before You Die special. This tradition began in 2004 and is based on reader votes.
In 2004, a few shoot-'em-ups (and friends) wound up on the list (see Issue 8 and Issue 9):
- [92] Delta (1987)
- [49] Galaxian (1979)
- [32] R-Type (1987)
- [06] Space Invaders (1978)
In 2025, they published their 7th Edition of this list.
Which shmups made the cut?
Only 4 shmups (in the broad sense of the definition) are on this list, none ranking higher than 41 (booo!). Can you guess which shmups the readers of Retro Gamer think you need to play before you kick it?
See the shmups...
[99] Defender (1981)
Eugene Jarvis Gets Nostalgic
With Defender I wanted to do a game that broke new ground, to create the ultimate experience I craved as a gamer. The expanded universe of multiple scrolling screens provided both depth of gameplay, plus It was a real adrenaline rush to fly around the planet at insane speeds, rescuing and protecting the astronauts on the ground from the enemy assault. The elements of trajectory and collision, life and death, are very basic, challenging player's instincts in an intuitive way. A key element of the design, in addition to the violence, explosions, and killer graphics, was presenting the player with multiple goals and threats at all times. So not only do you have to engage the twitch centres of your brain but also a higher level of decision making. This created the Total Brain Rush (TBR) that players craved!
I remember when we launched the game people didn't know what to make of it because it had so many buttons. But I think that’s what added to its long term appeal... In the hands of a Defender virtuoso the game can be amazing to experience. In the hands of a novice it is a nightmare of complexity!
[84] Rez (2001)
How SEGA Made Its Iconic Shooter
How did you decide on Rez‘s abstract wireframe look?
Jake Kazdal: I was out clubbing in Tokyo and on the wall a VJ was playing one of the early Winamp plug-ins, with the wireframe mesh being distorted by the music and pulsing different shapes and colours. I was awestruck, so I took video of it with my friend’s camera, and showed it to [Shuji] Utsumi-San (now the CEO of Q Entertainment, but then head of Sega R&D) and Mizuguchi-san the next Monday, and it stuck. The wireframe look was born! We had been through many major look changes, so I wasn’t sure this one was going to stick, either, but the team quickly took a liking to it.
Rez's boss battles were epic multi-stage encounters. How were these designed?
Osamu Kodera: The boss encounters were the result of a collaboration of the boss artist and myself. First he would create a simple storyboard, sort of like a four-frame comic strip.
[48] Robotron 2084 (1982)
How many Xbox Live Arcade games pinched their twin-stick controls from Robotron? Quite a few, but with good reason
Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar created one of the finest twitch shoot-'em-up experiences known to mankind.
[41] R-Type (1987)
Kazuma Kujo On Creating One Of The Arcade's Most Iconic Shooters
How did R-Type's distinctive design originate?
We thought it would be hard to invoke a big scale atmosphere with a biological expression. This is why we settled on the biomechanical design. I also think by implanting machines into living things, the game became interesting.
Where did the inspiration for the bosses come from?
With regard to the design of Dobkeratops, the original model was actually one that our lead designer had since joining IREM, and was used without any changes. With the bosses we made a lot of effort to create unique characters
something that nobody had ever conceived, attacked or seen before.
What can you tell us about the iconic Stage 3 boss?
The ship was originally intended to be the final boss, and was designed as the ‘moving base’ of Bydo. We were keen to have players destroy the surface of this giant ship but at the same time we also wanted all players to enjoy this unique character, so the decision was made to bring it forward to Stage 3. I think Stage 5's boss, Bellmate, is the most interesting. It appears with so many masses of cells around it, which fly toward the player's ship one after another, and its attack pattern is unique. The player has to charge their shot to destroy it, and I also like the rhythm of its attack.
How did you balance R-Type?
Because the game was originally developed for the arcade, we made the balance of the difficulty considering the players' achievement
based on how far somebody could get on a single credit [100 yen]. We also paid close attention to the changes that occur between each stage. The colours and themes change rapidly rather than gradually.
Tell us about the R-9 Fighter's design.
In the beginning we considered a robot that could transform into a combat plane, but as the game developed, this idea gradually changed into the 'Force' and disappeared. At the early stage of the R-9's planning, we wanted the ship to shoot up and down as well as front to back. Initially, the ship could turn around and shoot backwards as it transformed into the robot, but the concept didn't work very well. It was then we realised that we could solve the problem using the 'Force'.
What was the 'Force' inspired by?
The 'Force' was inspired by the ball rolling Dung Beetle. Initially, it could be added to the top and underbelly of the ship
not just back and front, but we found the concept difficult to use, so we removed it. We were seeing so many shoot-'em-ups appearing from other publishers, we wanted to incorporate a unique power-up system into our game. We spent a lot of time refining the specifications of the ship and the look of the enemies at the beginning of the game.
Why do you think R-Type remains so popular?
Some of the functions must've felt fresh. The control over the 'Force' might look difficult but it becomes interesting once you get used to using it. Maybe the fun of learning the formation of the attacks, the game’s setting, creature designs, and so on helped. I think the reason why this game is appealing is because its uniqueness never gets old.
