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.
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.
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.
Huntdown | 2020
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.
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
Enter the Gungeon | 2016
A dodge roll-driven, top-down bullet hell roguelike that randomises levels with every death, Enter the Gungeon is about style, skills and really silly guns. While every run is unique, the cash pocketed on each one can unlock permanent drops in the titular Gungeon that deepen successive dives in a quest to find the ultimate weapon.
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.
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.
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.
Housemarque’s unique blend of bleeding-edge tech and tight, old-school gameplay made its PlayStation debut with 2007's Super Stardust HD for PS3. Later, in 2013, Resogun appeared as a PS4 launch title, earning incredible reviews.
More recently, 2021's Returnal for PlayStation 5 won widespread critical acclaim and several industry awards, and 2026's SAROS is further evolving the studio's inimitable action expertise.
Notable releases
SAROS | 2026
Housemarque's newest game is a dark sci-fi adventure starring Rahul Kohli as Arjun Devraj, a Soltari enforcer trapped on the shape-shifting planet of Carcosa, forever in the shadow of an ominous eclipse.
Featuring a Second Chance mechanic to revive instantly on your first death, permanent loadout augmentations, a constantly evolving world and fluid, flow-state-inducing combat, SAROS is the next evolution of the studio's award-winning third-person action games.
SAROS is released for PlayStation 5 on March 20 2026.
Super Stardust Ultra | 2015
Building on the PS3's modern re-imagining of this Amiga classic, Super Stardust Ultra brings the series' signature asteroid-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: Super Stardust HD [PS3] 2007, Super Stardust Portable [PSP] 2008, Super Stardust Delta [PS Vita] 2012, Super Stardust Ultra VR [PS VR] 2016
Dead Nation | 2014
Dead Nation saw Housemarque evolve its 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
Resogun | 2013
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
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.
Nex Machina | 2017
Co-created with industry luminary Eugene Jarvis (creator of arcade classics like Robotron 2084 and Defender), Nex Machina is Housemarque's thumb-shredding tribute to hardcore coin-op hits. Tight controls and blistering bullet hell encounters make for an intense, fast-paced shooter focused on mastery, multipliers and pure technical finesse.
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 randomised run through Atropos's deadly alien environments.
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.
Earthion | 2025
Ancient's shoot 'em up is an authentic retro 2D experience, designed using real 16-bit hardware. Earthion features eight stages full of stunning visuals, frenetic gameplay and amazing special effects, plus a soundtrack from the legendary Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage 2, The Revenge of Shinobi).
Shinorubi | 2024
A modern shooter crafted in the bullet hell tradition, Shinorubi tasks you with defeating enemies while protecting the vulnerable core of your ship from incoming fire. Battle through varied environments using one of eight playable ships, take on a dedicated boss rush, select from five difficulties and choose from 12 ‘arranged’ modes.
R-Type Delta HD Boosted | 2025
R-Type’s winning formula has changed little over the years: a lone ship, waves of invading aliens and a hefty suite of power-ups to collect. R-Type Delta HD Boosted is a modernised version of the atmospheric 1998 original, now with high-resolution visuals, an updated soundtrack and a new Practise Mode.
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 | 2017
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.
Under Defeat | 2024
The sleek and streamlined Under Defeat is easy to pick up but hard to master. The game's tilt mechanic allows you to bend your helicopter's shots slightly left or right, allowing for strategic, angled attacks. Originally released in arcades in 2005, this enhanced version of Under Defeat adapts the game to a 16:9 format, sharpens the visuals and adds new music.
