The Genesis is chock full of quality shooters. Unfortunately, Earth Defense/Earth Defend is not one of them. You can’t expect much from a game that can’t even get its own name right, and the actual gameplay is just as sloppy.
Tag: Shmup
Truxton
Early Genesis adopters found many different genres covered by the growing library, including space shooters. Toaplan’s Truxton was one of the earliest examples on the console, and it offered intense action with awesome visuals and engaging gameplay. Even after two decades, the game is still a blast to play, and it remains one of the favorites among shooter fans.
Space Harrier
Considered the best version available until the Sega Ages Collection was released on Saturn, Space Harrier is reason alone to own a 32X. Read the review to find out why.
Crossfire
Called Super Airwolf in Japan, Crossfire had almost nothing to do with its namesake, except for the whole military helicopter thing. Origin aside, the game itself is another mediocre vertical shooter that’s more novel for its rarity than for its gameplay.
Battle Squadron
One of the first space shooters to grace the Genesis (and certainly one of the first third party shooters) was Electronic Arts’ Battle Squadron. As challenging as it was hard, the game offered up some great two-player simultaneous action, and many consider it a favorite to this day.