Games where you destroy dreadnaughts?

[wongojack | 221]

I caught myself recently playing games where you strafe the surface of large ships - be they in space or on water.  I was wondering how deep this genre goes.  Here are some games I've been playing recently that fit this description

• Dreadnaught Factor - Intellivision (also on A8 computers and 5200)
• Uridium - C64 (and many platforms)
• Last Starfighter - NES <- basically just a reskin of Uridium
• Uridium 2 - Amiga
• 1943 - multi

What are some other games where you have to strafe the surface of an enemy ship, take out the guns and drop it?  I'm thinking X-Wing probably has this, what else?

[JamesRobot | 5,828]

Battleship.  Lol.

[wongojack | 221]

LOL - I forgot to list Hyper Sentinel which is a modern Uridium remake - good game.

[Tulpa | 3,535]

Rogue Squadron III for Gamecube has a couple missions where you fly various fighters against Star Destroyers, including the Executor (which is classed as a Star Dreadnought.)

I think some of the older Star Wars simulators like X-Wing and X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter also had missions against capital ships.

Call of Duty Vanguard has a level that recreates the Battle of Midway, American dive bombers vs. Japanese aircraft carriers.

 

Edited September 4, 2022 by Tulpa

[Reed Rothchild | 9,585]

[wongojack | 221]

@Tulpa - Yeah everything Star Wars that has you strafing the Death Star or a Star Destroyer probably counts.

@Reed Rothchild Cool - I have never talked to anyone who has played Descent Freespace - is it worth playing in 2022?

Apparently, there are Uridium clones out there like Thuderfox for the A8's

Talking about this elsewhere, and I thought of Battlehawks 1942 which is a late 80s computer game that is like a battle sim of war in the Pacific (also one mission at Midway), but it has you doing more dive bombing runs than strafing.

Someone else suggested Zaxxon which is certainly close to the mark as well.

[Tanooki | 4,952]

TIE Fighter on PC did this, anything corvette sized or larger you could target individual systems to take out.  X-Wing was just a year or two too early, TIE added the systems based attacks by strafing a large ship.

Shield generators, turrets, docking, comms, hangar, etc.  Wing Commander was late to the game, did this once it went 3D.

[cj_robot | 546]

I know most (possibly all) of the R-Type games have a level where the entire stage is flying by a giant ship, taking out gun emplacements and the enemy fighters it releases, and ending with taking the whole thing down as the level boss.

[MagusSmurf | 577]

Final Fantasy II

[T-Pac | 7,588]

In Bosconian [Arcade] and the overhead sections of Burai Fighter [NES], the objective is to destroy enemy craft by shooting down turrets. But you don't navigate on the surface of the stations, so I'm not sure how well these games fit the criteria.

-CasualCart

[Sumez | 2,994]

Does the classic R-Type style battleship stage count? Because there's a whole ton of those. Pulstar, Blazing Star, multiple Parodius games, etc. and of course a majority of the R-Type games. Mushihimesama has a bug version of it, and Omega Fighter is pretty much the game long version of the trope, with each stage dedicated to taking out a segment of a massive spaceship. 

[Tulpa | 3,535]

That reminds me, the Titanic Lance stage of Darius Gaiden is basically a long boss battle with a gigantic spaceship.

[wongojack | 221]

3 hours ago, CasualCart said:

In Bosconian [Arcade] and the overhead sections of Burai Fighter [NES], the objective is to destroy enemy craft by shooting down turrets. But you don't navigate on the surface of the stations, so I'm not sure how well these games fit the criteria.

-CasualCart

I hadn't considered Bosconian!  Something about that one has never clicked with me, but maybe this is the inspiration I needed.  Never heard of Burai Fighter but good suggestion.

3 hours ago, Sumez said:

Does the classic R-Type style battleship stage count? Because there's a whole ton of those. Pulstar, Blazing Star, multiple Parodius games, etc. and of course a majority of the R-Type games. Mushihimesama has a bug version of it, and Omega Fighter is pretty much the game long version of the trope, with each stage dedicated to taking out a segment of a massive spaceship. 

 

2 hours ago, Tulpa said:

That reminds me, the Titanic Lance stage of Darius Gaiden is basically a long boss battle with a gigantic spaceship.

I see Mushi in there . . . for some reason games like this don't occur to me.  I guess I prefer more of the 8-bit games (I know R-Type is 8bit) because when it started going all massive bullets everywhere, I sorta just dropped out.  It's like they just put too much hot sauce on the burrito for me to enjoy it.  They definitely fit the description though, so keep em coming.  Do either of you have one of those games that you particularly enjoy?

[Tulpa | 3,535]

Darius Gaiden is one of my favorite games. The huge boss fights, the fish themed enemies (true of the whole series), the operatic music that's haunting and cheezy at the same time. The definitive home version is on Saturn. Playstation's version isn't as good, IMO. It was also on Windows, and I believe it was on one of the Taito PS2/Xbox compilations.

It's not a bullet hell style game, though the bosses do spit a lot of firepower at you at times.

Edited September 5, 2022 by Tulpa

[Sumez | 2,994]

1 hour ago, wongojack said:

I see Mushi in there . . . for some reason games like this don't occur to me.  I guess I prefer more of the 8-bit games (I know R-Type is 8bit) because when it started going all massive bullets everywhere, I sorta just dropped out.  It's like they just put too much hot sauce on the burrito for me to enjoy it.  They definitely fit the description though, so keep em coming.  Do either of you have one of those games that you particularly enjoy?

Mushi is the only game there that fits that description The rest are all classic old school shooters. Honestly all of the ones I mentioned are games I really enjoy, but I think special points go to Omega Fighter (1989) and Blazing Star (1997)

[Sumez | 2,994]

Also, if 1943 counts, I think the stage 3 battleship in Flying Shark definitely counts as well. One of the most genre defining classic vertical shooters out there, simply a gem and fairly welcoming to new players, considering the genre.

Its the kind where you first fly over it taking out turrets, but then it catches up from behind and tries to take you down with the big cannon. This has pretty much been a trope for vertical military shooters ever since that game.

[wongojack | 221]

I hear you, but when I hear the phrase "classic old school shooters" what comes to mind is Space Invaders and Galaga.  As things got going, I got less interested.  Even 1943 feels a little chaotic to me.  Still, I have played many shooters of various eras and a home version of Flying Shark which I liked it very much.