Interesting 2D Sidescrolling Shooter games

Games where most of the time is spent shooting things in two dimensional levels from side perspective.

Aliens Go Home Run! (link)

Destroy blocks and enemies by hitting them with a single ball that bounces around the level. You can slide to avoid enemy projectiles and pick up power ups.

Black Future '88 (link)

You have a time limit to scale randomly generated tower. Killing enemies drops ammo, money and other items. Items that are not picked up in time will level up the tower, adding effects that make the game more difficult. You can exchange money and time for items and upgrades, some weapons use money, dash charges or time as ammo, some upgrades and weapons give time for killing enemies. Certain combinations of weapons and upgrades give special bonuses.

Boogie Wings (link)

A shooter where you can get into various vehicles. One of them is a plane with a hook that can pick up various objects. By moving the plane around you can swing the hook and throw the objects at enemies. When a second player is in the game, they can use the hook to pick up the other player as well.

Dragon Breed (link)

Your character rides a snake-like dragon. The dragon is invulnerable but the character riding it can be hurt. Apart from shooting enemies you can also move around in a way to use the dragon’s long body to kill enemies and protect the rider from enemy projectiles.

Début (link)

You go on expeditions to underground cities in a mech (called Pelvthrust), where you collect weapons, chemicals and money, shoot through defenses and shut down the city’s reactor, so that you can move the population back to surface. Outside the side scrolling sections you buy and use chemicals to change things like terrain and atmosphere, remove pollution and reintroduce plants, animals and humans to the environment.

Fury Unleashed (link)

When you die, you start over. Shooting enemies builds combo meter, standing around or getting damaged resets it. Getting it higher makes you stronger, gives shield and gets you more health pickups and money for buying items. A different currency allows buying permanent upgrades for the next run.

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime (link)

Two players control a space ship by moving their character to control panel of the engine, shield or guns placed around circle shaped ship. The players have to cooperate to defend the ship and rescue survivors.

Outzone (link)

The player controls a ship and has to escort a slower friendly ship through the level. The slower ship moves only forward, but the player's ship can attach to it and move it up and down to avoid obstacles. The player's ship also has to shoot enemies and bump into blocks with matching symbols to remove them from the way.

Peglin (link)

On their turn, the player shoots an orb on a board filled with pegs. Hitting pegs determines the damage that the player deals this turn. Hitting special pegs will grant critical damage, area damage or reset the board. The type of the orb used influences the damage and other effects. The enemies use their turn to move closer or to attack. Between fights, the board is used to choose the path on the world map. On the way player will find beneficial items and upgrade their orbs. The goal is to make it to the end.

R-Type Final 3 Evolved (link)

The player controls a ship, which has chargeable projectile weapon and a detachable orb. The orb can be attached at the front or the back of the ship, blocks enemy attacks and will shoot its own weapon. When the orb is detached from the ship, it moves around and shoots in multiple directions. When the orbs blocks projectiles and damages enemies by touch, it charges up. When fully charged, it deals more damage and the charge can be spent on special attack that damages everything on screen. Power ups can be found, which upgrade and change the weapon of the orb. There are multiple ships with different orbs and weapons. The orbs differ in their attacks and behavior, some have features like a line between it and the ship or tentacles.

Scorched Earth (link)

Players take turns controlling their tanks, which can move and can fire one of many different weapons by setting the gun's angle and power. Players gain money, which they can spend on weapons and defenses like bombs of various sizes, cluster or rolling bombs, shields, parachute and more. The terrain is destructible and affected by gravity, causing tanks to fall or get buried. Game can be heavily customized, including the behavior of map edges which can stop the projectiles, bounce them or pass them to the other side.

Somer Assault (link)

You control a slinky like creature with guns on the sides. It sticks to surfaces and as it moves, its body bends and stretches, which changes where the guns are aiming. It can also jump when in vertical position, so that it can switch between crawling on floor or ceiling. The goal is to get through the levels and defeat all bosses. The weapons are improved by upgrades dropped from enemies.

Super Time Force Ultra (link)

Whenever you want, even after death, you can spend rewind to get back in time to whatever point between now and start of the level. That way you create a copy of yourself which repeats what you did while you play normally. You can choose different characters with different abilities and if you manage to save your past copy from dying you can pick it up to get one hit shield and combine its attack with yours.

The Executioner (link)

You control a ship that is affected by gravity and inertia. It has thruster in the back and weapon in the front. You have to avoid hitting walls and getting shot by enemies, while capturing people on the surface. You can sell the captives to improve your ship and you can torture them to find out which planets have the keys you need to collect.

Worms Blast (link)

Two players control a boat with bazooka armed character on their half of the screen. Above them there are colored blocks going down on them. The player is given bazooka shots of different color and they have to hit blocks of the same color to survive and gain points for breaking them. A wall separating the two players opens every now and then, which allows them to hit each other. Hitting the water makes it temporarily rise, shooting off screen drops a heavy object on the player. The descending blocks sometimes contain crates with special weapons that the player can use on the opponent.

X-Out (link)

Ship can be customized by placing weapons around it on a square grid.

Zarathrusta (link)

You control a ship that is affected by gravity and inertia. It has thruster in the back and weapon in the front. You have to avoid hitting walls and getting shot by enemies. Your goal is to recover certain objects. You grab the object by towing it. The object has its own inertia, which affects your ship.

Honorable mentions

Another World
Apidya
Ecco the Dolphin
Gadget Twins
Knights of the Crystallion
Parodius Da!
Wurm: Journey to the Center of the Earth

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