Finding an old side scrolling shooter from my past?

July 28, 2009 8:19 AM

Can you help me find a very specific "bullet hell" type game that I played when I was little?

Slightly inspired by that recent Flash post on the front page
So, first off, some context. When I played this I was probably around 10 years old, but I'm not that old. My grandparents had a machine that looked like Windows 98 or something similar. However, it had this strange interface that would launch inside of 98 when it was started; it had branding all over it and had had a notebook style interface (yellow background with lines?). The branding may have been ASUS.

So yes, my memory is quite fuzzy. I'm hoping this bit will help me find a game I used to love on that computer- it was a bullet hell type of game, fast paced spaceship shooter, with the screen moving in a fashion similiar to 1943 (you are flying forwards). I remember being able to buy upgrades or acquire them somehow. It had a grungy color pallet- browns, greys, not a very shiny happy time game. The one thing I know for certain is that it was likely bundled with whatever interface was on that computer- my grandparents are NOT savvy enough to install anything themselves.

One last detail if it's any help: another game on that computer was some kind of platformer starring a bunny as the main character. Played sort of like Mega Man. I don't remember the graphical style in game. But the main menus had a sort of Commander Keen style pixel art look to them.

And, if you do know what this game is (maybe even the second one), is there any way I can acquire it? I'd love to play it again.

posted by Askiba to computers & internet (7 comments total)

Can't help you with the first, but the second is likely Jazz Jackrabbit.
posted by yellowbinder at 8:22 AM on July 28

Was the shooter Raptor? I'm not sure if the color palette fits exactly, but I remember that being a fairly popular shooter around that time.
posted by evisceratordeath at 8:26 AM on July 28

After playing Raptor in DOSBox I came to the conclusion that it's not quite the one. It feels similiar, though, so maybe games around this time period could be my answer? Thanks for the suggestion.

As for Jazz Jackrabbit, that is definitely it.
posted by Askiba at 8:44 AM on July 28

major stryker? it came bundled with joysticks and possibly sound cards as well, so that could be it.
posted by jangie at 8:46 AM on July 28

How about Tyrian? The Wikipedia page mentions Jazz Jackrabbit being from the same company, so maybe they had some kind of bundling thing going on with Asus.
posted by evisceratordeath at 8:47 AM on July 28

Was it Overkill? That's also an Epic Megagames title.
posted by jedicus at 8:50 AM on July 28

Tyrian! Perfect. Thank you for all your help.
posted by Askiba at 9:34 AM on July 28