I had a lot of difficulty getting this game set up on Linux but Emerald Blue is definitely worth the hassle. The last couple of updates definitely helped getting more of the options working and the game running more stable.

Emerald Blue to me is quite a nostalgic feeling shoot em up - it reminds me of playing a bunch of janky but soulful doujin STGs when I was first getting into the genre, many of the games barely working on my computer and not knowing what was going on with the visuals and gameplay but being wowed by how cool everything is nonetheless. Emerald Blue bucks the trend of other STGs being released this year being lacking in difficulty. This game has the sauce. Emerald Blue is short even for the standards of the genre so it's still not super difficult or anything but you can definitely tell it's made for people experienced with the genre, taking a lot of inspiration from games like Ketsui and necessitating effective prioritisation of enemies and chaining to survive. The boss fights are also short like the rest of the game but have amazing bullet pattern design, with lots of bullets coming from all directions and flowing together in interesting ways.

Hype moments and aura, the game.

A very interesting new danmaku STG from a new studio based around using ranged shots and a close-range sword to get through stages and bosses. Although the obvious comparisons to Treasure and particularly Radiant Silvergun can be made here, I'm actually reminded more of Siter Skain's games such as RefleX and Alltynex Second in terms of overall design. The standout here is definitely the beautiful 32-bit era visuals and excellent soundtrack, with a lot of setpieces to make the most of this presentation.

When I read that this game has MGS-style codec calls during gameplay, I was expecting this to have more of a presence in the game. As in, different calls and the game reacting depending on what you do and how well you are playing etc. but overall it's a fairly conventional very linear narrative for the genre. It definitely captures the right vibes where the pilot is thrust against both sides of a factional conflict in a dystopian sci-fi setting via a simple and immediately-understandable motivation, but it's not probably not anything you haven't really seen before.

Birdcage is a traditional STG through and through but by default it actually controls more akin to a twin-stick shooter, with the right-stick being used to aim the sword and shoulder buttons used for shooting and activating your hyper. You can of course change this to a more conventional one-stick control scheme, and the game is entirely playable on older-style controllers or an arcade stick (you may have some trouble moving the sword in restricted mode if you're doing this though). I think these control options are a cool way of "modernising" a shmup while not compromising on the fundamentals of the genre and movement, and at the very least it definitely makes this way more playable on a Steam Deck if you have one of those.

The stages and bosses are tightly-paced and flow together well. There's actually a bunch of physical hazards and memotrap gimmicks that is quite rare for the genre nowadays. Although this kinda design is definitely not gonna be well loved by everyone, I think it's quite refreshing. Overall the game is not too easy and not too hard, but at the same time there isn't any insane difficulty stuff to keep the superplayers (not me) regularly coming back for more. The boss design shows a strong foundation but it would have been nice to have especially the early bosses do more varied attack patterns instead of cycling between the same 2-3 basic attacks.

The main issue I and seemingly other players have with Birdcage are matters of balance, which is where the studio's fledgling nature and lack of experience shows the most. The sword aiming can be done with two options. Automatic feels a bit too brainless but restricted feels too, well restricted and a more comfortable middle ground would be welcome. Similarly, in terms of survival difficulty the game is a bit too generous with resources, but the scoring penalties are just brutal. I don't mind that the stage ranking grades are quite strict (I like this actually), but the problem is the fact that the chain multiplier carries over between stages, and completely resets upon getting hit. This means in order to get a meaningful score you would literally have to no-miss most of the game, and this overrides all the other layered mechanics such as sword kill bonuses, secret medals and bullet cancelling. The chain not resetting between stages almost feels like unintentional jank and I think it should be patched out, or at least provide different scoring options/different leaderboards.

Birdcage is one of 2025's coolest STGs with an amazing visual style and soundtrack. There are definitely problems with the gameplay which are understandably a dealbreaker to some, but the studio which made this game shows a lot of potential, and at any rate I am shamelessly a sucker for the aura farming.

A very jank but uncompromising and fun 2D character action game from G.Rev., with their signature slick 3D graphics and synth-infused soundtracks. Honestly the story in this game kinda sucks, I hadn't heard about the Ninja Kamui anime before playing this and I don't think I''ll care to watch it now, but narrative is probably not why you're here, and the cutscenes/tutorial can be auto-skipped for a smoother experience. Also the highest difficulty is available from the start, more of this please game developers!

Ninja Kamui: Shinobi Origins has a focus to its moveset and level design that you usually don't get nowadays. As a revival of classic 2D ninja games that seem to have become a trend since this game came out, I genuinely think this game is better than both Ninja Gaiden Ragebound and Shinobi Art of Vengeance from a pure gameplay perspective. All of Tsukumo's movement and attack options have strengths and weaknesses that you need to understand and respect throughout the game. Once you get the hang of things, you can do some pretty slick movement and combos, but not so much that enemies don't get a chance to fight back. Enemies and bosses synergise in interesting ways, and even on lower difficulties will very much press the advantage against you if they manage to get it. The timer-health system is interesting and contextualised well, since Tsukumo constantly has a ticking time bomb strapped to his ninja suit.

There's also some 3D rail-shooter sections in this game, which use the same moveset in the 2D sections in a different context. Your shuriken can stun enemies which will cause you to grab their limited ammo weapons and you can use those to defeat enemies and break environmental objects for more bonuses. You can also melee attack and block in these sections which becomes relevant at certain points. I wish there were a few more of these because I love the helicopter fight at the end of stage 4.

So yeah this is definitely a game only for 2D action game sickos like me and maybe you if you're reading this - the kind of game where you have to meet it in the middle of learning its moveset and jank, but once you do it captures the ninja power fantasy well, especially so since you actually earned it here.

Possibly the most criminally underlooked game of 2025. Disaster Arms is a boss rush run-and-gun with a similar style to Treasure's MegaDrive/Genesis outings. Mechanically it's a pretty comfortable middle ground between Gunstar Heroes and Alien Soldier in terms of complexity, and I especially like the movement nuances and ignition dash. The game has a surprising amount of teeth to its difficulty, especially in the later Acts but there is an easier mode with unlimited continues and saves for those who need an easier time getting into it.

NES Gradius (via the wii virtual console) is the first shoot em up I ever played and I am still a big fan of the series to this day. Although the price of this collection may seem steep, the love and care M2 gave to these classic games (and the new Salamander III!) makes this collection more than worth it if you are a fan of Gradius or classic shmups in general.

It's just a bog-standard Mario Kart clone posing as an arcade racer that is too easy and gets boring pretty quickly. Good soundtrack at least.

Rabi-ribi but not as good as rabi-ribi but still a very good game in its own right.

Ignore the reviews complaining about "clunky controls", "unfair difficulty" etc. Shadow of the Ninja Reborn's control scheme is very deliberately and intricately designed, and although the difficulty is high, everything is fair and consistent, it's just a matter of learning the nuances. Those nuances in your character's controls and level design create a very deliberate, committal play experience that's very fun and fresh. It's nice to play a game as uncompromised as Shadow of the Ninja Reborn in 2024.

Yeah this is a videogame, we're gaming, no need for bloated open worlds and filler content all we need is to be a cool dude with a gun who shoots dudes every 2 seconds.

It's Radiant Silvergun, what more do I need to say?

This release is almost identical to the Switch port that was released last year by Live Wire, which is a good thing because while Live Wire's port isn't perfect by any means, it's very good and better than what most other classic console shmups receive. The steam achievements available here are a bit simplistic compared to Ikaruga's achievements but are still a welcome addition.