Shooting Games Online – Run and Gun and Shoot 'em Up Classics

Two kinds of arcade shooter

The arcade gave us two great schools of shooting game. Run and gun games put a soldier on foot in a side-scrolling battlefield: you jump, duck, shoot in eight directions and grab weapon drops. Shoot 'em ups – shmups – put you in the cockpit of a plane or spaceship, dodging bullet patterns while the screen scrolls on its own. This page collects both.

Metal Slug: the king of run and gun

Metal Slug is the biggest name in the genre and one of the most searched retro games in the world. Hand-drawn animation, absurd humor, tanks you can drive and prisoners to rescue made SNK's series a fixture in every arcade from 1996 onwards. Metal Slug X and Metal Slug 3 are the fan favorites; see all Metal Slug games in order for the full timeline.

Contra: the original co-op challenge

Konami's Contra defined run and gun co-op in 1987. Two commandos, a spread gun and an alien invasion – and enemies that kill you in one hit. The NES version, with its famous 30-lives code, is the one most players remember, followed by Super Contra and the 16-bit Contra III and Contra: Hard Corps.

Shoot 'em ups: planes, ships and bullets

The shoot 'em up collection brings vertical classics like Raiden and Raiden II, the WWII planes of 1945 and 1943, Aero Fighters with its silly cast of pilots, and horizontal legends such as Gradius and R-Type. Many arcade shmups support two players, so a friend can fly as your wingman online.

Tips for arcade shooters

• Keep moving. In both run and gun and shmups, standing still is how you get hit.
• Save bombs and grenades for bosses – or for the moment you are about to die.
• Learn the stage. These games are built on fixed patterns; every run makes the next one easier.
• Play with a friend. Co-op doubles your firepower and is how these games were meant to be played.