Compile’s 20 Best Shoot ‘Em Ups

By Marc Normandin | November 27, 2023 | 11:48am

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As of November 2023, Compile has been shut down for 20 years. Best known as the creator of the successful Puyo Puyo series of puzzle games, Compile was also a massive influence on the direction of shoot ‘em ups. More specifically, for the home shooting game, which had different considerations involved than an arcade title designed to make you surrender your quarters. That makes it so that Compile’s oeuvre isn’t necessarily for every STG fan out there, but for those that are looking for a survival challenge more than an arcade-style scoring one, Compile’s library is a treat.

With that in mind, here are the 20 best shmups that Compile developed over their two decades making videogames. Housekeeping notes: 2020’s GG Aleste 3 was developed by current rightsholder M2, so it’s not included here despite its excellence. The Guardian Legend is great, but as it’s merely half shoot ‘em up, it’s not listed here. Project Egg is a subscription game service run by D4 Enterprises in Japan, and as D4 has the rights to many Compile games, many of them are on there. Compile also made more than “just” 20 shmups: every entry here is, at the least, a good game, though, given the age of some of them, your own mileage may vary on just how good.

20. Xevious: Fardraut Densetsu
System: PC Engine
Year: 1990
Availability: N/A

Namco contracted Compile to make the fifth entry in the Xevious series: given the shooters that earned the studio this contract were inspired by Xevious in the first place, it was a fitting choice. Fardraut Densetsu is the second version of the game made by Compile, with the first releasing on the MSX2 to middling reviews. The PC Engine edition, released two years later, added additional missions and power-ups, and is a better game than ranking 20th implies. It’s just also so difficult as to be frustrating in a way other difficult Compile shooters are not.

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19. Blaster Burn
System: MSX
Year: 1990
Availability: Project EGG

An episodic release that arrived on the MSX well after that home computer’s heyday. Compile made Blaster Burn for the MSX instead of the MSX2 because it was part of their Disc Station “magazine” that ran for most of their existence. If Blaster Burn had been an MSX2 game, they wouldn’t have been able to fit any other games on the disks of those months!

Blaster Burn keeps track of the power chips you collect and kills you earn, and lets you use those for cash to buy upgrades and experience to promote your ship’s power in future episodes. It’s ambitious and innovative (and a bit of a riff on The Guardian Legend’s postgame “Corridor Rush” mode), but simpler gameplay-wise than Compile’s output by this time, in the ways MSX shooters often were.

18. Gulkave
System: SG-1000, Sega Master System, MSX
Year: 1986
Availability: Project EGG

Gulkave isn’t going to win any beauty contests, but there are intriguing gameplay elements. Power-ups appear every 20 enemies defeated, and your upgrades are on a looping, numbered range, with each power-up representing a numerical increase on that meter. You might actually make your weapons worse through power-ups sometimes, but they’re also the only way to recover the barrier on your ship, which is both shield and source of your post-level bonus. And extends are point-based, too, so… take the risk! Lots of enemies and bullets, and there’s a fast-paced, nifty scrolling effect for ‘86, too.

17. Rude Breaker
System: PC-9801
Year: 1996
Availability: N/A

Another Disk Station release, Rude Breaker is the rare Compile shooter developed after much of the Aleste staff left to form Raizing with ex-Toaplan devs. It’s not mind-blowing, but is a solidly made shooter. It’s short at just five stages, but it looks good and plays well, with the screen often filling up with bullets and enemies. The tension comes from the option to utilize your powered-up secondary weapon as a more standard cannon that also serves as a defensive unit, or to deploy its more powerful second form instead, but make your ship defenseless in the process. If there were more of Rude Breaker, it’d rank higher, but as is it’s a well-made version of ideas separately contained in more complete packages elsewhere.

16. GG Aleste
System: Game Gear
Year: 1991
Availability: Aleste Collection (Switch, Playstation 4)

GG Aleste feels like Compile shrunken down for the Game Gear, because that’s just what it is. It’s solid, but it’s also not as memorable as other Aleste titles besides including a few graphical tricks on the Game Gear. You can one-credit clear this on your first go if you’re familiar with the style. The Special mode—which causes revenge bullets to be fired from every defeated enemy ship—makes for a tougher playthrough, but it’s still nothing series vets will struggle with. Still, it’s well-made, and a great introduction to the franchise for genre newcomers.

15. Guardic
Guardic (Compile)
System: MSX
Year: 1986
Availability: Project EGG

Guardic is ambition that outstrips the hardware. It’s actually the middle game in a trilogy that wasn’t known as a trilogy by anyone besides Compile until Blaster Burn came out, and it’s also the game that The Guardian Legend is a spin-off of: in Japan, The Guardian Legend is known as Guardic Gaiden. There are 100 stages in Guardic, but you don’t have to play them all to complete it; rather, each stage is a closed area that is completed once you’ve defeated all of the enemies within, and then you fly around with your ship through a series of hallways until you’ve picked the next stage you want to challenge. Rinse, repeat, eventually reach the end.

14. Spriggan Mark II
System: PC Engine CD
Year: 1992
Availability: Turbografx-16 Mini

If Spriggan Mark II was anywhere near as fun to play as it is good looking, it’d be near the top of this list. As is, though, it’s a shooter that gets in its own way too often to be considered at that quality level. Having a story in a shooter is fine and all, but the action stops every time the voiced cutscenes come on, which is often, and turning off voices still leaves you with dialogue screens to continually skip. Throw in that Compile’s expertise was in vertical shooters rather than horizontal ones—very different things make these subgenres work and not work—and you’re left with a game that’s a good albeit sometimes frustrating time, and nowhere close to what else the studio was up to in the same era.

13. Zanac
System: MSX, NES
Year: 1986
Availability: Playstation 3 (digital), Switch (digital)

The shoot ‘em up that made Compile real players in the genre, Zanac introduced an “adaptive AI” system known as “Automatic Level Control,” which built on the existing rank systems used by shooters at the time. Rather than just making enemies more aggressive the longer you survived, like in Fantasy Zone or Xevious, Zanac changed enemy patterns and how aggressive their behaviors and bullet spreads would be, and based all of these decisions on your own behaviors: which weapons you’ve equipped, how powerful those weapons have become, how often you’re dying, whether you failed to kill a mid-boss or not, how often you’re firing. A landmark title that’s still an enjoyable challenge today if you’re into STG of this era.

12. Aleste/Power Strike
System: MSX, Sega Master System
Year: 1988
Availability: Aleste Collection (Switch, Playstation 4)

Compile built on the ideas of Zanac with the first entry in the long-running Aleste series. Known as Power Strike for the international release, Aleste improves on the weapon selection of Zanac, adds additional enemies and complicated enemy patterns, and remains to this day a difficult game to complete on one credit, as the online rankings in 2020’s Aleste Collection can attest to. The Level Control system was no joke, and you can basically never earn enough extends to feel safe because of how powered down you are when you finally do die. Aleste was a showcase release for the color palette and power of Sega’s Mark III console—known as the Master System in North America—which is why Sega reprogrammed it for that platform. It’s missing some eventual updates to the format of Aleste games, but damn it’s still a ton of fun.

11. Sylphia
System: PC Engine CD
Year: 1993
Availability: N/A

The worst thing you can say about Sylphia is that Compile made a bunch of better shooters first. It’s still enjoyable, and with an emphasis on ancient Greece over sci-fi, the setting is much different than not just Compile’s usual but that of most shooters in general. The backgrounds aren’t as interesting to look at as contemporary Compile shooters, but the enemy design is great, especially the bosses. It’s a bit on the easy side for a home console Compile shooter; if more of the game had been like the last few stages, it would have a better reputation. As is, that last boss fight is a winner that feels as big as a PC Engine CD endboss should.

10. GG Aleste 2/Power Strike II

System: Game Gear
Year: 1993
Availability: Aleste Collection (Switch, Playstation 4)

Compile cut down on the subweapons from GG Aleste, let you choose a starter, ramped up the visuals, and added a much more varied slate of bosses, both visually and in their behaviors. GG Aleste 2 is shorter than its predecessor—my most recent run took 23 minutes—but it’s more of a challenge than that game, too, since the screen is now busier both visually and with more enemies to avoid.

There’s something satisfying about the GG Aleste 2 loop. It’s short, but the game can be ramped up to be more challenging, and the bosses all feel just dangerous enough to make you nervous as you attempt to maintain a powered-up weapon and enough lives to make it through the end-boss gauntlet. There are only so many extend points available here, unlike in GG Aleste, where success in the bonus areas can give you more extends than the game can display.

9. Zanac Neo
System: Playstation
Year: 2001
Availability: Playstation 3 (digital)

A throwback that also served as a swansong for Compile’s shoot ’em ups. Zanac Neo changes the original game quite a bit, and more than just graphically: it’s the rare scoring-focused Compile shooter thanks to a new multiplier system, and you have a charging attack that helps you rack up larger combos, too. The campaign has multiple ships to choose from and multiplayer, while a Score Trial mode lets you attempt to master stages you’ve cleared in the campaign. It manages to feel very much like Zanac while being its own thing, and did a good enough job of it that it’s a bit disappointing that other classic titles like Aleste didn’t get the same treatment: alas, Zanac X Zanac—which includes Zanac Neo and the original release versions of Zanac (Famicom Disk System, NES)—was one of Compile’s final two releases, both on November 29, 2001.

Don’t look up the cost of a physical copy of Zanac X Zanac, just buy the digital Playstation 3 edition before you can’t.

8. Aleste 2
System: MSX2
Year: 1989
Availability: N/A

Not to be confused with Power Strike II. This is the direct sequel to Aleste, released only for the MSX2 in Japan, and it’s the ideal version of this particular era of Compile’s shooters. It includes various upgrades that fundamentally changed some bits of Zanac and Aleste, like having power ups no longer float up and away from you when you free them from their item prison, but instead come down toward you. That might not sound like much, but if you’re familiar with the older games, you know how much of an improvement that is. The graphics are better, as is the game’s performance. The difficulty is, somehow, also up! Aleste 2 is not an easy game, and it’s even more difficult if you choose the “wrong” start disk: if you prefer Zanac or Aleste to this one because of the difficulty, I don’t even blame you. But if you love a challenge…

Aleste 2 was once on Project EGG, but has since been delisted. It’s always possible M2 releases it in a second Aleste Collection along with the other “missing” games in that series, but that’s merely a guess/hope.

7. Gun-Nac
System: NES
Year: 1991
Availability: N/A

If you’re ever curious about how a studio that made so many great games never had any money and ended up closing because of it, Gun-Nac is a pretty good example. This game rules, and is easily one of the best shoot ‘em ups on the NES. It was also released in 1991, after 16-bit shooters on home consoles had already come into their own and then some. Some of them were even made by Compile!

Given the time period, it’s impressive how Gun-Nac is essentially Compile challenging themselves to make a compelling, contemporary STG on outdated hardware to prove it’s not so outdated. So much of what went into the design of what would comprise their big four is on display here, only missing a lot of the graphical tricks or speed or sheer volume of enemies/bullets the 16-bit hardware could handle. Even with 8-bit limitations, though, Gun-Nac is a hell of a shooter with plenty of all of the above, without even getting into how straight-up weird a game about every inanimate and synthetic object in the galaxy coming to life and trying to destroy humanity is.

6. Power Strike II
System: Sega Master System
Year: 1993
Availability: Aleste Collection (Switch, PS4)

The only Power Strike-exclusive game that Compile ever made, as the rest were just the international names for various Aleste games. And this isn’t the same game as the Game Gear Power Strike II, which is just the European title for GG Aleste 2. The actual Power Strike II was a Master System title released in 1993 in Europe and Brazil—in a rare twist, it was Japan that had to wait decades for this rarity to release—and it’s Compile coming back to hardware they were first sharpening their skills on, after releasing some of the most significant shooters of the era on 16-bit hardware. Like with Gun-Nac, it’s one of their best 8-bit shooters, and after 8-bit was all but out of style everywhere besides the portable systems. It, too, features a number of ideas from various other Compile shooters, plus some new ones that would catch on.

5. Robo Aleste

System: Sega CD
Year: 1993
Availability: Sega Genesis Mini 2

Known as Dennin Aleste in Japan, Robo Aleste trades in the Aleste spaceship and straight sci-fi themes for a mech in feudal Japan, just like its predecessor MUSHA. Unlike MUSHA, it’s more explicit about the latter, and made Oda Nobunaga part of the story. Thanks to the Sega CD tech powering it, Robo Aleste does look better and different than MUSHA in some ways, but in others, it’s less interesting design-wise. It’s slower-paced, too, and also a lot longer. None of this is inherently negative—well, the less interesting visuals can be—but the other bits are a matter of preference. As much as I enjoy Robo Aleste, it sits just outside the peak of Compile’s shooter powers, as there’s another game with a similar, lengthy setup and gameplay that is this entry’s superior.

4. Seirei Senshi Spriggan
System: PC Engine CD
Year: 1991
Availability: Turbografx-16 Mini

Seirei Senshin Spriggan was originally another Aleste title featuring a mecha, but publisher Naxat Soft wanted a new series of their own. Despite Naxat Soft’s presence, this is clearly a Compile shooter in its design, enemy types, and weapons, but also pretty different in its approach. The focus isn’t so much on powering up a single preferred weapon as much as possible and surviving with (and because) of it, but is instead on experimenting with weapon combinations and bombs. Every orb you collect to change your loadout is also a potential bomb, and there are lots of orbs, which means lots of bombs to drop to make room for a new one. Spriggan is about learning to adapt to whatever weapons are available, and constantly being prepared to fire off a bomb. The screen is often overloaded with enemies so that you do use the bombs, too: this isn’t a situation where holding back serves you well or gains you extra points or whatever. It’s Compile; the goal is to survive.

3. Blazing Lazers
System: PC Engine
Year: 1989
Availability: Turbografx-16 Mini

This is basically the driving force behind a generation of shoot ’em ups, with Compile obviously iterating on it with their future (and best) Aleste releases as well as Spriggan. Hudson Soft, which published Blazing Lazers, redesigned their Star Soldier series on the Turbografx-16 and PC Engine to utilize this game’s style instead of the established one, and Naxat Soft both partnered with Compile and aped their style for some of their other shooters. Leaving aside all that influence, however, Blazing Lazers—originally released as Gunhed, a licensed game based on a live-action Japanese tokusatsu mecha film—is still just a damn great shooter that holds up over three decades later. The stages are long, but varied and fascinating, and the difficulty is there, too. There’s some balance here that’s occasionally missing from some of Compile’s good or great but not excellent shooters, and it makes Blazing Lazers a treat whether it’s your first or one of many runs through.

2. Super Aleste/Space Megaforce
System: SNES
Year: 1992
Availability: N/A

North American publishers hadn’t used the Aleste name yet, and they weren’t about to start with the Super Nintendo entry. So, unless you were already aware of what Super Aleste was, Space Megaforce appeared to have no connection to Power Strike or MUSHA, and maybe seemed like a one-off a la Blazing Lazers. That it is a Compile shooter is undeniable, however, with Space Megaforce including tons of upgradeable subweapons, a significant increase in obstructions and obstacles to dodge, and the kind of enemy patterns and level design that fans had come to expect from the developer by now.

If there’s a knock against Super Aleste, it’s that it’s long even for a Compile shooter, and Compile console shooters were often notoriously lengthy compared to their arcade cousins. It’s worth playing through the whole thing, however, and as it’s one of the Aleste titles with multiple difficulty levels, it’ll take you some time to truly master the experience.

1. MUSHA

System: Genesis
Year: 1990
Availability: Nintendo Switch Online+

“Musha” just means “warrior” in Japanese, so the original title for this game is basically “Warrior Aleste.” In North America, the Aleste was dropped, and the Musha part became an acronym for “Metallic Uniframe Super Hybrid Armor.” Hence, MUSHA. Power Strike and Space Megaforce are annoying name changes, but this one whips for managing to up the mecha quotient.

MUSHA and Super Aleste both play heavily into the specific strengths of their respective consoles. MUSHA goes a million miles per hour, trading in difficult patterns for pure reflex and a white-knuckle ride powered by a synthesized speed metal soundtrack, all perfect for the Genesis hardware. Super Aleste is slower-paced, playing to what the SNES did better: there’s often tons happening on screen, but it’s all at a slower and easier to process speed than in MUSHA, which also happens to be a speed the SNES is better at processing it all. The bosses are huge, sprite-scaling is used to great effect, and everything is more methodical in Super Aleste, whereas MUSHA is explosions and sensory overload. They’re both excellent shoot ’em ups, the peak of what Compile had going on in their specific style, and among the best of the 16-bit era.

Which one is better? As the rankings say, for me it’s MUSHA, but that’s because it’s more what I want: fast-paced chaos, music compelling you forward, and splendid pacing. You can finish MUSHA in a little over 30 minutes, then do it again. Super Aleste has a short mode that’s four stages because the real thing is about three times the length of MUSHA. If you don’t mind that, though, preferring Super Aleste to MUSHA is understandable.

Marc Normandin covers retro videogames at Retro XP, which you can read for free but support through his Patreon, and can be found on Twitter at @Marc_Normandin.