Silpheed is a 1989 vector-based shoot ’em up converted from the 1986 PC-8801 original by Game Arts Co., Ltd. A rare gem in the MS-DOS shooter catalogue, Silpheed employs vector graphics from a fixed 3rd-person perspective, with movement-conveyance via a starfield.Silpheed Weapons System (Pick-ups):Weapons: Forward Beam, Phalanx Beam, V-beam, Laser Cannon, Auto-aimingItems: Weapon Power Up, Speed Up, Automatic Fire, Set Barrier, Asteroid Belt, Destroy, Shield Advance, Invincible, Bonus Score, All RepairDeathTrack IBM PC 1989Developed by Dynamix in 1989, the hybrid shooter-racer DeathTrack is one of the most technically advanced and well-presented MS-DOS games of the late-80s. DeathTrack is one of the first big and fully thugged out arcade-action games on the PC.Rendered similarly to the original MechWarrior of 1989 (which is a simulation), DeathTrack features 3D polygonal graphics for its tracks, supercars and other objects. Indeed, aside from its scrolling horizon DeathTrack is a fully 3D shooter-racer.When running DeathTrack in 16-color EGA 320×200 an i80x86 with 512 kbytes of RAM is recommended. HDD storage required: 720 kbytes.IBM PC original. IBM PC exclusive.Robocop IBM PC 1989Data East’s RoboCop coinop of 1988 was ported to IBM PC by FACS Entertainment Software Inc. in 1989. The RoboCop movie came out in 1987.Rambo 3 IBM PC 1989John Siegesmund of Banana Development ported Taito’s Rambo 3 coinop of 1989 to IBM PC in 1989. Rambo 3 is a three-stage top-down flip-screen run and gun game that features a separate inventory screen and one dozen items and four different weapons. Movement and firing is 8-way. There is also a sprite-scaling, OpWolf-style level.Rambo 3 runs in 16-color VGA 320×200 (not 256-color), 16-color 320×200 EGA, 16-color 320×200 TGA or monochrome Hercules 720×350. It supports IBM, Adlib, CMS and Tandy 3-channel audio.Space Harrier IBM PC 1989David R. Mattern and Brian A. Rice of Sega Computer Software ported Sega’s Space Harrier coinop of 1987 to IBM PC in 1989. Space Harrier is a super-scaling railshooter.Blasteroids IBM PC 1989Atari Games Corporation ported Tengen’s Blasteroids coinop of 1987 to IBM PC in 1989. A full-featured Asteroids-like with good controls and presentation, Blasteroids displays in 4-color CGA, 16-color EGA or 256-color VGA graphics modes.Alien Syndrome IBM PC 1989HSP of SEGA Enterprises Ltd. ported Sega’s Alien Syndrome coinop of 1987 to IBM PC MS-DOS in 1989. The port is coded well and displayed in EGA graphics mode. Audio-visuals by Tahir Rashid.Cabal IBM PC 1989Wesley Hildebrandt of Interactive Designs ported TAD Corporation’s Cabal coinop of 1988 to IBM PC in 1989. Cabal is a 3rd-person, fixed-screen run and gun game that displays in 16-color EGA. Graphics by Jennie Lee, music by Scott Etherton.Operation Wolf IBM PC 1989Taito’s Operation Wolf light-gun coinop of 1987 was ported to IBM PC by William Rieder and John Siegesmund of Banana Development in 1989. This is a very good port that support keyboard, joystick or mouse control of the on-screen cursor.Operation Wolf runs in 16-color VGA 320×200 (not 256-color), 16-color 320×200 MCGA, 16-color 320×200 EGA, 16-color 320×200 TGA or monochrome Hercules 720×350. Operation Wolf also supports CGA palette switching: four CGA palettes can be switched between via the F4-key.Depending on graphics mode, Operation Wolf requires between 405-530 kbytes of free RAM.Audio-wise, Operation Wolf supports IBM, Adlib, CMS and Tandy 3-channel audio.Sky Shark IBM PC 1989: P-90 Flying FortressSky Shark of 1989 is an interesting shoot ’em up in terms of presentation and controls. For example, Sky Shark features joystick, keyboard and mouse control. In addition, it features a scripted tutorial with animations. And the scrolling is smooth enough. However, the MS-DOS port is nowhere near Taito’s 1987 coinop.Requiring 512 kbytes of RAM to run, Sky Shark runs in 16-color EGA graphics mode.Sky Shark Weapons System (P-90): 1-7 Shots, Bomb, 1-up, Yellow Formation.1990Origin Systems released Wing Commander in 1990 for IBM PC MS-DOS.Wing Commander can hardly be considered a space combat flight simulator. It is basically dogfighter shoot ’em up with cinematic cutscenes and story-pathways. Also, its graphics are not 3D and there is no Newtonian flight physics (as in Frontier Elite 2). Instead, Wing Commander employs pre-rendered sprites that scale and rotate in the viewport. That said, Wing Commander is a good shooter.Blood Money IBM PC 1990: A Maelstrom of Sheer DestructionTim Ansell of Creative Assembly ported DMA Design’s Blood Money to IBM PC in 1990, but neither scrolling nor sprite-shifting are smooth. Still, it’s a solid conversion of what amounts to a pretty crappy shooter of Atari ST-origin.Super Contra IBM PC 1990Eric Freytag of Distinctive Software Inc. ported Konami’s Super Contra coinop of 1988 to IBM PC in 1990. Super Contra is displayed in 16-color EGA 320×200. Choppy scrolling. Graphics by DSI Art Team.