Stardust Galaxy Warriors: Stellar Climax (Switch eShop)

Stardust Galaxy Warriors: Stellar Climax is an incredibly fun and action-packed game that you can enjoy with up to three friends and boasts plenty of options that can be tweaked to make the experience as easy or challenging as you'd like. Throw in some engaging extra modes, great presentation and a healthy dose of self-aware humour and you've got a package that will keep you entertained for quite some time.

Steredenn: Binary Stars (Switch eShop)

Steredenn: Binary Stars is a fantastic release that does a great job of providing an experience that feels simultaneously classic and modern. An expanded version of the original 2015 game from French studio Pixelnest, its high difficulty, rewarding gameplay, endless variety, and beautiful presentation make this an essential buy for any STG fans, but we'd also give this a recommendation for those who aren’t.

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If you’re looking for a tightly made arcade-style game that can be played both in short bursts and for hours on end, look no further.

Strikers 1945 II (Switch eShop)

Strikers 1945 II is a lot like the first (already great) game, but this sequel improves on it thanks to its frantic gameplay and new approach to charged attacks. Two-player is a lot of fun whether played on the big screen or undocked in TATE mode with detached Joy-Con and trying to improve on your high score adds plenty of replayability.

The game could benefit from an online high score board, but it's a joy to play through each time and it's quasi-historical WWII setting is a pleasant change from the usual future tech and fantasy common to the genre, although there are still plenty of mechanical sights that wouldn’t have been seen in 1945.

Super Hydorah (Switch eShop)

This is an old-school 2D shooter that serves as an effective tribute to the classics while successfully managing to inject some fresh ideas of its own. Super Hydorah doesn't reinvent the side-scrolling shmup, but it does kit it out with some cool new gadgets.

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Tengai (Switch eShop)

Tengai is part of a distinguished niche in the shmup pantheon that we like to refer to as the ‘flying-person shooter’. It sits comfortably on top of other great examples of the genre such as Forgotten Worlds, Space Harrier, Lords of Thunder, Cho Aniki and Gynoug (aka Wings of Wor).

It's not only one of the finest shoot 'em ups developed by Psikyo during its active years, but an absurd luxury to have on Switch at a very sensible price. It offers an arcade-perfect, single- or two-player horizontal scrolling experience that still manages not only to pack a punch and a challenge, but make modern efforts look a little dull by comparison.

Toaplan Arcade Garage: Hishou Same! Same! Same! (Switch)

Toaplan Arcade Garage: Hishou Same! Same! Same! is wonderful, historical stuff, conserving two beautifully designed roadmaps for the future succession of the genre. Antique, yet savagely modern in their viciousness, there are few titles that brew with as much energy beneath a late-'80s vintage aesthetic, driven intrepidly by Tatsuya Uemura and Masahiro Yuge’s incredible soundtracks.

Despite this, it would be misleading to cite the package as something for everyone. It’s a perfect addition for people collecting M2’s series, and for those with an interest in the preservation and best possible representation of notable arcade titles. As shoot-em-ups, Flying Shark and Fire Shark require a specific approach and methodology, and won’t necessarily be to all tastes.

If you revel in the thrill of old-school hardcore gaming, it’s a duo that potentially offer years of service. For everyone else, they may feel a bit samey, samey, samey.

Under Defeat (Switch eShop)

Where helicopter gunship-themed video games are concerned, Under Defeat is one of the best ever. It signifies a point in time when the shoot 'em up was being propelled by a new area of creativity, and young development studios like G.Rev were leading the charge.

Love it or loathe it, its lock-shot strafe and creeping bullet patterns work terrifically once you get a feel for them, and there’s a cinematic scale to it all that feels somehow poignant. It’s not the longest game, nor the most visually diverse, but it does what it sets out to do exceptionally well.

Valfaris: Mecha Therion (Switch eShop)

Valfaris: Mecha Therion did not relax us. This is not a relaxing game at all, but it is an enjoyable one and an easy recommendation if you’re in the market for a fun, action-heavy shooter. Blasting through waves of ships, rival mechs, and alien orbs, and making iterative progress as you master each section of the game, is a fun loop. Balancing your attack and defence can be challenging but rewarding. The only downside worth mentioning is there is almost no explanation of the previous game’s story. Therefore, it would probably be best to play them in order if you want to make sense of exactly what’s going on.

Zero Gunner 2 (Switch eShop)

When you consider how much the Dreamcast version of Zero Gunner 2 changes hands for on the secondary market these days, the fact that you can download a superior version on your Switch for a tiny fraction of that cost is worth celebrating; in that regard, you might want to purchase the game purely to feel smug about the amount of (hypothetical) cash you're saving. Perceived value aside, this is a refreshingly unique take on the shmup genre which has some neat ideas but also builds on Psikyo's other good work – the amazing transforming bosses the company is famous for reach their pinnacle here. The biggest problem is that Zero Gunner 2 lacks longevity, even when you take the two-player mode, multiple difficulty levels and (offline) high score table into account. With that said, it's still an essential download for shooter fans and is creative enough to be recommended to those who have a passing interest in the genre but want something a little different.

So there you have it — an excellent selection of the finest shmups available to humanity. There are plenty more to discover, of course, but the games above represent the best shoot 'em ups the console has to offer (anything that received a review score of 8 or above).

Which are your favourites from this list? Are there any that you'd add given the chance? Share your thoughts in the the usual place...

This article is one of our Switch Essentials guides which cover a wide variety of genres, including the Best Switch FPS Games, the Best Switch RPGs, the Best Switch Games For Kids, the Best Switch Couch Co-Op Games and the Best Switch Fitness and Exercise Games. We can also help out hunting down the Best Switch Horror Games, the Best Switch Racing Games, the Best Switch Action-RPGs, the Best Nintendo Switch Roguelikes, Roguelites and Run-Based Games, the Best Free Switch Games, the Best Remakes And Remasters, the Best Switch Music And Rhythm Games, Best Feel-Good Switch Games, Best Switch Open-World Games, Best Switch Soulslike Games, Best LGBTQ+ Switch Games, and even Games to Play After You've Finished Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Whatever your favourite genre, we've got you covered: Strategy Games, Metroidvanias, Puzzle Games, Party Games, Online Multiplayer Games, Local Wireless Multiplayer Games, Shmups, Twin-Stick Shooters, Visual Novels, Kart Racers, Fighting Games, Football Games, Funny Games, Golf Games, 'Walking Sims' And Narrative Games, Switch Games For Lovers And Lonely Hearts, Detective Games, Hidden Gems, 2D Platformers, 3D Platformers, Puzzle Platformers, Tabletop Mode Games, Run and Gun Games, LEGO Games, Sports Games, Survival Games, Beat 'Em Ups, Camera Games, Chill Games, Family Games, Retro-Inspired Games, Short Games, Card Games and Deck-Builders, and Life Sims And Farming Games.

Still hungry for more? Elsewhere we look at Wholesome Games, TATE Mode Games, Flight Sim and Space Combat, Point and Click Adventure Games, and the Best Switch Exclusives, as well as Every Arcade Archives Game, Every ACA Neo Geo Game, Every SEGA AGES Game On Switch, plus the Best Switch Ports, Best Wii U-To-Switch Ports, Best Switch Collections And Compilations, Best Cheap Switch Games, Best Switch Demos, Games That Are Better On Switch OLED, Switch Games Under $10, $20, $50, and Switch games with the Best Soundtracks and the Best Graphics. Phew!

If you're looking for the best Switch games regardless of genre, our reader-voted selection of the Best Nintendo Switch Games should help you out, and you can also find the Best Nintendo Switch Games of 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. And finally, if you're interested in other Nintendo consoles and retro games, check out the Best Game Boy Games, Best GBC Games, Best GBA Games, Best Nintendo DS Games, Best Nintendo 3DS Games, Best NES Games, Best SNES Games, Best N64 Games, Best GameCube Games, and Best Wii Games, and Best Wii U Games, as well as Every Available Nintendo Switch Online Retro Game, and ranked lists of Every Nintendo Switch Online NES, SNES, N64 and Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Game.