Xevious (USA)

Xevious is a vertical scrolling shoot 'em up that originally hit arcades in 1983, developed by Namco and designed by Masanobu Endō. This ATARI 7800 port brings that arcade classic home, keeping the fast-paced action intact. If you have any memory of early eighties arcades, you know this game as one of the early scrolling shooters that set the standard for the genre on home consoles.

You pilot the Solvalou fighter over a scrolling landscape, blasting air-based enemies and bombing ground targets. The trick is that enemies come in two layers: those in the sky and those on the ground. Your main shot handles the flying foes, while a separate bombing reticle lets you target ground installations. Mastering both at once is key to survival. There's no power-ups or complicated mechanics - just pure, precise shooting that rewards pattern recognition and quick reflexes.

Playing Xevious on the ATARI 7800 today gives you a clean, responsive version of a stone-cold classic. It's not the flashiest port, but it captures the arcade feel faithfully. If you enjoy tough, no-nonsense shooters from the early days, this one holds up well. It also shows how the 7800 could handle arcade conversions better than many competitors of its time.