SHOCK TROOPERS

does not run well on pc

SHOCK TROOPERS is a great game that I'd recommend to any fan of arcade top-down shooters, but sadly I cannot recommend this port. It's plagued by severe stuttering and crashes, making the later stages of the game unplayable.

Worse, I've seen features randomly become non-functional on later boot-ups of the game. The Freeplay game option suddenly gave me no credits instead of unlimited credits, the game's sound turned off completely, and most of the video options could not be changed anymore. All of these changes were permanent, even through uninstalls and reinstalls of the game.

SNK did this in 1997 - still brilliant in 2025.

𝕄𝕖𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕊𝕝𝕦𝕘 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕠𝕡-𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥!

Shock Troopers is another game from the NeoGeo era, it was one of those Arcade Machines that nobody would come close to and they had that mysterious aura about them... Renown for being extremely difficult, even on Easy Difficulty.

That was then, when we'd literally crawl on the side of the pavement looking for coins that we can input into the Arcades and play... Now that we've had the blessing of UNLIMITED CREDITS, the game seems to suddenly be a tad more forgiving.

In Shock Troopers, you choose one of eight characters, with each having their own special stats. For example, "That Blonde Dude" is slow as hell, but he's got a lot of Health Points, while that "Scrawny Blonde Girl" has higher movement speed, but all it takes for her to die are two bullets. Another difference between the characters would be their "Side Weapon"; ranging from grenades to literal Rocket Launchers. The level design is pretty nice; you can choose one of three paths and the campaign is six missions long (just like Metal Slug). Some paths are easier but we're not going to discuss that! The graphics are amazingly done in glorious retro style pixel art... and it would make you quite intrigued to know that most objects in the level are entirely destructible. That's right, your gun can unleash a mayhem so vast you'd be glued to your screen trying to satisfy your OCD by leaving NOTHING standing. Each mission has a boss at the end of it, but they're usually the same tank with a different color swap and when you destroy it, a cringe boss-looking soldier jumps out of it to try their luck lol.

The plot includes some girl getting kidnapped that has ties with the president of the USA or something... Sorry, I was too invested in the killing and destruction to actually care. Shock Troopers gets a whooping 9.5/10. It's an almost perfect game in my book... Almost because too much mayhem sometimes causes the game to lag! But to some of us that'd be a blessing in disguise, as lag would help you dodge a few bullets at least haha!

The game itself is great, but the port is bad. I bought the game after falling in love with it while playing it on a Neo-Geo MVS at a museum recently. The Steam release has some good stuff like achievements and the option to enable scan lines, but the achievements are buggy and the game occasionally crashes. I can't recommend a game that crashes.

It's a very outdated game, made primarily for consoles in the 80's/90's.
From time to time I like to give a chance to such retro games but nowadays with so many new and quality games it has little purpose.

There are major flaws like being ultra short, having a low quality story with a silly cartoon like antagonist, having a very small video resolution which means a little area for your character to maneuver - which results in lots of unavoidable damage ( you don't have a way to escape the bullets ).
In the 80's and 90's there were console games, and most of them were difficult, so they forced you to spend/insert lots of coins in order to beat them. This game is reminiscent of that mechanic.
Luckily, this game has unlimited lives, so you beating the game is guaranteed.
There are 8 to chose, each with their unique weapons, but some are way more efficient then others.
Also - you can't fire and turn/move at the same time. You first have to turn, and then fire - that's a very obsolete and frustrating mechanic.

Big Mama will always be the GOAT

Fun game

Classic.

Great selection of levels and characters. The bosses are repeat and the challenge is not very high however the style and gameplay make up for it. The soundtrack slaps as well

The game itself seems great! I will be definitely playing the Hamster version of this on Switch or elsewhere.

This port however is terrible and has stuttering in the image and sounds.

If you want something a bit more serious, a bit more anime, and a bit more top-down than Metal Slug, play this!

B-tier

Classic game. Lots of fun. If you're a fan of Contra, or Metal Slug, you'll enjoy this. Grab this game, and its sequel when they are on sale. They are great pickups for the price.