W1942 is a vertically scrolling shooter game made by Capcom that was released for arcades in 1984. Designed by Yoshiki Okamoto, it was the first game in the 19XX series, and was followed by 1943: The Battle of Midway.
WAqua Jack is a 3D shoot 'em up arcade game released by Taito in 1989. A hovercraft is piloted over water and land while dodging bullets and avoiding objects by shooting or jumping over them. Enemies are shot in the air and on water or land to advance levels. The game has eight levels.
WArbalester is a scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game released by SETA in 1989, licensed to Taito and Romstar. The player controls a fighter jet and shoots enemies in the air and on the ground, collects power-ups, and defeats bosses to advance levels.
WArkanoid is a 1986 block breaker arcade game developed and published by Taito. In North America, it was published by Romstar. Controlling a paddle-like craft known as the Vaus, the player is tasked with clearing a formation of colorful blocks by deflecting a ball towards it without letting the ball leave the bottom edge of the playfield. Some blocks contain power-ups that have various effects, such as increasing the length of the Vaus, creating several additional balls, or turning the Vaus into a laser cannon. Other blocks may be indestructible or require multiple hits to break.
WArkanoid: Revenge of Doh is an arcade game released by Taito in 1987 as a sequel to Arkanoid.
WBaseball Stars 2 is a 2-player baseball sports arcade game released by SNK in 1992 for the Neo-Geo console. A less detailed console version was released for the NES by Romstar the same year.
WBlack Tiger, known in Japan as Black Dragon , is a hack-and-slash platform game released for arcades by Capcom in 1987.
WBloody Wolf , released in Europe as Battle Rangers, is a run and gun arcade game released by Data East in 1988. Two commandos take on an entire army with many weapons, and defeat bosses to advance levels.
WBubble Bobble is a 1986 platform arcade game developed and published by Taito. It was distributed in the United States by Romstar, and in Europe by Electrocoin. Players control Bub and Bob, two dragons that set out to save their girlfriends from a world known as the Cave of Monsters. In each level, Bub and Bob must defeat each enemy present by trapping them in bubbles and popping, who turn into bonus items when they hit the ground. There are 100 levels total, each becoming progressively more difficult.
WCaliber .50 is a 1989 scrolling shooter arcade game developed by SETA Corporation. A port of the game was released for the Sega Genesis in 1991.
WDouble Dragon II: The Revenge is a side-scrolling beat 'em up produced by Technōs Japan originally released as a coin-operated arcade game in 1988. It is the first sequel to Double Dragon, released during the previous year. The sequel involves Billy and Jimmy Lee in a mission to avenge Billy's girlfriend Marian after she is shot to death by the Black Warriors leader Willy, who is retaliating against the Lee brothers after his defeat at the end of the previous game. Double Dragon II was initially developed as an upgrade kit for the original Double Dragon, but evolved into a stand-alone game due to an increase in memory size, resulting in the developers reusing assets for both games.
WEmpire City: 1931 is a shooter game developed by Seibu Kaihatsu that was originally released into arcades in 1986, by Taito in Japan and Europe and by Romstar in North America. The game has players taking on the mafia in 1931 New York City by gunning down mobsters one by one.
WF-1 Dream is an automobile racing arcade game released by Capcom in 1988. Like many other Capcom arcade games at the time, it was released in the US by Romstar. It also had a PC Engine port released exclusively in Japan on August 25, 1989.
WFinal Blow is a boxing arcade video game released in 1988 by Taito. The name remained the same for all ported platforms, except for the Sega Genesis versions, which Sega released outside Japan as James 'Buster' Douglas Knockout Boxing featuring Buster Douglas himself in 1990 immediately after his upset victory over Mike Tyson.
WFire Shark is a 1989 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and published by Toaplan in Japan and Europe, and by Romstar in North America. It is the sequel to Flying Shark, a game released in 1987 on multiple platforms. Set in the year 1991, the game focuses on a mysterious armada launching a worldwide attack from a small island in the Mediterranean Sea. Players take control of the titular biplane to counterattack the enemy forces.
WFlashgal is a side-scrolling beat 'em up action game developed by Kyugo and released for arcades in 1985, by Sega in Japan and Romstar in North America. The game has a mixture of unarmed fighting and shooting gameplay.
WFlying Shark is a 1987 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game originally developed by Toaplan and published by Taito in Japan, Romstar in North America and Electrocoin in Europe. Controlling the titular biplane, the players must fight endless waves of military vehicles while avoiding collision with their projectiles and other obstacles. The plane has a powerful bomb at its disposal that can clear the screen of enemies when fired. It was the third shoot 'em up game from Toaplan, and their eight video game overall.
WFull Throttle, also known as Top Speed, is a one-player racing arcade game developed by Taito in 1987. It is very similar in style to the Out Run games in that it features a fast, red car hurtling through the US countryside. The key difference in gameplay is the addition of a nitro boost button. The game was released under the title Full Throttle in Japan, Top Speed in North America, and both Full Throttle and Top Speed in Europe.
WGhosts 'n Goblins, known as Makaimura in Japan, is a side-scrolling platform game developed by Capcom and released for arcades in 1985. It is the first game in the Ghosts 'n Goblins franchise, and has since been ported to numerous home platforms.
WGreat Swordsman (グレートソードマン) is an arcade fighting game developed by Allumer and published by Taito in 1984. In 2005, it was later included in Taito Legends.
WGun.Smoke is a 1985 vertical scrolling run-and-gun shooter arcade game by Capcom. This Western-themed game was designed by Yoshiki Okamoto. Gun.Smoke centers on a character named Billy Bob, a bounty hunter who is after the criminals of the Wild West.
WHyper Dyne Side Arms (サイドアーム) is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up game developed and released by Capcom for arcades in 1986. The player takes control of a flying mecha suit who must battle an alien army. Side Arms uses a two-directional attacking system similar to Capcom's previous shoot-'em-up Section Z.
WThe King of Dragons is a 1991 side-scrolling beat-'em-up arcade video game by Capcom that allows players to choose from five characters in order to travel through the kingdom of Malus and defeat the monsters that have taken over, as well as their leader, the red dragon Gildiss. It features a level advancement system, allowing character attributes to be upgraded as players progress through the game. The setting is very similar to that of Dungeons & Dragons and other medieval fantasy worlds, with familiar monsters such as Orcs, Gnolls, Harpies, Wyverns, Cyclopes, and Minotaurs. The music in this game was composed by Yoko Shimomura.
WThe Ninja Warriors (ニンジャウォーリアーズ) is a side-scrolling beat 'em up video game developed and released by Taito in 1987. The original arcade game situated one display in between projected images of two other displays, creating the appearance of a triple-wide screen. Ports were released for home systems including the Amiga, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, PC Engine, and Sega Mega-CD.
WOut Zone is a run and gun arcade video game developed by Toaplan and published in Japan by Tecmo, North America by Romstar and Europe in August 1990. Set in a future where an alien race from the fictional planet Owagira are threatening to wipe out humanity after multiple failed attempts to defend Earth against their attacks, players assume the role of cyborg mercenaries recruited by the United Nations in a last-ditch effort to overthrow the invaders.
WRally Bike is a racing arcade video game originally developed by Toaplan and published by Taito on May 1988.
WRambo III is a series of video games based on the film Rambo III (1988). Like in the film, their main plots center on former Vietnam-era Green Beret John Rambo being recalled up to duty one last time to rescue his former commander, Colonel Sam Trautman, who was captured during a covert operation mission in Soviet-controlled Afghanistan. Taito released an arcade game based on the film. The console versions were developed and published by Sega, the PC DOS version was developed by Ocean and published by Taito, and Ocean developed and published the other home computer versions.
WNolan Ryan's Baseball is a baseball video game endorsed by then-Texas Rangers baseball player Nolan Ryan; one of the most popular baseball players of the late 20th century. It has no licensing from Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association; meaning that Nolan Ryan is the only non-fictional ballplayer in the entire game. All the other players have names that appear to be given names while Nolan Ryan uses his surname.
WScramble Formation is a vertically scrolling shooter released in by Taito in Japanese arcades in 1986. It was published by Romstar in North America as Tokio.
WSky Soldiers is a vertical scrolling shoot em’ up developed by Alpha Denshi and released to arcades in 1988 by Romstar in North America and SNK in the rest of the world. The game features a time travel theme as well as an organized weapon select screen at the beginning of each stage.
WSnow Bros. is a 1990 platform arcade video game originally developed by Toaplan first published in Japan, then in North America by Romstar and later in Europe. Starring the eponymous snowmen twins Nick and Tom, players are tasked with travelling through 50 stages, throwing and building snowballs, jumping on and off platforms to navigate level obstacles while dodging and defeating monsters in order to rescue the princesses Puripuri and Puchipuchi from captivity. Although first launched in arcades, the game was later ported across multiple platforms, each one being created by different third-party developers and featuring several changes or additions compared with the original version. Conversions for various microcomputers were in development but none were officially released to the public.
WSonSon is an arcade video game by Capcom released in July 1984. It is loosely based on the Chinese novel Journey to the West. The player assumes the role of a monkey boy and fights their way from one side to another, eventually reaching the statue of Buddha. One battles bats, rats, and mad bombers along the way with his stout fighting rod that shoots balls of fire.
WThundercade, also known as Twin Formation and 特殊部隊UAG ", is a vertically scrolling shooter developed by SETA and released as an arcade game in 1987. A version for the Nintendo Entertainment System from American Sammy was released in 1989.
WTiger Road is a side-scrolling platform game originally released in 1987 as a coin-operated arcade game.
WTiger-Heli is a vertically scrolling shooter game developed by Toaplan and released for arcades in 1985. It was published in Japan by Taito and in North America by Romstar. Controlling the titular attack helicopter, the player must fight endless waves of military vehicles while avoiding collision with their projectiles and other obstacles. The Tiger-Heli has a powerful bomb at its disposal that can clear the screen of enemies when fired. It was the first shoot 'em up game from Toaplan, and their third video game overall.
WTime Soldiers, known in Japan as Battle Field , is a 1987 run-and-gun shooter arcade game developed by Alpha Denshi and published by SNK, while later distributed in North America by Romstar. A Sega Master System version was also produced, as well as versions titled Time Soldier for the Amiga, Commodore 64 and Atari ST.
WTrojan is a side-scrolling action game produced by Capcom, originally released as a coin-operated arcade game in 1986, and distributed in North America by Romstar and Capcom. Directed by Takashi Nishiyama, the game includes beat 'em up and hack-and-slash elements. It is a spiritual successor to the beat 'em up Kung-Fu Master (1984), which was designed by Nishiyama at Irem before he left for Capcom, where he evolved its gameplay concepts with Trojan. It is also considered a spiritual successor to Capcom's Ghosts 'n Goblins (1985), which has similar side-scrolling action gameplay elements.
WTwin Cobra, known as Kyukyoku Tiger in Japan, is a vertically scrolling shooter developed by Toaplan and released for arcades in 1987 by Taito in Japan and Europe, then in North America by Romstar. It is a sequel to the 1985 arcade game Tiger-Heli. Controlling the titular attack helicopter, the players must fight endless waves of military vehicles while avoiding collision with their projectiles and other obstacles. It was the fourth shoot 'em up game from Toaplan, and their tenth video game overall. It was ported to multiple platforms, with each done by different third-party developers that made several changes or additions.
WTwin Eagle: Revenge Joe's Brother is a vertically scrolling shooter arcade game which was published in 1988. It was developed by SETA Corporation and licensed to Taito. It was one of the first arcade to use extensive digital sampling, from digitized photos to a digitized soundtrack. Controlling a helicopter, the player shoots aircraft and other attackers to earn points. If certain buildings are destroyed, hostages are found and extra points are received for saving them. A NES port was published a year later by Romstar.
WVarth: Operation Thunderstorm is an arcade game in the vertical scrolling shooter genre, published by Capcom in 1992. The game did not see a console port following its initial release, but 14 years later Digital Eclipse Software would port the game onto the PSP handheld, and later onto the PlayStation 2 and Xbox.