They are typically set in deep space, you control a spacecraft, there are lots of enemies or aliens coming towards you, and you can find numerous power ups "on the road" to upgrade your weapons. The gameplay is simple: shoot at anything that moves, and avoid incoming shoots. In most games, the odds of winning are somewhere in the region of a 1,000,000 to 1.
But not always though, the amazing R-Type certainly sticks to this well refined design, but then there are such quirky and unmissable treats as Rabio Lepus Special[?] - a side on shooter featuring the worlds most fearsome rabbit. And how about leading a squad of soldiers into battle in Cannon Fodder[?] or buying in the biggest and meanest weaponry with UN Squadron[?] or really blowing your opponent to bits in a friendly bout of Return Fire[?], the WWII-lite sim.
wikipedia.org dumped 2003-03-17 with terodump