Play Gunbird Online
Pick a weirdo—witch, kid, samurai—then dodge a ridiculous storm of bullets while your own shots light up the screen. That first "easy" level lies to you before everything explodes into pure neon chaos.
Gunbird came out in 1994 and was one of those early MAME discoveries for me, a vertical shooter from a company called Psikyo. It felt very much of its time, a product of the mid-90s arcade scene where developers were pushing hardware to its limits with fast, colorful, and often brutally difficult games. It didn't try to reinvent the wheel, but it had a distinct personality that set it apart from the more serious military-themed shooters.
You choose from a cast of oddball characters, like a witch on a broom or a samurai riding a giant shuriken, and fly upward, destroying everything in your path. The main goal is simply to survive each stage, defeating the boss at the end. Key mechanics include collecting power-ups to strengthen your main shot, grabbing gold coins for points, and using a screen-clearing bomb when you're completely overwhelmed. The pacing is relentless; enemy bullets fill the screen with intricate patterns that demand precise movement. It feels like a constant, tense dance between aggression and survival.
Download Gunbird ROM
You can download this ROM to play Gunbird offline using an MAME (Arcade Emulator) emulator (Top Emulators).
*This ROM is provided for backup and educational purposes only.
