Play Orius Online

Orius is one of those classic arcade shooters that feels like a love letter to Gradius and R-Type, but with its own weird twist. You're piloting the Flintlock, a ship that somehow manages to feel both nimble and satisfyingly heavy when you're weaving through enemy fire. The whole "grab enemies and use them as weapons" thing sounds gimmicky at first, but it actually changes how you approach fights—sometimes you'll hold off on killing that one enemy just so you can yoink their firepower later.

There's also this little detachable orb called Flint that orbits your ship, and figuring out how to position it becomes half the strategy. One minute you're using it as a shield, the next you're sending it ahead to clear a path. And yeah, you're rescuing a blue-haired princess (because of course you are), but honestly, I was too busy trying not to crash into the screen-filling bosses to care much about the story. The levels throw some genuinely creative enemy patterns at you, and that "tentacle mechanic" borrowed from X Multiply? Way more fun than it has any right to be.

If you've ever lost hours to old-school shmups, this one's got that same "just one more try" pull.