In Titanion, the ship you pilot has a capture beam that can be used to coax enemy craft to your side. These deserters will form a line formation and act as options, increasing your firepower in the process.

There is a standard level progression implemented, with all captured enemies retained from one stage to the next.

Destructivator is a retro-style platform shooter by Chris Roper, developer of The Pyramid and Return to Sector 9. The objective of the game is to clear an entire screen of enemies to progress from one stage to the next.

Players can duck enemy bullets or shoot while clinging to a ladder, but your weapon cannot be fired when the main character is in midair. There are twenty levels included in total, which will take some time to beat as the game does not allow continues.

Cave Story is a freeware sidescrolling platformer title created by Daisuke Amaya, art-name Pixel. You control a cute little amnesiac who runs around helping out these rabbit-ish creatures called Mimigas while trying to find your way out of the giant cave inside the floating island which makes up the game's setting.

You can expand your health meter by collecting Life Capsules in similar fashion to Metroid games, while you can get stronger by collecting energy to boost your firearms' output. Each weapon can be built up to the maximum level fairly quickly, but taking damage will drain energy from its experience meter, sometimes causing it to level down. Given how quickly they power up this only tends to be an issue during boss fights, and even then there's usually plenty of opportunities for collecting more weapon energy.

The game has loads of secrets, too. For a freeware Japanese platformer, it's fairly lengthy and has quite a large amount of text. We're also talking three very different endings, plenty of plot, and quite a cast of charming characters. It really is a superb little gem.

In Shift 4 you're in control of an astronaut whose ship was attacked by a giant squid, forcing our protagonist to make an emergency landing at the closest planet. Waking up to find your family members missing, you decide to explore a deserted facility nearby and search for clues about their current whereabouts.

This particular episode is a little more challenging than previous releases, since players are required to switch between two or more characters often to solve some of the harder puzzles. New gameplay elements such as gravity and contact-sensitive switches are introduced at a steady pace, which is a boon considering that the map is a lot less linear and there is a bit of backtracking to do as well.

Last Scenario is a game made using the popular RPGMaker XP that could possibly rival Aveyond's level of professionalism, perhaps even surpass it. Tiles, music and sound effects are standard material that is included with the package, but most of the character portraits, sprites and backgrounds seen in this release were created by the developer.

The C key is used for most interactions and menu selections. Press the X key to access the inventory screen or to cancel any choices. A medium length RPG with over a thousand rooms, side quests, a unique spellcard system and even a collectible board game, it's quite unlikely that any fan would complete this production in a couple of sittings.

Lethal Application is a 2D action game that introduces a unique gameplay system for moving your character around each stage. Instead of a jump button that most players are accustomed to, we have here a weapon so strong that its recoil effect can propel the protagonist in the opposite of her shot direction.

Using the weapon does deplete your energy resources, which fortunately can be replenished by collecting items marked 'E' scattered around the area. Press the Z key to shoot and the X key to activate your special move. You can swap special moves by pressing the C key but only after acquiring its corresponding power-ups.

The game was originally sold as a commercial doujin title, but was later released as a free download on the developer's official site. There are ten stages to play in total, although this count doesn't include the boss battles that await the player after every one or two normal levels beaten. You might also need to have the Japanese language pack installed on your Windows operating system to be able to run this game.

White Butterfly is a vertical shooter created by Linley Henzell, developer of the excellent Dungeon Crawl and Garden of Coloured Lights. Players begin the game by choosing one of the four available ships to pilot, with a fifth one only unlocked after you've completed the final stage.

Use the cursor keys to move, press the Z key to shoot, and hold the X key to fire your secondary weapon. A third attack can be executed by pressing the Z and X key together. Hold the left shift key to move your ship around at a lower speed. Use the escape key to access the pause and quit menu.

You would need to level up all three attacks for automatic weapon upgrades. Using just one type of shot throughout the game does not upgrade the weapon, even though it continues to gain a new level after repeated usage.

There are three long stages to play in total.

Mondo Medicals could be described as an illogical puzzle game played from a first person view, with plenty of bizarre elements. Most of the levels are designed to confuse you, and the solutions aren't always that easy to figure out. Move around with the arrow keys and press Z to interact with stuff. There are in game instructions, but they might not be that easy to interpret. There are eight levels total.

A Cure for the Common Cold is a short AGS adventure game by Marina Siu-Chong, also currently developing The Hatmaker's Tale.

The story. After spending years as a starving artist, you've managed to catch the eye of a influential gallery director. He wants to see some new work, and you've got a terrible cold that is draining your creativity. You'd better find a cure for the common cold, and fast!

This game uses a Broken Sword point-and-click interface. Left-click to interact with a hotspot, or right-click to examine objects. Click on items in your inventory and then click on other objects to use them together.

Move the cursor to the top of the screen and click on the pop-up menu to access the save or load function. If you need a reminder of the game objectives, these can be found by clicking on 'The Cure', also on the pop-up menu.

Gunroar is a vertical shooter created by Kenta Cho, where players assume control over a ship on a mission to sink as many enemy ships as they can for scoring purposes.

There are four play modes on offer, including one which allows you to steer two ships at the same time. You can switch between a concentrated shot or spread fire by alternating between the Z and X key. Move your ship closer to the top of the screen to travel upstream faster. Mouse mode is recommended for players who do not own a dual analog joypad, since it offers enough flexibility in directing your weapon aim.