The Oath

In The Oath, the female pilot Atras wants to join a mercenary group but has to pass a test first. Not entirely surprising for a side-scrolling shooter, it involves flying through six areas contaminated with hostile aliens (and one especially big one at the end of each level). She is all alone and can't count on any help - at least if no second human player joins for co-operational play. The ship has a few energy shields which get destroyed when hit by enemies and when the last one fails, a life is lost. Of course there are a variety of power ups to collect on the way, including seven weapons, smart bombs, extra lives, weapon upgrades or extra speed. Most of the time is spent with shooting enemies and avoiding to crash into the environment.