As a combination of the ancient arcade game Defender with modern sensibilities, Syder Arcade is worth playing for anyone who likes arcade shooters. Smooth scrolling and easy controls make it fun to leap into and play.

That said, it's a pretty generic game; if you've played one space shooter, you've played them all. Worth playing if you're a fan of the genre, but don't expect any dramatic new features or world-shaking advances.

In general I do not like games that are similar to the old game "Defender" but this did a good job of making it more interesting than many other games who have tried to model themselves after it. The enemy variety is fairly good, the powerups (randomly dropped) are standard run of the mill extra shot options in addition to your base shots (like homing missiles, rear shot, side shot, twin lasers, etc). The 3 ships have unique base guns and special attacks, but the power up shots previously mentioned kind of makes them lose their identity, as speed and armor (you do not die in one hit in this game) are the big differences beyond the normal attack shot they have. the difficulty is adaptable, but on arcade I felt like I was decently challenged. I think this is a good game for shmup/arcade fans who do not want something bullet hell impossible.

Classic shmup action! its funny, i play a retro platformer and think "why bother?" but when i play retro shooters i think "why do they not make 100 more of these a year?!". This is one of the better ones with an interesting weapon system and slick graphics (as opposed to a stereotypical weapon system and horrible c64 graphics).

Syder Arcade is worthy successor to the side-scrolling shoot-em up games that were at the height of their popularity back in the 1980's. This game takes the genre up a notch, placing the pilot in the position of dealing with enemies coming from both the right and left sides of the screen simultaneously. A key gimmick then is the ability to flip one's ship back and forth in order to deal with these alternating threats. As with older games of this type there are many power-ups to gather for the guns, speed, and shields. Limited lives and no continues make this a challenging game even on the lowest difficulties, yet not impossible with a little effort (at least on the lowest difficulty).

Syder Arcade also shines in the graphics and sound departments. 3-D graphics give the otherwise flat game an appearance of depth, and satisfy the eye while playing. The quasi-anime character depictions between levels remind me of classic anime from the 70s and 80s in a positive way. The sound is an enjoyable composition reminiscent of what one might expect to find in an arcade shooter from the early console days. A variety of tracks keep it from getting repetitive or stale.

My main complaint was with the controls. While not bad by any stretch of the word, they could have been tighter and more responsive. I found that flipping the ship especially (a vital part of this game) was sometimes problematic. You cannot flip while holding down the fire button, and you have to wait half a second or so after releasing another key before hitting the flip key. It is a minor complaint but keeps this from a perfect score for me. I also felt that the number of levels and extra options that would have given it replay value was a bit limited.

Despite the negatives, this is a solid 4 out of 5, and as a fan of shoot-em ups an easy buy at $5.99. I would probably still buy at the full price of $7.99. This would be great for those that want a fresh take on shoot-em ups but don't quite want to play in "bullet hell".