60. Grid Seeker: Project Storm Hammer (Taito, Arcade (PS2), 1992)

Grid Seeker is a vertically scrolling shooter with not much in the way of interesting theming. You can play as a helicopter or a couple of jets, but all of the enemies are similarly realistic military vehicles. The fun of the game comes from its central mechanic: absorbing enemy shots with your options.

Your options (the 2 small satellites that surround your main ship) can be moved around not only to more precisely aim shots, but also to absorb certain enemy shots (9 years before Ikaruga!). Every about 10 shots you absorb turns into a hugely destructive bomb that also clears any bullets that it touches, so the game becomes about getting good at absorbing shots in order to have a nonstop stream of bombs, which is fun and novel.

The actual gameplay is fine, but it's also far from the tightest, most balanced scrolling shooter I've played. The hitboxes are obnoxiously large and bosses vary from being fun and challenging to a bit on the annoying side, and they can take a bit too long to finish off, especially if you're low on bombs.

4/5, decent shooter with a cool shot-absorbing mechanic