XDR - X-Dazedly-Ray is one of those weird, obscure Genesis/Mega Drive shooters that Japan just seemed to crank out in the '90s. You pilot this angular, almost geometric ship through these trippy, neon-drenched stages where the bullets come at you in hypnotic patterns—hence the "Dazedly" part, I guess.

At first, it feels like a standard horizontal shooter, but then the screen starts warping, the music gets all glitchy, and suddenly you're dodging these spiraling laser grids that look like they escaped from a screensaver. The hitbox on your ship is mercifully tight, though, so you can actually weave through the chaos if you've got quick fingers.

It never got an English release, so good luck figuring out the power-up system without trial and error. I still don’t know what half the icons do, but the purple one makes your shots split into these satisfying zig-zags. Worth a play if you’re into the stranger corners of the shmup library.