10 Best Twin-Stick Shooters on PlayStation 5

The name “twin-stick shooter” may be unfamiliar to you. That’s probably because it’s a sub-genre of shoot ’em-up games that is nearly dead. It kicked off in the ‘80s and became quite the hit in the arcades. But over time, the sub-genre has faded into the background thanks in part to modern controllers that have made it difficult to accommodate twin-stick shooters’ double joystick needs. Also, you’ll probably have better luck finding twin-stick shooters on Steam rather than the PlayStation 5 because of, well, plenty of indie games curious to revisit the simplicity of the twin-stick shooter sub-genre. 

In any case, there are still a decent number of twin-stick shooters you can check out on PlayStation 5 using backward compatibility. And not just the classic arcade-style shooters but also award-winning roguelite adventures. Below, we’ve compiled the best twin-stick shooters on PlayStation 5 you definitely should check out whenever you can.

10. Assault Android Cactus

Twin-stick shooters are often pumped with adrenaline-heavy stages where you’re firing nonstop at the pressure of a time limit, the health bar running out, or, in Assault Android Cactus’ case, the battery to your spaceship. You may have responded to a distress call out of kindness. But it ends up being your worst nightmare when the very robot workers you went to rescue begin to attack you. Suddenly, you’re stranded far away from home and have to fight smart and shoot quickly to get out before the battery on your spaceship runs out.

9. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is unlike the story of Isaac in the Bible. It’s about survival in the depths of the deadliest basement ever invented. But this is the very place you’ve escaped to after listening in on your mother’s plans to sacrifice you at the request of God. There are worse dangers down here, with hordes of deranged creatures as well as lost siblings. You’ll face your fears even as you draw near to the ultimate confrontation with your mother toward the end of the game.

8. Hauntii

The best twin-stick shooters on PlayStation 5 are as varied as the genres in gaming often are. In Hauntii, you’re tasked with becoming a ghost and using your haunting powers to take over the creatures you encounter and the world itself. By crafting puzzles and finding clever ways to survive combat scenarios, you’ll conquer a nightmarish world. Noteworthy, the twin-stick shooter system here slows down to accommodate more thoughtful action against the dangers that await.

7. Enter the Gungeon

Do you have the guts to Enter the Gungeon? The number of creatures and items you can destroy is endless. Plus, being a roguelike, you’ll almost never run out of new ways to kill. For an even more chaotic run, dare to enter the dungeon with a friend in tow. Described as a bullet hell dungeon crawler, you’ll shoot, loot, and dodge roll your way through constantly evolving labyrinths. At the end of the madness is winning the ultimate treasure.

6. My Friend Pedro

My Friend Pedro is hella chaotic with its bullet-ridden levels. It’s laughable that all the chaos is at the behest of a sentient banana. But as much as the story can be humorous, the action doesn’t joke around. It’s violent at every turn and tests your aim in all kinds of ways. From turning and twisting your body to line up that perfect ricochet shot to using both hands to train bullets on priority targets, everything chaos and destruction goes. You even shoot the bad guys in slow motion and dust off your window breaches, all in a bid to claim dominion over the underworld.  

5. Darksiders Genesis

And then we have Darksiders Genesis the best twin-stick shooters on PlayStation 5. It’s an action-adventure featuring hordes of angels and demons, all at war. It also adds the fourth and last horseman, STRIFE, challenging you to once again travel to hell and back and wipe out everything in your way. Amid bringing down the master demons, you’ll also tear down a demonic conspiracy spearheaded by Lucifer aimed at upsetting the balance and dismantling all of creation.

4. Trigger Witch

Trigger Witch’s magical powers may be useless, but you have your trusty firearm to lay waste to the enemies you encounter. It’s the perfect game for players longing for a touch of 16-bit action-adventure classics. While the game uses the most adorable pixel art, the pastel visual style is soon soaked in bullets and gore. There’s also a narrative and puzzles to solve, further tagging you along on Colette’s encounter with the mysterious man who invades her realm. 

3. Kill Knight

Inspired by arcade isometric action shooters, Kill Knight features a loyal knight condemned into the Abyss. But even when presumed lost and forgotten, you resurrect to eternal death and fight your way back to the surface, killing swarms of demons and the last angel.

2. Alienation

With the Xeno aliens having invaded your planet, you’re called upon to obliterate them alongside friends. It’s a bloodbath where you take up the last opportunity to fight for humanity. Alienation uses a drop-in, drop-out multiplayer system.

So, as soon as you pick your unique class from the three options available, balancing individual attacks and abilities, it’s time to sabotage, attack, and defend the opposing force. Bored of drop-in, drop-out gameplay? You can always switch to co-op squads of up to four players or hunt down other players, gunning for the top spot in the online leaderboards.

1. Nex Machina

Another fantastic twin-stick shooter by Housemarque you ought to try is Nex Machina. It takes place at a time we all fear will come when AI has attained consciousness and taken over the world. But you still have a little more fight left in you to survive the onslaught of killer machines coming at you. It’ll by no means be a fair fight. Yet, with skill and zeal, you’ll pull off impressive feats and ensure the survival of humanity.