When Killing Bad Guys Isn't Enough

Several games challenge you to a side-scrolling aerial battle, but only a few games also ask you to defend people on the ground.

Defender - The original defend-your-friends game tasks you with protecting the world from invaders who have more than just death and destruction on their alien minds. They also intend to kidnap and mutate the world's population!

Sky Skipper - Knock over a herd of ornery gorillas and rescue the members and pets of the royal family the gorillas had imprisoned. This arcade game from Nintendo was released only in Japan, though it also saw a port for the Atari 2600.

Chopper Command - Protect an army convoy from the bombs of enemy planes and helicopters, and be careful not to get bombed yourself. This was one of Activision's more successful titles for the Atari 2600, following the likes of Pitfall! and River Raid.

Choplifter - Going beyond the idea of simply protecting the populace from enemies in the sky, this game challenges you to rescue as many hostages as you can from behind enemy lines. There are still plenty of enemies to shoot, both in the air and on the ground, but successful rescues are the only way to increase your score, at least in the original. Choplifter was one of the few games to hit the arcades after its release for home systems.

Andes Attack - This Commodore VIC-20 release, written by Jeff Minter of Gridrunner and Attack of the Mutant Camels fame, plays very similarly to Defender, only with Minter's trademark llamas attacking instead of space ships. Minter would later create an actual sequel to Defender in the Atari Jaguar's Defender 2000. Andes Attack was released in the U.S. as Aggressor.