Side Arms Hyper Dyne takes the ordinarily spaceship-driven shoot-em-up formula and replaces the ships with giant mech suits, while adding a layer of weapon customization reminiscent of Konami's Gradius series. Defending an attack by the alien Bozon empire, Lt. Henry and Sgt. Sanders jump into their Mobilsuits to take the fight to the aliens, wielding several different selectable weapons upgradable via power-ups. Shooting a power-up switches it between weapons, speed upgrades and an orbiting orb that enhances your firepower, allowing players a fair degree of freedom in choosing their weapon loadouts. Death can come swiftly, as the game plays notably faster than many shoot-em-ups of its era, but it doesn't feel cheap. The visual style and deeper weapon selections foreshadow the feel that would define Capcom's Forgotten Worlds three years later.