Earth Defense Force is a horizontally scrolling shooter developed by Jaleco and published as an arcade video game in 1991.

The SNES version was eventually released on the Wii Virtual Console in Europe on October 29, 2010, and in 2011 for Japan on January 11, and North America on July 14.

The Earth is unexpectedly attacked by the mysterious Azyma Empire: a space-bound monarchy currently dedicated to eradicating all life on the planet from its flagship the Orbital Satellite Buster.

In Japan, Game Machine listed Earth Defense Force on their April 15, 1991 issue as being the eleventh most-successful table arcade unit of the month.

[6] Since its release, Earth Defense Force has met with moderate critical reviews, as evidenced by a three out of five star rating by Allgame.