Let's make a game together (with Backbone)!

[HenryCase]

it might be fun to do an 8-way walkaround shooter along the lines of Alien Syndrome...

Good idea! Not played Alien Syndrome before, but definitely had fun playing Shock Troopers 2nd Squad in the arcade:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HWbPyupou4

Perhaps the first Shock Troopers would be a better reference model as the graphics are marginally less intense:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuFGB_h1_3Q