Konami‘s 1983 arcade hit Track & Field broke new ground with its button-bashing gameplay.
It also broke a fair few cabinets along the way, with arcade machine operators having to repair the buttons on machines quite often, to keep them operative (and therefore earning money). A broken Track & Field machine was no good to anyone, and people tend to get carried away and hit too hard when playing this game.
Known as Gradius in Japan – but Nemesis everywhere else – Konami‘s classic 1985 shoot ’em up is one of the earliest progressive weapons blasters, with distinct levels and boss battles.
The game is somewhat reminiscent of the classic side-scrolling Scramble (also by Konami), but in Nemesis you fly a ship called the “Vic Viper”, and which has a variety of different weapons which can be powered-up by collecting capsules left by destroyed enemies.
Scramble was the first ever side-scrolling shoot ’em up, coming out in arcades in 1981.
It was certainly one of the earliest colour video games, and was a big hit for developer Konami and distributor Stern Electronics.
Konami‘s classic Super Nintendo platform game, Legend of the Mystical Ninja (1991), is about as much fun you can have on this particular system – it is just so chock full of variety and fun that it is undeniably one of the best games on the SNES.
Continue reading Legend of the Mystical Ninja, Super Nintendo
Konami‘s Axelay is considered a cult classic among shoot ’em up fans.
First released on the Super Nintendo in 1992, Axelay cleverly mixes side-scrolling and vertically-scrolling blasting action, and also makes excellent use of the Super Nintendo‘s infamous ‘Mode 7’ scaling technique, to create a weird ‘cylindrical’ rolling effect on some of the levels.
SD Snatcher is a great, futuristic, level-grinding RPG that was first released on the MSX2 (in Japan only) in 1990 by Konami.
The game was co-written by Hideo Kojima (of Metal Gear fame) and features overhead exploration sections, and first-person combat sections.
Produced by Hideo Kojima (of Metal Gear fame) and released by Konami in 2003, Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand is a clever little action game that uses actual sunlight (as detected by a sensor on the game cartridge) to charge up a solar weapon, to be used against undead and vampires in the game.
Continue reading Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand, Game Boy Advance
Ninja Cop (also known as “Ninja Five-O“) on the Game Boy Advance is a brilliant side-scrolling action game. Sort of like a cross between Shinobi and Bionic Commando.
Arguably the best instalment in the infamous Konami Contra franchise, Contra III (aka Super Probotector in Europe) is a balls-to-the-wall run-and-gun, side-scrolling shooter than can be played one or simultaneous two-player.
One of the best Castlevania games, Symphony of the Night on the PlayStation is a brilliant mix of platforming and Level-Grinding Role-Playing, with some wonderful graphical moments and evil gameplay touches.
Continue reading Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, PlayStation
The King of Grabs 