Gradius

this game is fundamentally broken. the only way to win is to assemble a ton of power-ups, but they get reset once you die. from then on it's nigh impossible to reclaim them. what's the point of having a life system at all? why not have an armor system, where three hits and you're done? the answer is quarter-munching, so fuck you.

A game so furious at times the onscreen sprites would disappear and the game itself had a tendency to slow down. The level of memorization, and combined improvisation, was punishing. Yet, what a glorious feeling it was to have beaten it, and pulled out that red-hot cartridge as the new master of the universe.

The most archetypal side-scrolling shooter. The ur-shooter, if you will.

Wrist slittlingly hard, but once you git gud and can pull yourself out of the post-death power-up drought (HINT: play it on PC Engine, so you can turn on auto-fire), it's....I mean, it's a good PLAYING game, but what's beyond that skill gate isn't exactly worth the headache.

One of the model shooters and great fun to play. It does introduce the balance issue it's famous for, though: you're zipping along like a demigod so long as you hold onto your powerups, but good luck clawing your way back if you die even once. (Unless you're on the home version, and can cheat your way to victory, of course.)

A classic "shmup," though on a personal level these side-scrolling one-hit-you're-dead shooters rarely pull me in for more than a few minutes at a time.

Classic.