A playthrough of Ultra's 1989 shooter for the NES, Gyruss.

Combining the gameplay mechanics of Namco's Galaga with the pseudo-3D perspective of Atari's Tempest, Gyruss (pronounced "Jai-russ") became an early hit for Konami when it showed up in arcades in 1983.

The premise is simple: according to the NES version's intro, in year 25XX, "MANKIND MUST RID THE UNIVERSE OF EVIL. IT'S A DEATH DEFYING RISK, AND ONLY A HERO CAN SUCCEED."

This death-defying risk sees the hero fighting hordes of enemy fighters as he makes his way from the outer edges of the solar system to its center, beginning with his approach to Neptune. Each planet is reached after three "warps," and once you've defeated the boss and collected a few power-ups from a bonus round, you set course for the next planet. The last boss lies in wait at the sun on stage 39.

(Random side-note: the planets are actually presented in the correct order. Pluto's orbit brings it closer to the sun than Neptune for a short period once every 248 years, so from 1979 to 1999, Neptune was the outer-most planet in the solar system.)

Each level sees waves of enemy formations zooming toward the center of the screen from "behind" the player. They only attack as they move toward you from the center of the screen, so the best way to handle them is to wipe them out before they recede into the distance and begin their return trip. Your ship moves along on a circular rail that frames the playing field, and much of the strategy comes from figuring out how to position yourself to take out each wave in as efficient manner as possible.

It may sound simple, but the difficulty level ramps up quickly, and without a steady hand and a lot of focus, the action soon becomes chaotic and overwhelming. It becomes much more manageable as you familiarize yourself with the enemies' patterns, but Gyruss is not an easy game.

The gameplay feels smoother here than it did in the original arcade game, and it's addictive and a lot of fun, but it'll make you work hard for the ending. Thankfully, it's generous in how it doles out 1-ups, gun upgrades, and power shots, so it's not quite as unforgiving as seems at first.

The presentation has also seen a sizable upgrade over the arcade version, and Gyruss's graphics are among the best you'll see on the NES. The animation is smooth, the enemies are bright and colorful, and the faked sprite-scaling effects are effective in giving the screen a sense of depth. The music is also fantastic - it sounds much fuller than the plinky tones of the arcade game, and the main theme is insanely catchy.

(Another random side-note: the main theme is often referred to as Bach's Toccata and Fugue, but that's not entirely accurate. The track is actually a faithful chiptune cover of "Toccata," a prog rock take on Bach's tune by the band Sky that was released in 1980. A minor distinction, perhaps, but an interesting one.)

Gyruss is a stylish and brilliantly refined update to an old arcade game that really plays to the strengths of the NES hardware. If you're a shmup fan, this isn't a game to be missed.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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