Revision of an arcade classic
The graphics are as good as any from the NES at the time. That is, you can at least easily tell what the individual sprites are supposed to be. There are several types of enemies per level, and they are all easily distinguishable. The bosses are unique. The environments are as pretty as the NES could muster, not being too detailed but brightly colored.
The game controls well. You can shoot right, left, or forward. Your character moves sluggishly at first. Collecting boots makes your character go faster. With boots he is quite nimble, and you will need it because survival is dependent on running circles around the enemy shots.
The sound is the best aspect of the game, with some of the best tunes you will hear in an NES game. The sound effects are nice too.
Added to the NES version of the game are two people that will sell you items on your journey. One will sell weapons and one will sell items. Weapons include a machine gun, a shot gun, a magnum, and a smart bomb. The machine gun is like your normal gun, only with a much higher rate of fire. I've found it to be the most useful. The shot gun is similar to the spread gun from Contra. It is the second most useful to me. The magnum is a very powerful weapon that ranges the length of the screen, but you can only have a couple shots in the air at a time. The smart bomb is the least useful, even though it clears the screen for you. The item shop will sell you two really useful items. One is the horse, who acts as a bullet sponge for you. Also, you can buy the wanted poster you need to find to fight the boss. You can find it free somewhere in the level, but they can be hard to find.
The biggest negative of the game is that it is hard. Real hard. It can also seem a little cheap sometimes. Enemies will pop in from the side of the screen and kill you. But, enemy appearances are scripted so you can memorize them and learn when not to stand where. But the enemies do not always act the same way, so it's almost impossible to know where everyone is going to be all the time.
This is a great game, and I encourage all who like scrolling shooters to play it.