Action in 8-Bits.

Remember what I said about "Run n gun" games before? Yeah, simple but fun games. It's all about running through a place full of enemies, shooting at them, avoiding bullets, jumping constantly ... And fighting a giant machine/robot/alien as a boss. This may sound simple and a but primitive nowadays... But before the 3D graphics and the 32 Bits consoles. This used to be one of the best genres in the video game industry. As I said, (more than once) one of the games that started with this genre, was Contra (Gryzor in other countries). Which was released for the Arcades in the 80's. The game was a success... And due to that, it was ported to multiple systems. Of Course, one of these systems was the famous "Famicom" (NES in the rest of the world). The port that the Nintendo system got, is, perhaps, one of the most memorable games of that era... But, Did you knew that the Japanese version of the game has some "Extras" that the World release doesn't? Yep, that is... If you wanna know what are the differences, then keep reading this review of "Gryzor", for the Famicom.

Story: In the year 2633, a meteorite falls on the "Galuga Archipelago", near of the New Zelanda's coast... Two years later, a terrorist organization named "Red Falcon" takes the control of the Archipelago and sets it's base on the same, planning to conquer the world. Two soldiers, Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, are sent to the island, to stop the evil organization and their plans of world conquer. (7/10)

Graphics: In comparison with the Graphics of the original Arcade... The graphics here look very inferior. But, These still look pretty good in comparison to other games. The Sprites are quite little, but that isn't a big problem.  Also, here we find the first difference with the World release... The background. Yeah, the background, some objects on it are moving. I.E: The leaves of the big palm trees on the Jungle Stage sway, and on the Snow Field stage, you can see falling snow. Also, This version counts with an Intro and cutscenes between the levels... All this thanks to the chip VRC-2, which was made by Konami itself. (8/10)

Sound: Memorable... If you have played this game lots of times before, You should still remember the songs of the stages... Who doesn't remember the Jungle's theme? SFX is acceptable and simple. Nothing special on it. (8/10)

Addictiveness: One of the most addictive games of the NES... That's all I can say about it. (7/10)

Depth: This is how you play: You can move your soldier to left and the right, you can also shoot in 8 directions, and shoot while jumping. Your objective is get to the end of the stage and destroy the boss of the same, To help you, there are different items to upgrade your weapon: The "M" (Machine Gun), the "L" (Laser), the "F" (Fire Gun), the "S" (Spread gun) the "R" (Rapid fire, which increases the speed of the weapon's bullets), the "Special" (Or Falcon, when getting it, all the enemies on screen are destroyed)  and the "B" (Barrier, which protects you from enemies and their bullets for a short time). There are two different kind of stages: the Scrolling stages, and the Maze stages (which are set inside the corridor of an enemy base in where the player must fight through the base's defenses in order to reach the core of the same) There are 8 stages in total. Oh, and you can play with a friend... Which makes the game even better. (8/10)

Difficulty: A bit high... This game requires concentration and good skills. And as long you progress, it gets more difficult. As usual, practice is the key to beat it. (8/10)

Final Rating: 9

As I said before, one of the most memorable games of the NES. Fun to play, specially with another person. If you're looking for a good game to play, this one is a good option.

-Eddy Out-