Played some good shit at Magfest -
Space Manbow - one of the standout MSX exclusives, a Konami horizontal shmup with an incredible soundtrack. A bit punishing with its checkpoints, like lots of other Konami shmups of the time. First boss kept killing me and I had to replay like half the level
VIDEO Crisis Force - another Konami shmup, for the NES. This one is veritcal and you respawn right where you die, which is nice. Fairly easy, was able to make some serious progress on one credit. Nice graphics, some slowdown, a kickin' Konami soundtrack, top tier when it comes to NES shmups. No idea why it never got released here, would have preferred it than some of the shit they released in America (Pirates, Silent Service, Defender of the Crown)
DOOM - haven't played since 1996, and with all the changes that the FPS went through over the last 20+ years, this felt like a breath of fresh air (yes I know DOOM 2016 is great too). Still feels so good to play, the buttrock MIDI kicks ass. Played through all of the first scenario, unfortunately the elevator didn't trigger after beating the 2 Barons of Hell at the end of stage 8. Just re-downloaded off GOG and will replay this and the sequel (which I kinda rushed through back in the day with cheats).
Cannon Spike - a fun little overhead run and gun. Not sure if it's worth the insane prices it commands for Dreamcast. Surprised it never got a port to XBLA with a twin-stick control scheme grafted on, since it would have fit in so well with the 1,293,488 other overhead twin-stick shooters that gen. Some of the Capcom shout outs are cool, like the RE-inspired level. Fun for the 20 minutes it takes to credit feed through (to be fair it only took me 4 credits while my friend it took him 15+)
Star Speeder - the most obscure game I played, it's an exclusive for the Epoch Super Cassette Vision, one of the earliest Japanese-developed consoles. It's a racer that uses cool line tricks and effects to render a fast paced track in outer space, and has weapons you can fire at other opponents (in a way it's a very primitive Wipeout). Pretty fun, one of the standouts on that particular system.
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