I always had a soft spot for the original NES game due to the music and some fun ideas, but like in most other retro titles, I never got very far. Now I'm glad that I was finally able to beat this game, even if it's a different version.

The sidescroller part is the highlight here. I always thought it was cool using a vehicle to shoot monsters, even if the controls need some getting used to. The top-down sections, however, are either boring or straight up pointless. Most of the time you destroy everything with no real effort, then you reach the end and there's nothing besides pick up itens. The bosses have cool designs, but they die so easily it's disappointing (not always, but still).

After the bad ending, I almost considered leaving it at that, but it was actually worth going out of my way to do the true ending because the final area was the best in my opinion. It was still annoying having to go back to previous areas to get everything I missed, though. Shortcuts would've helped tremendously.

If the out-of-tank parts were a little better, I'd consider this game to be great. Maybe the sequel is an improvement, but this is a story for another day.

Gameplay: B
Level design: C
Visuals: A
Music: A
Difficulty: Medium