Vulcan Venture

Famicom version is super impressive

Famicom version is goddamn fantastic. Arguably better than the arcade. It tones down the difficulty in a couple spots which could be a pro or a con, but it also fixes one of my biggest issues with the Gradius power-up system. Once you're got four options, you can buy them one more time to make them temporarily spin around your ship. That's useful on its own, but making it a temporary power-up instead of a permanent upgrade is fucking genius. It means you have to choose whether you care more about spreading out your fire or keeping your cursor ready to refresh your shield if you take one too many hits, and in turn means that even once you're maxed out you can't just stop thinking about power-up capsules entirely. Terrific game.