Ever played an NES shooter that makes you wonder how the heck they squeezed so much action into one cartridge? Crisis Force is that game—a Japan-only Konami gem from '91 that throws waves of enemies, screen-filling bosses, and wild power-ups at you. The twist? You can morph your ship mid-level between three different forms (I kept switching to the spread shot for chaos).

Seven stages might sound short, but good luck surviving past the third without memorizing attack patterns. The music slaps, the explosions are ridiculous, and yeah, it’s brutally hard—but in that satisfying "one more try" way. Konami was flexing hard with this one.