Oof, finally caught up on my reviews. I'm almost as bad as aj. I need to just post as I beat.
1. Antarctic Adventure (Famicom)
2. Nuts & Milk (Famicom)
3. Commando (Atari 2600)
4. Binary Land (Famicom)
5. Devil World (Famicom)
6. Disney's Aladdin (SNES)
7. Popeye (NES)
8. Super Mario Land (Game Boy)
9. Ys: The Vanished Omens (Sega Master System)
10 Ys II: Ancient Ys Vanished - The Final Chapter (Famicom)
11. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (SNES)
12. Lunar: The Silver Star (Sega CD)
13. Otenba Becky no Daibouken (MSX)
14. Metroid (Famicom Disk System)
15. Mahou Kishi Rayearth (Game Boy)
16. Wabbit (Atari 2600)
17. Kirby's Dream Land (Game Boy)
18. Warpman (Famicom)
19. Final Fantasy (NES)
20. Transformers: Convoy no Nazo (Famicom)
21. Arcade Archives: Moon Patrol (Switch eShop)
22. Gremlins (Atari 2600)
23. Arcade Archives: Ninja-Kid (Switch eShop)
24. Shining in the Darkness (Genesis)
25. Johnny Turbo's Arcade: Gate of Doom (Switch eShop)
26. Front Line (Atari 2600)
27. Donkey Kong 3 (NES)
28. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (Game Boy)
29. Exerion (Famicom)
Exerion was a pleasant surprise. Usually when I describe a game in such terms I'm discussing something relatively unknown, something that gripped me right away and kept me playing until completion. This case was different; I didn't care for
Exerion when I first popped it into my Famicom. Subsequent attempts had me feeling the same way. The game was tossed onto my shelf, destined to gather dust and become a mere "collectible." Then one day, on a whim, I gave it another go and something clicked. This is a fine game, a damn fine one. It's an unorthodox title, undoubtedly, but it's unabashed experimentation is the source of its success.
Exerion is a single-screen shooter, originating in the arcades in 1983, developed by Jaleco. It received three major ports back in the day: MSX, SG-1000, and Famicom (with the Famicom one being the most common, naturally).
Exerion is also the first game in a loosely connected trilogy. The second,
Exerion II, was an MSX exclusive, while the third and final, the Nichibutsu-published
Exerizer, was left marooned in arcade-land.

Stop me if this sounds familiar. You're a spaceship that can shoot bullets and goes pew pew when it does so. "Waves" of enemies swarm down from the screen's top, firing their own pew pews. When a wave is defeated a bigger and badder one takes it place. This goes on and on until your brain melts. Yes,
Exerion continues the classic tradition established by old-school space shooters like
Space Invaders and
Galaxian. But with some tremendous modifications. First of all, the ship of
Exerion is not locked into an x-axis and can thus fly all around the screen. Freedom! This changes the enemy-dodging strategy, as it's often advisable here to fly to the top of the screen or swoop around in figure eight patterns. And this epic battle isn't waged in space, but super-space. In the background is an ever-scrolling proto-mode 7 sort of "grid" displaying all sorts of trippy stuff as the game progresses through ten "levels" -- canyons, clouds, pyramids, futuristic cityscapes, and of course Moai heads. It looks fantastic, vaguely reminiscent of
Space Harrier and
Tobidase Daisakuse. And while the game mostly lacks music, the title screen theme is quite the earworm.
Alien hordes are vanquished with two types of weapons: a single shot and double shot. The double sounds superior, but it's very slow, two heavy missiles lobbed across the battlefield. The single shot fires rapidly, but with a catch: an ammo gauge. This is depleted rapidly, but replenished in tandem with points earned (by shooting down enemies). Rapidly alternating between the A and B buttons will create a sort of wave of alternating single and double shots; it's perfect if you find yourself in a corner and start panicking. Not saying I know from experience.

Now, the most "controversial" element of the game, and what initially threw me for a loop. The element of inertia. If the d-pad is released, the ship of
Exerion does not stop on a dime. Instead it will coast for another second or so. It's tough to get used to, to say the least, and during my first few attempts at paying I was soon greeted with a stark Game Over. This is a game that requires considerable practice, to learn how to handle the ship and get accustomed to the gunfire system, but the high expectations it places on the player make eventual success that much more rewarding.
Apparently an NES version of
Exerion was planned, but ultimately scrapped. A shame, as this would have been a great addition to that library. As it is, the Famicom cartridge is quite cheap and there's no language barrier issues whatsoever. Anyone who cut their teeth on the Golden Age shooters of old should find something to enjoy here. It might just take a little digging.