Hi there!

 

I can't believe that this one isn't available on the NES:

 

 

No, really. Konami converted everything and their grandma to the NES, they even founded 2 sub-companies to undergo Nintendos 5-games-per-year limit, so it's amazing to see this game is available on the C64, but not on the NES

 

Anyway, Typhoon is an 8 stage shoot'em up that mixes 194X like horizontal scrolling stages with Afterburnerish 3D stages, each of them ending with more or less impressive boss fights.

 

The 3D stages are very fast and enjoyable, but also a bit simple - almost like bonus rounds; You can get pretty far here when ignoring what's happening on the screen, just moving your plane around in big circles

 

The 2D stages is where the real meat can be found. They're very hard in contrast, actually downright unfair in spots, but also in my opinion the best 1942 variant I've been "Playing..." so far.

 

The main problem of the game is the medicore to ugly art. Impressive 3D movement and sprite multiplexing aside, the enemies and backgrounds nowhere look as good as they should. With a better pixel artist and some more playtesting this could've been a killer app!

 

Still some good blasting fun for a night:

 

 

Some future day the "Playing..." series may see another Konami game in the form of "WEC Le Mans", but first it'll continue with something else.

 

Greetings,

Manuel