Back when Konami was Cool

[StarFoxMaster64]

Was having a throwback day today and decided to play some of my old Konami NES games, Contra, Life Force, Gradius, etc. They made some cool stuff back in the day. My favorite Konami game of all time still remains, Gradius III on the Super Nintendo. 

 

I was a huge fan of the Gradius series, the other one I really liked was Gradius V on the PS2, sadly Konami cancelled Gradius VI which was supposed to end the series, but they decided it wasn't worth it. Back in their day I loved Konami, what about you guys? Before they burned their legacy what games by Konami did you like? Feel free to comment. 

[Komenja]

Zone of the Enders is easily my favorite series in Konami's library. Two of the best Mecha games of all time, and even the animated prequel movie and anime series are excellent. I feel this series deserves more recognition than just "the game you got with the Metal Gear Solid 2 demo." Super bummed when everything went quiet on ZOE 3 a while back, even more bummed now that Konami swept future games in general off the table. 

Love me some Gradius as well! Vic Viper is still one of the coolest ship designs ever of all time. Hey, speaking of Gradius and Zone of the Enders....

 

[OlcanBishop]

I remember the old days, like Castlevania and Contra. But, I played way more Castlevania, especially games like Aria of Sorrow and Symphony of the Night. I would spend hours trying to find secrets and solve puzzles. 

[Clearwater]

Konami? Hm, well, while the Metal Gear Solid series is still holding up well to this day, I think the very first MGS (And maybe the second one as well)

were my favorites. As much as I tried to like it, MGS3: Snake Eater just didn't appeal to me. I know, scarclilege! (Or whatever the word is)

[EvolutionSFox]

All the mentioned games were pretty good. My favorite though would have to be the Suikoden series, especially the second one. I played that game over and over...

[Vy'drach]

 

And of course Parodius, which I'd show you videos of but they're nnnnnnnaaaauuuuggggghhhhtyyyyyyy, but it was a parody of their own Gradius series, but incredibly over-the-top and Japanese in every sense of the word.  One of the playable characters is a Playboy Bunny type character straddling a rocket. You battle things such as an ear of corn, a kitten/battleship combination, (stupid sexy) octopus, a toilet penguin, and rocket powered Easter Island heads... IN SPAAAAACE! All to the beat of remixes of classical music.

Found one that isn't too bad, a video that is:

 

I'd show Sexy Parodius but the Tanuki boss isn't site friendly.

 

Shame they never really got an American release.

Edited October 3, 2015 by Vy'drach

[valkiriforce]

It's sad to see what they've become - but looking at what we have at least they gave us plenty of these great franchises - Contra being one of my favorites, for sure. I don't think there's a single Contra game I don't enjoy (yes, even the ones that are considered bad by most people). Contra III was one of my early favorite video games and still remains so to this day. I've managed to beat pretty much every Contra game there is except for Hard Corps Uprising which I still need to get around to playing one of these days. I've been waiting for a long time with little hope for a new Contra, but at the very least we have that indie-title on Steam called Super Cyborg - which I recommend looking into if you're a fan of Contra.

Gradius is another one I greatly enjoy - I think Gradius III is also my favorite in the series (although I also enjoy IV and V, and Gradius Gaiden deserves a mention). Life Force is also one of the greatest shooters on the NES and I played that about a month ago or so through Kaillera with a friend and we blew through our 30 lives (since we both kinda suck at the game) but managed to die our way to the end. It was lots of fun.

And of course, Castlevania is a great franchise with an interesting evolution over time - what with the classic titles of side-scrolling levels later becoming the popular Metroidvania concept it later popularized in Symphony of The Night (which is yet another one I need to get back to). I also really like the Gameboy Advance titles and just recently got the Double Pack game with a Christmas gift card. I remember my sister telling me about Castlevania when I was little but it was a friend of mine who introduced me to playing the games with Super Castlevania IV; so that's kind of a personal favorite of mine along with the others I mentioned.

Anyway, I think I'm getting carried away rambling about the old Konami. I just want to say that Axelay is another early favorite that I consider a near-perfect shmup experience in my book. Rocket Knight Adventures, Metal Gear Solid, the DDR games...I really miss Konami and wish they'd take better advantage of what they have at their disposal (especially considering they now own Hudson Soft properties, and it's clear they don't have any interest in doing anything with Bomberman).

[Patch93]

 

 

That is all.

Seriously, Konami's beat-em-ups were the fucking tits back in the day.