Play Burai Fighter Online

Burai Fighter came out on the NES in 1990 from Taxan, a publisher known for a few solid, if sometimes overlooked, action games. It arrived in that later part of the console's life when developers were really pushing the hardware to its limits, trying out new ideas within familiar genres. This one was their take on the top-down shooter, but it definitely had its own personality.

You control a lone pilot in a small, agile ship, flying across single-screen stages to eliminate all enemies before you can proceed. The core mechanics are built around a primary shot you can aim in eight directions and a screen-clearing smart bomb, but the real signature is the jetpack power-up that lets you leave your ship and continue the fight on foot. Your main objective is to battle through waves of robotic and biological enemies across several planets to defeat the alien Burai. The pacing is relentless, and the difficulty is substantial, especially with the way some levels randomize their enemy layouts on each playthrough. It feels like a constant, tense scramble for survival where every new screen is a fresh puzzle of dodging and aiming.