Play Star Gate (Japan) Online

Your ship weaves through waves of bizarre aliens while the screen scrolls both ways—just when you think you're safe, something spawns behind you. Grabbing random power-ups turns your ship into an over-the-top death machine, for better or worse.

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Game Overview

Star Gate (Japan) on the NES is one of those weird little shooters that somehow sticks with you. At first glance, it feels like a standard space blaster—your ship zips around, enemies swarm in predictable patterns—but then you realize the screen scrolls both ways, and suddenly you're frantically backtracking to avoid some alien that just spawned behind you. Classic NES "oh come on" energy.

The power-ups are what really make it, though. Grabbing one might give you a spread shot, another turns your ship into this ridiculous laser-spewing monstrosity. Half the fun is seeing what ridiculous weapon you'll stumble into next. And the enemy designs? Some look like rejected Gradius concept art—floating eyeballs, spinning gears, these little squid things that dive at you in packs. You start recognizing their patterns after a few deaths (and there will be deaths).

It's tough as nails, sure, but in that way where you keep muttering "one more try" at 2 AM. If you've got a soft spot for janky, inventive NES shooters that never got their due, this one's worth dusting off the old console for.