Play TwinBee (Japan) Online

TwinBee is one of those NES games that makes you smile before you even fire a shot. You’re piloting this adorable little spaceship—bright blue, round, almost too cute for a shooter—and instead of gritty sci-fi backdrops, everything’s popping with color. The first thing you’ll notice? Those floating bells. Shoot them, and they change color mid-air, each shade giving a different power-up. Purple gives you speed, red adds firepower, and gold? That’s the one you want—it spawns a drone that sticks to your ship like a tiny bodyguard.

It’s harder than it looks, though. The screen scrolls upward relentlessly, and enemies swarm in from all sides with these chaotic, almost playful attack patterns. There’s a two-player mode where a buddy can hop in as WinBee (TwinBee’s yellow twin), and it’s pure chaos in the best way. The music’s got that classic Konami bounce—peppy, catchy, the kind of tune that gets stuck in your head after one play. If you’ve ever wished Gradius had a bit more charm and a lot more bells (literally), this is your game.

Just don’t expect to beat it on your first try—this is an ‘80s arcade port, after all.