I’ve long stopped playing both games I mentioned in my last post, but I intend to get back to at least one of them soon.

The truth is I can only play Solar Jetman if I know in advance I’m gonna have at least a full afternoon for myself. Things have been so hectic lately that’ I haven’t been able to do it in weeks – and Jetman definitely isn’t a game one can play in short bursts.

Meanwhile I was dedicating myself to other games, but mainly Espgaluda on the PS2. Unfortunately, I felt the need to relinquish the game in favor of another old school shooter: Parodius for the MSX, as presented in one of the Konami Antiques collections on the PS1. I guess the turbo controller helped me decide for the PS1 as opposed to the Saturn, which is where I practiced (and eventually gave up) the game months ago.

I felt compelled to post again just because I was finally able to loop it. That last stage is one of the meanest Gradius-like stages ever designed, especially the 2nd part, and in the end I came up with two main strategies to fight the evil space tapir. Either you need to get to him with 3 speed-ups or at least 2 speed-ups and a shield. And did I mention perfect weaving through the choppy cilinders or managing luck with the panic power-ups?

I don’t want to see another MSX shooter in front of me for a long while.