(Gradius, December 1986, Konami)
HELL TO THE FUCK YEAH! A genre I've been anxiously awaiting to reach like a kid on Christmas morning, the space shooter. No, Action 52 doesn't count as even being a game so don't even try that shit. Today's title also holds the distinction of being the very first to utilize the most famous game cheat in history, Let's take a look at Konami's NES cherry being popped before our very eyes with Gradius.

Even if you don't know your own parent's birthdays, you KNOW "The Code"
First, a gander at Konami and how they came to become one of the most recognizable gaming companies in the world. Founded in 1973 as a jukebox rental company of all things, Konami (a portmanteau of founders, Kagemasa KOzuki, Yoshinobu NAkama, and Tatsuo MIyasako) began creating what they labeled "amusement machines". Initially one of the slowest developers in recorded history, it took 5 years for their first games to release. Wih their 1981 classic Frogger, Konami's years of experience and growing confidence started to show at a blistering pace with many memorable titles being cranked out such as Super Cobra, Gyruss, Track & Field, and Rush N' Attack among others. I cannot tell a lie, I am chomping at the bits to poke tons o' fun at Gyruss for how many waves it takes to Uranus but that will come in due time. In 1985, they developed a shooter so frantic that balls to the wall cannot describe it. Dicks to the bricks would be far more apropos. The game...