275. Chitei Senkuu Vazolder (Cyclone System, Famicom, 1991)

Chitei Senkuu Vazolder ("Underground Battlezone Vazolder", released in the west as Wurm: Journey to the Center of the Earth) is a multi genre action game about a team who is attempting to drill to the center of the earth to stop monsters that have appeared underground. The titular Vazolder is the drilling vehicle that the team uses to progress through the alien-looking cave environments. Chitei Senkuu Vazolder is of the more story-heavy action games on the Famicom, they manage to include dialogue in two of the game modes as well as Ninja Gaiden-style cutscenes in between the action.

The first game type is a horizontally scrolling shooter where you control the drill equipped tank. You start just driving around, but you can also enter a flying mode that allows you to explore more of the levels. The drill is also used to navigate sections of solid rock. The collision is interesting in that you can fly into walls and it will slowly hurt you but not instantly kill you, which is more merciful than a lot of scrolling shooters of the time. Your ship has a little bit of drift to its movement, which gives it a nice heft, and makes the scrolling shooter sections the most fun segments of Chitei Senkuu Vazolder.

Another game type is the boss fight mode, which takes the form of a first-person shooting gallery game, where you move a reticle around to shoot the boss or anything it might send out at you. An interesting layer on top of this is that you have to talk to your teammates in between the action to gain additional win possibility percentage points. You have to get the possibility to 100% before you beat the boss, but thankfully none of the action is terribly challenging. 

Finally, there are platforming sections where you control Moby, the team leader, as she investigates different areas on foot. You have a weak gun that can fire a single shot, and you can kick by pressing up (when jumping or on the ground), which is the most interesting thing about these sections. The levels themselves are very samey alien-looking and feel like a more tedious Metroid that is harder to navigate. While parts of Chitei Senkuu Vazolder can be challenging, the game also sports a generous continue feature that lets you restart at the beginning of each of the relatively short levels.

3/5, a multi-genre action game with a surprising amount of story, but none of the gameplay stands out