Sky Kid (1987, NES) by Sunsoft

View “Any%” leaderboard on speedrun.com

Sky Kid is a game.  The end.

Ok, ok… it really isn’t that bad.  Sky Kid is one of the earliest shmups on the NES, released by Sunsoft early in the NES’ life.  It’s a simple, cheery shooter with happy music… where you shoot down planes, blow up ships, destroy blimps, and shoot cheering women.  Yeah…

The same song… plays over… and over… and over…

All kidding aside, as a casual experience, this isn’t that bad of a game; the controls are tight, the levels are sneaky in their design, and it’s a fun shooter.  By no means is this a good game, but it’s far from terrible.  With bland graphics that are eye-searingly bright and boring, and sound effects and music that are more grating than an Olive Garden busboy, this is an awfully-presented game, even for its’ heyday.  Luckily, tight controls make up for it, despite repetitive enemy designs, little to no boss fights, and trolly RNG.  Despite this games’ simplicity, this is still a fun challenge, akin to the earliest NES gauntlets based on the old-school arcade style of quarter-munching gameplay.

…and over… and over…

The speedrun is pretty awful.  There’s no sugarcoating that fact; this is not a game anyone should seriously speedrun.  There aren’t many time saves to speak of, and it’s easy to get killed in ways where it feels like you had no control over what just happened.  This is not a game I would recommend as a speedrun to anyone.  You can find plenty of better shooters (and certainly better Sunsoft games) on the NES, so if you’re gonna try autoscroller shmup speedruns, try games like Legendary Wings or Xevious, or a game that is actually a GOOD speedrun like The Guardian Legend.  This game? Hard pass.

…and over… and over… and over…