The Famicom's last shooter built to outrun the machine it was born on.
Crisis Force arrived in August 1991, a full year after the Super Famicom — the Famicom was already yesterday's machine. So Konami, on its way out the door, decided to play one final, impossible note: five layers of simulated parallax, four-way scrolling and giant bosses, all squeezed out of the same chip that ran Gradius II. It barely sold, and it never left Japan. But hold the cartridge in your hands and you realize you're holding the moment an engineer refused to phone in the goodbye — and quietly proved the old hardware still had something left to say.
About this game
Crisis Force is a 1991 shoot 'em up for the famicom, developed by Konami.
Gallery
The Story Behind
Crisis Force was finished in July 1991 and shipped that August — a full year after the Super Famicom had replaced the Famicom. Konami had already moved on to the new hardware, but director Jun Chuma and his team stayed behind to finish one last project on the old machine. They used the VRC4 chip, the same mapper Konami built for Gradius II, to squeeze out four-way scrolling and large sprites the base Famicom couldn't do. Konami planned to release it in Europe and North America, but the SNES was already in stores there, so those plans were quietly dropped. It never left Japan.
Tricks & Tales
Crisis Force used Konami's custom VRC4 chip — the same one behind the Famicom port of Gradius II — to pull off four-way scrolling and large bosses the base hardware couldn't manage. Your ship transforms between three forms, each with its own attack — and collecting five power-ups morphs it into a flashing super-bird with overwhelming firepower. It was Konami's final shooting game for the Famicom, released in August 1991 — a year after the Super Famicom — and never sold abroad.
Collector's Guide
Region & Compatibility
Famicom and NES are the same hardware family but use physically incompatible cartridge formats — Famicom carts have a 60-pin connector and a narrower shell, while NES carts use a 72-pin connector with a wider housing. You cannot insert a Famicom cartridge into a North American NES slot without an adapter, and vice versa. The Famicom itself has no lockout chip, so any Famicom cartridge from Japan will run on a Famicom console regardless of origin. If you are buying a Japanese Famicom cart to play on a NES, you will need a 60-to-72-pin physical adapter; if you own a Famicom, Japanese-market software is your native format and no workarounds are needed.
Maintenance Tips
The gold-plated edge connectors on Famicom and NES cartridges pick up skin oils and oxidation over decades — a gentle wipe with a cotton swab dampened in 90% or higher isopropyl alcohol, stroking along the length of the pins rather than across them, is the accepted standard. Let the alcohol fully evaporate before reinserting. The old habit of blowing into a cartridge is folklore: the moisture in breath causes slow corrosion of the contacts over time, and any improvement you felt came from the act of re-seating the cart, not from the breath itself. Nintendo eventually updated its own troubleshooting guidance to say explicitly: do not blow into your Game Paks.
Going deeper
Explore the machine this game ran on, and what to check before you buy or care for one:
What to Watch Out For
Before buying, these are the points worth knowing — from someone who handles original Japanese Crisis Force copies regularly.
Why is Crisis Force so expensive for a Famicom cartridge?
Two reasons stack up: it was Japan-only, and it shipped so late in the Famicom's life that few copies were made. That scarcity pushes loose carts to around $100 and complete-in-box copies past $200 — it's one of the pricier Famicom games out there.
Will it run on a regular NES?
No. It's a Famicom (Japanese) cartridge with a different shape, and it was never released outside Japan. You'll need a Famicom or an adapter/clone system that accepts Famicom carts.
Is a loose cartridge a fair way in?
Yes, if you mainly want to play. Loose carts sit well below complete-in-box prices, and the box/manual premium is steep — so a tested loose copy is the sensible entry point unless you specifically collect CIB.
Before You Buy
Things worth knowing before you buy Crisis Force
A short checklist for buying a used Famicom cartridge wisely — useful with any seller, anywhere.
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Choose a seller who tests it before shipping
A copy that has actually been powered on and checked is a known quantity. An untested one is a gamble you only settle after it arrives.
Look for a seller who states it was function-tested and says what they confirmed. A serious seller can tell you exactly what was checked.
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Make sure it fits your console
This is a Japanese Famicom cartridge with a 60-pin connector; a North American NES uses a 72-pin slot, so it will not fit directly.
Play it on a matching Japanese console or a region-free system, and confirm the listing states the region.
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If this title saves your progress, check the battery
Cartridges that save use a small coin-cell battery that fades over decades — a dead one wipes your save without warning.
Ask the seller whether the save function was tested. Replacing the battery is possible, but doing so erases any existing save.
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Check that the contacts are clean
Dirty edge contacts are the most common cause of startup and sound trouble in cartridges of this age.
Choose a seller who cleans the contacts before shipping. A note that it was tested and cleaned means the basics were handled.
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Confirm it is genuine, not a reproduction
Sought-after titles are targets for reproduction boards with replacement labels.
Ask for a photo of the circuit board and look for factory markings. Favour a shop with a licensed second-hand dealer permit (古物商) — by law its stock has a traceable origin, your simplest guard against fakes.
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Read the seller's reviews and return policy
A 100% positive record across thousands of sales is close to a guarantee — packing, communication and problem-solving all work for everyone. A return policy protects you if something is off.
Read the feedback and confirm a clear return window before you buy.
The last step before buying anywhere is knowing what it's worth.
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Rooms this game lives in
Wander deeper — explore the themed rooms where Crisis Force sits alongside its kin.
Memories from around the world
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