Nintendo Switch Online: Reviewing February’s NES and Super NES new games

Pop’n Twin Bee – SNES

Made by Konami in 1993, Pop’n Twin Bee is the only game in the group of four that actually rang a bell with me.

It’s definitely not a household name but this game is pretty solid. If you’re looking for a solid, top-down, 1942-style shooter, you could do a lot worse than this. Pop’n Twin Bee lets you pick between two very similar ships flown by two adorable anime characters. As you fly from level to level you battle walking pineapples, stretchy robots, crabs, turtles, and a bunch of other adorable enemies.

There’s also a system that took me a while to get down in which you’ll find bells that will fall down the screen towards you. Shooting them enough gets them to change color, and depending on the color, they’ll do different things. Snagging a bell will get you points but with the right color you’ll get a smaller ship that flies with you, also firing. Or another bell might give you a bigger bullet or a spread shot. There’s a lot to experiment with and the game does not explain anything to you at all.

Luckily, you’ll be so invested in the charming pixel art and fun enemy design you don’t mind putting in the extra work. There was a lot of work put into this title that I did not expect when I first saw the box art for it and it’s honestly a game I’m probably going to hop back into when I’m done with this review.

Also, I should add it has a two-player mode and it’s a really fun, low stakes shooter with a really good difficulty slider that goes from super casual to almost bullet hell.

Adorable pixel art, smooth animation and surprising designs make Pop’n Twin Bee a joy to play through and a pleasant surprise in the Super Nintendo Channel library