Bee 52

Bee 52 is one of the more unusual shooters on the NES. Released in 1992 by Codemasters and published by Camerica, the game puts you in control of Bee 52, a small honeybee with a surprisingly dangerous daily job. Instead of flying through space and blasting alien ships, your mission is to visit flowers, collect nectar, and bring it back to the hive while dealing with everything in the garden that wants to stop you.

The game is built around side-scrolling flight. Bee 52 can move freely in four directions, hovering through the environment while looking for flowers and avoiding obstacles. Spiders, ants, grasshoppers, dragonflies, frogs, and other creatures can become serious problems, while hazards such as plants and sprinklers make simply reaching the next flower more difficult. You can defend yourself by firing projectiles or using your sting at close range.

Collecting nectar is only half of the job. You need to explore the level, visit the flowers, and return to the hive to turn your collected nectar into honey. The game contains 12 stages divided between a backyard, a swamp, and the inside of a house, with new enemies and hazards appearing as you progress.

Bee 52 also has some useful surprises. Special insects and hidden areas can provide stronger weapons, while a small companion called Junior can protect Bee 52 from a single hit. Losing Junior leaves you much more vulnerable, so finding and keeping these bonuses can make a big difference.

What makes Bee 52 memorable is how different its idea feels from most NES shooters. It takes the basic excitement of a side-scrolling shooter and mixes it with exploration, resource collection, and a quirky insect theme. The result is a charming and genuinely distinctive little NES game that is well worth discovering.