This isn't going to be true for everyone. In fact I think it will only really apply to people that were alive when the NES was the only option other than arcades and therefore they have a nostalgic response to seeing 8-bit graphics and sound on a game. Most of the NES games that I revisit quickly get old to me because let's face it! We were pretty limited by the technology at the time. Sure you might think that it is a good idea to go back and relive your childhood but I think for the most part these games are just kind of simplistic by today's standards.
It's easy to understand why though. The controller only had 2 buttons outside of the rarely used start and select buttons, so they couldn't make the games too terribly complicated. This is another reason why I think some older games or especially their remakes, appeal to me more. The control schemes of today are too complicated for this aged gamer and I tend to give up once it gets too difficult to remember. I have a job and other obligations in life afterall.
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Even though I didn't pay much attention to various studios back in the 80's, Konami is pretty well-known for having some of the best in the bunch and I don't know really why that is but it is difficult to argue with the quality of Contra, Castlevania, and other titles including this one.
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At first glance it looks a lot like Ikari Warriors but then again a lot of games did back then. A lot of the same concepts exist between these two games including the resources. The major difference is that this game, unlike Ikari Warriors is actually fun and fast-paced whereas IW was nearly an unplayable mess.
One of the major things that is really fun about this game is the bosses. They just made sense and while challenging they certainly weren't some sort of "bullet hell" situation that was quite common anytime that a development team didn't have much in the way of innovation. These bosses are just as silly as any other game because it doesn't make a great deal of sense to have a tank that is 40 times the size of a Jeep but that is part of the fun.
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Co-op is particularly good in this title and it doesn't take a tremendous amount of dedication to git gud at it either. Like many other games, the enemies tend to have slower moving bullets than you do and this levels the playing field quite a lot because if they fired as fast as you do, you would get overwhelmed and slaughtered in no time.
This was one of the first games that I recall playing that had destructible environmental effects such as buildings and walls that could create a shortcut. Even though the game is bottom up the entire time, it doesn't really get old like you would expect. It also doesn't have that annoying always moving forwards screen that results in you getting trapped behind an obstacle and killed for no reason. This can be a bit of a problem in co-op though since if your teammate is too far up on the screen or lagging behind, you can both find yourself with limited mobility or even in an area where you can get killed by virtue of not being able to dodge.
Many a fight were caused between me and friends that I would play this with when I was a kid because it is ALWAYS the other guy's fault when you die.
I don't really expect anyone to watch the full 22 minutes of that video but maybe just browse through it and try to not compare it to the systems of today. We had quite limited technology at the time and when you factor that in basically all of this game is perfect. It had wonderful replay value and the music although tinny and simplistic sounding more than 30 years later, it was all the rage back in the day.
There aren't many NES games that I would suggest people go back and play but this is one of them. You can complete the entire game in less than half an hour if you have decent reflexes. You can get the free ROM of the game with a free emulator here if you want to give it a shot.