Unlike the original Xevious, this version was not designed by Masanobu Endoh, who had left Namco by the time this game was in development. Super Xevious: GAMP's Puzzle), often transliterated as Super Xevious: GAMP no Nazo, is a vertical scrolling shooter developed for the Family Computer by Namco in 1986, and not to be confused with the update to the original arcade Xevious called Super Xevious.
Unlike some NES versions of arcade games, this is a straightforward replication of the coin-op, with no added storylines or features, and just like the coin-op there's really no end to it - the landscape just recycles at a higher level of difficulty if we manage to make it all the way through. The sprites come over with some loss of color but good detail and minimal flicker, and the two buttons on the controller satisfy the arcade game's need for separate shoot and bomb buttons. The background looks just a little bit chunkier than the coin-op, shoehorning the original graphic layouts into the NES' more limited tile palette. Xevious ports fairly smoothly to the Nintendo Entertainment System - the music sounds fine, though the sound effects aren't as rich whether it's a plus or not, the simple music cuts out when certain sound effects are playing, just like the coin-op original.
But in 1982 arcades, it was quite an impressive sight to see roads and hills of the world below in a space shoot-'em-up, rather than the customary empty or sparsely star-speckled vacuum of space. This is something we take for granted today, and it could be taken for granted on the 8-bit Famicom, so this port didn't push the hardware too seriously.
Xevious' biggest innovation at the time of its release was its newfangled graphics hardware that allowed display of a detailed scrolling background independent of the sprites, on a separate plane that created a convincing illusion of above-the-ground depth.
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