Developer : SNK
Release date : August 10, 1989
Synopsis :
Ikari Warriors, known as Ikari (怒, “Fury”) in Japan, is a vertically-scrolling, run-and-gun shooter arcade game developed and released by SNK in 1986, and released in North America by Tradewest. The game was released at the time when there were many Commando clones on the market. What distinguished Ikari Warriors were rotary joysticks and a two-player mode. The rotary joystick controls were in turn based on SNK’s earlier TNK III (1985). Ikari was originally intended it to be an official licensed adaptation of the film Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), but SNK were initially unable to acquire the rights to the film.
The game was a major commercial success in arcades. It was Japan’s second highest-grossing table arcade game of 1986, and London’s third highest-grossing arcade game that year. It was also a major breakthrough US release for SNK, ranking among America’s top five highest-grossing dedicated arcade games for two years in a row, in 1986 and 1987.
The player takes the role of commandos named Colonel Ralf Jones (red) and Second Lieutenant Clark Still (blue), who must try to reach the village of Ikari. Enemy units attempting to kill the player include tanks, enemy soldiers and helicopters. A number of power-ups along the way help the player achieve victory.
Players must proceed from the bottom of the screen upwards, towards the village of Ikari. Trying to prevent them from reaching the village are enemy soldiers and other units. Along the way, players may commandeer enemy tanks and helicopters (NES version) to help fight their way through the enemy personnel. The tanks are immune to enemy bullets, but have a limited supply of fuel and will sustain damage when it runs out or the tank is caught in an explosion, taking the player with it unless he can exit the tank and get clear before it blows up. The helicopters have two different weapons, a spread gun and a cannon, and may fly over water.
Rotating the joystick changes the direction the character faced independent of the direction the character was moving, as controlled by pushing the joystick. This gives the player freedom to attack or walk in eight different directions. No shot is fired from directly in front of the player; the warrior uses the machine gun in his right hand, and throws grenades with his left. If a player character takes too long moving up screen, the computer starts using “call for fire”. A red spot appears below him; this is tracking fire to speed up the game.
Source : Wikipedia
