This is an honorable mention in favorite Run N Guns. This is a unique kind of Run N Gun as it's one you don't really see much in the genre, which is what makes it even more special. This game is pretty much "Operation Wolf" but made into a third person shooter.
This game is also another childhood favorite, I remember playing this in the arcade from that intro screen which I at first found a little scary as it's a smiling skull above fire with red glowing eyes laughing; it's almost a little misleading you'd almost think from that intro this was a game based on the Marvel Super Hero "Ghost Rider" (why the heck didn't that character get a game in the arcade). But of course, that was there just for cool effect, to show that you're the bad ass whom is a dealer of destruction.
Using that trackball controller but just simply blowing away a lot of badies. Sometimes I would always imagine this game was based on "G. I. Joe" and I was one of the Joe's "Flint" or "Duke" just blowing away the Cobras. Or even John Rambo just blowing away the enemy army. Which makes sense as this game came out in the 80s when the action film genre was at its peak and the Rambo movies and "G. I. Joe" franchise were both big things.
Nothing much to the plot you're a lone soldier along with your buddy both fight to survive while at the same time liberate the land from an evil enemy army. That's it in a nutshell as most to every run and gun has this plot, but it's not important because we all know what were in it for the action and this game has plenty of it with the unlimited ammo to go.
The graphical presentation is good nothing extraordinary, but it serves its function for the characters, it's really more the background animation that is what stands out. Really like the detail on the buildings and other background pieces where they look nice but also at the same time a little war torn as you can sees some cracks and were on them, making them seem like places that have seen better days, but makes it all the more ripe for destruction. Along with some of the ground and arial assault vehicles detailed pretty good and ripe for destruction.
The control scheme is unique as it's one that uses the trackball which is cool as that was a control scheme that was going out of fashion for video games, making this game one of the last. It may seem a little strange at first, but you get use to it. You control your guy, but you also control a crosshair on the screen. This is an interesting mechanic because this is a game where it teaches you to hit and run, you must constantly fire away at your enemies but also keep your guy out of danger at the same time. You do have cover on both sides of you but you can't solely rely on its protection as that cover will give away once they take more than enough damage.
Really like the format for the stages and level, each of them is pretty much one shooting gallery to the next but each of them is always slightly different from the one before. But in each of them the objective is the same where you must fill up this gauge based on how many enemies you kill, basically your body count meter, once you meet your quota you move on to the next.
At the final stage there is always a boss, which consists mainly of a giant attack vehicle, from a Heli carrier, submarine, semi gun tanker, etc. Though believe it or not each of the boss battles are easy when you get the pattern down, know what bullets to cancel out, and where and when to hit them. It's really the stages themselves that are the real challenge as each of them are practically endurance rounds.
One of the highlights is in the structural damage, which is cool, much like in the arcade game "Rampage" part of the joy in that game and this one is to always go to another level to see what new structures are just simply begging to be destroyed.
Each of the structural damage isn't just there for cool effect which it is, always love the sound of each of those structures just crumbling down. But with the structural damage you can rack up points, sometimes uncover a useful item, but most importantly destroy some of the enemy army's cover which takes some of their advantage away.
The other highlight is the sound, this game has some of the best sound effects. Really like the sound from the gun and the explosions, it really felt like every time you shot in rapid fire succession it was doing damage, and those explosions were just music to my ears.
The music is decent nothing much to it, one memorable thing about it is after the stage is clear it's a cheerful and funny tune you hear while your character advances forward while doing a strange victory dance along the way, that always made me laugh because it's such an odd ice breaker for a game that's meant to be serious.
The only misfires of the game are the difficulty can get a bit cheap, from enemies that come out and pile up a little too fast sometimes as well as cover giving away too quickly which can result in a lot of cheap deaths, that makes this game one of those quarter munchers. But much like the bullets you dodge in the game this is easy to get past.
This is a vintage classic worth setting your sights on.
Rating: 3 and a half stars.
This game is also another childhood favorite, I remember playing this in the arcade from that intro screen which I at first found a little scary as it's a smiling skull above fire with red glowing eyes laughing; it's almost a little misleading you'd almost think from that intro this was a game based on the Marvel Super Hero "Ghost Rider" (why the heck didn't that character get a game in the arcade). But of course, that was there just for cool effect, to show that you're the bad ass whom is a dealer of destruction.
Using that trackball controller but just simply blowing away a lot of badies. Sometimes I would always imagine this game was based on "G. I. Joe" and I was one of the Joe's "Flint" or "Duke" just blowing away the Cobras. Or even John Rambo just blowing away the enemy army. Which makes sense as this game came out in the 80s when the action film genre was at its peak and the Rambo movies and "G. I. Joe" franchise were both big things.
Nothing much to the plot you're a lone soldier along with your buddy both fight to survive while at the same time liberate the land from an evil enemy army. That's it in a nutshell as most to every run and gun has this plot, but it's not important because we all know what were in it for the action and this game has plenty of it with the unlimited ammo to go.
The graphical presentation is good nothing extraordinary, but it serves its function for the characters, it's really more the background animation that is what stands out. Really like the detail on the buildings and other background pieces where they look nice but also at the same time a little war torn as you can sees some cracks and were on them, making them seem like places that have seen better days, but makes it all the more ripe for destruction. Along with some of the ground and arial assault vehicles detailed pretty good and ripe for destruction.
The control scheme is unique as it's one that uses the trackball which is cool as that was a control scheme that was going out of fashion for video games, making this game one of the last. It may seem a little strange at first, but you get use to it. You control your guy, but you also control a crosshair on the screen. This is an interesting mechanic because this is a game where it teaches you to hit and run, you must constantly fire away at your enemies but also keep your guy out of danger at the same time. You do have cover on both sides of you but you can't solely rely on its protection as that cover will give away once they take more than enough damage.
Really like the format for the stages and level, each of them is pretty much one shooting gallery to the next but each of them is always slightly different from the one before. But in each of them the objective is the same where you must fill up this gauge based on how many enemies you kill, basically your body count meter, once you meet your quota you move on to the next.
At the final stage there is always a boss, which consists mainly of a giant attack vehicle, from a Heli carrier, submarine, semi gun tanker, etc. Though believe it or not each of the boss battles are easy when you get the pattern down, know what bullets to cancel out, and where and when to hit them. It's really the stages themselves that are the real challenge as each of them are practically endurance rounds.
One of the highlights is in the structural damage, which is cool, much like in the arcade game "Rampage" part of the joy in that game and this one is to always go to another level to see what new structures are just simply begging to be destroyed.
Each of the structural damage isn't just there for cool effect which it is, always love the sound of each of those structures just crumbling down. But with the structural damage you can rack up points, sometimes uncover a useful item, but most importantly destroy some of the enemy army's cover which takes some of their advantage away.
The other highlight is the sound, this game has some of the best sound effects. Really like the sound from the gun and the explosions, it really felt like every time you shot in rapid fire succession it was doing damage, and those explosions were just music to my ears.
The music is decent nothing much to it, one memorable thing about it is after the stage is clear it's a cheerful and funny tune you hear while your character advances forward while doing a strange victory dance along the way, that always made me laugh because it's such an odd ice breaker for a game that's meant to be serious.
The only misfires of the game are the difficulty can get a bit cheap, from enemies that come out and pile up a little too fast sometimes as well as cover giving away too quickly which can result in a lot of cheap deaths, that makes this game one of those quarter munchers. But much like the bullets you dodge in the game this is easy to get past.
This is a vintage classic worth setting your sights on.
Rating: 3 and a half stars.
