Jackal

Jackal (特殊部隊ジャッカル Tokushu Butai Jakkaru, "Special Forces Jackal"), also distributed under the title of Top Gunner in North America, is an overhead run'n gun-style shoot-'em-up video game by Konami released for the arcades in 1986. The player must maneuver an armed jeep in order to rescue prisoners of war (POWs) trapped in enemy territory.

A Japanese version was released for the Family Computer Disk System (FDS) a few months earlier on May 2, 1988 under the title named Final Command: Akai Yōsai (ファイナルコマンド　赤い要塞, "The Red Fortress"). This earlier version lacks some of the content that were later added to its NES counterpart due to the fact that it was released in disk card format rather than on a ROM cartridge. Namely, the stages in the FDS versions scrolls vertically only, have different layouts and are much shorter as a result. The beach stage is not featured in the FDS version and thus, the ruins (Stage 2 in the NES version) serves as the introductory stage instead.

Plot
The Jackal unit is an elite group of four soldiers that have undergone a harsh training regiment to survive in any environment. The team is composed of Colonel Decker, Lieutenant Bob, Sergeant Quint and Corporal Grey. They have been given a mission to drive two armed jeeps into hostile territory in order to rescue and extract POWs.

Gameplay
Jackal can be played by up to two players simultaneously. A second player can join in during play anytime and the two jeeps are numbered on their hoods to indicate which player is controlling it. The controls consists of an eight way joystick and two attack buttons. The first button fires the jeep's machine gun turret (which always shoots northward), while the second button is used to launch grenades towards the direction the jeep is facing. The grenade launcher can be upgraded into a missile launcher, which can be further upgraded up to three times, giving it a longer reach and then allowing it to fire shrapnel rounds that spreads in to two or four directions. The machine gun has weaker firepower but a faster firing rate, while the grenade/missile launcher can destroy most enemy vehicles and artillery in one shot, as well as destroy gates and buildings.

The game starts with a pair of transport helicopters dropping player's jeep into the coast of the enemy territory, followed by a plane which drops the jeep's driver and gunner. The main objective is to penetrate the enemy's main headquarters and destroy their ultimate weapon. Along the way, the player will proceed through numerous internment camps where the POWs are being held. Prisoners held in solitary camps will upgrade the jeep's grenade/missile launcher by one level. The player's jeep can only carry up to eight prisoners and once it is filled, the player must drive to the nearest heliport where an extraction chopper awaits to retrieve them. The player receives more points if he extracts prisoners in succession. If the player successfully extracts eight prisoners in a row into the chopper, the jeep's missile launcher will be upgraded to its highest level. Jackal does not have a traditional stage structure, instead the entire game takes place in one long continuous level. The player will go through a variety of different areas throughout the course of the mission such as an ancient ruins, a lake, a hill and a mountain before reaching the enemy headquarters. The background music changes the further the players goes into the game.

The player's jeep can run over foot soldiers, but will be destroyed if it gets shot by a projectile or collides with an enemy vehicle. When the player's jeep is destroyed, a replacement jeep will appear and the missile launcher that will be downgraded by one level. If the previous jeep was carrying POWs, the survivors will spread themselves out from the wreckage, waiting to be picked up again. An extra jeep can be obtained by obtaining a certain number of points. The game ends when the player accomplishes his mission or runs out of replacement jeeps. A map is shown at the game over screen showing how far the player has progressed. While Jackal does not have a continue feature, the player can "cheat" the game by using the join-in feature and switch to the other control panel before being taken to the game over screen.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Good soundtrack.
 * 2) The player jeep can shoot northward unlike the grenade/rocket launcher, which can be shot in facing direction, and the Japanese arcade version.
 * 3) Challenging military-themed gameplay.
 * 4) There are many POWs to save and carry until the jeep's POW carriage is full for releasing them to the helicopter on the helipad.
 * 5) There are differences from the arcade version:
 * 6) *The player has much more space to maneuver due to the change from a vertical orientation to a horizontal one.
 * 7) *The two player jeeps are now colored differently due to hardware's graphical limitations. Player 1's jeep retains the standard green, while Player 2 controls a brown jeep.
 * 8) *The game is now divided into six stages instead of taking place in one long level. Each stage features a different boss awaiting at the end, which include enemies not seen in the arcade version such as missile-spitting statues, a battleship and a new final boss called a giant flamethrower equipped tank; which can be destroyed effectively by machine gun.
 * 9) *The grenade/missile launcher only needs to be upgraded three times to reach its maximum power rather than four. However, if the player loses a jeep, he will revert to the initial grenade launcher instead of being downgraded to its previous level.
 * 10) *The player's jeep can carry as many POWs as there are in each stage rather than being limited to just eight. While there are no point bonuses for delivering POWs in succession, the player's grenade/missile launcher will be upgraded by one level when a certain number of prisoners are taken to the chopper.
 * 11) *Three hidden power-up icons have been added: a green star that adds an extra jeep to the player's stock, a red star that kills all on-screen enemies and a flashing star that upgrades the missile launcher to the highest level. These can only be found by launching grenades or missiles in certain hiding spot.