During the 80s, Cold War hysteria was at its peak, even as the Cold War itself was slowly ending. Mikhail Gorbachev was appointed new leader of a collapsing Soviet Union, movies such as Red Dawn and Amerika scared viewers with nightmares of a fictional Soviet takeover of the United States, and sports films such as Rocky IV displayed their own subliminal stances on the situation by depicting American athletes defeating Russian and Chinese competitors. Of course video games followed suit as well. One of the most influential was Konami’s Rush’n Attack (Russian Attack – get it?). Rush’n Attack was the name given to the North American version of the 1985 arcade game Green Beret. Players took control of a nameless marine as he used his knife to defeat the enemy forces and rescue his captured comrades. The enemy soldiers came at you from all sides, and you had to fend them off or avoid them, as just one hit would kill you. This made it kind of funny, because if you actually did “rush and attack” like the title says, then you’d be defeated within seconds. You gained weapons such as pistols and flame throwers, but they had limited ammo, and before long you were back to using your knife. It wasn’t a bad game, but It was nothing mind blowing either. If anything, it could be considered a spiritual predecessor to Konami’s Contra, which came a few years later.

However, when Rush’n Attack was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System, it became something special. The plot was changed, and instead of rescuing POWs, your character had to destroy the enemy’s secret weapon. There were new weapons, 2-player co-op play, and the arcade’s military-style drumbeat that played throughout the levels was replaced by a full melodic soundtrack. It was a rare instance of a NES port of an arcade game being superior to the arcade original. While it wasn’t the classic that Contra was, Konami’s side-scrolling made its own unique impact on 8-bit gaming. Yeah, the arcade version is available on Xbox Live Arcade, but it just isn’t the same. Hopefully we should see the NES version on the Wii Virtual Console in the near future, provided it isn’t there already.

2000 was a good year for Squaresoft, particularly the summer. We got several awesome games from them, each of which was special in their own right. Some gained more accolades than others, though. Alongside Final Fantasy IX and Chrono Cross, we also got Parasite Eve 2, Vagrant Story, and this little number, Threads of Fate. Even though Threads of Fate was clearly geared towards kids, older action RPG fans who own a Playstation will enjoy this too.

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Take one part Virtua Cop, one part Mission Impossible, 1/2 cup minigame elements, stir, and bake at 450 degrees for 25 minutes. After it cools down, you’ll end up Sega AM3’s (at the time doing business as Hitmaker) 2001 sleeper light gun rail shooter Confidential Mission. Playing as a secret agent (or 2 if playing 2 player), you set out to stop a terrorist organization from taking control of a satellite. You’ll travel to a museum, a train, then the terrorist headquarters. Gameplay is pretty much what you’d expect from a light gun shooter, although there are some minigames spread about. You’ll try to guide a grappling hook to it’s target, break out of a room filling with gas, and attempt to rescue a girl. Of course you can play this game with a controller, but obviously you’re going to want to play using a lightgun, as it will make the minigames much easier. Along with a replication of the arcade game, the Dreamcast home version includes an ‘Original mode’ (a mode with a different set of challenges), a training mode, and a decent amount of unlockable features. The home version extras are a good thing, as the main game only has three stages. Even with its lack of replay value, fans of light gun shooters who still hold on to their Dreamcasts will want to get this game, along with a lightgun to play it with. It may be a bit hard to find, but it will be well worth the purchase.

I love a good crossover as much as the next man, but things have been getting way, way, way out of hand lately. Come on now, Solid Snake in Smash Brothers Brawl? Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe? Yoda, Darth Vader, and that guy from The Force Unleashed in SoulCalibur 4? Capcom vs Tatsunoko? X-men and, well, any character from the Top Cow universe? As exciting as many of these either are or could be, this is border lining on ridiculous. Of course zany crossovers are nothing new, especially in gaming. One of them was this beat-em-up classic, which paired together Rare’s Battletoads with Technos Japan’s Lee brothers. Besides the fact that both franchises had home games which were at one time published by Tradewest (who published this game), there was no real connection between the two. Beside a few key flaws here and these, this is mindless beat-em-up fun.

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Yes, that’s right, a Virtual Boy game. Before you shoot me, hear me out! This is actually one of the few good games for the system, and it makes best use of what little the console had to offer. It has true 3-d environments, wire-frame graphics (think Battlezone, but in red), and it made use of every button on the Virtual Boy controller, including both directional pads. Remember, this was before single-analog, let along dual analog. Fans of rail shooters (like Starfox) who happen to come across the ill fated system will enjoy it. You play as the pilot of a Tech-Wing fighter on a mission to destroy a rouge super computer. You make your way through 5 stages, blasting at everything in the way. For the most part the game’s levels are straight forward, but since you can move in all 360 directions, it’s easy to get disoriented at times. After you complete a stage, you can watch a replay, complete with full control of the camera. There are also Easter eggs in the form of hidden wireframe objects. It’s not much compared to other games, but it is nice to have, and they do a good job of pushing the system to its limits.

Obviously this game isn’t enough to make anyone go run out and buy a Virtual Boy (and it’s not like I’d personally recommend it anyway). However, Red Alarm did an excellent job of showing off what the system is capable of. If there had been more games of this caliber, then maybe the Virtual Boy wouldn’t have crashed and burned as badly as it did. Wishful thinking I know, but a man can dream can’t he?

Today is the 4th of July, where America celebrates its independence. There are few things that symbolize America more than the defenders of the old west, the cowboy. Okay, there is apple pie, but to my knowledge, there haven’t been many video games made about apple pie. Anyway, in honor of America’s birthday, this week’s $20 GOTW and Lost Classics will take a special look at some classic 8 and 16-bit games taking place in the wild wild west. So saddle on up, and mosey on down to your favorite game shop and seek out these games pardner!
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With Metal Gear Solid 4 having hit stores earlier this month, we took a look at Metal Gear Solid: Ghost Babel, which was a Metal Gear game set outside of series continuity. This week’s lost classic will take a look back at another non-canon Metal Gear game. Snake’s Revenge, developed for the NES by Konami under its Ultra Games label, can be considered the red-haired stepchild of the Metal Gear franchise. It was developed without the involvement of series creator Hideo Kojima. After the original Metal Gear was successful in the U.S., Konami commissioned its developers to create a sequel. After meeting one of the developers and being told that Snake’s Revenge wasn’t meant to be a true Metal Gear game, Kojima was inspired to create the true sequel, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Surprisingly, despite hating the NES Metal Gear game, Kojima has stated that he likes Snake’s Revenge, saying that it’s in the spirit of the Metal Gear series. If one gives this game a shot, then it’s easy to see why.

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This right here is mid to late 80’s shoot-em-up action at it’s finest. Like Contra and Heavy Barrel, Jackal was one of those games that didn’t need any big gimmick to be innovative, but at the same time it had its own little quirks which set it apart from other games during that era. Taking control of a jeep (or two if playing two player), you make your way through an unidentified country (which was called Vietnam in the instruction manual from the NES version) and take out any opposition in your way. You mission was to rescue captive POWs and get them to the helicopter. You would them be rewarded with various weapon upgrades, which you use to defeat the enemies. Similar to other Konami games during this period, this game features some neat, even if somewhat outlandish boss designs. You’ll encounter Medusa statue heads that shoot missiles, a fortress gate with turrets, and a command HQ which turns into a giant tank. This is an awesome top down shooter to play, and of course it’s even better if you bring along a friend. Seeing as how Konami is a big supporter of the Wii virtual console, I have no doubt that this will be hitting the VC’s lineup sometime in the future. In fact, I’m surprised that it hasn’t already. For now however, you’ll have to do some hunting for the original cart.