Previous Next

Hot on the heels of Microdeal's jolly jungle shoot-'em-up romp Leatherneck comes the official conversion of the game that inspired it, Ikari Warriors, courtesy of Elite. If, when it comes to the coin-op scene, you are a pretty wised-up dude, you may as well skip the next couple of lines, while I explain to the rest of you what it's all about.

Ugly and mean super-commandos Paul and Vince's commanding officer, General Bonn, has been kidnapped by violent terrorists who are currently holding him captive in their secluded jungle hideout. Paul and Vince get some guns and grenades and fly out to the jungle, where the action begins. As you must have guessed by now, it's a vertically scrolling Commando variant with some extra features, the most noticeable of these being a simultaneous two-player option.

The enemy are pretty nasty guys, much more musclebound than the pathetic striplings that accost you in Leatherneck. Dressed in snazzy blue uniforms and baseball caps (?) they run down the screen either singularly or in groups firing their tennis ball-like bullets at you, which thankfully aren't too fast and can be dodged easily. To dispose of these troublesome goons, 99 bullets are supplied for your machine gun as well as fifty grenades that you can lob by holding down the fire button.

The jungle you traverse is graphically a lot more basic than the territory in Leatherneck, being a sort of desert-cum-jungle bordered by palm trees with buildings and bridges cropping up in later sections. Inanimate peril comes in many forms, including pillbox gun emplacements that blurt out bullets at all angles and Inca masks set into the floor that spit out bullets all over the shop. A well-timed grenade shot will despatch these, along with any soldiers in the vicinity. As well as these, around half-way through each level, you'll come across large expanses of water that can only be crossed by jumping in and wading through at waist height, which slows you down considerably.

What with all these guns and goons out to get you, you may be getting the impression that the odds are stacked pretty steeply against you. To help you out a bit, it's possible to capture an enemy tank; just keep walking up the screen and a stationary tank flashing 'IN' will appear. By standing over it and holding down the fire button, you gain control of the tank and can then proceed to trundle about blowing everything in sight away with virtually no fear of getting shot. However, tank mode does have its bijoux disadvantagettes: Tanks aren't very aquatic machines, and so it's necessary to cross a bridge (if there is one) or leave the tank behind if you want to pass. In addition, should a goon hit the tank with a grenade, it will ignite and you have only a few seconds to get out and get out of range before it explodes, sending twisted metal flying everywhere (nasty!).

Ikari Warriors is a damn food conversion - almost perfect, in fact. If anything, it's more enjoyable to play, as you don't have to put up with those crappy 'stump' joysticks with the coin-op (and its sci-fi sequel Victory Road) were inflicted with. The graphics are well-defined and brightly coloured, and combine well with the cutesy sound effects just like its arcade daddy.

And for those who absolutely must have a comparison, Ikari Warriors is a much better game than Leatherneck and a thoroughly impressive conversion to boot. Brilliant.