Commando(戦場の狼/Senjou no Ookami [Battlefield Wolf]) is a vertically-scrolling shoot 'em up released in 1985. Its influence can be seen in several later games in the genre (Ikari Warriors, Rambo: First Blood Part II, and Green Beret, to name a few).
It was released for several platforms, including Arcade, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Spectrum, Intellivision, Atari, Amiga, Nintendo Entertainment System, Acorn Electron and PC.
| Release date:
| 1985
|
| Platform:
| Multiple (see text)
|
| Developer:
| Multiple (see text)
|
| Publisher:
| Capcom
|
| Distributor:
| Data East
|
| Genre:
| Vertical-scrolling shooter
|
| Sucessors:
| -
|
| Gameplay:
| Top-Down View
|
| Official site:
| -
|
| Influences:
| Commando (movie)
|
Introduction
The entire introduction, as written in the manual for the Commodore 64 version:
"As the crack shot Commando, your mission is to move forward into enemy territory. You must destroy the enemy and their base by passing through the Iron Walls."
Description
All of the versions of the game are very similar, with the same graphics (taking into account the various limitations of the platforms). The player (Super Joe ) starts off by being dropped off by a Helicopter in a jungle, and now has to fight his way out, killing the massive assault of enemy (wearing German WWII era uniforms) soldiers singlehandedly.
At the end of each level, the screen stops, and the player must fight several soldiers streaming from a gate or fortress. They are ordered out by a cowardly Officer, who immediately runs away, although shooting him in the back awards the player bonus points. Along the way, one can attempt freeing hostages, who are transported across the screen by the enemy.
Developers
It is notoriously difficult to find information about developers of early games, so this list is incomplete:
The Amiga version was developed at Elite by:
The Amstrad CPC version was developed at Elite by:
The Commodore 64 version was developed at Elite in a very tight schedule (2 months), by:
The Spectrum version was developed at Elite by:
The Intellivision version was developed at Realtime Associates by:
Levels
These are the levels of the arcade version:
- Mission 1:
- 1st Area: Jungle Drop Off, Barricade Territory.
- 2nd Area: The Trench "No Mans Land", Cannon Turret Gauntlet.
- 3rd Area: The Field Barracks, The Transit Zone.
- 4th Area: Bridges to Airport, 1st Enemy Airport.
- Mission 2:
- 1st Area: 2nd Jungle Territory, The Marsh Lands.
- 2nd Area: 2nd Cannon Turret Gauntlet, The Trench/Bridge Territory.
- 3rd Area: The Enemny Main Barracks, "Bazooka Alley" Territory.
- 4th Area: The Capital Outskirts, The International Airport.
Miscellaneous
- The Intellivision programmer, John Tomlinson , was slacking off too much, and the deadline was slipping, so David Warhol actually "kidnapped" him, by picking him up at his home, keeping him at his own place 'till the game was finished.
- The Commodore 64 version's theme, a "funky" version of the arcade, was created in less than 12 hours by Rob Hubbard, "[I] started working on it late at night, and worked on it through the night. I took one listen to the original arcade version and started working on the C64 version. [...] By the time everyone arrived at 8.00 in the morning, I had loaded the main tune on every C64 in the building! I got my cheque and was on a train home by 10.00"
- The German version was released as Space Aliens , due to the laws about violence in computergames at the time.
- The Commodore version was so easy that a cracking group ([[Lurid+Tricycle]]) added an un-trainer, to make the game harder.
- The theme has been covered several times (though maybe most the Rob Hubbard version), latest by Danish commodore revival band Press Play on Tape.
- Despite what one might think, the game is not licensed from the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie of the same name, but is probably named after it.
- This game actually has an official sequel ("Senjou no Ookami II", released in North America as "MERCS "), but there have also been unofficial "sequels" created by other companies. Russian developers Microtech Systems released Komando II for Spectrum in 1992. Elite also made Duet (which was called Commando '87 in some markets) for the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spectrum.
- Bionic Commando ("Top Secret: Hitoraa no fukkatsu" in Japan) has no relation to this game, despite what the North American version might suggest.
Bibliography
External Links
Last updated: 05-21-2005 16:16:00
