Tanks a Lot

Retro writer Hamster simply can’t get off of its Namco kick for the time being. This week’s entry to its classic-filled Arcade Archives is among the developer’s lesser-known arcade releases. Now out there to obtain on PS4 and Nintendo Change, it’s Namco’s futuristic tank battler, Assault.

Launched to the Japanese arcade scene in 1988 below the title “Akeaka Assault,” earlier than trundling west below its easier, localized title, Assault is a future-set top-down shooter that places the participant within the driving seat of an intergalactic tank, and duties them with bringing down their planet’s colonizers in a uniquely darkish narrative — and one that’s surprisingly prescient to fashionable eyes…

In Assault, you play a local warrior of a far-off planet, who begins out upon a one-man insurrection in opposition to the human race, who’ve invaded your world, stolen your whole sources, and brought each the land and expertise of your individuals for themselves and their very own futures. Fairly the narrative oddity for the gaming trade on the time; as a substitute of saving mankind, in Assault, you might be primarily out to destroy it.

As you possibly can see from the above motion, (courtesy of YouTuber Quadri Chuply) Assault is a rotational twin-stick shooter, that permits the participant to interact in fight with the people and their forces in full 360-degree movement. The goal right here was to create a extra up to date model of the 1980 Atari traditional Battlezone, switching out the vector graphics and first-person view for a faster-paced and extra colourful top-down perspective. Like many Namco titles, it additionally sports activities a reasonably funky soundtrack.

Assault utilized Namco’s newly-created System 2 software program, which permits for the rotational visuals and sprite-scaling seen within the title. Moreover, the primary participant sprite and lots of the enemies have been designed by Gundam veteran Kunio Ogawara, additional emphasizing Namco’s want to make Assault one thing of a status launch for the developer. Assault would obtain a lot crucial reward on launch, and would additionally spawn a Japan-only remix within the type of Assault Plus, which featured improved visuals in addition to new enemies and stage layouts.

Whereas Assault isn’t referenced even a tenth as a lot as different Namco titles similar to Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Galaga, or Galaxian, it does deserve to take a seat within the Namco corridor of fame as a groundbreaking arcade launch.