Four stationary statues fire homing missiles at you, while weak tanks occasionally charge onto the screen to divert your attention. The first level’s confrontation with four tanks is only truly difficult if you let the first couple stay alive long enough for the reinforcements to enter the screen and overwhelm you, but the second boss can be quite tricky. The first couple of stages are very easy up until you’ve reached the boss fights. Because, let’s face it, odds are that you’ll suffer your fair share of deaths. It only takes a couple of flashing men to fully upgrade your missiles and the game tends to give you at least two or three of the fellows each level - something that really makes the game addictive. Of course, if you lose a life, you’re back to the grenades, but Jackal doesn’t make it overly difficult to recover from setbacks. After a while, that grenade will have changed into a speedy missile that sends projectiles off in four directions when it detonates, wiping out most enemies that had the misfortune to be in the general vicinity of whatever you were actually trying to shoot. But, as you start recovering certain special captives (the flashing ones), things change. Initially, you may scoff at this weapon, as all it emits is a powerful, but slow-moving grenade that travels in the direction you’re facing. While it isn't absolutely worthless (it does fire quickly and can be pretty handy in some situations), it didn't take long for me to relegate this weapon to the scrap heap in favor of my jeep's “man” weapon - the infinite-use grenade/missile launcher. Not only does it JUST fire towards the top of the screen regardless of what direction you may be driving in, but also can’t be upgraded. No, not the stupid little machine-gun that operates as (sort of) your primary weapon. While your gallant hero is outnumbered, he’s not necessarily outmatched, as that little jeep can pack some impressive weaponry. It may not have gained the fame and fortune of its more successful counterpart, but for my dime, Jackal is the superior product.Ī free-roaming arcade shooter (much in the vein of Granada for the Genesis), Jackal sends a lone jeep-driving soldier deep in the heart of some dictator’s domain for six levels of good, old-fashioned mindless fun. It also featured the player going behind enemy lines to rescue captives and eradicate the source of all these shenanigans - minus the espionage (and rapidly-appearing bottomless pits o’ doom). Lost in the wake of the Metal Gear monolith was another 1988 Konami game. Its combination of action and espionage was critically acclaimed and paved the way for one of the most successful franchises of recent memory. Its combination of action and espionage was critically acclaimed and paved the way for one of the most successful franchises of recent memory."īack in 1988, Konami-designed Metal Gear hit America and earned release on the NES. "Back in 1988, Konami-designed Metal Gear hit America and earned release on the NES.
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