GUNFORCE
Battle Fire Engulfed Terror Island
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ガンフォース
©1992 Tamtex
©1992 IREM Corp.
Developed by Bits
Release: 1992-11-27 (¥8300)
Cartridge SHVC-GU
Platform/Action game
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Released in America as
GUNFORCE
( SNS-GU-USA )
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Gunforce is a side scrolling action shooter developed by Bits
and published by Irem, and it is the conversion of the arcade game of
the same name originally released in 1991. In the year 2000, a mysterious
alien organization and its growing army starts to invade others countries and
to incapacitate their computer networks, thus compromising their ability to
launch their own counteroffensives. As a last resort, the allied forces decide
to dispatch an elite commando team called the 'GunForce'. Their mission
is simple - take down the enemy command and communications centers and to
ultimately destroy their massive sea fortress. Each soldier can shoot in
eight different directions and is equipped with a basic rifle gun that they
can later upgrade into more deadly weapons. The power-ups, usually left
behind by defeated enemies or hidden inside crates, range from an
Automatic Weapon, a Bazooka, a Flamethrower and a
Laser. But each special weapon comes with a significant
limitation - ammunition. Although the default gun grants the player
unlimited ammo, all the others have a set amount of bullets. Furthermore,
the soldiers can use a broad selection of vehicles scattered around each
level (such as jeeps, turrets, helicopters or armored biped walkers) and
devastate the enemy with far superior firepower. Additionally,
Gunforce features a bit of a twist on the traditional Run'n Gun
formula - enemies don't kill outright on contact (as they usually do in
myriad of other action games), but only their bullets or vehicles do.
Gunforce consists of five levels and also features a two
simultaneous player mode.
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The arcade game GunForce (aka Gunforce - Battle Fire Engulfed Terror Island)
was originally released by Irem in 1991 (picture on the right). It was later converted to the
Super Famicom (version tested here) by British game developer Bits Studio Ltd
(responsible of several other Irem ports such as Ninja Spirit (Game Boy),
RType DX (Game Boy Color) or Zoom's Genocide 2 for the
Super Famicom). But Irem didn't stop there and a sequel to Gunforce
followed in 1994 - the game, called GeoStorm in Japan (and GunForce 2
in the rest of the world) took all the best ideas from the original game and mashed them
together to create an incredibly satisfying and fun run'n gun. GeoStorm also has an
obvious Metal Slug-esque feel to it (picture on the left) - well, the brilliant staff from
Nazca Corporation (the Neo Geo developer responsible for the
Metal Slug series) was apparently a group of Irem ex-employees who decided
to leave the company in 1994 (right after the release of GeoStorm). Then SNK
absorbed the small developer after the success of titles such as Neo Turf Masters
and the now classic Metal Slug. It is hard to know what happened to the artists and
developers behind GunForce, GeoStorm and Metal Slug - they apparently
continued to make games for SNK, including the excellent Metal Slug sequels...
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This port of GunForce isn't a perfect conversion of the original
arcade game. Controls are not as responsive and the game suffers of notable
slowdowns. Some vehicles also didn't make the cut and the forth level
(which featured a playable tank and the enemy command base) was
entirely omitted. Finally, the ending is slightly shorter - in the
arcade game, the player can be seen exiting the enemy base, whereas
the Super Famicom version's end sequence starts right after
the final boss.
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Teaser text from the American version:
High-Tech Tactics save Earth
Enemy commandos are unleashing a diabolical plan to
destroy Earth. The stakes have never been higher. The
enemy has never been tougher. The destiny of every
country on Earth hangs in the balance, and a call has gone
out for a multi-national force of battle hardened fighters.
This is the GunForce. They come from every corner of
Earth. And they bring with them the ultimate fighting skills.
But now they will face an enemy of cosmic strength and
strategy. And they will be tested to the limit as they fight
high-tech fighters through five challenging, action-packed
levels of the Universe. So fire up for adventure, and start
kicking commandos with the hottest new hit from Irem.
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Game Staff (Copied from the end credits) :
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GUNFORCE
A Bits Production
Written by
Tony Smith
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Assisted by
David Quinn
Graphics by
Tahir Rashid
Martin Wheeler
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Sound by
Martin Simpson
Produced by
Fouad Katan
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Special Thanks to
0YVind Aashein
Alan Barton
©Irem Corp. 1992
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Click on picture to enlarge |
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LK
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Add your Pov here !
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P
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I have to admit - the original GunForce arcade game was
an average run'n gun with a mixed bag of problems and enjoyable
features. Although it was Irem's answer to Konami's
hugely popular Contra, the game never managed to get off the
ground and it faded into obscurity. A Super Famicom port
could have indeed breathe new life into the game. But it didn't.
GunForce is riddled with design mistakes - the hit detection
is poor, getting in and out of the vehicles is often a toilsome
task and jumps are unnervingly floaty. Another annoying thing in
the game is that the jump and shoot buttons are mixed up - I mean,
this may seem purely subjective, but it feels a lot more comfortable
to shoot with Y and jump with B than the other way around (and most
games used this configuration). So what about the game itself ?
Well, to its credit, GunForce has its share of charms and
riding large vehicles that often take most of the screen is a blast.
But all of this fun is sadly tarnished by incredibly monotonous
and easy levels, and disappointing final bosses (which are in
the shape of static buildings that attempt little more than to
inconvenience you). All in all, GunForce feels rushed
and it is another missed opportunity. It is a shame, given that
the Super Famicom's hardware is capable of hefting so
much around if properly used...
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