NES - Jackal

Haiku-Review:

the four-wheeled wonder
sporting infinite seating,
the name you trust: Jeep

Additional Comments:

War is hell! Unless you have a Jeep that is. Then you can just mercilessly run over enemy soldiers as you unload an infinite round of ammo across the countryside. Drive a tire up their backside! Isn't that how the top brass drew it up? Where's that dossier?

After buying an in-box copy of this a good while back, I've been itching to play it. I'm not exactly sure why; based on the pictures and information I was able to gather, it doesn't exactly appear to be a stand out NES game, or even a less than stand-out NES game. Instead, it reeked of forgotten mediocrity, but still, something vaguely intrigued me about Jackal. Maybe it was just the driving/shooting hybrid and after popping it in for a short test roughly a year or so ago, I was eager to move forward. Except, I don't think this was the game I tested as my memory of that test run doesn't exactly match up with my present day experience. And the more I think about it, I have no idea what I tested as I don't appear to own any other game that matched what I thought this was. It makes me suspect it may have all been a dream, which makes me apprehensive all the more. Reminds me of when I managed to concoct an entire movie script to star Samuel L. Jackson in a dream, yet the idea behind the script seemed so  plausible; so real, that for a while I could swear it miraculously transcended the bounds of reality. After all, I had the dream during his career peak and considering the number of movies he was pumping out at the time - sure, why not? But I digress.

Either way, after finishing up the heavily taxing game that was Fallout 3, I was looking to hit up a number of short and sweet titles before I put the full brunt of my focus into another time-eating monstrosity. Sounded like the perfect time to finally tackle Jackal and see what sort of rip roaring, Jeep driving adventures I could get myself into. Well, they're not the most exhilarating of adventures, but then, when was POW rescue ever meant to be an exhilarating experience, even in video game format?

Jackal's an interesting take on the basic STG formula. Some of its quirks remind me of Lost Castle in Darkmist in that it sort of goes against the grain. If not, it at least feels like it's doing so. In other respects, it culls up long forgotten memories of The Advenutre of Dino Riki. The first thing you'll notice is that the scrolling falls completely within the player's hands. This alone makes it seem like the game isn't so much trying to break tradition but instead distance itself from the genre altogether giving it more of an action/adventure vibe. At the same time, however, this transitional effect feels unintended; more of a product in experimentation yet the type of experimentation that blossomed from a happy accident as opposed to careful planning. I feel put off by how I should approach this game only because I'm not entirely sure how I should approach this game. It's an improper blend that unfortunately weakens either front which is all too often a problem in games that try to step beyond the recognizable bounds. But when it works, it typically shines wonderfully.

Citing the manual scroll for the game's lack of luster is not the problem, though it is part of the problem. I rather enjoy the manual scrolling and find it to be a refreshing take on typical vertical fare. Thanks to the additional area provided by horizontal scrolling, the stages have actual substance. Unlike stages in nearly every other STG out there, which typically consist of backgrounds plastered for the sole purpose of eye candy, the stages here have taken on a purpose. Of course, having a vehicle confined to land as opposed to the air helps necessitate a functional background. The point is, with the expanded space, each stage just doesn't give the illusion or appearance of an environment - oh, I'm driving through a generally sandy area - but instead depicts a complex environment. Suddenly, I'm driving through a rather detailed sandscape that requires me to reroute my mission because there's a river in my way or a forest. Yes, the same could be done with a single screen wide experience, but it wouldn't carry the same gratification by not knowing what lies beyond the edge. It creates a bigger, better world through which you can drive.

So, what exactly is the issue with manual scroll then? The issue deals with the uncertainty surrounding the style of play. What sort of game is this really trying to be? And what I mean by that question is that the Jeep's weaponry appears to define the game more than anything else. More precisely, the machine gun's mechanics dictate how I should perceive this game. The machine gun is designed for a top down shooter because it can only shoot in a single direction no matter your trajectory. Obviously, a great many arguments can be made for Jackal's inclusion in the top down shooter category and honestly, I agree with every one of them. To me, Jackal absolutely is a top down shooter, yet the way you can handle the screen, or hell, the levels themselves by slightly backtracking if necessary goes against that idea. However, given the circumstances of the game's goal, the vehicle in question, and the design of the levels, I can accept this game's divergence from tradition. Except the machine gun refuses to play by Jackal's carefree rules and instead sticks to the well established practice that as far as the player is concerned, only one direction exists and that is up. This sucks because it kills any driving experience that isn't straight up or at least within 45 degrees of said direction. I shouldn't have to rely solely on grenades and missiles for three out of the four major cardinal directions since those actually do fire in whatever direction the Jeep is facing. In fact, I find this to be ass backwards in relation to game theory in general. Special weapons should never take precedence over your default weapon when it comes to ease of ability. Maybe if there was consistency between the primary and secondary weapons regarding all roads point to north, then maybe I wouldn't have this sense of disconnect with the game's intention. As is, the machine gun is fiendishly awkward in its presentation.

It's not as bad as I'm making it out to be, although I wasn't led to believe this until my third or fourth attempt at the game. For my first couple of runs, I was making the game far harder than necessary because I was unaware that you could just run over the various infantrymen. Makes sense, I suppose, when you think about it, but the thought never crossed my mind. Therefore I was constantly trying to outmaneuver various soldiers just so I could get my machine gun below their position. If I could control the swivel, life would be so much easier, but running over the bastards works just as easily. Unfortunately, it took some accidental gameplay to discover that. If it said anything about flattening the opposition with steel belted radials in the manual, I must have skipped over it.

Jackal isn't a bad game, but it isn't necessarily a good game either. I find it to be the very definition of middle of the road. However, if the machine gun didn't perpetually point towards in-game magnetic North, I think it would be...well, it would be a decently okay game. There's still a few issues here and there. That being said, and while I didn't have the opportunity to experience the game in two player mode, I can imagine the game working much better with a second player than it does as a solo excursion. I think some of the frustration surrounding the machine gun would take more of a back seat, if not melt away altogether. Something else to consider is that Jackal is a port of the arcade game, Top Gunner - also enjoying ports on the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spectrum among others. Unfortunately, and as much as I'd love to pin the machine gun's stubbornness down to poor porting, alas, I cannot, since Top Gunner utilized the same silly mechanics. Unless.... Unless I hold the game to a different standard; that of Tokushu Butai Jackal, the Japanese arcade variant in which the machine gun fired in a player forward direction as opposed to a world up direction. You fiends! You dastardly fiends who understand sensible mechanics!!

Would I recommend Jackal? No, but I'm glad I gave it a go nonetheless. There is merit to the game, mostly its rebellious approach to the STG genre. Also, it's got a few cool little tunes. Boss 1 has that definite Konami feel to it whereas Ending Theme leaves us with that perfect feeling of pride and victory. I've saved my fellow soldiers, mowed down a few hundred scumbags, and I'm damn proud of my actions.

Nano-Rant:

Stage 5's boss irritated the crap out of me as I completely misinterpreted it. Considering the enemy is throwing everything but the kitchen sink, it took me a while to comprehend what my true target was. I think I was wailing on tank reinforcements for ten minutes before I realized there were small targets tucked within each garage. It's possible I'm just an idiot, and honestly, the way I handled that battle, I consent to such a claim, but that particular battle seemed incredibly non-intuitive.

Rating: 2.5 map illiterate soldiers out of 5