Oh, Ikari Warriors. What a long strange road it's been.
The game was developed by SNK, originating in the arcades. It's a top-down vertically-scrolling run 'n' gun, and the first in a trilogy. In addition to the Ikari trio, SNK would go on to develop other games that play in a similar manner such as Guerrilla War, Search & Rescue, and the two Shock Troopers titles.
So Ikari Warriors isn't particularly fun. The graphics and scenery are vague and lifeless. Our hero (some Rambo-esque commando dude, of course) moves at a snail's pace. Released in '86, Ikari finds itself sandwiched between two similar and vastly superior shooters: Capcom's Commando and Data East's Heavy Barrel.
Here's the thing. When I made my Summer Games Challenge list I didn't yet own a copy of Ikari Warriors. The most "obvious" version to play would be the world-famous NES port that made us all suffer as children. You know, the port that requires a cheat code (ABBA) just to continue. The port that makes it possible to get stuck in walls. I'll pass. Instead I decided to seek out that "other" 8-bit console variation: Ikari Warriors for the Atari 7800. Until I saw the eBay prices. $60?! $100?! Is this a joke?
Enough of these ports, I declared! Let's just do it arcade style! As an amateur video game "collector" I tend to eschew emulators like MAME in favor of something more tangible. Fortunately, SNK released a compilation of pre-Neo Geo arcade games a few years ago - it's called SNK Arcade Classics 0 and is available on PSP. Unfortunately, it was only released in Japan and South Korea. I ordered a Korean copy and then waited a few weeks until it arrived (with a pack of sunflower seeds!).
And it sucks. Well, that's not true. The bulk of the compilation rules -
with the exception of Ikari Warriors. One would think an emulated version of the arcade game would be ideal, but there are two major flaws here. First, the controls are awful. The original arcade game uses a rotary joystick, so it's possible to move and shoot in different directions. Here on the PSP, the d-pad is used to move and the L and R buttons are used to rotate the gun clockwise/counterclockwise. It's slow and awkward as hell. There is an option to use "traditional" controls instead (move and shoot in the same direction) but this also doesn't pan out. The game wasn't designed for that type of control scheme, and it just makes things even more immeasurably difficult. But I've just scratched the surface. The biggest drawback here is the fact that
you can't continue. I have no idea why - continues weren't removed from any other game on the compilation. And it feels glitchy: the continue screen actually pops up for a nanosecond and then the game "crashes" to the title screen. Sigh.
So I moved on. To the Commodore 64. Oh boy. This one doesn't
look bad. Almost on par with the NES game graphics-wise. However, once again the controls kill it. The C64 uses a one-button joystick, but this game requires two action buttons: one for the gun and one for grenades. And grenades are used frequently - you start with 50 of them and some enemies can't be damaged by gunfire. The C64 controls? The joystick button fires and the
space bar launches grenades. Good luck. Wanna know how far I got? Level 1.
Well now I'm in a bit of a pickle. I'm running out of ports here. Hmmmmm, let's see, what else is there..... DOS? I can't imagine that's much better than the Commodore 64. Apple II and Atari ST? Haven't laid eyes on either of those computers in decades. MSX2, Commodore 16, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum? Do I live in Japan or Europe? No, I do not.
That leaves one more....... I logged onto eBay, found a copy for a "reasonable" price, closed by eyes, said a few prayers, and then clicked Buy It Now. Three days later I open my mailbox to find this.....
Yes, that's right, Ikari Warriors on the Atari 2600. Or, if you wanna be cool,
ATARI IKARI.
Oh, and why in the hell did I get a
sealed copy? That's all I could find on eBay. The world is conspiring against me.
This game was released in
1990. 13 years after the Atari 2600 launched. A couple of years after the PC Engine and Mega Drive hit the scene. The same year the initial Super Famicom and Neo Geo carts were produced. That is both awesome and terrifying.
So Atari Ikari is...... oddly playable. And not particularly difficult as the console will only allow a couple of enemies on the screen at a time. Controls are identical to Atari Commando - tap the joystick button to shoot and hold it to toss a grenade. It's a bit wonky and makes it impossible to lob a grenade without firing a few regular shots first. Thankfully ammo refills are plentiful.
On occasion you'll have the opportunity to hop into a tank. The tanks are a mixed bag. Every shot they fire "counts" as a grenade but they can't shoot diagonally. You also become a larger target and still die in one hit. Oh and they run out of gas, another instant death. You know what? Eff the tanks. The best thing about them is that they (oddly) refill your ammo once you exit. I guess each one contains an ammo cache. Oh, and exiting a tank voluntarily is done by mashing buttons apparently. Just like real life.
The game is beaten when the colonel is rescued. This man is clearly a giant, so I have no idea how he got captured in the first place. The screen flashes the standard "Atari lightshow" and then the game loops. Of course it does. But not for me. I've shut it off. That's enough Ikari Warriors for one lifetime.
Now where did I put my Ys games?