Developed and published by Namco, Battle City was one of the few games made by the company to not receive an arcade release. Yup, it went straight the consoles, and later to handhelds with the help of British developer Nova Games. I am legitimately wondering why this game never saw release outside of Japan. Even today it’s never been made available on Virtual Console here in the states. Let’s find out why.
The game begins with that classic scrolling title that was common back in the early days of the NES. First, let’s talk about 1-player mode. The objective is to move your tank around a city and destroy enemy tanks while defending your base at the bottom of the screen. The graphics are pretty simple, although everything is at least identifiable; the tanks look like tanks, the bricks look like bricks, the trees look like trees, etc. As for the music, it’s fine, but there’s only one jingle that plays when you start a level.
Onto the gameplay. Are you familiar with the Atari 2600 classic Combat? Well, Battle City is pretty much a juiced up version of it. You have to destroy enemy tanks that are scouring the map so they don’t destroy your base (indicated by an eagle) at the bottom of the screen. The number of tanks you have to destroy is indicated by a counter on the right of the screen. Once all tanks are destroyed, you will progress to the next level.
The map consists of five different types of terrain: bricks, which can be destroyed by your weapon; steel, which cannot be destroyed without enough stars; trees, which the player can easily drive through; ice, which hinders the tank’s control; and water, which cannot be crossed. The only way to destroy steel walls is by collecting a certain number of stars, which will enhance the firepower of your tank.
There are more power-ups that can be acquired throughout the game. There are bombs, which will destroy all enemy tanks; a clock, which will freeze all enemy tanks; shields, which are pretty self-explanatory; and shields, which will temporarily protect the base with steel.
There are different types of tanks, but in terms of power there’s really only two. Three of the tanks only require one shot to destroy, while another requires four. Each tank will spawn one at a time until all tanks are destroyed.
That’s really it. If you get shot or your base is destroyed, you lose a life. Lose all your lives and the game is over. There is a two-player mode where you and your friend both have to defend your base, and there are even more tanks that spawn at one time. There is also a construction mode where you can create your own maps. Unfortunately, Battle City does not have a battery save, so once you power off the game your courses are gone.
So why wasn’t this game released here? Well, it could have something to do with the fact that the Cold War was still going on at the time and this could have created some tension in the states. That’s really all I can think of. They released Combat prior to this, so I know people in the states enjoyed these types of games. But it raises the question why it still hasn’t received a North American release to this day. I guess we’ll never know.
Battle City is a very simple game, but it is functional. Everything works the way it’s supposed to, so it ends up being quite fun in the end. The Famicom is your cheapest option, so if you enjoy games like Combat, give Pac-Man and Galaga a rest and pick up this Namco gem.
Rating: 10/10
Featured Image art by Kaio Scott