December 2021 Shmup Club - Jackal/Top Gunner

[MetalFRO]

[img width=275 height=365]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-027/bf/U-027-S-03170-A.jpg[/img]

In the mid to late 1980's, Konami was on a hot streak, having found much success with arcade games such as Gradius, Contra, and other games. And their Famicom/NES conversions were equally lauded, often taking the original games and changing up the formula a bit to better suit the home market, often resulting in what some consider definitive versions of the games. One of the games they didn't take too many liberties with, however, was the arcade shooter Top Gunner. For those who are more familiar with the NES library, than lesser known Konami arcade games, you may know this game as Jackal. Released in the arcade in 1986, and followed up on the Famicom Disk System (as Akai Yousai: Final Commando) and NES in 1988 as Jackal, this is a Konami classic that might not be quite as well known as some of their other 80's output, but it's no less relevant.

You take command of a unit of elite soldiers, on a mission to rescue POWs behind enemy lines. You take the fight to hostile territory, with only your wits, and your heavily equipped military Jeep. As you rescue some POWs, they can help outfit you with better weaponry, to give you a better tactical advantage. But the fight won't be easy, as you'll encounter soldiers on foot, turrets and cannon emplacements, tanks, and other enemy forces, all vying for your destruction. Join the RF Generation Shmup Club as we play something a bit more shmup-adjacent for December. Whether you play the arcade original Top Gunner, the Famicom release Akai Yousai: Final Commando, or the NES release of Jackal, you're sure to have a good time!

Participants:
MetalFRO
Addicted
EZ Racer

[EZ Racer]

Looking forward to it

[Golem]

Got the 1 credit clear in coop (2 credit clear?) with my buddy!


Regarding the final level:

Spoiler (hover to show)

The final level took the most rote learning. We memorized every appearance of the brown helicopter. I didn't realize this until now, but the brown helicopter debuts in level 6. Its most nasty appearance is right before the boss over a treadmill. If one player lags behind, the helicopter can basically point blank them just by virtue of where it spawns on the screen.

For the final boss, we exploited a safe spot on the far right side of the arena that is just above the pothole. The boss' bullets can reach the far right, but they can't reach that far down the screen. And the fire cannon can reach the bottom of the screen, but it cannot reach the rightmost set of tiles. So, we would hide just above the rightmost pothole and pop upward to attack.

We used grenades, not bullets. The slow trajectory of grenades let us fire and retreat. Because the grenades were slow, they would occupy space near the boss long after the jackal drove away.

Audio played a crucial role, since the bassy effect confirms grenade hits in a way that the visuals leave vague.

Also, I had to look up what a jackal was: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackal_(vehicle)

[MetalFRO]

That's awesome! Great to see some coop play in the club, and very cool that you were able to clear it. I'm wondering how to deal with that chopper on the treadmill in stage 6 with just a single player. I haven't found the trick yet, but then I've been struggling a bit earlier in the game just finding a good rhythm.

[MetalFRO]

I made it to the final boss in Jackal last night, but it gets so hectic at that point, I got quickly overwhelmed. I think I'm going to try and watch a couple play-throughs to try and get an idea of a good approach. The final stage is brutal, and there are a couple spots where, if you don't have upgraded weapons, it's even harder, because it's more dangerous to jum pinto the fray and lob a grenade, then duck back out of the line of fire again. So I need to get a good idea about some strategies. The fact that there are no flashing POW's to upgrade weapons in the last stage just makes it even harder. So either the upgraded weapons are the way to go, or the grenades, because of their versatility. There seems to be no middle ground.

[Golem]

I made it to the final boss in Jackal last night, but it gets so hectic at that point, I got quickly overwhelmed. I think I'm going to try and watch a couple play-throughs to try and get an idea of a good approach. The final stage is brutal, and there are a couple spots where, if you don't have upgraded weapons, it's even harder, because it's more dangerous to jum pinto the fray and lob a grenade, then duck back out of the line of fire again. So I need to get a good idea about some strategies. The fact that there are no flashing POW's to upgrade weapons in the last stage just makes it even harder. So either the upgraded weapons are the way to go, or the grenades, because of their versatility. There seems to be no middle ground.

This is my experience, too. The game is pretty laid back, and then WHAM, stage 6 is a wall. The final boss especially ramps up the viciousness.

[EZ Racer]

It may be weird to say, but I feel like the more I play this the worse I'm getting. Early on, I was purely in reaction mode. Now that I'm starting to get the mechanics, I keep trying to play more aggressive, which isn't working out too well.

[Golem]

It may be weird to say, but I feel like the more I play this the worse I'm getting. Early on, I was purely in reaction mode. Now that I'm starting to get the mechanics, I keep trying to play more aggressive, which isn't working out too well.

Jackal definitely rewards a timid playstyle. Since you can control the screen scroll, you're free to inch it upward, back off, and pick off enemy combatants at your leisure.

This bugged my buddy when we played in coop. :b I'm reserved in gameplay, whereas he prefers aggression.

[MetalFRO]

It may be weird to say, but I feel like the more I play this the worse I'm getting. Early on, I was purely in reaction mode. Now that I'm starting to get the mechanics, I keep trying to play more aggressive, which isn't working out too well.

Be glad you're playing the NES version, where you can sometimes despawn stuff, or use spawn position to your advantage. The arcade version (Top Gunner) is BRUTAL, and doesn't let you sit in one place too long, or you'll start to get swarmed with enemy tanks and/or soldiers. And even worse, there are no continues, so it's 1 credit or nothing.

[MetalFRO]

Last night I played Tokushu Butai Jackal, the Japanese arcade version of the game. The original version differs from what we got in the West, both in arcade AND console form. In Top Gunner arcade, and in Jackal on NES, your main gun always fired upward. In the JP arcade version, it fires based on the direction you're facing, just like your secondary weapon. It changes the gameplay dynamic quite a bit, as you can imagine, and makes some strategies that are clear winners in the other versions no longer viable, while opening up some other possibilities. First impression is that the change to a fixed cannon is a welcome one, because it gives you more coverage, but I can see how someone might prefer greater agency over their direction of fire. I haven't played the Famicom Disk System version of the game yet, but I'm going to check that out next, and see if it follows the JP arcade release, or if it has the fixed cannon of the other games.

[MetalFRO]

It may be weird to say, but I feel like the more I play this the worse I'm getting. Early on, I was purely in reaction mode. Now that I'm starting to get the mechanics, I keep trying to play more aggressive, which isn't working out too well.

Jackal definitely rewards a timid playstyle. Since you can control the screen scroll, you're free to inch it upward, back off, and pick off enemy combatants at your leisure.

This bugged my buddy when we played in coop. :b I'm reserved in gameplay, whereas he prefers aggression.

Regarding the timid play style, you're spot-on here. Use the NES hardware's ability to despawn stuff to your advantage, as well as on-screen sprite limits, because they will be your friend in helping things not get too hairy.

[MetalFRO]

I streamed the Famicom Disk System version of the game last night for a bit, and it's an interesting thing. It follows the arcade game a bit more closely, in that it has more straightforward stages, no horizontal scrolling, so everything is much tighter. Also, the stage order is different, so what we know as stage 1 is not in the game, and our stage 2 is stage 1 in the FDS version. The color choices in the "attract" sequence are also different, for some reason. I'm not sure why Konami changed that for the Western release, so it's curious. It seems like it might be a touch easier than the Western version as well, so aside from the nasty gauntlet of turrets along the conveyor belt (which is still a thing in the FDS release), I was able to get pretty far into the game in just a couple tries. An argument could be made that we got the "definitive" version in North America, since it's more game with larger areas to explore, but Golem pointed out on stream last night that you could also say that just makes the NA version a bit "fatty" in terms of the game play, and the more streamlined approach of the FDS version could be an advantage. I'd be curious to get thoughts from others, if they think the US version could benefit from some trimming, or if everyone likes it how it is.

[Golem]

Happy holidays!
[img width=700 height=501]https://i.imgur.com/5mPbrud.png[/img]

[MetalFRO]

Haha, that's great! Did you do that yourself?

[Golem]

Thanks! I Googled the reindeer artwork and slapped them together in Paint.net. :b