Jackal: One of the Best Video Games Ever Made Wasteland And Sky

Back in the day, video games were centered on just about anything. Simply look at the concepts of things like Q-Bert, Bubble Bobble, and Super Mario Bros., to see just how wild things could get. The way designers came up with so many different ways and systems to earn score and top the scoreboards was something else, much more than today.

On the other hand, sometimes they got ideas from more likely places to create things a bit more "realistic" and grounded. One of the more influential games of this type was Capcom's 1985 arcade classic Commando, perhaps one of the most influential of its era. This was a top down run and gun game where you play as the titular Commando as he mows down enemy waves attempting to kill him on his mission and rescue POWs along the way.

Needless to say, the simple yet addicting gameplay would lead the charge for other run and gun games to come, such as Rush 'N Attack (Green Beret), Ikari Warriors, and even the almighty Contra. The video game adaptions of such movie franchises as Rambo even took from Commando. This game's influence couldn't be ignored.

The late 1980s were really the period the Golden Age of gaming started, and titles like this were why. The arcades were the hottest places for new ideas, and their console ports at the time tended to add on to them in unique ways.

Of course, the NES was probably the system most well known for having arcade ports, but it was the one most known for having them be unique and sometimes better than the source material, graphics aside. Games like Contra, Gun.Smoke, and Double Dragon II, were far superior to the arcade editions despite simpler art styles by adding on and sharpening what made the original games work so very well. When it came to a home port, you were gambling, but sometimes it was worth it.

All that said, let us get into 1986's Jackal, also known as Top Gunner in the arcades in North America because Top Gun was a popular movie in the west. It was later released in 1988 on the NES, which is definitely its most well known version today.

Seeing the success of Commando, Konami thought how they could top it themselves. So, taking that top down formula, they instead used vehicles and gave the player a bit more movement. In doing this, they created Tokushu Butai Jackal (Special Forces Jackal) for the arcade. It was originally going to have one of those rotary joysticks to allow aim and shoot (similar to how dual stick aim works now for top down games) but wisely decided against it, instead having the player work around enemy approach instead of making everything into a bullet sponge.

The arcade version of Jackal (which is what every later edition would simply be called) was a very fun experience. Challenging, but the level design and enemy placement required the player thinking about their approach, and the unique control set up made them adopt strategy to succeed. Then there was the soundtrack, driving and high energy to simulate entering enemy territory to rescue your men. It's almost like they made the climax of The Delta Force into a game.

What makes the controls work as that there are only two buttons. One fires a fast but weak machine gun, and the other fires a slower abut strong grenade launcher. In every other version aside from the Japanese arcade original, the machine gun only fires northward meaning that lining your shots around enemy fire requires a bit more strategy, though otherwise the versions are the same. With just these two attacks, and the upgrades that can give you missile launchers, Jackal pretty much stays the same through its half-hour length.

At this point, we might as well discuss the difference between the arcade and the NES version, since the latter is basically what the game is more known for today, if it is thought of at all.

Mainly, the field of view is bigger due to it no longer being limited to a vertical screen. Jackal has a lot of horizontal movement, after all. Also, instead of being one long continuous stage it is divided more traditionally into six stages, though the map at the end of each stage remains the same regardless. It's more of a presentation choice. Your jeep can also carry the full amount of POWs in each level which makes a bit more sense in a game about score and upgrades--you should be able to get the max amount if you play well.

Otherwise, aside from a slight expected graphics dip, the versions are not that much different. The soundtrack is also more typical of Konami's 8-bit output, meaning it was better than most of their arcade OST (sound-wise) at the time. You definitely did not feel like the NES version was a downgrade when you played this one.

What makes Jackal so good is that everything comes together perfectly. It's not a game you think about much when you aren't playing it, until you pick it up again. It's at that moment that everything comes together and you question how you had forgotten it was this good.

As an example, back in the day we didn't tend to buy a lot of games. My friends didn't and neither did my family, especially with rental shops around. For some reason, the one game, aside from the endless versions of Super Mario Bros. everyone had, everyone appeared to own was Jackal. I couldn't quite tell you why, but it was everywhere. It was a great co-op experience with friends, the controls were perfect, the music absorbing, and the incredible variety with such a simple concept such as dealing with on foot enemies, stationary cannons, bombers, and other vehicles, always made it a joy to experience. It was also the perfect length for an arcade shooter at six levels and being almost exactly half an hour in length. And, just like Contra or Sunset Riders, its difficulty is perfectly balanced, never feeling quarter-munching hard, but perfectly fair.

The one thing I couldn't tell you was why it never had a sequel, despite its popularity. It was never quite on the level of fame as the big boys or the licensed games that Konami put out, but it was certainly no bomb and had an enduring success on the NES. One might imagine what a Super Jackal might have been on the SNES, or maybe a MERCs style sequel published by Sega for the Genesis, But one was never made.

Instead it was filed away in the attic with the rest of the NES collection when kids moved on to the new 16-bit systems. Jackal was more or less forgotten by that point.

Regardless, today if one mentioned Jackal to anyone who has ever played an NES before you would certainly get words of praise following it. This is a classic and a game I wish would have more influence now, especially in the top-down action game subgenre. In other words, no dual analog for aiming and thereby turning the game into a bullet sponge fest to pump up the difficulty, but a well balanced game requiring strategy and different approaches to the many situations that the player is faced with.

Many top down games say they are influenced by Jackal, but almost none really are in this aspect. It's one of the reasons it has never been topped in its genre, even though it could be. These old games still have plenty of life left in them!

All that said, the NES is unmistakable one of the best systems video games has ever, and will ever, produce. Nostalgia aside, it was home to many high quality experiences never again replicated either in the arcade or the home market. Jackal is one of these examples, which is what helps make it one of the best games ever made.

In these days, as AAA gaming falls further and further into the abyss and more and more people begin moving to indie and retro gaming, the NES will once again come out of storage, as will that infamous box or cartridge art of those soldiers going wild in the jeep with the gun blasting away. They will put the game in and within minutes realize just what they were missing.

I don't know what the industry's future holds, but I do know that it won't be in what they are pushing today. It will be in the simpler and more pure arcade experiences that built the industry from the ground up to begin with.

It will be with short lengths and infinite replay value, co-op games with loved ones, and pure arcade experiences based on skill, strategy, and score. The future in gaming is going to be when it reconnects with the past to make new experiences again. When it does, games like Jackal will be the blueprint they need to remember the magic they so desperately need. Simple, yet complex. Easy to get into, but hard to master. The classics had it all.

And that is what makes Jackal one of the best games ever made.