Game Info
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Developer: SNK
Publisher: SNK
Year of Release: 1986

Game Review & Impressions
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Having looked back through all the longplays I've recorded, I was surprised I'd never tackled Ikari Warriors. This arcade classic is heavily inspired by Capcom's Commando, and follows very similar design philosophies. It's the same run-and-gun affair viewed from a top-down perspective, where up to two players must blast their way through waves of enemy infantry, blow up bunkers, and generally annihilate anything that stands in their way.

What sets Ikari Warriors apart from Commando and piers is the combination of 8-way stick with a rotary dial which allows the player to move and aim in completely different directions. It's a control scheme which sounds cool on paper, although presents a steeper learning curve in practice, resulting in an experience which I personally do not care for. Factor in the huge numbers of enemies you'll be facing at any given time, not to mention the landmines liberally secreted across the combat theatre, and you'll be in for one heck of a rough ride. Being able to clamber inside a tank and rain death on your foes from afar offers momentary respite, because you'll need to find cannisters of gas to keep the damn thing operational, and it takes only a couple of blasts from an enemy grenade to put it out of commission.

Although I'm perhaps not the hugest fan of the gameplay, I can definitely get behind the visual aesthetic. The presentation here is truly fantastic, particularly the animation, something that SNK would become renowned for into the 1990s and beyond with the Neo Geo. The way enemy bullets kick up dirt is a really neat touch, demonstrating attention to detail which other developers of the time simply wouldn't have bothered with.

Chapters
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00:00 Attract mode
01:00 Gameplay
15:35 Ending

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