Help me identify an old video game.

[DARKMITE8]

Top down view 8-bit or 16-bit game (not sure about system or if it was arcade only). More like Contra than Double Dragon (you're a soldier like Rambo/GI JOE). Could be a movie tie-in. The rest is fuzzy.

It might be an entry in the Commando series. Any other possibilities in that subgenre?

http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/commando/commando.jpg

http://www.consoleclassix.com/info_img/Commando_NES_ScreenShot4.jpg

http://images.webmagic.com/klov.com/screens/C/wCommando.png

[Trevor]

It can't be Ikari Warriors, can it?

[ElCapitanAmerica]

Ikari Warriors?

[Martin Savage]

Or the first Metal Gear?

[Eyeball Kid]

Mercs
Heavy Barrel
Gain Ground
Time Soldiers

All I've got.

[A-Pathetic]

Heavy Barrel was my first guess.

[devincf]

Rambo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo6mLfCrzhg

[Graham]

Those aren't 'top-down', they're 'isometric'.

[ZombieFever]

Guerilla War?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f8/WGuerrilla_War.jpg/180px-WGuerrilla_War.jpg http://www.picofactory.com/images/rom/consoles/nes/games/g/guerrilla_war.png

[ElCapitanAmerica]

Those aren't 'top-down', they're 'isometric'.

Those games are not isometric.

[Nexus-7]

Ikari Warriors was my first guess as well. Could always be Total Carnage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Carnage), but I'm not sure if that was ever on consoles.

[BrianM]

If you picked up pieces of a weapon as you moved through the game until you had assembled the "heavy barrel!" then it was probably Heavy Barrel. I don't think you did that in the Ikari or Rambo games.

The thing I remember about Ikari was the ability to jump into tanks along the way but don't think that was unique among these types.

[ElCapitanAmerica]

What made Ikari warriors stand out (at the arcades) was the "rotary joystick" it had for aiming and 2 player co-op.

[JudgeSmails]

Wasn't Ikari Warriors where the famous Up, Up, Down, Down, B, A, B, A code originated?

[Trevor]

I don't even know where to begin.

Edit: That's a perfectly acceptable thing for normal people not to know, JudgeSmails, but it's like hearing your Mom say "Isn't The Fly that movie where Wilford Brimley jumps out of the closet and says 'Eat This!'"

[PullTheStrings!]

No - Ikari Warriors was even easier: A, B, B, A

[BillyG]

I don't even know where to begin.

Edit: That's a perfectly acceptable thing for normal people not to know, JudgeSmails,

Yeah, perfectly normal people over the age of 40 and under the age of 20. If you're anywhere in that range, no excuses.

[JudgeSmails]

I don't even know where to begin.

Edit: That's a perfectly acceptable thing for normal people not to know, JudgeSmails, but it's like hearing your Mom say "Isn't The Fly that movie where Wilford Brimley jumps out of the closet and says 'Eat This!'"

I hear ya Minsky. This is all on me, I should have known better and I apologize. For some reason I could have sworn using that on this game on the NES back in the day and I was really thinking it was the first time I used it. Of course, I was wrong. I just have a special place in my heart for Ikari Warriors and that has crossed wires in my gaming memory. I'm hanging up my gaming geek cred card for the day.

[ElCapitanAmerica]

I know this is not the game you are looking for, but now I can't wait to play this ... T.N.K III

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/1043/1181242177284rf6.png

[bendrix]

Yeah, perfectly normal people over the age of 40 and under the age of 20. If you're anywhere in that range, no excuses.

Um, Contra, right?

[Overlord]

Is it Ikari Warriors?

[DARKMITE8]

I think IKARI WARRIORS (http://www.bossyman15.com/gallery/ca08pic/ikari%20warriors.JPG) is the winner. Thanks, guys!

Probably why I kept thinking of CONTRA and DOUBLE DRAGON (2 dudes) and the Rambo-lookalike. I knew CHUD wouldn't let me down. I believe it was the arcade where I was exposed to it too.

EDIT: Mercs was the sequel to Commando BTW.
I don't think I've ever seen Gain Ground (http://www.consoleclassix.com/genesis/gain_ground.html) or Time Soldiers (http://www.vgmuseum.com/scans/scans3/timesoldiers.jpg)before. I was raised on the NES. Never owned a Sega system.

I didn't realize there were so many of these that were basically the same game. The covers are all awesome though.

http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/3413/216338-heavy_barrel_large.jpg
http://www.mamemarquees.com/images/images_big/ikari_warriors_sideart_3.jpg

[BrianM]

What made Ikari warriors stand out (at the arcades) was the "rotary joystick" it had for aiming and 2 player co-op.

The rotary joysticks were awesome, and it was surprisingly rare to find a machine that didn't have both of them in good working order.

[Overlord]

I'm glad my post (Post #21, above) was able to provide the correct answer to you!

[Dan]

Lucky Overlord pointed that out or you guys could have been here quite some time.

Well played, Sir.

[Eyeball Kid]

See, I know Gain Ground and Time Soldiers from the arcade. But then I spent the better part of elementary school and junior high pouring tokens down the hungry maw of Alladin's Castle.

Edit: above in response to Darkmite and his tragic lack of Genesis.

[Samurai Mike]

I remember playing a game on the C64 way back. It started in the cockpit of a ship where you brought ammo, and various weapons like dynamite, grenades, and smart bombs. Then you navigated a starfield and selected a planet to land on.

Once there the view switched to top-down and you ran around a side scrolling world killing enemies. Grenades could be thrown but only in one direction. Smart bombs were activated with the space bar and killed every enemy on the screen. Dynamite was used to get through walls. There were power ups to pick up but some could be negatives like health drain.

The game was very buggy and though there were plenty of worlds only a few would load. Anyone have any idea about this?