Guerrilla War is an overhead run and gun shooter video game produced by SNK of Japan. Originally released for the arcades in 1987 as an arcade game, it was later ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1989.
I borrowed to play this from a friend during the early 1990s. I liked that it is somehow similar to Jackal, which I have posted about before.
The Story
Your small, 3rd World island country is struggling against the cruel rule of a military dictator. Two players can join forces as guerilla commandos to battle the dictator's military, rescue the political prisoners, and bring forth total liberation!
The Graphics and Sound
The game's graphics are just average. Sprite flicker is common and slowdown is always happening. The characters look poorly made. The bosses are unremarkable and regular enemies are bland looking tanks and color-recycled enemy soldiers. Even the level design is mediocre; you will only go through generic jungle landscapes and urban areas.
The music is just below average background noise, usually muffled by the endless sounds of gunfire.
The Gameplay
You (and the 2nd player if available) go against numerous enemies and pick up power-ups to survive. You go slowly move up the map crossing jungles and urban areas. The game is damn hard and those nice power-ups that add to your firepower help you greatly. If you die or just do not like to use your special weapon, you can use your grenades which are in infinite supply. The infinite number of continues is a nice touch because of the game's difficulty.
There are only a few bosses to destroy in this game. Killing them without the power-ups is kind of a pain.
Guerilla War’s gameplay is simply fun. The co-op mode will make the game easier to beat, but it is still a challenge. That makes it have a good replay value.
My Verdict
Guerrilla War is fun. It is fast and intense. The developers were clearly cashing in on other games like these popular during the time of the NES' domination of the video game market. If you like video game mayhem to entertain you for an hour, this should cheer you up well, and is certainly recommended among NES games. It is so simple and it is very hard not to like.
Go and play Guerrilla War. Have an extra game controller ready by then for the NES or emulators on the PC. Enjoy it with a friend.