While the NES had plenty of shooters that put you in control of a spaceships or airplanes, there were similar games that grounded you in a tank, jeep or truck. Jackal is the jeep kind, but it lets you run over teeny little soldiers! Developed and published by Konami, this game has a strong pedigree to live up to, so how does it stack up?
Image source: Original photo by retro-room
Image source: User NintendoComplete on YouTube
Jackal is a one or two player (simultaneous co-op, thankfully) arcade-style shooter that drops you off behind enemy lines in a jeep on a rescue mission. You take your jeep through vertically scrolling stages (you move vertically, but it doesn't auto-scroll) as you take on the enemy forces and rescue hostages.
Your jeep can move in 8 directions around the stages, which are filled with buildings, plants, rocks and other obstructions that you'll need to navigate. The jeep is equipped with not only a gun that fires straight ahead, but you can also fire off a grenades that you can aim which travel in the direction your jeep is facing. You'll end up using the grenades more than your standard gun -- at least I did.
When you come across a building, launching a grenade will blow off the side of the building and free the prisoners within. You'll need to wait for them to run to your jeep, so the area needs to be cleared before you sit and wait for them. Its like Choplifter, but in my opinion much more fun.
Image source: User NintendoComplete on YouTube
About 2/3 of the way through the level you'll come across a helipad, which is where you will drop off the hostages for evacuation. Again, you'll need to clear out the area so you're not picked off while you're waiting for them to run from your jeep to the chopper.
Some buildings have a single hostage who's flashing. Picking up this hostage will power up your grenades into a faster and longer-reaching missile. Finding more of these 'flashers' will increase the power of your missiles even further by giving them a 2-way, then 4-way explosive radius. The powered-up version is great for targeting enemies who are positioned in spots where they can't hit you.
Image source: User NintendoComplete on YouTube
Speaking of enemies, you'll deal with the standard infantry soldiers, jeeps, tanks, turrets and planes. In addition, there are odd hazards like missile-firing statues to deal with. Your grenades and missiles will be your best method of taking them down, as bullets require multiple hits to kill anything bigger than a soldier. And speaking of that, you can run over the soldiers with your jeep, which is highly satisfying (albeit a bit deranged). Though doing this puts you at risk of a soldier firing at you before you can get to him.
The game plays and controls and should feel instantly familiar to anyone who's a fan of Konami's entries on the NES.
Image source: User NintendoComplete on YouTube
Jackal looks pretty good, from well-drawn sprites to colorful graphics. However, backgrounds are a bit bland and feel like they're missing detail and character. There's not a lot of animation, so it would have been nice to get a bit more detail on the graphics since they didn't need to be animated beyond a couple of frames.
Music is what you would expect from a late 80's Konami title. It has that distinct and familiar sound and perfectly gets the action movie/military theme across. Nothing here is terribly memorable, but its very well done. Sound effects are also pretty nice and have the right amount of heft and punch. The sound of your bullets hitting stronger targets is a bit grating though.
Image source: User NintendoComplete on YouTube
Jackal is definitely a classic on the NES. The gameplay is tight and fun, the concept is more than just mindlessly shooting everything in sight and the setting sets it apart from all of the space/jet based shooters of the era. The simultaneous 2-player gameplay rises it even higher in my book.
Its quite affordable these days, even if you want to collect a complete version of the game. Definitely recommended for all NES owners.
Current value:
Loose: $11.00 | Complete: $27.00
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Cover Image Source: MobyGames on YouTube