365//365: Day 019 – Jackal (NES) [Quickie]

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I’m not a big time fan of co-op games these days, but there were a very small handful of them that I’ve enjoyed playing along with friends years ago. Herc’s Adventures was one of my all time favorites. Endless entertainment in that title that makes you laugh quite often enough. Another one that ranked up there was Jackal. A little known and unappreciated gem from Konami, Jackal was a game that’s a total blast to play co-op, but very frustrating to play solo.

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Some bosses are a nuisance if you don't act quickly enough.

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Basically, you control a jeep, driving from point A to point B, with a machine gun that only fires forward, and a limitless supply of grenades that can be heaved in any direction. You have to rescue POW’s in certain buildings, sometimes right at a time, that all fit inside your vehicle like its a clown car. Sometimes you’ll rescue a special POW that magically gives you the ability to swap grenades out for missiles. It’s a rough looking game overall, with detail lacking. Audio wise, typical bangs, booms and biffs, but the music is respectable all around. With a second player, its reckless, no frills fun. It’s not an extremely long game, but some stages feel like they go on for a while. Though two player co-op action is fun, single player wise, its a huge frustration.

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There’s a lot that goes on at any given moment. That’s not really a huge issue, as there are a lot of shooting games on the NES that have chaotic and frantic action going on. But why in the world do I die from ONE BULLET fired by a SOLDIER? It’s not a rocket, not a grenade, not a nuke, not anything but a white dot like all other gunfire you see. Some of the bosses are a massive undertaking while going solo. Some of them, like the second boss, which features four stone heads shooting heat seeking missiles at you, are pretty easy once you figure out the pattern and attack right away, but unless you got a buddy gunning along side you, the action going on throughout Jackal might be a bit overwhelming.

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If you’re playing alone, be aware of the difficulty and cheap deaths here and there, thanks to a SOLDIER with a GUN that can take out your jeep with ONE SHOT. Luckily, you have unlimited continues, which balances out the cheap deaths and one hit kills. While a lot of these issues are present even with a second player, you’re having so much mindless fun that it doesn’t really hit you as much, or as hard. If you enjoy doing the co-op thing, give Jackal a try.

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There!

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Rating: 6.7