Rush'n Attack

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Rush'n Attack

Developer(s)	Konami
Publisher(s)	Konami
Release date(s)	1985
Genre(s)	Run and gun
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players, alternating turns
Platform(s)	Arcade, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, NES
Input	8-way Joystick, 2 buttons
Arcade cabinet	Standard upright
Arcade system(s)	Konami Green Beret Hardware
Arcade display	Raster resolution, Horizontal

Rush'n Attack (known as Green Beret outside the US) is an action/platform arcade game released by Konami in 1985, and later ported to other systems, the most well known version for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The game is remembered for its Cold War setting, titular pun ("Russian Attack"), and its reliance on the player using a knife to dispatch enemies. The sequel to Rush'n Attack is M.I.A.: Missing in Action, which was released four years later.

1 Storyline
2 Gameplay
3 Differences in NES port
4 External links

[edit] Storyline

The player(s) take on the role of an assumingly United States special operations soldier infiltrating an enemy military base which, as hinted by the name, resembles a Soviet military complex. In the arcade version, the plot is to save several POW's from being executed by firing squad.

However in the NES port, the plot is changed to finding and destroying the "enemy's secret weapon." In the final level of both versions, the player fires a bazooka at a siloed ICBM, eventually causing it to detonate. This is followed by a brief animation of the player character running away from the base, with a mushroom cloud rising in the background.

[edit] Gameplay

Throughout most of the game, the player's main weapon is a knife, although power-ups let the player temporarily use a handgun, a flamethrower, bazooka, and grenades. The game has a total of six stages: Iron bridge and missile base, Airport, Harbor, Forest and airshed, Warehouse and the Enemy base.

[edit] Differences in NES port

In the NES port of the game, the appearance of most enemies was triggered by the advance of the screen to the right. Ironically, this meant the game was much harder if the player actually did as the title suggested, and "rushed" to attack. Conversely, in the arcade version, enemies constantly rush at the player from both sides of the screen. Additionally, in the NES version, there were a fixed number of 'special' enemies per level (i.e. jumping soldiers, shooting soldiers, etc.) Only the standard walking/running foot soldiers would come randomly. In the arcade, all types of soldiers, except ones that triggered power-ups, would randomly appear, making the game much more difficult. This was kept in the Commodore 64 version.
The flamethrower is obsolete in the NES port and all occurrences are replaced with the bazooka.
There are more enemy animations and postures in the arcade version.
In the NES version it is possible for the player to jump in a lying down position. This is accomplished by lying prone and then pressing up on the d-pad and attack simultaneously. If the player stabs an enemy and then immediately jumps, the player's character will jump while running in the air.
The port allows for two-player simultaneous play, while the arcade does not.
The music on the arcade version is more of a simple military-style drum beat, as is the C64 port, while the NES has fully developed melodic songs.