Battle City
| Battle City | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio |
Namco Nova (Game Boy) |
| Publisher |
Namco Nova (Game Boy) |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
Famicom
 July 9, 2014 |
| platform |
Famicom , Arcade (VS. System), X1 , FM-77,
Game Boy , Virtual Console |
| genre | Action , shoot 'em up |
| Game mode | Single player , multiplayer |
Battle City ( Japanese: バ ト ル シ テ ィ ー , Batoru Shitī ) is a tank warfare video game developed by Namco and released for the Nintendo Family Computer in 1985 . The home version of the 1980 arcade game Tank Battalion ( タ ン ク バ タ リ ア ン , Tanku Batarian ) has a single and two player mode and a simple level editor .
An unchanged version of the game is included in the Japanese edition of the GameCube shooter Star Fox Assault as an unlockable extra and has been available for the Wii ( Virtual Console ) since September 2007 . Virtual Console versions for Nintendo's 3DS and Wii U were also released exclusively in Japan in 2014 and 2015.
Battle City was also released as a modified version for the Game Boy : in 1991 as a single module and in 1996 together with Galaga , Mappy and the golf simulation Namco Classic in the game compilation Namco Gallery Vol. 1 ( ナ ム コ ギ ャ ラ リ ー Vol. 1 ).
Game mechanics
Battle City includes 35 levels , each of which is limited to the size of a screen. The levels represent battlefields from a bird's eye view and always contain the following elements: Headquarters, your own tank, enemy tanks and obstacles such as walls or bodies of water. The headquarters, symbolized by a heraldic eagle , is located in the middle at the bottom of the screen and is surrounded by a protective wall. If this wall is destroyed by enemy or your own shots and the eagle is hit, the game is lost. If the player loses all lives, this also leads to the end of the game.
The player controls a yellow tank that starts to the left of the headquarters and is supported in cooperative multiplayer mode by a green tank controlled by the second player. The aim of each level is to destroy all enemy tanks while defending the headquarters.
The opponents appear in three places at the top of the screen. As the game progresses, the player fights against faster and better armored enemy tanks (a total of four types) and maneuvers past various obstacles such as brick and steel walls or bodies of water or shoots them. While the number of opponents at each level is twenty, the amount of the respective tank types varies. If a red flashing tank is hit, one of six different power-ups appears : The grenade, for example, destroys all visible enemies, and the stopwatch makes it temporarily unable to move. The star power-up is used to improve the firing power and speed of your own tank.
After completing each stage, the destroyed tanks are listed and the score is calculated. If the last level is successfully completed, the game starts over with a different opponent constellation.
The Famicom version of Battle City is one of the first video games with an integrated level editor. In this, all terrain and obstacle graphics of the game can be placed on an area of 26 by 26 fields, whereby a single tile graphic takes up 2 by 2 fields. However, player and opponent starting points cannot be set. Nor can the created level be saved permanently. After exiting the editor, the prepared map replaces the start level.
Game Boy versions
The Game Boy version developed by Nova was released in Japan in August 1991. In addition to the hardware-related changeover to black and white graphics, this version differs from the Famicom predecessor in several ways: Unlike the FC part, only part of the game or battlefield is visible in the handheld version at once; when moving towards the edge , the screen section scrolls with it. For reasons of clarity, a small overall map shows the position of the opponents (but no obstacles). The number of levels is 50 and instead of a cooperative two-player option, connected Game Boys have the option of a versus game in which the players - each for themselves - have to survive waves of opponents and the one who loses all lives first is eliminated.
The first part of the Namco Gallery trilogy, published in 1996, combines Battle City and three other classic Namco games - Galaga , Mappy and Classic Golf - in one Game Boy module. The most extensive version of Battle City to date contains a four-digit password system and comes up with additional levels and two view modes (classic and scrolling, enlarged display). When playing with a Super Game Boy , the Namco Gallery Vol.1 has its own predefined color palettes and game-specific frames. Like the Nova version, the Namco Gallery section does not contain a map editor.
Individual evidence
- ↑ ス タ ー フ ォ ッ ク ス ア サ ル ト - ボ ー ナ ス ゲ ー ム (Bonus Game) , nintendo.co.jp, accessed February 20, 2012
- ↑ VC バ ト ル シ テ ィ ー (Virtual Console) , nintendo.co.jp, accessed February 20, 2012
- ↑ 俺 た ち ゲ ー ム 少年 （ボ ー イ） - NOVA は NOVA で も… 「バ ト ル シ テ ィ ー」 , ipupa.blog59.fc2.com, accessed on February 20, 2012
- ↑ 詳細 デ ー タ - バ ト ル シ テ ィ ー の 各種 詳細 デ ー タ 置 場 , ayu.ne.jp, accessed February 20, 2012
- ↑ GB の ゲ ー ム 制 覇 し ま し ょ 」の ま と め - バ ト ル シ テ ィ ー （ノ バ） , atwiki.jp/gball, accessed February 20, 2012
- ↑ ナ ム コ ゲ ー ム ボ ー イ / ナ ム コ ギ ャ ラ リ ー VOL.1 , bandainamcogames.co.jp, accessed February 20, 2012
Web links
- Strategywiki.org - Battle City in the video game guide StrategyWiki with descriptions of the level and game elements (English)
- Ayu.ne.jp/user/tic/ - Extensive Battle City page, u. a. with detailed level descriptions and tactics (Japanese)