is a

multi-directional shooter A twin-stick shooter is a subgenre of shoot 'em up video games. It is a multidirectional shooter in which the player character is controlled using two joysticks: one for movement on a flat plane, and one to aim and fire shots at enemies, Usually s ...

arcade video game An arcade video game takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. Most arcade video games are coin-operated, housed in an arca ...

that was released by

Namco was a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Na ...

in 1980. The only direct home conversion is for the

MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by Microsoft and ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, then vice-p ...

, although it was followed up by two sequels: ''

Battle City is a multi-directional shooter video game for the Family Computer produced and published in 1985 by Namco. It is a successor to Namco's 1980 ''Tank Battalion'', and would be succeeded itself by the 1991 ''Tank Force''. An arcade version for the ...

'' for the

Famicom The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

in 1985 and ''

Tank Force is a 1991 multi-directional shooter arcade game developed and published in Japan by Namco. It was designed by Yutaka Kounoe, whose works include ''Dig Dug'', '' Lucky & Wild'', and ''Point Blank''. The game is the third installment in Namco's '' ...

'' for arcades in 1991.

Gameplay

The player, controlling a

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

, must destroy twenty enemy tanks in each round, which enter the playfield from the top of the screen. The enemy tanks attempt to destroy the player's base (represented on the map as an

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

) as well as the player tank itself. A round is cleared when the player destroys all twenty enemy tanks, but the game ends if the player's base is destroyed or they run out of lives.

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' believed that "the real excitement" of ''Tank Battalion'' lied within its ability to modify the level design by destroying the brick walls. Retrospectively in 2015, a writer for ''Beep!'' enjoyed the Sord M5 version for its improvements over the arcade original, such as the smoother movement of the player's tank, but disliked the squashed-looking graphics and narrow playing space. While the writer believed the MSX version was superior, they still recommended the M5 version for Namco fans and collectors.

Legacy

A theme based on the game for ''

Pac-Man 99 is a maze video game with battle royale elements developed by Arika and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for the Nintendo Switch. It was released through the Nintendo Switch Online service on April 7, 2021. Part of its ''Pac-Man'' franc ...

'' was released as free post-launch DLC, featuring visuals and sounds from the game.

Notes

References

External links

* 1980 video games Arcade video games Bandai Namco Entertainment franchises Multidirectional shooters Namco arcade games MSX games Tank simulation video games Video games developed in Japan {{arcade-stub