is a 1991

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 game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...

developed and published in Japan 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 ...

. It was designed by Yutaka Kounoe, whose works include ''

Dig Dug is a maze game, maze arcade game developed by Namco in 1981 and released in 1982, distributed in North America by Atari, Inc. The player controls Dig Dug to defeat all enemies per stage, by either inflating them to bursting or crushing them unde ...

'', '' Lucky & Wild'', and ''

Point Blank Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm can hit a target without the need to compensate for bullet drop, and can be adjusted over a wide range of distances by sighting in the firearm. If the bullet leaves the barrel paral ...

''. The game is the third installment in Namco's ''Tank Battalion'' series, following ''

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 ...

'' (1985). In 2017, it was re-released for the

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

as part of the ''

Namco Museum is a series of video game compilations developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for home video game consoles. The first title in the series, ''Namco Museum Vol. 1'', was released for the PlayStation in 1995. Entries in the series h ...

'' compilation.

Gameplay

The gameplay is very much like that of ''Tank Battalion'', except that this time up to two (on an upright model) or four (on a cocktail) players can play simultaneously, there are seven new types of enemy tanks (Normal Tanks, Speed Tanks, Hard Tanks, Big Tanks, Rapid Tanks, Tomahawk Tanks and Jeeps) and there is fifteen types of powerups (Bonus 500, 1000, 2000 and 3000, Shot Powerup, 4-Way Shot, Hyper Shot, Ripple Laser, Twin Shot, Small, Shield, Bomb Attack, Timer Stop, Force Field and Extend) which appear for players to collect in order to increase their tanks' firepower and boost their score; the enemies also roll into view from the top of the screen instead of just appearing and can also enter from the left and right sides, every fourth round is a "boss" round where the players must fight Train Cannons, AK Tanks and Boss Cannons at the top of the screen as well as the round's regular enemies, the players cannot destroy their own headquarters walls, when one player shoots another they will be pushed back, and the game has an ending which will be seen after clearing all thirty-six rounds.

Reception

''Game Machine'' reported that ''Tank Force'' was the fourth most-popular arcade game of February 1992. In his review for ''Namco Museum'' on the

, Damien McFerran of ''

Nintendo Life Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British mass media company based in Brighton. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and other ...

'' said that ''Tank Force'' made for an odd inclusion due to its obscurity, describing it as "''Pac-Man'' with tanks and destructible environments".

Notes

References

External links

* 1991 video games Arcade video games Head-to-head arcade video games Multidirectional shooters Namco arcade games Tank simulation video games Video game sequels Video games developed in Japan Virtual Console games {{scroll-shooter-videogame-stub