is a
military-themed
run-and-gun shooter game released by
Taito for
arcades in Nov.
1982
Events January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
.
It was one of the first overhead run-and-gun shooters, a precursor to many similarly-themed games of the mid-to-late 1980s. The original arcade version of ''Front Line'' is controlled with a
joystick
A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. A joystick, also known as the control column, is the principal cont ...
, a single button, and a
rotary dial that can be pushed in like a button. The single button is used to throw grenades and to enter and exit tanks, while the rotary dial aims and fires the player's gun.
The game was created by Tetsuya Sasaki. It was a commercial success in Japan, where it was the seventh highest-grossing
arcade game of 1982. However, it received a mixed critical and commercial reception in Western markets, with praise for its originality but criticism for its difficulty. The game's overhead run-and-gun formula preceded
Capcom
is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...
's arcade hit ''
Commando'' (1985) by several years. ''Front Line'' went on to inspire the
SNK shooters ''
TNK III'' (1985) and ''
Ikari Warriors'' (1986), which follow the conventions established by ''Front Line'', including the vertically scrolling levels, entering/exiting tanks, and not dying when an occupied tank is destroyed.
Gameplay
Playing as a lone soldier, the player's ultimate objective is to lob a hand grenade into the enemy's fort, first by fighting off
infantry units and then battling
tanks before finally reaching the opponent's compound.
The player begins with two weapons: a pistol and grenades, with no ammo limit. Once the player has advanced far enough into enemy territory, there's a "tank warfare" stage in which the player can hijack a tank to fight off other enemy tanks.
There are two types of tanks available: a light tank armed with a machine gun and a heavy tank armed with a cannon. The light tank is more nimble, but can be easily destroyed by the enemy. The heavy tank is slower, but can sustain one hit from a light tank; a second hit from a light tank will destroy it. A single shot from a heavy tank will destroy either type of tank. If a partially damaged tank is evacuated, the player can jump back in and resume its normal operation; however, with either type of tank, the player must exit the vehicle within a few seconds of being struck by a fatal shot. If the player does not exit a tank before it explodes, he loses a life. An extra life is awarded at 10,000 or 15,000, and none thereafter.
The tank battle continues until the player reaches the enemy's fort. The fort is a brick-barricaded tank which fires mortar rounds while the player attempts to take it out. In order to destroy this tank, the player must toss a grenade over the brick barricade, which can only be accomplished on foot. Once this is done, the tank will explode and an enemy soldier will wave a white flag, signalling surrender, plus 1,000 bonus points. The game repeats again with the infantry level, but enemy soldiers become increasingly quicker and deadlier in successive rounds; points are multiplied based on the level played.
Ports
Following its release in the coin-op arcade platform, the game was ported to the
ColecoVision console and the
PC-8801 and
Sharp X1 computers in 1983, the
Atari 2600 and
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 ...
in 1984, and the
FM-7 and
Nintendo Famicom in 1985.
The Famicom version was Taito's first game for the console.
Reception
The arcade game was a commercial success in Japan, where ''Game Machine'' listed ''Front Line'' as the seventh highest-grossing
arcade video game of 1982. ''Game Machine'' later listed ''Front Line'' on their June 1, 1983 issue as being the twentieth most-successful table arcade unit of the month. In the United Kingdom, the arcade game had limited commercial success due to its initially high difficulty.
The arcade game received mixed reviews upon release, with praise for its originality but criticism for its difficulty. Following its North American debut at the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) show in November 1982, ''Video Games'' magazine published two reviews. One review said "Taito has a knack for coming up with some of the most original and offbeat games in the business" with ''Front Line'' being "an example" of this, while noting the controls are similar to Taito's earlier ''
Western Gun'' (1975). The other review listed it among the top ten "Misses" of the show and stated it was a "war game with a lot of potential, but also with a firing mechanism that's so difficult to maneuver it ruins the game".
''
Computer and Video Games
''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...
'' stated that, despite the initial difficulty, "the action really takes off" with the tank and it's "worth persevering with" until then.
In the 1983
Arcade Awards, ''Front Line'' was a runner-up for
Coin-Op Game of the Year, behind ''
Pole Position
In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...
''. The award was given by ''
Electronic Games'', which stated that this "arcade approach to the dirty business of infantry combat forces the player to keep moving and firing constantly" and the "action is non-stop in this attractive
shoot 'em up".
[games-magazine-1984-01/Electronic_Games_Issue_23_Vol_02_11_1984_Jan#page/n75/mode/1up](_blank)
/ref>
Legacy
''Front Line'' was one of the first video games to feature a ground combat theme and grenades, a precursor to many similarly-themed games of the mid-to-late 1980s. It was one of the earliest overhead run-and-gun shooter games, preceding Capcom
is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...
's arcade hit '' Commando'' (1985) by several years.
''Front Line'' was the basis for SNK's '' TNK III'' (1985), known as ''T.A.N.K.'' in Japan and Europe. A programmer from SNK discovered ''Front Line'' at an arcade and thought that SNK could go further with the gameplay format. The team improved on ''Front Line'' with the addition of a rotary joystick. In turn, SNK went on to combine elements of ''T.A.N.K.'' with ''Commando'' (1985) to produce the arcade hit '' Ikari Warriors'' (1986). Jaleco
was a corporate brand name that was used by two previously connected video game developers and publishers based in Japan. The original Jaleco company was founded in 1974 as Japan Leisure Company, founded by Yoshiaki Kanazawa, before being renam ...
's '' Field Combat'' (1985) also has similar gameplay to ''Front Line''.
A Game Boy Color
The (commonly abbreviated as GBC) is a handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998 and to international markets that November. It is the successor to the Game Boy and is part of the Game ...
spin-off entitled '' Sgt. Rock: On the Frontline'' was published by Taito in 2000. The game follows the template of the original arcade game, but is set within the DC Comics universe.
The arcade original was included in '' Taito Memories Gekan'' for the PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
console in 2005, and in '' Taito Legends 2'' for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Windows platforms in 2006. The Famicom version was released for the Virtual Console service in Japan in June 2007 for the Wii
The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...
and January 2014 for the Nintendo 3DS
The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...
.
The game was released on 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 ...
in the Nintendo eShop
The Nintendo eShop is a digital distribution service powered by the Nintendo Network for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, and by a dedicated online infrastructure for the Nintendo Switch. Launched in June 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS, the eShop was en ...
in February 2019 by Hamster Corporation as part of their Arcade Archives
is a series of emulated arcade games from the late 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, and Nintendo Switch, published by Hamster Corporation. A sub-series called is focused on rereleasing Neo Geo ...
series and also on the PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
in January 2018 as part of the same series.
Notes
References
External links
*
*{{MobyGames, id=/front-line, name=Front Line
1982 video games
Arcade video games
Atari 2600 games
ColecoVision games
FM-7 games
MSX games
NEC PC-6001 games
NEC PC-8801 games
NEC PC-9801 games
Nintendo Entertainment System games
Nintendo Switch games
PlayStation 4 games
Sharp MZ games
Sharp X1 games
Tank simulation video games
Virtual Console games
Taito arcade games
Taito SJ System games
Video games developed in Japan
Hamster Corporation games
Multiplayer and single-player video games