The Game: You’re a lone soldier behind enemy lines, but this is no Front Line. Armed with a knife and some serious kickboxing skills, you weave your way through an enemy installation, doing away with soldiers who are trying to block your way. Occasionally, you can pick up a weapon from a downed enemy, including flame-throwers, machine guns and rocket launchers. (Konami, 1985)
Memories: I remember encountering only one Rush’N Attack machine, which was one of the last arcade games I ever became hooked on. There’s actually something addictive, in a bloodthirsty sort of way, about this little war game.
Rush’N Attack is an example of a somewhat politically incorrect game title, though it’s worth bearing in mind that the game dates back to that period of the Reagan era in which dear old Ronnie was calling the Soviet Union an “evil empire.” It doesn’t take too many brain cells to pronounce the game’s U.S. title out loud and come up with “Russian Attack.” Konami marketed the same game as Green Beret in the rest of the world.
The graphics and sound in Rush’N Attack are pretty good for 1985, a clear signal that the Pac-Man era was giving way to the NES era. The background graphics are just as easy on the eye as the foreground without being distracting.
Sadly, Konami chose not to include Rush’N Attack (or the same game under the banner of Green Beret) on its Playstation classics compilation released late in 1999; it would be a few years later, and Konami’s retro compilation for the Game Boy Advance, but Rush’N Attack would come rush’n home.
