What a tease! Prisoners of War isn't two-player at all!
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Look at all those spare knives just laying there, begging to be thrown at someone!
PLAYERS: 1
PUBLISHER: SNK
DEVELOPER: SNK
GENRE: Beat-em-up
RELEASE DATE: September 1989
SNK have a real obsession with war, don't they? They've developed the
wretched Ikari Warriors trilogy, Guerilla War, the
Metal Slug series, and today's review, Prisoners of War.
The aforementioned games are of varying quality, but they share a
couple unifying factors: they're all cartoonish takes on a very
serious subject, and they're hard as hell. Prisoners of War,
in particular, deals out ridiculous amounts of punishment, but the
experience is well worth the pain.
Prisoners of
War is your standard Eighties
beat-em-up, chock full of
one-man-against-every-terrorist-organization-itis, body count higher
than the population of third-world countries, and a beyond thunderous
soundtrack. After your escape from prison, you punch, kick,
jump-kick, stab, shoot, blow up, and bad-ass your way to victory.
Different variations of enemies include the Guys that Run Into Your
Fists, Stabby McStabberson, the Knifing Gymnasts, Biker Jerks, and
many more! You start out with four bars of life, but oh my, they
reduce quickly. A couple punches can be brushed off easily, but one
quick slash and your life is reduced by half and, like in real life,
a grenade blast will kill you completely. In other words, be extra
careful poking through this enemy base. Every person here wants your
blood and you only have three lives to spare. Continues, sure, but
these are long, grueling levels intended to waste ordinary men.
Thankfully, you're a prisoner of war, and getting captured was your
plan all along, right? How else would you topple a fascist
dictatorship if not from the inside, right? RIGHT?!
B
I loved the arcade version, as the only thing between you and victory was a roll (or two) of quarters. Then I played the NES version, and quickly felt the game would be impossible to win.
ReplyDeleteGET TO THE CHOPPAAAA!!!
ReplyDeleteOr, if you like watered down spirituality with an Eastern tinge, get to the CHOPRAAAA!!!
I tried playing this after reading this entry. I did alright for awhile except those knife guys really suck. You can be doing awesome and then, BAM, half of your life is gone! Couldn't get past the second level :(
ReplyDelete@deathbytroggles: indeed, it's an incredibly tough game. I'd like to try the arcade version sometime.
ReplyDelete@Slog: That made me lol, thank you.
@Kurdt: Yeah, there's a kind of rhythm you have to tap into. I made it to the end of the second level, but I couldn't get past the Schwarzenegger-esque boss there.