Jackal

The Good
This game has a lot going for it. The levels, five in total, are varied and difficult, and include a mini-mission in addition to blowing up tanks, guns, cars, planes, effigies, boats and any other thing that gets in your way.

The main story has you plowing through an over-head environment until battling the final boss. But there are POW houses along the way that you have to blow up, save the POWs, and then escort them to a helicopter. If you die en route, several of the POWs will also lose a life.

Weapons are upgradable - from the lame grenades up to a rocket that fires in four directions. Your machine gun can also be upgraded.

The game is fun by yourself, an absolute joy with a friend. Both players share the full screen and have to work with each other if success is the ultimate goal.

Each level has its own ending depending on how well you did against the end boss - images include a shot of the gunners roaring over the hill in victory, to a bunch of unarmed GI's looking confusedly at the map.

The Bad
Sometimes slow-down could get in the way of you out-maneuvering a projectile, and sometimes your tank was just too slow.

Also, if a player runs out of lives, he/she can borrow from you. I always hated being a survivor and then having to share my lives with a teammate who wasnt' very good.

Other than those items, the game is a NES classic.

The Bottom Line
If you like vehicular destruction, old-school two-player gaming, and a purpose to your games, Jackal won't disappoint. There are only 5 levels, but they are long and varied enough to keep your attention over and over again. Going the single-player mission is all right, but for truly intense fun, there is no substitute for two-player action.