THE PLUS ON THE ASSAULT EQUATION
Hey Dude, this is no April Fools prank!
It's April. The first Thursday of the month has passed and in Arcade Archives, that means "The Other Big N" is back: Namco.
Yeah, most of the times this Hamster-Namco Binomial feels like Favoritism, but this time, the creators of Ace Combat, Deadstorm Pirates and The Idolmaster brought us something really interesting: Assault Plus.
For further analysis of gameplay, graphics and sound, check the review for the original Assault.
If you don't know what you're doing, pick "EASY ASSAULT".
The first difference of this game is found in the Game Select screen which allows you to pick either Easy Assault or Super Assault. Picking "Easy Assault" will send you to a selection of 5 rearranged stages of Assault, with the ending telling you that you recovered the majority of your world in this "Rehearsal for Core", while "Super Assault" is the full game where you're sent to 10 new stages in the "Battle for Core".
That ship will suffer the blast from the grenade once you hit the ground.
The core gameplay of Assault Plus is virtually the same as Assault, you take control of the High-Manuever Battle Tank (or like Atari Games called it "Assault Tank") with a double joystick control system which broke with everything else in the arcade games, as moving the sticks in different directions performed actions. However, the real challenge of Assault Plus lies on the renewed stages which are much more difficult and demanding than before. As soon as you begin, you will be facing large tanks and mid-sized enemies, so this game is not for beginners unless you want to go fast-learning in the go. This will become notorious on the third and fourth levels of Super Assault mode, as the game will throw you constant missiles, the large bomber that takes more damage, "Hopper Drones" and to make things more difficult you have the timer giving you barely enough time to clear the stage. In later stages it would require to burn a life due to timeouts more than getting shot at. While you get the time replenished after each life lost, you will be forced to start the level from the beginning if you continue the game. The continue feature is different from the original since its available right at the start of the game instead of making progress to earn that privilege.
Bringing the Assault right at home is a different mission.
Now shut up and let the tank do the dissin'.
It's kinda weird that this version of Assault didn't made its way outside of Japan, especially when the original Assault cabinet by Atari is a favorite among arcade fans due to its unique design, not to mention how Atari's flyer advertising called it their "Lethal Weapon" to lay siege on the competition and even "blow them away". But you know what was even stranger? The lack of homeports. This would be too much for the Genesis and we know that due to their previous ports of other Namco System II games on the Sega console (Phelios and Burning Force). I don't know if the FM Towns could port it even when it had a vast successful list of arcade-perfect titles. I mean one thing is emulating Raiden or After Burner II, and another is recreating a Namco System II game which was more advanced than Sega. I know what you're gonna say: "The Super Nintendo! It had the potential" Well, yes. Considering how arcade faithful Cosmo Gang: The Video was on the Super Famicom, but it was testimony of how close Nintendo's hardware was of Namco System II, but Namco didn't cared on give a try. The only port of Assault Plus was on the PlayStation as part of Namco Museum 4. In fact you had to perform a cheat code: In the X-Room, press R1, R2, L1, L2, Up, and Triangle all at the same time to make a military girl appear, interact with her and she will point to the Assault Plus stand. Press X and the arcade cabinet appears. Select it and there you go. That was your back-then console port of Assault Plus, until 2025 when Hamster released it as part of Arcade Archives. One of those times where they obsession with Namco brings something interesting and in this case, unique and special.
Thank goodness Hamster kept the control switching.
One of the things Hamster kept in the Arcade Archives port was the option of changing the original control scheme in favor of a more simple and easier to learn one by using one stick to rotate and move while the buttons performed actions. I don't want to imagine how would be to play with the complex controls in Namco Museum.
REASONS TO LAY DOWN THE CASH
- 10 Slamfest-packed levels with large enemy swarms
- Enough tank and anti Air-to-Ground action to psyche out the entire 'hood
- Namco System II visuals and CD-quality music to put the competition in the past
We already know the incredible capabilities of the Namco System II hardware on full rotation visuals and higher sound quality that preceeds the redbook CD quality that only few arcade hardwares could be capable of, along with the spectacular debut of Shinji Hosoe. But if the compass sound is annoying you at the point you can't enjoy the music, here's a playlist. Same as the previous review of Assault, but with a few new songs to improve your tank-blasting experience.
Agora - Persiste
Leider - We are Masters
Judas Priest - Firepower
Metallica - The Struggle Within
Guns N' Roses - Welcome to the Jungle
Lamb of God - Black Label
Rob Zombie - Scum of the Earth
Primal Fear - Nuclear Fire
P.O.D. - Boom
Spectre General - Hunger
Sabaton - Panzer Battalion (Assault fans, check the 1 hour extended version)
Motley Crue - Kickstart My Heart
Guns N' Roses - Paradise City
AC/DC - This Means War
Allen-Lande - Another Battle
Limp Bizkit - Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle)
Eclipse - Into The Fire
ASSAULTED CURIOSITIES PLUS
- The inclusion of Assault Plus completes the real list of games included in Namco Museum 4. In fact all the games (except for Ms. Pac-Man due to the BNEI-AtGames legal drama) that comprised the Namco Museum collection were individually ported on Arcade Archives.
- The Arcade Archives version is the second overall home port of the game, second PlayStation port, first Nintendo port and its first arcade perfect port.
- The default names on the ranking screen are refereces to other tank games such as Blazer, Grobda, Battle City as "BTLCITY" and Tank Battalion as "TNKBTLN".
Just fighting my way out of the tank slamfest.
Assault Plus is more of a new game than an update of an existing one. It retains the tank control schematics and all the mayhem from the original game with new level layouts, but all lifted up to a higher level of difficulty for the professional players who can walk-the-walk, talk-the-talk and "tank-the-tank" the original Assault and want an additional challenge.
Releasing Assault Plus and announcing Arcade Archives 2: Ridge Racer for Switch 2. Looks like Namco is on a roll again, and we don't know what to expect from them this time. Just give us NebulasRay and Galaga Arrangement and please BNEI, reconsider the idea of an overseas release of F/A. I don't care if we have to pay twice the price due to licensing or what, but there's plenty of shmuppers wilfull to pay for the game.
Arcade Archives: Assault Plus aims high and hits a final score of 8 R-9's out of 10 in the R-Scale due to its features, but the over-demanding difficulty of Super Assault mode will keep amateurs away.
Just as we expected for the Eda Scale.