Undemanding and unoriginal but fun shooter
Following on from the success of the likes of Ikari Warriors, Gunsmoke and Commando came this vertically scrolling shooter which, while offering little in the way of innovation, does at least provide some simple blasting action which gets pretty frenetic at times. The gameplay will be highly familiar to anyone who has played the aforementioned arcade classics and simply consists of a series of scrolling levels themed around a jungle island paradise in the Caribbean which has come under siege by a ruthless dictator. It's up to the player, and a friend via the handy two-up mode, to take on the numerous bad guys in typical shooter fashion by blasting them with machine guns and hand grenades. Like Ikari Warriors, players can jump in the occasional tank to add to the fun, while flamethrowers and other weapons sometimes rear their head to enhance the hi-octane action. Guerrilla War is undeniably simple, with little to it beyond blowing the living daylights out of everyone you see (except the random hostages which pop up) but it also provides plenty of retro action that is actually pretty enjoyable. The game licks along at a fair old pace, requiring players to have swift reactions and a fast trigger finger and things are pretty hectic most of the time, especially when in two-player mode. Graphically, the game has a certain amount of old-school charm, with chunky sprites and vibrant environments, but does look and play almost identically to Ikari Warriors, so if you've played that game and want more, then this is worth a look.
