Reviews

Despite being a shameless copy of Capcom's "Commando" (in the main at least) this game nonetheless manages to be challenging and fun in its own right. The flick-screen method of advancement (different from the scrolling of the original C64 version) makes for a progression which feels less frantic and the programmers have thrown in some extra features and dangers that weren't in "Commando". This isn't as hectic, fast or fun as the Capcom game but it's a bandwagon jumper that's worth seeking-out and spending some time on.

1986 - Alligata Software Ltd (UK)
by Steve Evans

Armed with an automatic rifle and 5 grenades, your job is to free any prisioners while capturing the enemy outposts.

Another game inspired by the excellent Capcom coin-op game 'Commando'.
Not as good as the spectrum official conversion with the same name of the capcom arcade game, also released the same year by US Gold, but still delivers a great action game, full of nice features.
It has some problems, like the obvious childish graphics, colour clashing and the sudden disappearing of enemy fire that strikes you unexpectedly, but overall its a very addictive game.

A flip-screen Commando clone which was mildly entertaining as it was released, but now shows all the weight of age, especially if compared with the Spectrum conversion of the coin-op it took inspiration from.

Sprites are sketchy, noticeably flickery and tend to merge with the background; sound is almost non-existent; the flip-screen gameplay is not well implemented and you can - and will - get killed as soon as you enter a screen just because you didn't see what was coming next.

Even the not-so-great Spectrum conversion of Jackal is better than this - you are able to see what can kill you, and graphics do not flicker. 5/10.

I really enjoyed this, of course the resemblance to Commando is obvious, but the flip screen adds something for me as it makes each screen more of a puzzle to solve rather than just a relentless scrolling shootem up.

Some pretty bad colour clash but not the worst I've seen on the speccy.

Worth a play or two.

Excellent war-fare stuff with all the old virtues of games like Commando present on it !!!

5 / 5 .

by Steve Evans

This seems to be a sequel of no game [although there is a Missing In Action titled Who Dares Wins released in 1983 by the prestigious East Midlands Software], but it surely looks a lot like a "sequel" to Commando, or, using a more apt definition, a "shameless clone". In fact, there's not much to be said about it, the gameplay is identical, you're a soldier furiously shooting your way vertically casting the occasional granade while swarms of bullets are addressed to you from a whole army or two. There is no scrolling, anyway, but only flip screens. The graphics are similar too, only more colourful, and with semi-destroyed barracks reminding of Ocean's Rambo. And with a bit more flickering. The tune and the presentation are ok, and if you're not tired of mindless destruction, but your Commando and your Ikari Warriors are worn out by now, this is a fun and playable alternative.
4/5

technically it is not the best, but very playable.

I totally forgot about this game, maybe because I thought I'd already done it but it turns out I haven’t. There isn't much I can say that hasn't been said already, but this is really good, in fact I'll chip in and say I find it's better than Commando.

I forgot this game too and shame on me. Bloody fantastic. I remember I got this in a bundle of roughly four or five games, the others were crap as this was the only one worth playing.

The story of this game is very unusual and weird.
The programming team of "Commando" went out one night and ended up at the pub of the local mob boss, who recognized them when he saw them.
The boss was angry about his non-working copy of Commando, so he ordered his minions to kidnap them and bring them into the office so that they themselves would try to load the game successfully.
However they were not able, probably due to a deterioration in the cassette tape. Further enraged, the mafia boss then decided to have the programming team locked in the office until they were able to run the game by coding directly from keyboard!
For 3 days and 3 nights they were painstakingly coding and typing with no help other than the boss' Spectrum, an old cassette player with some spare tapes, and some notebooks. Finally, they finished this unexpected version of the game as best as they could and, satisfied with the effort, the boss allowed them to return.
So this game could be considered good, polished, bug-free and sophisticated given the exceptional and dire circumstances in which it was created.

A very decent competitor of war shooters like Commando or Ikari Warriors, published by Alligata.

Like Commando, the game sacrifices the quality of graphics for a great playability. No scroll, just screen by screen progression through a map that makes it quite an interesting game.