Guerrilla War

Guerrilla War Arcade Game

Guerrilla War, released in 1987 by SNK, was essentially a clone of the game Ikari Warriors.  The game followed the adventures of two guerrilla commandos as they infiltrated a Caribbean island in order to liberate it from a tyrant.  The commandos remained unnamed in the US version of this game, but in the Japanese version, they commandos were Che Guevara and Fidel Castro.  The island was supposed to be Cuba, and the regime was the Batista.  In order to liberate the island, the player would control them as they blasted through large number of enemy soldiers using guns, tanks, and whatever weapons were found along the way.  Care had to be taken while rescuing hostages since the player would lose points if they were killed in the crossfire.

Guerrilla War Arcade Game Cabinet

Fans of this old game will remember that the joystick not only controlled the players 8 way movement, but that it could also be rotated in the direction the player wanted to fire.  Guerrilla War was released on home consoles like the Commodore 64 and the NES.  The NES version proved to be even more popular than the arcade version, allowing two players simultaneously and unlimited continuation.