Guerilla War is a Nintendo game that features two unnamed, unknown commandos running and gunning through an unidentified central or South American country. The one or two players use a variety of weapons, tanks, and grenades to kill massive numbers of infantry, tanks, helicopters, and more. They also try to save as many captives, hostages, nurses, and poor townspeople as they work their way through bosses to defeat the final dictator.

Guerilla War is a top-down game where a player attacks towards the top of the screen. They begin with a rifle, with limited distance, and a grenade that does not do much damage. The objective is to kill as many enemies as possible while not harming (saving) hostages who are tied up at different locations through the maps. Upgrades in weapons are available by killing special enemies who marked by red uniforms, compared to green or yellow uniforms of most enemies. Upgrades in include spread rifles, more explosive grenades, rockets, rockets that explode and spread out, and a flame thrower. These upgrades are available to the player until they are killed or they touch a different upgrade. There is also an option to capture and control a tank, which absorbs more hits than a player by him or herself. The tank also substitutes cannon balls for rifle fire and upgrades the special weapons even more. The tank does run out of time and/or takes enough hits and self-destructs. The player can escape the tank so he is not killed with it blows.

The music is fun and upbeat and puts you in the mood for shooting rebels and freedom fighters. The sounds of explosives are pervasive in the game because it is a true Run & Gunner. There is no cover and concealment. There is no strategy or patience in attacking. The two player mode does not allow friendly fire to damage the other player so two players attack and mow down everything in sight. I have never counted the number of enemies but it is "many." They keep coming, in tanks, helicopters, on foot, in boats, and more.

Graphics and visuals are good for the NES. There are several different kinds of maps, including riding a mine cart in an attempt to rescue miners with a lasso. There's town fighting, fighting in fields and farms, and attacking through jungles. The diverse topography and visuals immerse the player in a real coup to take over a corrupt government.

The story is simple but engaging. Save people, kill bad guys, defeat the evil General who runs the country with an iron fist.

The downfall of Guerilla War is the unlimited number of lives. You can expend your player at will, get killed 100 times, and you will always get another continue. This makes the challenge simple because there is no limit to deaths and ultimately this is a game of contrition. You will always have more lives than the bad guys so you will always win. It does make it fun because you can play at a high pace of play and watch everything be destroyed. You don't have to take your time working your way up to the last battle.

Play Guerilla War. Try it out. It's fun, it's light-hearted, the game play is simple to learn, and you're going to revisit it once you've beaten it once or twice.

That was quite a good review in so few words. Since the game mechanics look so simple I guess there wasn't much point to lose yourself into details. How would Guerilla compare to other similar shooting games?