Assault (1988 video game)

Assault
Japanese flyer
Developer(s)Namco
Publisher(s)
Designer(s)Kunio Ogawara
Composer(s)Shinji Hosoe
Platform(s)Arcade
Release
  • JP: April 1988
  • NA: 1988
Genre(s)Multi-directional shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer (alternating turns)
Arcade systemNamco System 2

Assault[a] is a 1988 multi-directional shooter arcade game developed and published by Namco. It was licensed to Atari Games for release in North America. Controlling a caterpillar-tread self-propelled gun, the player is tasked with completing each of the game's eleven stages while shooting enemies and avoiding projectiles. It uses a twin-stick control layout, similar to games such as Battlezone. The plot involves the human race searching for new planets after Earth reaches its maximum population - after discovering an exo-planet 35,000 light years away from the Milky Way, they enslave the planet's natives and take control, leading to the planet's native population vowing to abolish the humans and bring peace to their world. The protagonist who rides the aforementioned self-propelled gun which players control, is one such native.

Assault was one of the first games to use the Namco System 2 arcade hardware, capable of sprite scaling and rotation. Music was composed by Shinji Hosoe while designs for the player's tank and enemies were designed by Gundam artist Kunio Ogawara. Upon release, Assault was met with favorable reviews, with critics applauding the game's graphics, controls and usage of sprite-scaling.

A Japan-only follow-up, Assault Plus, was released the same year and is an updated version of the original. Assault is included in the compilation Namco Museum Vol. 4 for the PlayStation in 1997, and was later released for the Japanese Wii Virtual Console in 2009.
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