Play Top Gunner Online

Summary

Jackal, released in arcades under the North‑American name Top Gunner, drops you into a single, scrolling battlefield where you pilot an armed jeep to rescue POWs. The game supports one or two players, each jeep marked with a distinct hood number, and you can hop in at any time during play.

Your controls are simple: an eight‑way stick, a button for the upward‑firing machine gun and another for a forward‑facing grenade launcher that can be upgraded into a three‑stage missile system. The gun fires fast but weak; the grenade‑to‑missile armament hits harder, can break gates and even fire shrapnel in multiple directions once fully upgraded.

Rescuing prisoners is the core loop – each captured POW adds to a cargo of up to eight, and a full jeep can be ferried to a heli‑pad for extraction, earning extra points and a missile‑launcher upgrade. Dropping a POW when you die lets you pick them up again, and losing a jeep also drops your missile level by one.

The entire mission unfolds as one continuous stage, winding through ruins, lakes, hills and a mountain before reaching the enemy headquarters. An extra jeep appears after enough points, and the game ends only when you either complete the objective or run out of replacements.

Storyline

In the arcade classic Top Gunner, you take control of the Jackal unit – an elite squad of four hardened soldiers: Colonel Decker, Lieutenant Bob, Sergeant Quint and Corporal Grey. Their harsh training lets them survive any terrain, and the game’s core mission is to drive two armed jeeps deep into hostile territory. While navigating the battlefield, you must locate and rescue prisoners of war, then escort them to designated helicopter pads scattered across each level. The extraction points serve as the only safe zones, turning each rescue into a tense dash against enemy fire. Success hinges on teamwork, firepower, and quick navigation as you pull the POWs to safety.