Jackal (1988). Play online

Summary

Jackal (also marketed as Top Gunner) lets you pilot an armed jeep in an endless‑type overhead arena, hunting down enemy vehicles while hauling rescued POWs to a waiting helipad. Up to two friends can jump in anytime, each jeep marked with its own number, and the control board mixes an eight‑way stick with a rapid upward‑firing machine gun and a directional grenade launcher that can be upgraded into a three‑stage missile gun. Each upgrade expands reach and adds shrapnel spreads, while the gun’s fast rate covers swarms of foot soldiers.

The NES port reshapes the experience: Player 1’s jeep stays green, Player 2 drives a brown variant, and the action scrolls horizontally instead of a single vertical marathon. The adventure is split into six checkpoints—Alpha, Baker, Charlie, Delta, Tango, and Zulu—each ending in a unique boss, from missile‑spitting statues to a final flaming‑tank beast that’s easiest to defeat with the machine gun.

Three hidden stars sprinkle the stages: a green one grants an extra jeep, a red one wipes the screen clean, and a flashing star maxes out the missile launcher. Losing a jeep drops you back to the base grenade launch, but collecting enough POWs still powers the weapon up again.

Storyline

The Jackal, a gritty run‑and‑gun title on the NES, follows an elite four‑person unit trained for any environment. Colonel Decker leads Lieutenant Bob, Sergeant Quint and Corporal Grey, each hardened by a brutal regimen. Their orders: take two armed jeeps deep into hostile territory and bring back captured POWs.

The mission unfolds across hostile landscapes where the squad must navigate enemy fire, obstacles and tight passages. Using the jeeps’ firepower they clear paths, rescue the prisoners, and fight their way back to safety. Success hinges on teamwork, precise driving, and relentless combat.