Rambo: First Blood Part II (1986). Play online

Summary

Rambo: First Blood Part II turns the Sega Master System into a frantic top‑down blast zone, borrowing the rush of Commando and Ikari Warriors. I guide Rambo – equipped with an M‑60 that never runs out of ammo but can only have two bullets on screen – while juggling a handful of explosive arrows that pierce tanks, gates and other hard targets. The game lets you fire in five directions, yet you can dodge in any of the eight compass points, and a second player can hop in as Zane, the yellow‑banded sidekick, for cooperative mayhem. Power‑ups drop from freed prisoners or after a kill streak, boosting shot range, speed or arrow count, while mysterious “?” items wipe the screen clean or grant extra lives.

The title started life in Japan as Ashura, starring a pair of Buddhist monks on a rescue quest; Sega re‑skinned the sprites and soundtrack to match Stallone’s Rambo for the North American market. A PAL edit, Secret Command, fused the two versions, retaining the Rambo art but swapping in the original music and Asian landscape clears.

Storyline

Rambo: First Blood Part II for the Sega Master System is an overhead run‑and‑gun game that loosely follows the 1985 movie. In the licensed version you play as John Rambo, battling enemy defenses and freeing prisoners hidden in huts across the first four stages, mirroring the film’s rescue‑behind‑enemy‑lines plot. The Japanese release, titled Ashura, swaps Rambo for a duo of Buddhist monks, Ashura and Bishamon, who also must rescue kidnapped friends. Both versions keep the core mechanic of moving across scrolling screens, shooting enemies, and locating captives. The game’s simple top‑down perspective and stage‑based structure capture the gritty feel of the movie while offering classic Master System action.