Tank Battalion

Tank Battalion[lower-alpha 1] is a multi-directional shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1980. The only direct home conversion is for the MSX, and in 1985 a similar game release is Battle City for the Family Computer. Tank Battalion received a sequel called Tank Force, for arcades in 1991.

For the 1958 Korean War film, see Tank Battalion (film).
For the WW2 US armored unit, see Separate tank battalion.
Tank Battalion
North American promotional flyer
Developer(s)Namco
Publisher(s)
  • JP: Namco
  • NA: GamePlan
Designer(s)Shinichirou Okamoto[1]
Programmer(s)Kazukuni Hiraoka[1]
SeriesTank Battalion
Platform(s)Arcade, MSX, Sord M5
Release
  • JP: October 1980
  • NA: 1981
Genre(s)Multi-directional shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer (alternating turns)

Gameplay
The player destroying an enemy tank.

The player, controlling a tank, must destroy twenty enemy tanks in each round, which enter the playfield from the top of the screen. The enemy tanks attempt to destroy the player's base (represented on the map as an eagle) as well as the player tank itself. A round is cleared when the player destroys all twenty enemy tanks, but the game ends if the player's base is destroyed or he runs out of lives.

Reception

Cash Box believed that "the real excitement" of Tank Battalion lied within its ability to modify the level design by destroying the brick walls.[2]

Retrospectively in 2015, a writer for Beep! enjoyed the Sord M5 version for its improvements over the arcade original, such as the smoother movement of the player's tank, but disliked the squashed-looking graphics and narrow playing space. While the writer believed the MSX version was superior, they still recommended the M5 version for Namco fans and collectors.[3]

Notes
  1. Japanese: タンクバタリアン, Hepburn: Tanku Batarian

References
  1. Szczepaniak, John (11 August 2014). The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers (First ed.). p. 201. ISBN 978-0992926007. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  2. "Game Plan Bows 'Tank Battalion', Its Latest Upright Model Video Game". Cashbox. April 11, 1981. p. 42. ISSN 0008-7289.
  3. "No.2 タンクバタリアン（m5）ROMカセット". Beep! (in Japanese). June 1, 2015. Archived from the original on February 27, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
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