Front Line (video game)

 is a military-themed run-and-gun shooter game released by Taito for arcades in 1982. It was one of the first video games to feature a ground combat theme and grenades, a precursor to many similarly-themed games of the mid-to-late 1980s. The original arcade version of "Front Line" is controlled with a joystick, a single button, and a rotary dial that can be pushed in like a button. The single button is used to throw grenades and to enter and exit tanks, while the rotary dial controls and fires the player's gun.
The game was created by Tetsuya Sasaki. It was a commercial success in Japan, where it was the seventh highest-grossing arcade game of 1982. However, it received a mixed critical and commercial reception in Western markets, particularly due to the game's difficulty. "Front Line" went on to inspire the SNK shooters "TNK III" (1985) and "Ikari Warriors" (1986), which follow the conventions established by "Front Line", including the vertically scrolling levels, entering/exiting tanks, and not dying when an occupied tank is destroyed.
Gameplay.
Playing as a lone soldier, the player's ultimate objective is to lob a hand grenade into the enemy's fort, first by fighting off infantry units and then battling tanks before finally reaching the opponent's compound.
The player begins with two weapons: a pistol and grenades, with no ammo limit. Once the player has advanced far enough into enemy territory, there's a "tank warfare" stage in which the player can hijack a tank to fight off other enemy tanks.
There are two types of tanks available: a light tank armed with a machine gun and a heavy tank armed with a cannon. The light tank is more nimble, but can be easily destroyed by the enemy. The heavy tank is slower, but can sustain one hit from a light tank; a second hit from a light tank will destroy it. A single shot from a heavy tank will destroy either type of tank. If a partially damaged tank is evacuated, the player can jump back in and resume its normal operation; however, with either type of tank, the player must exit the vehicle within a few seconds of being struck by a fatal shot. If the player does not exit a tank before it explodes, he loses a life. An extra life is awarded at 10,000 or 15,000, and none thereafter.
The tank battle continues until the player reaches the enemy's fort. The fort is a brick-barricaded tank which fires mortar rounds while the player attempts to take it out. In order to destroy this tank, the player must toss a grenade over the brick barricade, which can only be accomplished on foot. Once this is done, the tank will explode and an enemy soldier will wave a white flag, signalling surrender, plus 1,000 bonus points. The game repeats again with the infantry level, but enemy soldiers become increasingly quicker and deadlier in successive rounds; points are multiplied based on the level played.
Ports.
Following its release in the coin-op arcade platform, the game was ported to the ColecoVision console and the PC-8801 and Sharp X1 computers in 1983, the Atari 2600 and MSX in 1982, and the FM-7 and Nintendo Famicom in 1985. The Famicom version was Taito's first game for the console.
Reception.
The game was a commercial success in Japan, where "Game Machine" listed "Front Line" as the seventh highest-grossing arcade game of 1982. "Game Machine" later listed "Front Line" on their June 1, 1983 issue as being the twentieth most-successful table arcade unit of the month. In the United Kingdom, the game had limited commercial success due to its initially high difficulty.
Following its North American debut at the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) show in November 1982, it was reviewed by "Video Games" magazine, which listed it among the top ten "Misses" of the show and stated it was a "war game with a lot of potential, but also with a firing mechanism that's so difficult to maneuver it ruins the game". "Computer and Video Games", on the other hand, stated that, despite the initial difficulty, "the action really takes off" with the tank and it's "worth persevering with" until then.
In the 1983 Arcade Awards, "Front Line" was a runner-up for Coin-Op Game of the Year, behind "Pole Position". The award was given by "Electronic Games", which stated that this "arcade approach to the dirty business of infantry combat forces the player to keep moving and firing constantly" and the "action is non-stop in this attractive shoot 'em up".
Legacy.
"Front Line" was the basis for SNK's "TNK III" (1985), known as "T.A.N.K." in Japan and Europe. A programmer from SNK discovered "Front Line" at an arcade and thought that SNK could go further with the gameplay format. The team improved on "Front Line" with the addition of a rotary joystick. In turn, SNK went on to combine elements of "T.A.N.K." with Capcom's arcade hit "Commando" (1985) to produce the arcade hit "Ikari Warriors" (1986). Jaleco's "Field Combat" (1985) also has similar gameplay to "Front Line".
A Game Boy Color spin-off entitled "Sgt. Rock: On the Frontline" was published by Taito in 2000. The game follows the template of the original arcade game, but is set within the DC Comics universe.
The arcade original was included in "Taito Memories Gekan" for the PlayStation 2 console in 2005, and in "Taito Legends 2" for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Windows platforms in 2006. The Famicom version was released for the Virtual Console service in Japan on June 5, 2007 for the Wii and on January 15, 2014 for the Nintendo 3DS.
The game was released on the Nintendo Switch in the Nintendo eShop on 14 February 2019 by Hamster Corporation as part of their Arcade Archives series and also on the PlayStation 4 on 8 January 2018 as part of the same series.