is a war shooting gallery arcade video game developed and originally published by SNK on April 26, 1990. It was one of the launch titles for both the Neo Geo MVS (arcade) and Neo Geo AES (home) platforms, in addition to being the only title in the system that does not feature the Neo Geo boot screen in its attract mode, as well as one of the pack-in games for the AES.

Set in a very fictionalized account of the final months of the Vietnam War, the story follow the soldiers Silver and Brown as they enter into the war once again in order to rescue ex-American army scientist Dr. R. Muckly and his daughter Nancy, who were kidnapped and presumably imprisoned in the interior of Vietnam by North Side terrorists (that is implied to be the Viet Cong), while also trying to learn about the responsible author of the act. Initially launched for the Neo Geo MVS, NAM-1975 was later released for both Neo Geo AES and Neo Geo CD in 1991 and 1994 respectively, and has since been re-released through download services for various consoles, among other ways to play it.

NAM-1975 received positive reception from critics upon its release, with praise given to the graphics and digitized voice samples but many were divided in regards to the gameplay, while it received criticism for the music and difficulty. Retrospective reviews for the title have been equally positive in recent years, with reviewers praising the gameplay but criticizing its short length.

Gameplay 

NAM-1975 is a shooting gallery game similar to Cabal and Dynamite Duke where players take control of the soldiers Silver (P1) and Brown (P2), across six stages that take place on Vietnam during the final months of the Vietnam War and defeat the bosses of each level in order to progress through the game. In addition to the single-player mode, the game also features a two-player cooperative multiplayer mode.

The joystick moves both the soldier and the crosshair left and right of the area. The A buttion is used for firing the main weapon where the crosshair is positioned and when held down, players can move the crosshair while keeping the soldiers in the same spot. The B button is used to throw grenades into the position of the crosshair, while the C button enable players to move the soldiers faster to avoid enemy fire when held down. If the joystick is pulled diagonally when running, the soldiers will perform an evasive roll that prevents them from being killed, in addition of dodging enemy fire as well. Once all lives are lost, the game is over unless players insert more credits into the arcade machine to continue playing. If a memory card is present, the player is allowed to save their progress and resume into the last stage the game saved at.

Like many earlier games released by SNK, it is well known for its high difficulty, with the final boss being particularly infamous among players for disabling continues after reaching the end of the last stage and if the players are killed during this battle, it will automatically trigger the bad ending, forcing to restart the game from the beginning in order to achieve the good ending.

Both players begin the game with a standard machine gun with infinite ammo and ten grenades. When certain enemies are killed or certain building structures are brought down, they will drop guns, grenades or other items that can be collected, such as points or 1UPs. The guns that can be picked up during gameplay consists of the Balcan (A more powerful machine gun), a flamethrower capable of only taking out ground units and a missile launcher, while the other grenade-type weapons that can be collected are the spark and napalm bombs. If the players save a female hostage from the enemy, the hostage (named Chris) will help players by shooting at enemies, until the player who rescued her is killed or reaches the end of the area. On occasions, the players are sent into a boss round that takes place in between stages.

Plot 
"The roar of the helicopters overhead snaps us back into reality. We will never forget the nightmare of that summer..." these were the phrases that started the story of Silver and Brown, two soldiers who were recalled back to the Natorm headquarters in the summer of 1975, during the final months of the Vietnam War, in order to rescue the ex-U.S. army scientist Dr. R. Muckly, who was kidnapped and presumably imprisoned in the interior of Vietnam by North Side terrorists, as part of an organized special forces unit. The team proceeds with the mission by going up to Yan river on a boat in order to deceive enemy guard, but their operations are quickly sighted by the terrorists. As a result, the team abandons the boat and they get across Do Nang city to continue the operation, wondering how their plan was figured out by the enemy and after doing so, the team receives a new strategy plan from the headquarters, informing them to aboard an allied plane in order to invade the enemy airport by parachuting, however, the enemy intercepts them in the air and the soldiers begin defending themselves by shooting at the upcoming enemy planes.

Once the team arrive safely into the airport, the soldiers proceed to continue the mission by assaulting the complex, now realizing that there is a spy among them but after the assault of the enemy airport, their communication systems were intercepted by the terrorists and the captain of the unit informed to the soldiers that Nancy Muckly, the daughter of Dr. R. Muckly, was also taken away alongside his father and gave the team new orders to enter into enemy arms factory. Soon after, the team come across with Nancy, who tries to inform them about the true head of the operation before she is killed by an enemy shot on her back.

After capturing an enemy commander, the soldiers proceed to interrogate him about how their plan was quickly found out but the commander is then killed by a sniper, but not before informing the armies that Dr. R. Muckly is a madman who is constructing a gigantic laser cannon to take over the world himself. Despite the intense firepower of the weapon, the troops defeat Dr. R. Muckly and save the world, with the special forces now being regarded as heroes but the war continues in Vietnam.

Development and release 

NAM-1975 holds the distinction for being one of the first, if not the first game to be developed for the Neo Geo platform, in addition to being the only title in the system's library that does not feature the Neo Geo boot screen in its attract mode. There are many references to many famous Vietnam War films in the game such as Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket, especially the latter, with the attract sequence showing one of the characters firing off an M60 machine gun being a clear portray of the shot of Animal Mother firing on the VC sniper in the latter film. The game was also showcased for the first time in North America during the 1990 ACME show in Chicago.

NAM-1975 was initially launched for arcades on April 26, 1990. It was also released for the Neo Geo home system at the same time available to rent or buy. It was re-released for the Neo Geo CD on September 9, 1994 as one of the launch titles for the system, with minimal changes compared to the original MVS and AES versions. The game has received multiple re-releases in recent years on various digital distribution platforms such as the Virtual Console, PlayStation Network, Nintendo eShop and Xbox Live. NAM-1975 was also one of the 20 pre-loaded games included on the Neo Geo X.

Controversy 
When the Neo Geo AES version was originally launched in Europe, the cover art of copies released in the region were subsequently censored due to the female character on the front having a bare thigh and cleavage exposed. As such, many cartridges have a black mark over the exposed parts with a permanent marker to disguise it for overseas marketing.

Reception 

In Japan, Game Machine listed NAM-1975 on their December 15, 1990 issue as being the twenty-second most-successful table arcade unit of the month, outperforming titles such as Out Zone. The game received positive reception from critics when it was originally released. Super Teeter of GameFan gave a positive outlook to the game in their June 1999 issue, praising various aspects of the game but also pointing out the high difficulty level.

Retrospective reviews 

In recent years, NAM-1975 has received positive reception from critics.

In 2014, HobbyConsolas identified NAM-1975 as one of the twenty best games for the Neo Geo AES.

Notes

References

External links 
 NAM-1975 at GameFAQs
 NAM-1975 at Giant Bomb
 NAM-1975 at Killer List of Videogames
 NAM-1975 at MobyGames

1990 video games
ACA Neo Geo games
Arcade video games
Cabal shooters
Cooperative video games
D4 Enterprise games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Neo Geo games
Neo Geo CD games
Nintendo Switch games
Pack-in video games
PlayStation Network games
PlayStation 4 games
Scrolling shooters
SNK games
Vietnam War video games
Video games set in Vietnam
Virtual Console games
Video games developed in Japan
Xbox One games
Hamster Corporation games
《NAM-1975》는 1990년 SNK가 발매한 네오지오용 슈팅게임이다.

개요 
네오지오의 제1작으로 풀 보이스의 실현, 높은 프레임레이트나 다채로운 그래픽 패턴, 음악 등의 측면에서 다른 가정용 게임기를 압도했다. 또한 초기의 작품이기에 이후 네오지오 게임에서 보이는 네오지오 로고 애니메이션은 없다.

월남전을 소재로 하였고 《풀 메탈자켓》이나 《지옥의 묵시록》같은 영화에서도 영향을 받았다.

주인공은 실버 중위(1P)와 브라운 중위(2P)로 2인 동시플레이 가능. 또한 여성포로를 구해주면 같이 싸워준다.

이 작품의 스테이지는 전부 6탄으로 최종보스에선 컨티뉴가 불가능하다.(설정을 바꾸지 않는 한 디폴트 상태에선 불가능)

조작방법 
8방향레버와 3버튼을 사용한다.
 A - 총을 발사한다. 누르고 있으면 계속 사격한다.
 B - 수류탄공격. 제한 개수가 있다.
 C - 긴급회피. 좌우레버를 입력하며 같이 누르면 대쉬이동을 하며, 하방대각선으로 입력하고 누르면 구르기를 한다.(일정시간 무적)

줄거리 
무대는 월남전 말기의 전장으로 실버 중위와 브라운 중위는 미 육군의 과학자 머클리 박사, 그리고 역시 유괴당하여 NAM에 투옥되어 있다고 여겨지는 박사의 딸 낸시를 구출하라는 명령을 받는다. 적군은 소련군으로 등장하며, 베트남 내에 숨겨진 소련군의 무기공장을 공격하는 내용을 다룬다.

무기 
이 작품에선 사격용무기와 투척용무기의 2종류로 나뉜다.
 머신건 - 초기장비 무기
 발칸 - 머신건보다 강력한 화력을 지니고 있다.
 미사일 - 폭풍을 일으켜서 범위 내의 적을 한번에 쓸어버리는 미사일을 발사한다.
 화염방사기 - 사정거리내의 적을 한번에 불태워버린다.

투척용무기에는 다음과 같은 것이 있다.
 수류탄 - 진탕성의 효과로 적을 물리친다.
 스파크 밤 - 수류탄보다 강력하고 유폭을 일으킨다.
 네이팜 폭탄 - 범위 내의 적을 쓸어버린다.

적군

보병계 
 소련군 보병: 갈색 군복을 입고 있으며, 종류에 따라 소총을 발사하거나, 수류탄을 던진다.
 소련군 공병: 연두색 군복을 입고 있으며, 공산군 기체에서 나오거나, 군수공장에서 나온다. 능력은 일반 보병과 같다.
 소련군 잠복병: 회색 군복을 입고 있으며, 수중 및 땅꿀에서 기습공격을 한다.
 소련군 화염방사병: 붉은색 방화복을 입고 있으며, 기습하여 화염방사기를 쏜다.
 소련군 정예병: 붉은색 군복을 입고 있으며, 플레이어의 공격을 회피하면서 소총으로 공격한다. 움직임이 민첩하다.
 스페츠나츠: 갈색 군복과 함께 파란색 방탄복을 입고 있으며, 총을 세발 연속으로 쏜다. 체력이 강하다.
 공산당원: 뚱뚱하며, 체력이 강하고 공격을 맞으면 잠시 쓰러지지만 다시 일어난다. 수류탄만 던진다.

기체계 
 보트: 소련군 보병 2명이 탄 상태의 보트이며, 기관총으로 공격한다.
 T-55 탱크: 느린 속도로 나오며, 플레이어를 향해 주포를 발사한다.
 소형 미그 헬리콥터: 기관총 또는 직격탄을 쏘는 적의 헬리콥터이다.
 Mig-21: 공중 침투 스테이지에서 잠시 나오며, 일정한 간격으로 직격탄을 쏜다.
 폭격기: 스테이지 4부터 등장하며, 지형의 반을 폭격한다.

중보스 
 스테이지 1 - 없음
 스테이지 2 - 거대전차: 주포를 쏘아대는 거대한 전차이며, 맷집이 강하다.
 스테이지 3 - 없음
 스테이지 4 - 없음
 스테이지 5 - 파쇄기2: 전철처럼 매달린 체 나오는 기체이며, 거대한 쇳덩어리로 공격한다.
 스테이지 F - 정예 폭격기: 일반 폭격기에 비해 맷집이 훨씬 강하며, 직격탄을 지속적으로 쏜다.베트콩: 여성 베트콩 2명이 나오며, 단기관총을 빠른 속도로 쏜다.

보스 
 스테이지 1 - 소련군 작전요원: 2명이 등장하며, 주로 수류탄을 던지며, 화염방사기로 공격한다.
 스테이지 2 - Mi-24 HIND: 후진 후 앞으로 전진하면서 직격탄을 난사하거나, 공병 또는 스페츠나츠를 내보낸다.
 스테이지 3 - 소련군 공중함: 거대한 공중전함이며, 다양한 공격 패턴을 가지고 있다.
 스테이지 4 - 노획된 UH 헬리콥터 + 소련군 지휘관: 처음에는 UH 헬리콥터를 상대하며 일정한 간격으로 직격탄을 날린다. UH를 처치하면 지휘관이 나오는데 수류탄은 세발 연속으로 발사한다.
 스테이지 5 - 게릴라: 3명이 등장하며, 빠른 속도로 플레이어의 공격을 피하면서 기관총을 난사한다. 일정한 간격으로 나오는 생화학가스가 들어있는 가스통을 던진다.
 스테이지 F - 머클리 박사: 머클리 박사는 소련에게 매수당했으며, 거대 로봇을 타고 플레이어를 상대한다. 일정한 간격으로 직격탄이 쏟아지며, 빠른 속도로 날라오는 광자포를 쏜다.

보너스 스테이지 보스 
 스테이지 1 - 파쇄기: 거대한 육상전함이며, 기관총을 난사하면서, 거대한 집게로 플레이어를 공격한다.
 스테이지 2 - 생화학 전차: 생화학 가스가 들어있는 풍선을 발사하며, 땅에 떨어지기 전에 터트리지 못하면 그 자리에 생화학 가스가 퍼진다. 기본 공격은 주포를 쏜다.
 스테이지 3 - 전투 로드롤러: 3기가 나오며, 폭탄을 연속으로 쏜다. 이 기체에 닿으면 죽게된다.
 스테이지 4 - 정예 거대전차: 일반 거대전차에 비해 주포를 더 빨리쏘며, 맷집이 더 강하다.

평가

참고자료 
 KLOV NAM-1975

각주 

1990년 비디오 게임
아케이드 게임
네오지오 CD 게임
네오지오 게임
버추얼 콘솔 게임
협동 비디오 게임