Video Game Vintage Title: Ikari Warriors

Ikari Warriors

Ikari Warriors is a vertically scrolling, shoot 'em up arcade game developed by SNK, and published in the North America and Europe by Tradewest in 1986. Originally titled Ikari in Japan, Ikari Warriors was SNK's first major breakthrough US release and became something of a classic. The game was released at the time when there were many Commando clones on the market. What distinguished Ikari Warriors were rotary joysticks and a two-player mode.

The player characters in Ikari Warriors are Colonel Ralf and Second Lieutenant Clark of the later King of Fighters series battling through hordes of enemies. According to designer Keiko Iju, the game was inspired by the then-popular Rambo films and takes its name from the Japanese title of Rambo: First Blood Part II . Ralf and Clark also make an appearance as playable characters in Metal Slug 6 and Metal Slug 7.