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G.I. Joe
Arcade
Nostalgia Factor:
G.I. Joe was a hot commodity when I was a kid, not that it mattered much to me. I remember the toys, the cartoon, everything. I was never a big fan, though. As a result, I never played any of the video games growing up. Heck, I didn't even know this arcade game existed. I never encountered it once in the wild, and I went to a lot of bowling alleys, skating rinks, and restaurants when I was a kid. Never saw this even once.
Why am I playing it now? I don't know. I was bored the other night and was scrolling through the arcade section of my RetroPie, looking for something potentially quick and easy to play through. I ended up settling on G.I. Joe. Why not play through it, just for shits and giggles?
Turns out, I ended up having a surprisingly good time with this game. Keep reading for my full breakdown.
There's really not much to this game's story. Cobra is trying to take over the world. You take control of the G.I. Joe Team as you fight against them. Eventually you head to their headquarters and defeat their leader, the aptly named Cobra Commander. The credits roll.
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Gameplay:
I guess you could describe this game as an on-rails shooter. Once you pick your character, you are immediately thrown into the action. The camera follows your character from behind his or her back as you run forward, shooting the enemies and obstacles that appear on screen.
You are not just moving a cursor, although that is a big part of the gameplay. You can also move your character back and forth in order to avoid enemy attacks. Aside from your standard straight line gun attack, you have a set number of grenades in your inventory. Use these to clear the screen of enemies. But you have to use them sparingly as you only start with three.
The main goal of the game is to simply move the cursor over the enemies that appear on screen and fire at them. There are also environmental hazards to avoid, or simply blast away with your weapon. One of the best thing about this game is that almost everything is destructible. I had such a fun time blowing up everything in sight. You are rewarded for doing this, as well. Enemies will occasionally drop power ups, but I found that I was able to strike it rich by destroying everything in the environment. I really racked up a lot of grenades and weapon upgrades in the process.
This is a very straightforward game. If you play it for two or three minutes, you'll know what to expect for the rest of the game. Your character is always dashing forward. You shoot. You throw grenades. You dodge enemy fire. You blow stuff up. At the end of each stage, you fight a boss character. It's nothing revolutionary, but it is still a fun time. I made my way through this game solo, but I see that this game is available to play with up to four players. I can only imagine how much of a raucous good time this must be to play with friends.
Graphics:
This isn't the greatest looking game in the world, but I wouldn't say it is ugly or anything like that. The cutscenes are really good, and the stills look like they were taken directly from the comic book or cartoon - kind of like how TMNT looks for the arcade.
Graphics in-game are decent. Expect to see lots of blocky pixelization, especially as enemies and obstacles rush towards the camera. They can completely obscure your view at times, which is a little annoying. That said, the game runs great. There's no choppiness or slowdown.
There's not much variety in the levels or the stage design. You run through a lot of "samey" looking environments. Again, not the most visually exciting game in the world. I don't really care, though. I play games for fun - and while this might not be the best looking game out there, the graphics do their part and are in no way any kind of hindrance to the fun time I had playing through this
Sound:
Konami is known for its great musical soundtracks in their games. Unfortunately there is nothing too special or memorable about the music in this game. You can definitely hear a little Sunset Riders/TMNT influence in some of the background music, but none of the tunes in G.I. Joe are as catchy as they are in those other games. The music is good, sure, but absolutely nothing memorable.
Sound effects are decent too. Nothing stands out to me, good or bad - which I guess is a good thing. The only thing that's stuck with me is when you hear "Go Joe!" (or is it "Yo Joe?" - like I said, I didn't watch the cartoon) when you pump in a quarter. I like that.
I can't lie: I had a fun time with this game. I came into it with no expectations whatsoever. I'm not a G.I. Joe fan, nor am I really a fan of this type of shooting game. But I had a really good time with this.
It's easy to pick up and play. It's fast paced. It's addictive. You don't need to know anything about G.I. Joe to enjoy this game. I wish I had encountered this in the arcades when I was a kid. I am sure I would have loved it.
You can try to knock this game by pointing out that it is repetitive and pretty short in length (you can beat it in less than 30 minutes), but I don't care about any of that stuff. This game is FUN, and that is what I look for in a video game. I definitely recommend this if you haven't played it. I know I'll probably be returning to this every few years or so for a quick and fun playthrough for the rest of my life. Can't ask for much more than that!
THE GRADE:
B
If you liked this review, check out some of my other arcade reviews:
For a complete index of all my past posts and game reviews, click
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