Front Line
1982 · Run and Gun · Arcade
Overview
Front Line (1982) is Taito's overhead war game, one of the first run-and-guns, in which a lone soldier fights through infantry and tanks to lob a grenade into the enemy fort.
Deep Dive
A lone soldier advances on foot against enemy infantry, then takes over tanks to fight enemy armour, and must finish by throwing a grenade over the brick barricade of the enemy fort. A rotary dial aims and fires his gun, and a button throws grenades and gets in and out of tanks. The light tank is nimble but fragile, while the heavy tank's cannon can take one hit from a light tank. Each time the fort falls, the stage repeats with faster and deadlier troops.
Developer Story
Tetsuya Sasaki designed the game, and Taito released it on 10 November 1982. It was the seventh highest-grossing arcade game of 1982 in Japan, and it preceded Capcom's Commando (1985) as an overhead run-and-gun.
Did You Know?
- It was runner-up for Coin-Op Game of the Year at the 1983 Arcade Awards, behind Pole Position.
- It was the basis for SNK's TNK III, which in turn fed into Ikari Warriors.
Sources & further reading
- Front Line (video game) — Wikipedia
