Retro Wildlands #57 - Rush'n Attack

[00:00:19] [SPEAKER_01]: Greetings fellow travelers, vagrants, explorers, wildlanders, and welcome to episode 57 of The

[00:00:27] [SPEAKER_01]: Retro Wildlands.

[00:00:29] [SPEAKER_01]: My name is Nomad and this is my gaming podcast where I like to share my thoughts and experiences

[00:00:33] [SPEAKER_01]: with a video game that I have discovered or rediscovered while roaming the gaming

[00:00:38] [SPEAKER_01]: wildlands.

[00:00:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you very much for tuning in to the show today.

[00:00:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Diving into new to me retro video games is always a blast, but the whole experience is

[00:00:49] [SPEAKER_01]: infinitely better when you're along for the ride with us.

[00:00:53] [SPEAKER_01]: DD, our canine expedition leader, will be around to greet you by giving you the obligatory

[00:00:59] [SPEAKER_01]: sniffing of the leg, so be sure to hold still while DD judges you deeply based upon the

[00:01:05] [SPEAKER_01]: sense he pulls off of you.

[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_01]: When he's done though, do me a favor and give him a good scratch behind the

[00:01:11] [SPEAKER_01]: ears, will ya?

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_01]: DD's been a little upset with me the last few days and I think he needs a little extra

[00:01:17] [SPEAKER_01]: love.

[00:01:18] [SPEAKER_01]: You see, when you're on a deadly mission into enemy territory and things like, I don't

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_01]: know, the fate of the world hangs in the balance, you often have to do the hard thing

[00:01:30] [SPEAKER_01]: or just things you don't want to do.

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_01]: But when I was playing through our latest retro game, I found myself being attacked

[00:01:38] [SPEAKER_01]: by ravenous dogs.

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Now, I don't know about you, but taking out dogs at video games is probably my least

[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_01]: favorite gaming activity.

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_01]: Whether in a retro game or a modern one, I always wince just a little bit on the

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_01]: inside if I have to take out anything of the canine variety.

[00:01:57] [SPEAKER_01]: But at the same time, you may not have a choice and your success depends on you

[00:02:02] [SPEAKER_01]: doing that hard thing.

[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_01]: DD saw me doing this while playing the game we're going to be talking about today

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_01]: and he's been a little peeved with me since, so yeah, if you can, give him a

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_01]: nice scratch behind the ears because he sure as hell does not want it for me

[00:02:17] [SPEAKER_01]: right now.

[00:02:19] [SPEAKER_01]: DD just doesn't understand though that sometimes, in order to accomplish your

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_01]: mission, you will have to be willing to face down all threats, especially when

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_01]: you're tossed into enemy territory with nothing but your wits, your reflexes,

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_01]: and a combat knife.

[00:02:37] [SPEAKER_01]: On today's episode, we're checking out a game that has a pretty simple premise.

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_01]: The enemy has a secret weapon that must be destroyed and... yep, that's pretty much it.

[00:02:51] [SPEAKER_01]: It's a straightforward concept and one that fits perfectly into the mold of

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_01]: games made back in the late 80s. But something about this game caught my

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_01]: attention when I first saw it. Published by Konami, it's hard not to see a

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_01]: little bit of Contra in this game. There's something about a badass military dude

[00:03:12] [SPEAKER_01]: taking out waves of enemies that just gets my adrenaline pumping.

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_01]: But for some reason, the badass military dude in this particular game

[00:03:22] [SPEAKER_01]: doesn't have any cool guns or awesome weapons like the infamous spread gun.

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Our hero has nothing but a knife. Either he has something to prove or those our

[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_01]: hero reports to are just plain stupid. Still, a game with a simple premise is

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_01]: just what the doctor ordered so today on the Retro Wildlands we're going to be

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER_01]: rushing forward and attacking by doing a lot of stabbing as we check out

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Russian attack. Now, Russian is not Russian as in Russia.

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Rush within apostrophe N implies that we're rushing towards our enemy and our

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_01]: ultimate objective. After World War II the world was more or less split in half

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER_01]: the east and the west, the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War era

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_01]: was still going on when Russian attack was originally released in arcades in 1985

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_01]: though it was known as Green Beret and Japan and Europe. Changing the name of

[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_01]: the game to Russian attack in North America is an obvious play on words used

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_01]: to leverage the idea that Russia is bad. It's never said what enemy nation

[00:04:40] [SPEAKER_01]: you're fighting against in this game but you can assume the developers

[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_01]: wanted you to think you were fighting real-world bad guys. But really the name

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_01]: of the game is pretty fitting. In rush and attack players take control of a lone

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_01]: commando armed with only a combat knife and your mission is to rush forward to

[00:05:01] [SPEAKER_01]: the end of each stage shanking anything that gets in your way. You are

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_01]: constantly moving and the game is throwing everything it has at you in

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER_01]: order to thwart your advance. Along the way you'll find enemy weapons that you can

[00:05:16] [SPEAKER_01]: seize in order to give you a temporary advantage. But the things that you'll

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_01]: need the most in order to come out on top are quick reflexes and nerves of

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_01]: steel. One slip-up can cost you and when you're going up against the

[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_01]: forces of not Russia you're going to need to bring your AE game. But with

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_01]: a game like this that has such a simple premise I'm sure you're probably

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_01]: asking yourself one important question. Is Russian attack a game that's worth my

[00:05:47] [SPEAKER_01]: time? Or are there better games out there that are trying to accomplish the

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_01]: same thing? Well my friends that is the question I had when I went into

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_01]: this one. Some people I've spoken to about Russian attack feel that this

[00:06:02] [SPEAKER_01]: is a good all-around game that's worth a try. Others have told me that I would not

[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_01]: be missing much if I decided to pass this one by. So today whether you've played

[00:06:13] [SPEAKER_01]: this game before and are looking to relive some of the old glory days or

[00:06:17] [SPEAKER_01]: you're just curious about what you might be getting into I'm going to

[00:06:21] [SPEAKER_01]: figure out if Russian attack is a game worthy of your precious time. Even if

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_01]: I have to make DD upset by stabbing some pixelated attack dogs in the process.

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Now if you're new to the show I like to kick things off by chatting it up with

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_01]: you all a little bit first and give you all a peek behind the scenes here

[00:06:43] [SPEAKER_01]: in the retro wildlands before we jump into the game that we're going to be

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_01]: talking about. Depending on what's on my mind I like to share what's going

[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_01]: on with the show itself, what games I might be playing, what projects I

[00:06:55] [SPEAKER_01]: might be planning and what's going on in my personal life or whatever else I

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_01]: feel like tossing into your ear holes. I also want to take some time to read and

[00:07:04] [SPEAKER_01]: respond to any comments I received about Russian attack from our retro wildlands

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_01]: social media pages in an effort to give the community a chance to sound off

[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_01]: their thoughts. Now if none of that interests you and you're just here

[00:07:18] [SPEAKER_01]: for the Russian attack experience no worries you can skip ahead about 10

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_01]: to 12 minutes and you should get into the game talk. I'll also be sure to put

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_01]: timestamps in the show notes so you can see exactly where you need to go if you

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_01]: don't want to stick around. But don't go rushing off just yet my friends.

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_01]: See what I did right there? Peek podcasting right there and that's

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_01]: just a little bit of a taste of what's coming up so please stick around

[00:07:45] [SPEAKER_01]: if you have a little bit of time to spare. We're going to talk a bit of

[00:07:49] [SPEAKER_01]: video games and your fellow wildlanders will get a chance to sound off

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_01]: their thoughts to the rest of us and I can't think of a better way to set the

[00:07:56] [SPEAKER_01]: stage for the journey ahead. So without further ado let's get into our opening

[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_01]: segment that I like to call campfire ketchup. So putting out this episode of

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_01]: the show took a lot longer than I was anticipating and I really only have my

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_01]: self-to-blame for that. Over the last month or so I've had a lot going on

[00:08:33] [SPEAKER_01]: around my neck of the woods and that includes things involving my personal

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_01]: life, work life, family life and that elusive work-life balance we're all

[00:08:42] [SPEAKER_01]: trying to find these days so we don't allow our mental health to erode away.

[00:08:47] [SPEAKER_01]: If I ever had a superpower of any kind it would be to not require sleep so I

[00:08:52] [SPEAKER_01]: can just keep plugging away a project and partaking in all the things that

[00:08:56] [SPEAKER_01]: make me happy. This last month required me to dip into the quote-unquote

[00:09:01] [SPEAKER_01]: things that make me happy pool more than normal and while playing

[00:09:05] [SPEAKER_01]: games and writing scripts for this podcast absolutely make me happy. I

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER_01]: actually hit a point after our last episode where I lost the drive for a

[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_01]: moment. I think that happens to most creators though it's actually one of

[00:09:20] [SPEAKER_01]: the main reasons I decided not to find ways to monetize this show yet. Once

[00:09:25] [SPEAKER_01]: you start taking money from people for your work the reason you create

[00:09:29] [SPEAKER_01]: changes even if it's just a little bit. If I'm ever lucky enough to make

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_01]: money off this little hobby of mine I can guarantee you I'll be making

[00:09:37] [SPEAKER_01]: deadlines and meeting goals more consistently. I mean you'd potentially

[00:09:41] [SPEAKER_01]: be a paying customer at that point and I always want to make sure that you're

[00:09:45] [SPEAKER_01]: getting your money's worth if you decide to throw it my way. But over the

[00:09:48] [SPEAKER_01]: last few months I've been dabbling in other areas of content creation as

[00:09:53] [SPEAKER_01]: inspiration strikes me. Which has been nice but with my limited free time

[00:09:58] [SPEAKER_01]: I tend to have to put the podcast on the back burner while trying new

[00:10:02] [SPEAKER_01]: things or if I just need a break in general. So needless to say I've been

[00:10:07] [SPEAKER_01]: keeping busy since we've gotten together last and I have a lot to talk

[00:10:11] [SPEAKER_01]: about. However I'm going to blow through a lot of what's going on because

[00:10:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Russian Attack is not a very involved video game so the game talk portion of

[00:10:20] [SPEAKER_01]: this episode isn't going to be too terribly long and it would be odd if

[00:10:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Campfire Ketchup was longer than the actual game portion of the show so

[00:10:28] [SPEAKER_01]: let's dive in and see what's going on around here shall we? Alright let's talk

[00:10:33] [SPEAKER_01]: about some games. I've played through several games since we talked last and

[00:10:38] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm currently working through several others as we speak. First up, X Defiant

[00:10:43] [SPEAKER_01]: the free-to-play first-person shooter from our pals at Ubisoft. I think it

[00:10:48] [SPEAKER_01]: mentioned last time that I jumped in thanks to Bob my buddy from work but

[00:10:52] [SPEAKER_01]: notice the trophy list on the PlayStation for the game seemed fairly

[00:10:56] [SPEAKER_01]: attainable and I'm kind of a trophy slash achievement horror times. I did 100%

[00:11:01] [SPEAKER_01]: of the trophy list for X Defiant after about 20 or so hours and while I didn't

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_01]: have a terrible time with X Defiant I didn't have a great one either.

[00:11:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Happy to have played it but will probably never play it again. Next I

[00:11:17] [SPEAKER_01]: decided that for the Nintendo Switch I wanted to play through a Nintendo

[00:11:21] [SPEAKER_01]: exclusive that I could just chip away at in short microbursts. Super Smash Bros.

[00:11:27] [SPEAKER_01]: Ultimate fit that bill nicely. I am not great at Smash but I love to play it and

[00:11:34] [SPEAKER_01]: I decided that I wanted to complete the game's single-player adventure mode

[00:11:38] [SPEAKER_01]: before I considered that game quote-unquote complete. I'm about 20

[00:11:43] [SPEAKER_01]: or so hours into it and I'm just about done with it so by the time we

[00:11:47] [SPEAKER_01]: talk again that'll be another game that I'll have considered complete. I wish I

[00:11:53] [SPEAKER_01]: could be better at that game and I wish more of my immediate friends played it

[00:11:56] [SPEAKER_01]: but I still have fun anytime I do partake even if I partake by myself.

[00:12:03] [SPEAKER_01]: After Smash I felt a calling to finally play a game that I've been putting

[00:12:07] [SPEAKER_01]: off for several years and even thinking about it now I'm not entirely

[00:12:11] [SPEAKER_01]: sure where I got the urge to play it all of a sudden but I can now cross

[00:12:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Resident Evil Village off of my enormous backlog. There was a point a few weeks ago

[00:12:23] [SPEAKER_01]: that Justine took the kids out of state for a dance competition that my step

[00:12:27] [SPEAKER_01]: daughter was in, she and her team crushed it by the way so for several days I had

[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_01]: the house all to myself. After spending a few days working from home and

[00:12:37] [SPEAKER_01]: cleaning the house top to bottom I spent the last two nights binging

[00:12:41] [SPEAKER_01]: RE Village and well I had a great time with it and I can see myself going back to

[00:12:48] [SPEAKER_01]: it again especially to play the Shadows of Rose DLC but it wasn't really what I

[00:12:55] [SPEAKER_01]: was expecting overall. Don't get me wrong it was a great game and I love

[00:13:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Resident Evil games just in general by proxy it was just I don't know I would

[00:13:06] [SPEAKER_01]: love to talk to somebody about this game one of these days but at least

[00:13:09] [SPEAKER_01]: for now I can finally say that I've played it. As a self-proclaimed borderline

[00:13:16] [SPEAKER_01]: Resident Evil fanboy Village was the biggest gap in my Resident Evil resume so

[00:13:21] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm just glad that one is done. So if we're keeping score at home that's

[00:13:27] [SPEAKER_01]: three games knocked off the backlog which is awesome. Now since we've

[00:13:32] [SPEAKER_01]: spoken last I've been involved in a few creative endeavors. First I ended

[00:13:37] [SPEAKER_01]: up doing work over on our retro wildlands YouTube channel. I think I mentioned

[00:13:43] [SPEAKER_01]: last episode but I played through a charming little indie action RPG called

[00:13:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Cat Quest. I liked the game enough that I decided I wanted to make a video

[00:13:52] [SPEAKER_01]: review about the game and that is exactly what I did. My review of Cat

[00:13:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Quest is live as you're hearing these words and I am very happy with how

[00:14:01] [SPEAKER_01]: it turned out. I even made a pretty YouTube-ish thumbnail to go with it.

[00:14:07] [SPEAKER_01]: At this moment the video has about 130 views which is about 130 more than I

[00:14:13] [SPEAKER_01]: thought I would get so it has been one hell of a motivator for me. The games

[00:14:18] [SPEAKER_01]: I've reviewed so far at least on the YouTube channel may not be retro by most

[00:14:24] [SPEAKER_01]: people's definitions but they're games that I really enjoyed that I want

[00:14:27] [SPEAKER_01]: to give their moment in the spotlight. So to that end the next video review

[00:14:32] [SPEAKER_01]: that I plan to do is an awesome indie retro Metroidvania style game that I

[00:14:37] [SPEAKER_01]: played while I was on my yearly family vacation called Chasm. I probably sunk

[00:14:44] [SPEAKER_01]: about 25 hours into Chasm all told and even put the work in to get the

[00:14:49] [SPEAKER_01]: platinum trophy on the PlayStation. The best part though I played this gem

[00:14:55] [SPEAKER_01]: on my PlayStation Vita. I have to admit though that Metroidvania is as

[00:15:00] [SPEAKER_01]: amazing as they are aren't normally my favorite genre of game but Chasm was very

[00:15:07] [SPEAKER_01]: fun and it took some obvious inspiration from Castlevania Symphony of the Night

[00:15:11] [SPEAKER_01]: which allowed me to connect to it pretty quick. So if you're interested in my

[00:15:16] [SPEAKER_01]: thoughts on that game or the couple others that I covered on YouTube please

[00:15:20] [SPEAKER_01]: feel free to subscribe to the Retro Wildlands on YouTube. My goal is to

[00:15:26] [SPEAKER_01]: get to work on a video for Chasm after this episode goes live so in theory

[00:15:31] [SPEAKER_01]: should be in the works as you're hearing my words. I also decided to try my hand

[00:15:38] [SPEAKER_01]: at live streaming over the last month. I know I'm just doing all the things

[00:15:43] [SPEAKER_01]: lately. I'm working my way through an indie retro RPG known as Sea of Stars

[00:15:48] [SPEAKER_01]: and I was more or less just playing the game off to the side. I had no

[00:15:53] [SPEAKER_01]: intention of covering it on the podcast or anything but one day I was

[00:15:57] [SPEAKER_01]: approached by Lindsay who heads up a YouTube channel called LL Cool Games.

[00:16:03] [SPEAKER_01]: She's been wanting to play Sea of Stars herself and thought it would be cool if

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_01]: we played it together and met once a week to talk about the game as sort

[00:16:11] [SPEAKER_01]: of a way to keep each other accountable. It was a great idea which then

[00:16:16] [SPEAKER_01]: evolved into us teaching ourselves how to live stream and having those

[00:16:20] [SPEAKER_01]: discussions together in real time. We've done two together so far and you

[00:16:25] [SPEAKER_01]: can find those archived conversations over on either of our YouTube channels

[00:16:29] [SPEAKER_01]: if you're at all interested. There are some story spoilers so listen at your

[00:16:35] [SPEAKER_01]: own discretion but we had a blast talking together and interacting with

[00:16:38] [SPEAKER_01]: the few people that stopped by the stream. So now that I've tried that

[00:16:43] [SPEAKER_01]: I am very eager to keep doing more live streams just so I can learn

[00:16:47] [SPEAKER_01]: and get better speaking in the moment and interacting with people in real time.

[00:16:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Lindsay and I usually meet on Tuesdays around 9 p.m. Eastern so if you want to

[00:16:57] [SPEAKER_01]: hang out while we chat Sea of Stars you are more than welcome. Keep an eye on

[00:17:03] [SPEAKER_01]: our social media pages for links to those events. I'm not 100% sure if

[00:17:08] [SPEAKER_01]: we're going to keep this up after we finish Sea of Stars but stay tuned.

[00:17:12] [SPEAKER_01]: We are having a blast together so far so anything is possible.

[00:17:18] [SPEAKER_01]: All right I think that's enough catching up for this episode.

[00:17:21] [SPEAKER_01]: There's plenty more to talk about but we're going to keep this one short and sweet.

[00:17:25] [SPEAKER_01]: I've been playing a lot of games and trying out a lot of new creative endeavors so

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm anxious to keep plugging away whenever and wherever I can.

[00:17:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Before we move on though just a quick reminder the retro wildlands is all over

[00:17:39] [SPEAKER_01]: social media so if you're interested in keeping up with the latest from me and

[00:17:43] [SPEAKER_01]: DD or you just want to add a little retro and modern gaming spice to your timelines and feeds

[00:17:48] [SPEAKER_01]: feel free to throw us a follow on your favorite platform or all of them.

[00:17:54] [SPEAKER_01]: Easiest way to find the show would be to check out our link tree at linktr.ee forward slash

[00:18:00] [SPEAKER_01]: retro wildlands and you'll be taken to links for our facebook instagram twitter slash x youtube

[00:18:06] [SPEAKER_01]: and all the other places we hang out sometimes. I'm pretty responsive to comments on posts

[00:18:12] [SPEAKER_01]: and direct messages so even if you're just looking for a way to interact with me directly

[00:18:16] [SPEAKER_01]: that is how you do it. Okay that is really enough catching up now.

[00:18:22] [SPEAKER_01]: It is time to get to the reason that we are all gathered around the campfire today my friends.

[00:18:27] [SPEAKER_01]: It is time to talk about Russian attack. We had a couple people in the retro wildlands

[00:18:36] [SPEAKER_01]: community drop their thoughts on Russian attack and I wanted to share and respond to them here

[00:18:41] [SPEAKER_01]: so let's just jump right in with our first comment that came from Chris Coppeline who is one half of

[00:18:47] [SPEAKER_01]: the retro hangover podcast. He chimed in over on our x slash twitter page and said

[00:18:54] [SPEAKER_01]: it's the kind of game that requires the dumb fun switch to be turned on to enjoy.

[00:19:00] [SPEAKER_01]: It's not deep at all and it's incredibly repetitive. The difficulty towards beating it

[00:19:05] [SPEAKER_01]: is more of a war of attrition with your patience than having a high skill level.

[00:19:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Still it's fun somehow. I love this comment Chris as it's the perfect summary of my own

[00:19:17] [SPEAKER_01]: feelings about this game overall. Not all retro games are deep and immersive which is fine

[00:19:24] [SPEAKER_01]: but I was actually surprised with how sparse Russian attack actually was.

[00:19:29] [SPEAKER_01]: But the key though was the fact that I was having a good time with this game.

[00:19:34] [SPEAKER_01]: It is dumb fun exactly as you describe it. And personally while I'd rather legitimately

[00:19:40] [SPEAKER_01]: skill up and get better at a game because I'm becoming a better player as I go,

[00:19:45] [SPEAKER_01]: there is nothing wrong with just zoning out, putting a reps in and getting better purely

[00:19:50] [SPEAKER_01]: because you memorized a pattern or mastered a particular set piece. So while the game is

[00:19:55] [SPEAKER_01]: hard and continues to get harder as you go, it is very beatable and it's very fulfilling

[00:20:00] [SPEAKER_01]: when you do beat it. That's one of the things that makes this game special in my opinion.

[00:20:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Thanks for the comment Chris and if you're listening to this show right now and you have

[00:20:10] [SPEAKER_01]: not checked out the Retro Hangover podcast, consider throwing them into your gaming podcast

[00:20:15] [SPEAKER_01]: rotation. It's a show that I listen to regularly and you should too.

[00:20:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Our last comment this episode comes from Mast Keaton who reached out to me over on Discord.

[00:20:27] [SPEAKER_01]: Keaton has an affinity for Lon Lon Milk he was telling me and was caught recently rummaging through

[00:20:33] [SPEAKER_01]: our drink cooler. Unfortunately we don't have Lon Lon Milk Keaton, generally we stock alcohol for

[00:20:39] [SPEAKER_01]: our adventures which is strictly by Dee Dee's orders I might add, but it's always great

[00:20:43] [SPEAKER_01]: seeing you hanging around the campfire, fluffy fox-like tails and all my friend.

[00:20:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Here's what Mast Keaton had to share with the expedition.

[00:20:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I rented that once as a child. Mom saw me playing it, saw it look too violent and asked me what it

[00:21:00] [SPEAKER_01]: was called. When I told her the name she frowned, unhappy because the US and Russia were allies now.

[00:21:07] [SPEAKER_01]: With an innocence only a preteen child can have, I explained it was rush and attack not Russian

[00:21:14] [SPEAKER_01]: attack. Her concerns were not alleviated but she didn't take my game away. I decided not

[00:21:20] [SPEAKER_01]: to push my luck though so I never rented it again. I think I would have made the same decision as you

[00:21:26] [SPEAKER_01]: Keaton best not to poke the bear, Russian or otherwise. It is fun though looking back on

[00:21:33] [SPEAKER_01]: retro games and seeing how violence in games has evolved over time. My mother would have

[00:21:38] [SPEAKER_01]: agreed with your mother though I'd bet. There's no blood in this game but you are clearly

[00:21:42] [SPEAKER_01]: stabbing people in such a way as to end them in the most painful way possible.

[00:21:47] [SPEAKER_01]: And while I think we can agree the naming of this game here in North America was very strategic

[00:21:52] [SPEAKER_01]: from a marketing perspective, since it felt like we were all conditioned to be angry with the Soviets

[00:21:57] [SPEAKER_01]: for such a long time, I do think it works and is appropriate. I rather like the name even if I

[00:22:04] [SPEAKER_01]: do find myself taking a moment to talk a little slower and make sure that I'm saying rush

[00:22:09] [SPEAKER_01]: and attack for the uninitiated. Even if you don't play it again Keaton stay tuned to the

[00:22:15] [SPEAKER_01]: show my friend. I plan to play it for the both of us. Thank you very much for reaching out,

[00:22:22] [SPEAKER_01]: I really appreciate your support and taking time out of your day to hang out at the campfire with us.

[00:22:29] [SPEAKER_01]: Originally released in arcades in 1985 and then on the Nintendo Entertainment System in April 1987,

[00:22:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Russian attack or Green Beret as it was called in Japan and Europe is widely considered to be

[00:22:43] [SPEAKER_01]: a hybrid run and gun slash hack and slash style game. Players take control of a lone United States

[00:22:51] [SPEAKER_01]: special operator, presumably a Green Beret, and are tasked with freeing captive prisoners of war

[00:22:57] [SPEAKER_01]: in the arcade version but in the NES version the mission is to destroy the enemy's secret weapon.

[00:23:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Either way, the odds are stacked against us because High Command sent us into enemy territory

[00:23:09] [SPEAKER_01]: with only a combat knife to see us through. Maybe they're all a bunch of idiots,

[00:23:14] [SPEAKER_01]: or maybe they know how dangerous we really are with only a knife at our disposal.

[00:23:19] [SPEAKER_01]: Regardless, we'll need to be quick and deadly as we make our way through several layers of the

[00:23:24] [SPEAKER_01]: enemy's defenses all while repelling multiple enemy types. Foot soldiers, paratroopers,

[00:23:31] [SPEAKER_01]: artillery men, jumping soldiers, and even those attack dogs I mentioned in the intro that

[00:23:35] [SPEAKER_01]: DD hates seeing me take out are all gunning for us. Will we have what it takes to see the mission

[00:23:42] [SPEAKER_01]: through or will we just be another needless casualty of war? Well my friends, that is going

[00:23:49] [SPEAKER_01]: to be solely dependent on us. So let's gear up wildlanders, strap on your parachute,

[00:23:56] [SPEAKER_01]: don your beret, and don't forget your combat knife. This mission isn't going to

[00:24:01] [SPEAKER_01]: accomplish itself and it's on us to clear out any obstacles in our path. Even if it means stabbing

[00:24:07] [SPEAKER_01]: those obstacles repeatedly in the stomach until they stop moving. Growing up, I always thought

[00:24:52] [SPEAKER_01]: about all the cool experiences I wanted to have, whether they could actually happen in real life

[00:24:57] [SPEAKER_01]: or not. Example, how many of you thought it would be cool to be a pirate? Sailing the

[00:25:03] [SPEAKER_01]: high seas, plundering, looking for treasure and singing sea shanties along the way? Or how about

[00:25:10] [SPEAKER_01]: a superhero? Someone who saves the day by defeating the villain and saving the city?

[00:25:15] [SPEAKER_01]: How about an action hero? Someone who can accomplish the most dangerous missions,

[00:25:20] [SPEAKER_01]: survive them all, and somehow get the girl at the end? I can guarantee we've all had

[00:25:26] [SPEAKER_01]: fantasies like that when we were younger and that, in my opinion, is one of the reasons

[00:25:31] [SPEAKER_01]: video games were so popular back in the day. In a way, we got the chance to do the things we

[00:25:37] [SPEAKER_01]: dreamt about through the games that we played. Skies of Arcadia on a Sega Dreamcast allowed

[00:25:43] [SPEAKER_01]: me to fulfill my pirate fantasy. The Punisher may not be someone's first choice for a superhero,

[00:25:51] [SPEAKER_01]: well because he really isn't one, but the Punisher on PlayStation 2 let me be a hero that

[00:25:56] [SPEAKER_01]: I liked and got to save the day in my own special way. And as odd as it sounds, Super Mario World made

[00:26:04] [SPEAKER_01]: me feel like an action star as I traversed multiple worlds before beating Bowser, saving Princess

[00:26:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Peach, and getting that oh so sweet peck on the cheek from her. Books and movies were always great

[00:26:17] [SPEAKER_01]: for accomplishing the same goal here, but for my money, there's just something about diving

[00:26:22] [SPEAKER_01]: into a video game where I have tangible control over what's happening that really stands out.

[00:26:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Some of the best memories I have of my youth and some of the more profound lessons I learned

[00:26:34] [SPEAKER_01]: come from my experience with those video games. Now while this is certainly still applicable today,

[00:26:41] [SPEAKER_01]: there has been a small shift inside me as I've gotten older, and a shift that I'm sure happens

[00:26:46] [SPEAKER_01]: to all of us as we mature far into adulthood. While many of us will forever look for ways to

[00:26:52] [SPEAKER_01]: insert ourselves into incredible situations and indulge in a little pretend, anymore now we always

[00:26:59] [SPEAKER_01]: find ourselves craving something much simpler. Sometimes all we need is a quick escape,

[00:27:06] [SPEAKER_01]: one that allows us to forget our worldly troubles by offering a simple premise alongside

[00:27:11] [SPEAKER_01]: a challenge that'll keep us engaged for a time. Nothing more, nothing less.

[00:27:17] [SPEAKER_01]: As we get older, our time becomes more valuable and more limited, and we become very aware of it

[00:27:23] [SPEAKER_01]: as to not waste it. And while there's plenty of modern games that accomplish this quite nicely,

[00:27:29] [SPEAKER_01]: there's plenty of retro games that fit the bill as well. Especially the game that we're

[00:27:35] [SPEAKER_01]: about to be chatting about today. I honestly don't remember where I first heard of or saw

[00:27:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Russian Attack for the first time when I was younger. This game was originally released as

[00:27:47] [SPEAKER_01]: an arcade game back in 85, and at least to my knowledge, I've yet to see this game in an

[00:27:53] [SPEAKER_01]: actual arcade. It's possible I saw this game at a friend's or a relative's house or something

[00:27:59] [SPEAKER_01]: because when I was thumbing through the NES library of games trying to remember old

[00:28:04] [SPEAKER_01]: games that I used to play, this one immediately caught my eye when I saw screenshots of it.

[00:28:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Especially the opening of the game where you parachute behind enemy lines before you start

[00:28:15] [SPEAKER_01]: your mission. I'm sure you've had that experience before, right? You know you've seen

[00:28:21] [SPEAKER_01]: or heard of something but you just can't quite place it. Regardless, Russian Attack was a

[00:28:27] [SPEAKER_01]: I wanted to sit down with. On the surface it had that adult game vibe like Contra used to give me,

[00:28:35] [SPEAKER_01]: and I loved trying out games that were anything but Super Mario.

[00:28:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Most of the retro gamers that I interact with know of Russian Attack, but not too many have

[00:28:45] [SPEAKER_01]: played it, so I'm curious which side of the fence you're on, dear listener.

[00:28:50] [SPEAKER_01]: But now, as an almost 40 year old, I finally sat down to see what all this rushing was

[00:28:56] [SPEAKER_01]: going to be about, and I'm eager to share what this game is with you.

[00:29:02] [SPEAKER_01]: So that being said, let's start to peel back the layers a little bit and see exactly what it is

[00:29:08] [SPEAKER_01]: that we're working with. So, what is this game?

[00:29:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Russian Attack is a side-scrolling run and gun, hack and slash style game where players

[00:29:20] [SPEAKER_01]: take control of a lone special forces operative whose mission is to assault an enemy base

[00:29:25] [SPEAKER_01]: and destroy their secret weapon. Period, end of story summary.

[00:29:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Across six stages of play you're going to come face to face with multiple enemies who are going

[00:29:37] [SPEAKER_01]: to stop at nothing to either shoot you, kick you in the face, or touch you until you die a nasty death.

[00:29:44] [SPEAKER_01]: It'll be up to you to reach the end of the stage alive, but it will not be easy.

[00:29:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Instead of giving you the best equipment and gear available for such a large mission,

[00:29:54] [SPEAKER_01]: your leaders felt as though you could accomplish your mission with practically nothing,

[00:29:58] [SPEAKER_01]: because all you have at your disposal is a combat knife.

[00:30:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Now that sounds worse than the game actually is, I promise, but you do have to wonder,

[00:30:08] [SPEAKER_01]: how is this game going to make itself fun? Will it even? Because those of us who have

[00:30:14] [SPEAKER_01]: played Contra before can tell you that game was fun as hell, and it was all thanks to all

[00:30:19] [SPEAKER_01]: the awesome weapons and power-ups that we found along the way. I can guarantee some of you right

[00:30:25] [SPEAKER_01]: now thinking about Contra are thinking about that spread gun right now, aren't you?

[00:30:31] [SPEAKER_01]: So does Russian attack have any awesome weapons and power-ups?

[00:30:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Kinda. You can find a rocket launcher that drops from certain enemies which is pretty cool.

[00:30:42] [SPEAKER_01]: You can also come across hand grenades which are also cool.

[00:30:46] [SPEAKER_01]: There was a flamethrower in the arcade version, but that didn't make it over to the NES version,

[00:30:51] [SPEAKER_01]: so that's a bit of a bummer. In the arcade version, it looked like it was actually searing

[00:30:56] [SPEAKER_01]: the flesh off the bones of your enemies, so I'm assuming Nintendo wanted no part of that.

[00:31:03] [SPEAKER_01]: However, the NES version does have two unique items that are exclusive to the NES.

[00:31:10] [SPEAKER_01]: One is a handgun with unlimited ammo, which is really badass when you can get your hands on one.

[00:31:16] [SPEAKER_01]: You can only use it for a limited amount of time, so as cool as it is though, it doesn't last forever.

[00:31:22] [SPEAKER_01]: And since we're playing a Nintendo game, it would not be complete without an invincibility star.

[00:31:29] [SPEAKER_01]: So yeah, you don't just have your knife, you're able to procure some enemy ordinance

[00:31:34] [SPEAKER_01]: and turn the tide every once in a while, but is that and the simple overall premise

[00:31:39] [SPEAKER_01]: enough to hold this game up and is it worth your time? Or is Russian Attack just discount contra?

[00:31:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Well my friends, since there really isn't much story to speak of, I vote we dive right in.

[00:31:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Let's grab a copy of Russian Attack, slide it into our Nintendo Entertainment System,

[00:31:57] [SPEAKER_01]: and see what this experience is all about.

[00:32:00] [SPEAKER_01]: As soon as we hit the power button and provided our game cartridges doesn't need to be blown

[00:32:05] [SPEAKER_01]: on to get it going, the title screen appears. On screen we can see the Konami logo at the

[00:32:12] [SPEAKER_01]: very top and underneath that the words Russian Attack are visible in blue letters.

[00:32:17] [SPEAKER_01]: In the middle of the screen we get the option of one or two players. Ooh, two player option.

[00:32:25] [SPEAKER_01]: The arcade version only allowed one player to go it alone, but if you wanted to play

[00:32:30] [SPEAKER_01]: with a sibling or that creepy neighbor kid, you could take on the enemy as a team of two commandos.

[00:32:37] [SPEAKER_01]: I never got a chance to experience this game with PAL, so I can't speak to the

[00:32:42] [SPEAKER_01]: two player experience, but I'm sure it was fine. But I have to assume the two player

[00:32:47] [SPEAKER_01]: experience is a lot like Contra. Sure, it was fun blowing things up with a PAL,

[00:32:53] [SPEAKER_01]: but your PAL needed to be reliable and focused. Games like Contra and Russian Attack

[00:32:58] [SPEAKER_01]: aren't easy and there's no room for players bringing anything less than their A-game.

[00:33:04] [SPEAKER_01]: But since it's just us, let's select player one and get this mission started.

[00:33:11] [SPEAKER_01]: On the next screen we're treated with an opening movie that's also unique to the

[00:33:16] [SPEAKER_01]: NES version of the game. It's nighttime and we're shown inside the enemy base,

[00:33:22] [SPEAKER_01]: but beyond the wall we can see a vast mountain range as well as lights from what I assume is

[00:33:27] [SPEAKER_01]: a neighboring city. It does look a little disjointed even for 8-bit graphics,

[00:33:32] [SPEAKER_01]: but it's a nice little scene to look at. In the star-filled sky we see a green transport helicopter

[00:33:40] [SPEAKER_01]: come in on screen from the right hand side. We can see someone jumping from the chopper and

[00:33:46] [SPEAKER_01]: almost immediately a parachute can be seen as a lone soldier clad in blue makes his way to the

[00:33:52] [SPEAKER_01]: ground. As the helicopter heads off screen several words appear.

[00:33:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Your mission, destroy the enemy's secret weapon. Good luck!

[00:34:18] [SPEAKER_01]: And yep that is pretty much it. Are you ready to go stab some people? Well good let's get after it.

[00:34:27] [SPEAKER_01]: On the next screen it's daylight all of a sudden. We're clearly inside the enemy compound

[00:34:33] [SPEAKER_01]: and there's even tanks parked in the distance. Our soldier is ready to go on the lower left hand

[00:34:39] [SPEAKER_01]: side of the screen and... god damn what the hell is that? Have we been discovered by the enemy already?

[00:34:50] [SPEAKER_01]: Sure enough a lone enemy soldier appears on the right hand side of the screen and is heading

[00:34:55] [SPEAKER_01]: straight towards us. Okay soldiers let's get ready to engage. To move your character on

[00:35:02] [SPEAKER_01]: screen we simply use the directional pad. Press right to move right, left to move left, simple.

[00:35:10] [SPEAKER_01]: We can lie prone on the ground by pressing and holding down on the d-pad as well.

[00:35:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Keep this in mind because we'll more than likely need to get nimble if we have some enemy

[00:35:19] [SPEAKER_01]: projectiles heading towards us. Now right off the bat one thing you'll have to get used

[00:35:25] [SPEAKER_01]: to is jumping in this game. Jumping is relegated to up on the directional pad and man I do not care

[00:35:33] [SPEAKER_01]: for jumping using the directional pad at all in any game that I have played up to this point.

[00:35:39] [SPEAKER_01]: It's not the worst thing ever and you do get used to it after a bit but I do wish jumping was

[00:35:45] [SPEAKER_01]: attached to either the B or the A button. The problem with that mentality though is those

[00:35:50] [SPEAKER_01]: buttons are already spoken for. Your A button which seemingly does nothing at this exact moment

[00:35:56] [SPEAKER_01]: is reserved for using an item that you may have picked up like a rocket launcher or grenade.

[00:36:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Your B button however is the one that you'll be smacking around a lot. This button makes your

[00:36:08] [SPEAKER_01]: character thrust his combat knife forward and it'll be the primary means in which we attack

[00:36:13] [SPEAKER_01]: our enemies and carve ourselves a path to our mission objective. Alright with that out of the

[00:36:19] [SPEAKER_01]: way we have everything we need to defend ourselves from the enemy heading our way. Let's move forward

[00:36:24] [SPEAKER_01]: to meet our adversary and then show him what his insides look like. Obviously a combat knife is

[00:36:32] [SPEAKER_01]: pretty short range so we're going to have to let our enemy get close to us before we attack.

[00:36:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Lucky for us though our enemy is just blindly rushing towards us.

[00:36:41] [SPEAKER_01]: They don't have a firearm or other weapons so their foolishness will be there undoing.

[00:36:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay he's close enough press the B button and shank this guy. Excellent work soldier.

[00:36:55] [SPEAKER_01]: All it takes is one meaningful stab to the stomach and our enemy is toast.

[00:37:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Hopefully our wrist muscles are tone and ready because we're going to be thrusting

[00:37:04] [SPEAKER_01]: our knife forwards quite a bit before our mission is through. And speaking of get ready

[00:37:10] [SPEAKER_01]: to do it again because while we were eviscerating this guy another enemy was starting to come

[00:37:15] [SPEAKER_01]: up from behind us. Turn your heading with the directional pad and let's perforate this moron

[00:37:21] [SPEAKER_01]: who is also coming at us with no weapons. Nice. No time to wipe the blood off your blade though

[00:37:29] [SPEAKER_01]: we have a mission to complete so we just need to get moving. Much like in Contra enemies will

[00:37:36] [SPEAKER_01]: continue to come at you even if you don't move forward so it would behoove us to get

[00:37:40] [SPEAKER_01]: our asses in gear and head towards the right of the screen. Now one thing you'll probably have

[00:37:46] [SPEAKER_01]: noticed about your surroundings are the ladders that are placed around you. In all levels of

[00:37:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Russian attack you can climb ladders and move up to a higher plane or back down to a lower one.

[00:37:58] [SPEAKER_01]: In our case here we can move up onto a bridge. Further some ladders will let you go even higher

[00:38:05] [SPEAKER_01]: if they're available. In the first stage especially it really doesn't matter which portion of the

[00:38:10] [SPEAKER_01]: stage that you're on, the experience is more or less going to be the same. You can use ladders

[00:38:16] [SPEAKER_01]: to potentially move yourself out of harm's way or move to a plane that might have a power up

[00:38:21] [SPEAKER_01]: on it let's say. All you have to do is hold up or down on your directional pad for your

[00:38:26] [SPEAKER_01]: character to latch on and climb up or down. It's easy enough but be warned. Much like the stairs

[00:38:35] [SPEAKER_01]: in the original Castlevania ladders in Russian attack can be extremely dangerous and can spell

[00:38:42] [SPEAKER_01]: our doom if we don't pay attention to them and use them properly. We'll find out what I mean

[00:38:47] [SPEAKER_01]: soon enough. As we continue on let's ignore the ladders for a moment. Keep pushing forward

[00:38:54] [SPEAKER_01]: because coming up there's going to be a new enemy type that we want to be on the lookout for as we

[00:39:00] [SPEAKER_01]: progress. Nice, doing good soldier. Ah up ahead there he is. Just ahead we'll see an enemy soldier

[00:39:11] [SPEAKER_01]: prone on the ground. He's in a tan uniform and whenever you see this enemy type do your best

[00:39:18] [SPEAKER_01]: to end them quickly with a swift stab. When you kill this particular enemy type

[00:39:24] [SPEAKER_01]: they'll drop a power up or weapon for you to use and make your life a little easier.

[00:39:29] [SPEAKER_01]: The funny thing though is I noticed this enemy only drops an item if you stab them. Killing

[00:39:36] [SPEAKER_01]: them some other way doesn't seem to have them drop an item so keep that in mind.

[00:39:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Anyway you can either lie prone yourself by holding the directional pad down and attacking

[00:39:47] [SPEAKER_01]: so that you stab the enemy in the face or you can let the enemy get to their feet and then

[00:39:52] [SPEAKER_01]: shank him the old fashioned way. Excellent. As soon as you make contact with the enemy

[00:40:00] [SPEAKER_01]: you'll see a rocket launcher go flying and land on the ground. All you need to do in order to pick

[00:40:05] [SPEAKER_01]: up the launcher or any power up for that matter is just walk over it. Let's do that now and

[00:40:11] [SPEAKER_01]: upgrade our offensive capabilities. Perfect. The rocket launcher will be seen slung over

[00:40:19] [SPEAKER_01]: our shoulder and heaven helped the poor bastards faded to die at the hands of this weapon.

[00:40:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Rocket launchers and grenades will stay equipped on your character until you use all the available

[00:40:30] [SPEAKER_01]: ammo that you have. You have three rockets to use and you could see that indicated at the

[00:40:36] [SPEAKER_01]: top of the screen. Next to the letters POW or POW is the number three. You can't carry any more

[00:40:45] [SPEAKER_01]: than three uses of a special weapon so don't think you can stockpile munitions or anything.

[00:40:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Be sure to use what you have before picking up the next weapon.

[00:40:56] [SPEAKER_01]: So how does this baby work? Now that you have the rocket launcher the previously

[00:41:01] [SPEAKER_01]: useless A button is what you press. Pressing it will launch a rocket out in front of you.

[00:41:08] [SPEAKER_01]: One of the first rules of combat is to test your equipment especially any weapons procured

[00:41:13] [SPEAKER_01]: from the enemy. So let's use the rocket launcher now and see how she performs.

[00:41:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Ah perfect. We have three enemies coming at us from the front.

[00:41:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Hit your A button and let's watch the carnage. Nice.

[00:41:32] [SPEAKER_01]: For some reason though the rocket launcher acts more like a high powered bullet as it

[00:41:37] [SPEAKER_01]: doesn't explode on impact. It'll just keep moving through enemies killing anything that

[00:41:42] [SPEAKER_01]: touches. This makes it the perfect weapon for taking out a cluster of enemies packed together tight

[00:41:49] [SPEAKER_01]: or if you have enemies coming from both sides and you just need little breathing room on either side

[00:41:54] [SPEAKER_01]: of you. There's also another interesting use for the rocket launcher that I can show you just

[00:42:00] [SPEAKER_01]: up ahead so let's keep moving and we'll get there soon enough. As we keep pressing forward

[00:42:07] [SPEAKER_01]: the background of the stage changes a bit and we start to see some enemy missile platforms in

[00:42:12] [SPEAKER_01]: the distance as well as some military trucks packed with missiles of their own that we can jump on if

[00:42:17] [SPEAKER_01]: we want. The enemy nation of not Russia is certainly harmed to the teeth and given how many people

[00:42:23] [SPEAKER_01]: we've shanked up to this point this is no small enemy force that we're dealing with. Good work

[00:42:31] [SPEAKER_01]: soldier remember stay vigilant. Uh oh what's that on the ground up ahead? Little white

[00:42:39] [SPEAKER_01]: circles with a light on the top. Looks like the enemy has land mines laid directly in our path.

[00:42:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Crap those are gonna slow us down big time. Enemies are always coming in to kill you and if you let

[00:42:53] [SPEAKER_01]: them overwhelm you and take your focus off the ground in front of you one of those land mines

[00:42:58] [SPEAKER_01]: is going to end us and we certainly cannot have that. We need a plan. We need...

[00:43:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh that was close. Good job keeping a lookout behind us soldier. Anyway there's two ways we

[00:43:13] [SPEAKER_01]: can get past land mines. First we can jump over them. If you press up on the directional pad your

[00:43:19] [SPEAKER_01]: character will jump straight up however if you press up into the right on the d-pad together

[00:43:25] [SPEAKER_01]: you'll basically make a forward jump allowing you to sail over one of the mines. The mines

[00:43:31] [SPEAKER_01]: are spaced far enough apart that we'll need to do this three times to jump over the three mines so

[00:43:37] [SPEAKER_01]: just watch your footing as you land and make sure you don't step too far forward before jumping again.

[00:43:43] [SPEAKER_01]: It sounds more complicated than it is so I'd say let's give it a go. Are you ready?

[00:43:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay move forward, jump nice you made it. Now jump again. Okay doing great.

[00:43:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Ah shit several enemies have come up behind us while we've been jumping so turn around watch out.

[00:44:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Damn it. Like I said the enemies in this game are pretty persistent so we need to keep our

[00:44:13] [SPEAKER_01]: eyes out behind us as well as in front of us at all times. One touch from the enemy or an

[00:44:20] [SPEAKER_01]: enemy's bullet is all it takes to put us down and then we lose a life. You start with

[00:44:25] [SPEAKER_01]: three lives and you can accumulate more as you increase your score but let's do our best not

[00:44:30] [SPEAKER_01]: to use any more lives if we can help it. We have a long way to go and this is only the first stage

[00:44:37] [SPEAKER_01]: alright? Anyway dust yourself off and let's get back to it. Anytime you die and start again

[00:44:45] [SPEAKER_01]: you do lose some progress in the level that you're in and you can be sent back quite a ways.

[00:44:51] [SPEAKER_01]: I never noticed if there are any hard checkpoints or anything as you go but I was only ever sent

[00:44:57] [SPEAKER_01]: back to the beginning of a level if I hadn't gone too far out yet. While dying is inevitable as

[00:45:03] [SPEAKER_01]: you learn the game and the enemy types I never felt like you were penalized too hard. You were

[00:45:09] [SPEAKER_01]: sent back just far enough to retry the area you failed and move past it pretty quick. So

[00:45:19] [SPEAKER_01]: we're kinda close. Let's use what we've learned so far to get back to those land mines. Just be sure

[00:45:26] [SPEAKER_01]: to grab that rocket launcher again. I have another method to show you when it comes to

[00:45:30] [SPEAKER_01]: getting past those mines. Yeah take that you bastard. Whoa okay slow down there partner. We

[00:45:44] [SPEAKER_01]: are back to the land mines. Now we can try again to jump the mines and keep moving or

[00:45:50] [SPEAKER_01]: we can use that rocket launcher you grabbed. Yes probably more useful than attacking enemies

[00:45:57] [SPEAKER_01]: the rocket launcher's missile bullet thing will explode all mines it comes into contact with.

[00:46:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Lay prone on the ground with the directional pad and get close to the first mine so that as

[00:46:10] [SPEAKER_01]: many of the mines as possible are visible on the screen. We're going to fire a blast

[00:46:16] [SPEAKER_01]: then quickly get to our feet and then move forward. Are you ready? Okay and fire.

[00:46:29] [SPEAKER_01]: Hell yeah look at that thing. Moving forward makes sure the missile doesn't disappear off screen so

[00:46:36] [SPEAKER_01]: continue to push yourself forward and get the most out of that missile. Any mines we touch are

[00:46:42] [SPEAKER_01]: gone and any enemies stupid enough to come at us from the front are toast. While the rocket

[00:46:48] [SPEAKER_01]: launcher is a great way to cut a swath through your enemies it is much more useful clearing out land

[00:46:54] [SPEAKER_01]: mines. Continuing on we'll eventually see a new enemy head our way. This one looks like a regular

[00:47:01] [SPEAKER_01]: soldier running towards us but he's clad in a mostly red uniform. Huh wonder what his deal

[00:47:08] [SPEAKER_01]: is. Quick check his hands. Nope no weapons. Huh maybe he takes one more stab to kill or

[00:47:17] [SPEAKER_01]: something. Whatever let's take him out so we can keep moving. Alright here he comes get ready to stab

[00:47:24] [SPEAKER_01]: and now what in the actual hell? The red soldier just as you stabbed jumped forward

[00:47:33] [SPEAKER_01]: and is trying to drop kick us in the mouth. What is this? Quick see if you can jump up and

[00:47:39] [SPEAKER_01]: get out. Son of a bitch. Now the enemies can jump attack? Damn it. We're going to have to make sure

[00:47:49] [SPEAKER_01]: we keep an eye out as we move forward. If these guys are mixed into the fray it's going to be

[00:47:55] [SPEAKER_01]: tough keeping track of who's just gonna run straight at you and who's gonna try and John

[00:47:59] [SPEAKER_01]: woo your ass into the ground. Anyway dust off and let's try again. While you make your way

[00:48:08] [SPEAKER_01]: back to the spot you got your teeth knocked out I did want to share a thought I had. If it's not

[00:48:14] [SPEAKER_01]: inherently obvious at this point in our journey Russian attacks gameplay loop is very very simple.

[00:48:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Move forward stab the enemy before they touch kick or shoot you and that's pretty much it.

[00:48:27] [SPEAKER_01]: If you happen to skip the intro of the show Chris from the retro hangover podcast

[00:48:32] [SPEAKER_01]: describe this loop perfectly. It's dumb fun played and simple. Now the loop here isn't one where you

[00:48:41] [SPEAKER_01]: can shut your brain off completely though as more enemies and different enemy types appear on screen

[00:48:46] [SPEAKER_01]: you have to start running some on-the-fly decisions through your head. Can you stab all the enemies

[00:48:53] [SPEAKER_01]: coming in front of you before turning around to take out the jump kick soldier coming up down

[00:48:57] [SPEAKER_01]: your rear? What about the soldier over there who has a gun? How are you going to keep your rhythm up

[00:49:04] [SPEAKER_01]: while also dodging a projectile? It might not be the best comparison but playing Russian attack

[00:49:10] [SPEAKER_01]: for me was a lot like playing a rhythm game. You sort of fall into a state of mind where

[00:49:16] [SPEAKER_01]: you're constantly looking for the next command or action you need to take and once you

[00:49:21] [SPEAKER_01]: execute that command or action you have to already be looking at what's coming down the line

[00:49:26] [SPEAKER_01]: next. That in and of itself can be very fun depending on how you like to play your games and

[00:49:32] [SPEAKER_01]: it can be very rewarding staying alive when multiple different threats are trying to take

[00:49:36] [SPEAKER_01]: you out all at once. Now granted the game still is pretty hard especially near the end game

[00:49:42] [SPEAKER_01]: but if you commit to the idea that Russian attack is one of those get-good games on the

[00:49:48] [SPEAKER_01]: NES and you're willing to put your reps in there's not too much you can't do here.

[00:49:54] [SPEAKER_01]: Alright looks like you're back to that drop kicking soldier so let's talk about how to end him and

[00:50:00] [SPEAKER_01]: tap dance on his corpse. So the jumping soldiers will always jump right before you can get close

[00:50:07] [SPEAKER_01]: enough to stab them however you can jump and stab at the same time and that right there is the

[00:50:13] [SPEAKER_01]: key now you can stop jump stab and you're good but stopping to jump could potentially

[00:50:21] [SPEAKER_01]: put you in harm's way especially if you have any enemies coming up from behind. I recommend taking the

[00:50:28] [SPEAKER_01]: enemy head on by diagonally jumping forward and spamming the hell out of the stab attack

[00:50:35] [SPEAKER_01]: that way you can keep your forward momentum kill the bad guy and watch as he falls away

[00:50:40] [SPEAKER_01]: while you superhero land gracefully back to the ground easy enough right now go ahead

[00:50:46] [SPEAKER_01]: and take this guy out jump forward and swing away sweet nice work and don't you feel like a

[00:50:57] [SPEAKER_01]: badass right now too? The end of each stage in Russian attack ends with a boss fight of sorts

[00:51:05] [SPEAKER_01]: in the arcade version a military truck drives in from off screen and enemy soldiers spew out

[00:51:11] [SPEAKER_01]: and try to end you near the end of the first stage here in the NES version the truck is

[00:51:17] [SPEAKER_01]: missing but enemies will continue to spawn from the right side of the screen and head your direction

[00:51:22] [SPEAKER_01]: after passing through another minefield eventually the screen stops scrolling

[00:51:28] [SPEAKER_01]: the end of the level is upon us and the sound of an alarm signals the start of our very first

[00:51:33] [SPEAKER_01]: boss fight now this boss fight will only be tough if you aren't paying attention so

[00:51:45] [SPEAKER_01]: you know pay attention for this one you'll have regular soldiers as well as those drop kicking

[00:51:52] [SPEAKER_01]: ones coming at you in clusters of five or six at a time the only real trick here is making sure that

[00:51:59] [SPEAKER_01]: you keep track of the jumpers so you know when to jump and take them out without letting the ones

[00:52:04] [SPEAKER_01]: on the ground touch you while you do it there's no other secret than that unless

[00:52:10] [SPEAKER_01]: however you found a way to save all three shots of a rocket launcher and have that with you when

[00:52:16] [SPEAKER_01]: the fight begins as long as you have one of those you are golden just stand to the very left of

[00:52:24] [SPEAKER_01]: the screen wait until the entire wave of enemies are on screen and unleash the dogs of war

[00:52:34] [SPEAKER_01]: see what i mean you're probably not going to make a conscious effort to have a fully

[00:52:40] [SPEAKER_01]: loaded rocket launcher at the ready at this point but now that you know it'll make the first boss

[00:52:45] [SPEAKER_01]: fight easier see that you do next time however you dispatch your enemies once the last one is

[00:52:52] [SPEAKER_01]: taking a dirt nap the level ends and you're treated with a scene of your character scaling

[00:52:57] [SPEAKER_01]: a chain link fence heading closer to the main objective the words well done first target overcome

[00:53:05] [SPEAKER_01]: pop up on screen and you can sit back and relax for a moment and bask in your well-earned victory

[00:53:20] [SPEAKER_01]: but don't get too complacent because without warning you are thrust into the next level

[00:53:32] [SPEAKER_01]: now that we're out of the secret bases initial area a marshaling yard of sorts we make our way

[00:53:38] [SPEAKER_01]: to the airfield as we keep pushing forward and make our way through the game's levels

[00:53:44] [SPEAKER_01]: the difficulty will keep ramping upwards level two adds guard towers that will have enemy snipers

[00:53:51] [SPEAKER_01]: firing bullets at you and you'll also come across enemy soldiers on the ground that will

[00:53:55] [SPEAKER_01]: fire bullets from their weapons these ground-based soldiers are tough on their own but if they

[00:54:01] [SPEAKER_01]: happen to run underneath you say you jump over them or you're on a higher plane than them

[00:54:07] [SPEAKER_01]: they'll actually turn around and pursue you so while you need to stay close to stab them

[00:54:14] [SPEAKER_01]: you'll have to be careful they don't shoot you first that would be a terrible way to go

[00:54:20] [SPEAKER_01]: with more and more enemies coming at you there's one thing that really pisses me off about the

[00:54:25] [SPEAKER_01]: gameplay in russian attack and it starts to veer its ugly head here as you progress through

[00:54:32] [SPEAKER_01]: the game the levels you're playing through are going to have more and more ladders for you to climb

[00:54:37] [SPEAKER_01]: which give you more opportunity to climb to higher levels this is a good thing in a lot of ways

[00:54:43] [SPEAKER_01]: because you can constantly change position and potentially give yourself a break from the

[00:54:47] [SPEAKER_01]: enemy for a few moments but like i mentioned before ladders are dangerous for one thing if

[00:54:55] [SPEAKER_01]: you're climbing on them you cannot attack so you just need to make sure you give yourself

[00:55:00] [SPEAKER_01]: enough time to scurry up a ladder so an enemy doesn't take you out while you're climbing

[00:55:05] [SPEAKER_01]: to climb up all you need to do is press up on the directional pad you know the same button you use to

[00:55:12] [SPEAKER_01]: jump you're also able to climb a ladder mid jump so long as you're holding up on the d-pad when

[00:55:19] [SPEAKER_01]: you come in contact with it now here's where things get a little disruptive if you're like

[00:55:26] [SPEAKER_01]: me and you favor jumping forward to attack those drop kicking assholes there's a great chance that

[00:55:32] [SPEAKER_01]: while you're in the air and before you thrust your knife you'll latch onto a ladder if it's

[00:55:37] [SPEAKER_01]: close enough then guess what happens yep you guessed it you die in extremely frustrating

[00:55:49] [SPEAKER_01]: unnecessary death i'm sure you can avoid this by making sure you aren't holding up

[00:55:55] [SPEAKER_01]: longer than you need to but anytime this would happen to me it would make me think of the times

[00:56:00] [SPEAKER_01]: that the stairs would take me out in the original castlevania i understand the method of traversal

[00:56:07] [SPEAKER_01]: it's just hard to do the things sometimes is it bad game design or anything no not really

[00:56:15] [SPEAKER_01]: in fact most of the times i would perish in russian attack would be because i screwed up

[00:56:20] [SPEAKER_01]: and lost track of what was happening around me and i acknowledge the fact that this is a game from

[00:56:26] [SPEAKER_01]: 1987 and things like this are to be expected but god damn it was it annoying as hell dying

[00:56:33] [SPEAKER_01]: holding a ladder i did not want to hold on to overall though my experience with russian attack

[00:56:40] [SPEAKER_01]: was generally positive the graphical presentation of the nes version was obviously a bit inferior

[00:56:46] [SPEAKER_01]: to the original arcade game but the nes version absolutely does a great job capturing that arcade

[00:56:53] [SPEAKER_01]: aesthetic the game's overall graphical presentation is a groundbreaking or anything but everything

[00:56:58] [SPEAKER_01]: does look good character sprites are detailed enough that you generally know where you are on

[00:57:03] [SPEAKER_01]: screen at all times and you know what enemy types are present so you can plan attacks and

[00:57:08] [SPEAKER_01]: defensive strategies accordingly i did notice that when around four or more sprites were on

[00:57:15] [SPEAKER_01]: screen at one time things started to flicker really bad this can be bad enough that it does

[00:57:21] [SPEAKER_01]: sometimes hamper gameplay since you're mainly making snap decisions and movements based on

[00:57:26] [SPEAKER_01]: what's where on the screen but i can't be too mad at it it is an original nintendo game after all

[00:57:35] [SPEAKER_01]: one of my favorite games on the system teenage mutant ninja turtles is pretty bad for this

[00:57:40] [SPEAKER_01]: exact thing but it doesn't really take away from the experience it is what it is

[00:57:47] [SPEAKER_01]: hell if you have a problem with the flickering and russian attack just kill some enemies and

[00:57:52] [SPEAKER_01]: clear some things out that will fix the problem quickly and since we're talking about the

[00:57:58] [SPEAKER_01]: presentation i do have to shout out the soundtrack you've heard some of the music here on the

[00:58:04] [SPEAKER_01]: episode it is pretty good overall it perfectly captures that single soldier on a mission to

[00:58:11] [SPEAKER_01]: save the world vibe pretty well whenever you run out of lives in this game it's game over and you

[00:58:17] [SPEAKER_01]: have to start over completely and whenever that happened as i was learning and getting good at

[00:58:22] [SPEAKER_01]: the game i never really minded it mostly from a gameplay standpoint but partially because of

[00:58:28] [SPEAKER_01]: the soundtrack i never got tired of hearing it and it did a great job of putting my mind into the

[00:58:34] [SPEAKER_01]: moment-to-moment gameplay plus when i was good enough to complete a level and move on to the next

[00:58:40] [SPEAKER_01]: one the reward for me was hearing the next music track and i was rarely disappointed the

[00:58:47] [SPEAKER_01]: soundtrack to russian attack won't be on any of my top 10 lists anytime soon or anything but

[00:58:51] [SPEAKER_01]: overall yeah it's pretty damn good so with all of that said i don't think i have too much more to

[00:59:00] [SPEAKER_01]: say about russian attack while a lot of the retro games i played for the podcast are all pretty

[00:59:06] [SPEAKER_01]: simple and straightforward by their sheer nature this game is by far the simplest and most

[00:59:12] [SPEAKER_01]: shallow but that's not inherently a negative really over the course of its six levels it

[00:59:20] [SPEAKER_01]: genuinely challenges which then becomes very rewarding for the player when challenges are

[00:59:25] [SPEAKER_01]: overcome the six levels you tackle in the nes version of the game aren't overly remarkable

[00:59:31] [SPEAKER_01]: when looking back on them and serve only to change the background a little bit as you

[00:59:35] [SPEAKER_01]: take on increasingly harder enemy forces the problem with the progression though is it does

[00:59:42] [SPEAKER_01]: become more trial and error focused than it should be usually your progression is directly

[00:59:48] [SPEAKER_01]: tied to how you develop your skills and your play style evolves over time in russian attack

[00:59:54] [SPEAKER_01]: you're really just pushing forward as far as you can until you perish and hope with the limited

[00:59:59] [SPEAKER_01]: attack options available to you that you're able to push just a little bit farther than the last

[01:00:04] [SPEAKER_01]: time when you're dropped back into the fray the more this happens the quicker you'll notice

[01:00:09] [SPEAKER_01]: that you mainly just need to memorize things for the most part enemies appear on screen around

[01:00:17] [SPEAKER_01]: the same points and power ups are available in the same specific spots as long as you don't stand

[01:00:23] [SPEAKER_01]: around and let enemy forces continually spawn in you can keep moving forward and you'll start to get

[01:00:29] [SPEAKER_01]: a feel for what's up ahead i did notice some of the power ups only appear a handful of times

[01:00:35] [SPEAKER_01]: throughout the entire game and while it's easy to know where they'll be some of them had

[01:00:39] [SPEAKER_01]: quite limited use if you find a pistol you'll have the ability to shoot out in front of you

[01:00:46] [SPEAKER_01]: instead of relying on your knife only for a limited time though and there's the classic

[01:00:51] [SPEAKER_01]: nintendo invincibility star that makes you invincible for a short period of time but i think i only

[01:00:57] [SPEAKER_01]: ever saw this in level three and i don't remember ever seeing it again still knowing where things are

[01:01:04] [SPEAKER_01]: and when they'll appear will help you build a strategy as you keep playing i think i mentioned

[01:01:10] [SPEAKER_01]: it at the top of the episode but you do have the ability to play this game couch co-op with

[01:01:15] [SPEAKER_01]: friend while i didn't have a friend to play a russian attack with i think this game might

[01:01:20] [SPEAKER_01]: actually be less fun with a pal now that i'm thinking about it out loud with a friend with

[01:01:26] [SPEAKER_01]: you on screen you have to make sure that your pal is working well with you as it's easy to

[01:01:32] [SPEAKER_01]: leave behind your pal or be left behind yourself i've seen plenty of gameplay online where

[01:01:38] [SPEAKER_01]: player two is taking their sweet ass time and they end up dying due to an enemy coming in

[01:01:43] [SPEAKER_01]: from the left side of the screen unexpectedly plus it's another sprite on screen that causes

[01:01:49] [SPEAKER_01]: the flicker fest to begin even quicker as more enemies tend to flood the screen in player two

[01:01:55] [SPEAKER_01]: mode from what i've seen so all of that said does that mean russian attack is a bad game

[01:02:02] [SPEAKER_01]: that you should avoid no not at all i think anyone who's a retro gamer or retro gaming

[01:02:10] [SPEAKER_01]: curious should at least give this game a try if you have the means if you've never played it before

[01:02:16] [SPEAKER_01]: that goes double for anyone who likes contra russian attack was before contra's time but

[01:02:23] [SPEAKER_01]: it's easy to see how this game went on to influence contra even though you don't have

[01:02:29] [SPEAKER_01]: weapons like the machine gun or the iconic spread gun to fill the screen with bullets

[01:02:33] [SPEAKER_01]: i think the spirit of what makes contra a good experience started with russian attack

[01:02:39] [SPEAKER_01]: there's more memorization as a gameplay mechanic here than i think i personally like but that's okay

[01:02:46] [SPEAKER_01]: all told this game will take you maybe around 20 minutes to beat start to finish if you're good

[01:02:52] [SPEAKER_01]: enough but much longer to master and believe me when i say it is a great feeling to master this

[01:03:00] [SPEAKER_01]: game it may not be the most popular game out there and it may not be the most memorable

[01:03:05] [SPEAKER_01]: but for my money russian attack is a solid choice for anyone looking to have a decent time

[01:03:13] [SPEAKER_01]: especially if stabbing things is what brings your life joy and that will bring us to the end

[01:03:53] [SPEAKER_01]: of the mission my friends this has been episode 57 of the retro wildlands russian attack

[01:03:59] [SPEAKER_01]: for the nintendo entertainment system thank you very much for tuning into the show today

[01:04:06] [SPEAKER_01]: originally when i decided to play this game i didn't know how sparse and baron it actually

[01:04:12] [SPEAKER_01]: would be when i stepped back and looked at the whole experience from a distance

[01:04:16] [SPEAKER_01]: still i'm glad i decided to play this game and add it to the pile of other retro titles i

[01:04:21] [SPEAKER_01]: would never have played if not for this podcast give this game a shot if you have a way to

[01:04:27] [SPEAKER_01]: check it out you aren't missing anything if you don't but i really think the right person

[01:04:31] [SPEAKER_01]: will get solid enjoyment out of this title if nothing else it's always fun to look back and

[01:04:36] [SPEAKER_01]: see what gaming was like back in the day and how ideas evolved over time or if you're just having

[01:04:43] [SPEAKER_01]: a bad day and need a quick way to detach and reset yourself grab russian attack and stab all

[01:04:49] [SPEAKER_01]: of your problems in the stomach if you like the show today and you want to show it and

[01:04:55] [SPEAKER_01]: myself some support i would appreciate it if you subscribe to the podcast on your preferred

[01:05:00] [SPEAKER_01]: podcasting platform as i approach 40 years of life on this planet of ours i continue to be inundated

[01:05:07] [SPEAKER_01]: with my day job while keeping up with things in my personal life like feeding and watering my step

[01:05:12] [SPEAKER_01]: children as well as maintaining the beautiful home my wife and i have built for ourselves this

[01:05:17] [SPEAKER_01]: podcast is purely a hobby that i enjoy whenever time allows so there's no real release

[01:05:23] [SPEAKER_01]: schedule for new episodes at least not right now one day i hope to get back to that until

[01:05:30] [SPEAKER_01]: then however subscribing to the show will make sure you are informed the moment i publish something new

[01:05:35] [SPEAKER_01]: so drop us a follow if you want to keep traveling the wildlands with me the moment we get the

[01:05:40] [SPEAKER_01]: expedition back together now if you really liked the show and have a few minutes to spare

[01:05:46] [SPEAKER_01]: i would love it if you could leave us a good review if you can spotify allows you to leave

[01:05:52] [SPEAKER_01]: a star rating whereas you can leave a written review over on itunes good pods pod chaser

[01:05:58] [SPEAKER_01]: and podcast addict just to name the ones i know you can leave a review off the top of my head on

[01:06:04] [SPEAKER_01]: good reviews will help the show circulate to more listeners and show up in more search results

[01:06:09] [SPEAKER_01]: but more than that i would appreciate knowing that you enjoyed the thing that i spent my

[01:06:15] [SPEAKER_01]: limited free time making i really really enjoy this hobby and would love to keep building what

[01:06:21] [SPEAKER_01]: we have so far so if you have the time to let the world know i'm doing pretty good i

[01:06:27] [SPEAKER_01]: would appreciate it but as always you are under no obligation to do so my friends

[01:06:34] [SPEAKER_01]: just the fact that you have decided to listen to my show this far or at all for that matter

[01:06:39] [SPEAKER_01]: is much more than i could have ever asked for so above all else thank you for being here

[01:06:47] [SPEAKER_01]: so what's coming up next i'm really on a nintendo kick lately and it's mostly thanks

[01:06:54] [SPEAKER_01]: to the nintendo world championship nes edition game that just dropped on the switch it has you

[01:07:01] [SPEAKER_01]: speed running through parts of games like super mario brothers the legend of zelda kid ikaris

[01:07:06] [SPEAKER_01]: donkey kong ice climbers balloon fight and more i'd say half the games featured on this title

[01:07:14] [SPEAKER_01]: are retro games that i have never played before and there's a couple that i am genuinely

[01:07:19] [SPEAKER_01]: curious about now that i've had a little taste of them i haven't decided what's next on the podcast

[01:07:26] [SPEAKER_01]: just yet but i am really positive it'll be a game that's featured on the nintendo world championships

[01:07:33] [SPEAKER_01]: definitely stay locked into our social media pages as i'll eventually let the cat out of the bag

[01:07:38] [SPEAKER_01]: you know whenever i decide what cat i want to put into the bag and make sure too that you

[01:07:43] [SPEAKER_01]: keep an eye on our youtube channel as well i'm fixing to add more video reviews of games

[01:07:49] [SPEAKER_01]: that i came across in my gaming journey this year and i would love for you to check them out

[01:07:54] [SPEAKER_01]: the gaming wildlands are teeming with possibilities and i would love it if you were with us next time

[01:07:59] [SPEAKER_01]: we set out to see what this world has in store for us so be sure to head back anytime

[01:08:05] [SPEAKER_01]: that you are looking for a little adventure until then my friends my name is nomad and you can

[01:08:13] [SPEAKER_01]: find me roaming the retro wildlands