Capcom Classics Collection -- Day 3.

Commando was released on Z80 arcade architecture in 1985. It's a vertically scrolling action game. You control a commando on a mission to raid and destroy an enemy base. You can move in eight directions and you control the forward scrolling. You can't scroll the screen backwards. Your main weapon is a machine gun with infinite ammo. The secondary weapon is a grenade. The grenades are great as there is no pause in your movement to throw them. You'll need grenades to take out enemies behind sand bag barricades and in trenches and other areas your machine gun can't reach. At the end of the level are doorways where tons of enemies poor out of that act as boss battles. There are five levels to complete the first mission. The second mission repeats the first five with more enemies and slightly different placement. The game will reset back to the beginning and keep going forever upon completion of the second mission. The key to Commando is to keep charging ahead. You might think it's about taking them all out, it's more about actually going Rambo on the enemy. The game was great fun then, and was easily one of my favorite arcade machines. It's still great fun today.

Gun Smoke was released in 1985, again on Z80 architecture. It's almost the same sort of action game as Commando with a few differences. The wild west theme being the most obvious. You're out to bring in the ten most wanted outlaws in the territory. You'll have to bring them in dead of course as they're not coming peacefully. While Commando has no power ups, Gun Smoke has quite a few. Boots to increase movement speed. Rifles to increase shot distance. Horses to allow you to play on horseback which allows you to take a few hits before the horse dies. Normally, on foot getting hit results in a one-hit-kill. Another major difference is in how you can fire. In Commando you fire where you're facing along the character's eight way movement. In Gun Smoke, you can move in eight directions, but you do not turn around. You only face forward. Using button combinations allows you to fire in one of six directions. One button will have you firing both guns forward. One has you firing both forward left. Another has you firing both forward right. Yet another has you firing one gun forward left and another forward right, and so on. Gun Smoke is much harder than Commando because it uses forced scrolling. Italso has a traditional boss battle with a high powered character who has his own unique firing and movement patterns. His gang is also in the fray, as while you're fighting the boss, the normal enemies are still pouring out from all over the place. It's tough, but rather fun. And for the era, they really do a great job in capturing the feel of the western.

Ghosts 'n Goblins was released in 1985 on Z80 based arcade hardware. It's a standard sidescrolling action game. Run and jump and fire. A couple things set it apart. First off, the horror theme. A personal favorite of mine. Second of all. It's insanely freaking hard. It's one of the most famously tough titles and series in gaming history. At the time, the game was absolutely gorgeous and the music and sounds were beyond impressive. A person's liking of this title today who wasn't around to like it originally will depend on if they'll dig the challenge of it all. You play as Sir Arthur who is out to rescue his kidnapped girlfriend. You'll have to fight your way through an unyielding horde of demons, ghouls, ghosts, zombies, and countless other horror theme creatures to do it. Along the way fighting the six bosses. The game features one of the most famously cruel jokes a developer has ever played on the player. I won't reveal it here. This was the title I bought Capcom Classics Collection for the most. Being able to continue my way through to the end. Something I never saw in the arcades. As it would have cost a fortune in quarters. I've long used the phrase my kind of poison in describing this series. For some people it's Megaman, for others its Ninja Gaiden or Shinobi. This was my first taste of pretty poison. It's hard and you know it. It kicks your ass and you know it. But for some reason, you just have to eternally try one more time.