Front Line

• Release Date: 1983
• Genre: Shooter
• Style: Vertical Scrolling Shooter
• Similar Games: Rambo III (Sega Genesis), 1942 (Arcade), Ikari Warriors (Nintendo Entertainment System), 1942 (Commodore 64/128), Ikari Warriors (Commodore 64/128), Ikari Warriors (Atari Video Computer System), 1941 (Arcade), Ikari Warriors (Arcade), 1942 (Nintendo Entertainment System), Rambo III (Sega Master System), Ikari Warriors (Atari 7800), 1942 (Game Boy Color), Ikari Warriors (IBM PC Compatible), 1942 (Macintosh)

Game Description

While the ColecoVision version of Front Line lacks the rotary controller capabilities of Taito's 1982 arcade original, the game handles well thanks to Coleco's Super Action Controllers. Using the color-coded buttons to rotate the weaponry (as well as fire the weapons) is effective, but can get tiring after extended play. The course is not as long or as smoothly scrolling as its arcade cousin, but the fun of lobbing hand grenades, jumping into tanks and other battlefield maneuvers remains firmly intact. A sweet rendition of "Taps" plays at game's end.

Roots & Influences

Front Line owes a debt of gratitude to Berzerk (1982), an Arcade game in which you control a robot that walks around shooting enemies.

More than a year before it hit the ColecoVision, Front Line was a Taito Arcade game.