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Commando vs Front Line


atarifan88

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I played these two on emulation recently to compare which one I like better. While both have similar game play and goal in common, I like the idea of being able to jump into a tank and fight in Front Line. For that reason, I think Front Line is the better game between the two. What are some of your thoughts on which game is better?

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Front Line for sure. It's a much better effort, especially considering its age. 2600 Commando has a squished screen and is way too repetitive. Feels, looks, sounds and plays like a rushed late 80's last ditch attempt to cash in on an aged system.

Exactly. I was shocked :-o to see that Activision is the company who put out Commando for the 2600. Usually all their games have superior graphics and game play. Not so in this case, as it's got to be the worst Activision game released!

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I haven't given either of these too much play for a good long time so I threw them in the 2600 last night. Yeah, once you get past the nicer character sprites and in game music of Commando it lacks in game play compared to Front Line. It felt kind of weird to like Coleco's implementation of the concept over Activision's.

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If you like Front Line, give Ikari Warriors a try.

Between Commando and Front Line, it's a wash for me. I think I slightly prefer Commando (Commando never struck me as a bad game, but there are obviously better versions), but neither game really grabs me. I actually like Ikari Warriors, though. It plays very similarly to Front Line but feels a little more varied. It gets a little monotonous, but at least there's an end to it (but no real ending, unfortunately).

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If you like Front Line, give Ikari Warriors a try.

 

Between Commando and Front Line, it's a wash for me. I think I slightly prefer Commando (Commando never struck me as a bad game, but there are obviously better versions), but neither game really grabs me. I actually like Ikari Warriors, though. It plays very similarly to Front Line but feels a little more varied. It gets a little monotonous, but at least there's an end to it (but no real ending, unfortunately).

I just downloaded the Ikari Warriors ROM and will give it a try. I've never heard of that game before. The screen shot look really good though!

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Wow, really...

 

I've never played neither Atari 2600 Commando nor Fron Lline before and decided to check what's all this fuss about.

 

Hands down, Commando is a winner for me.

 

Sure, it's a bit squashed - I give you that, but Front Line doesn't differ a lot, and the scrolling is just dreadfull in the latter.

It looks as if the landscape can't catch up with the player, and you're in this useless 2/3 up into the screen position, making vertical freedom even worse.

Then there are these always-forward-facing forest rangers, as opposed to Commando's well animated soldiers, which are actually presented from different directions.

Back to background landscape - Commando wins again, as it gives you a very nice clean features, which look like something from an Atari home computer, rather than ancient VCS.

Front Line, on the other side, presents you with a striped wallpaper to walk thru, with trees being apparently just blocky shapes painted on the ground...

 

When it comes to sound, Activision at least bothered to deliver some kind of a background tune. Repetitive, but catchy and I cappreciate the effort.

This one feature of tank driving is no saving grace either. It's completely obsolete and clunky (just use grenades) and I'd never guess I'm supposed to board the blue box once I found it, if it wasn't for the manual.

 

So yeah, I'm quite amused how the taste can vary from person to person. :)

Edited by Mef
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