One of the longplays I recorded a few years back and never got around to publishing, Leatherneck is a top-down shooter created by the late Steve Bak. It's a weird hybrid in these sense that, despite looking like a clone of Commando or Ikari Warriors, it's actually closer in design to pattern-based vertically scrolling shoot 'em ups.
The game is a "score attack" affair featuring a single level which eventually loops back on itself, and the sole objective is to earn as many points as possible until you eventually run out of lives. Enemy troops appear in pre-determined formations and move in series of patterns, shooting bullets and lobbing grenades as they move around. You have at your disposal a series of weapons with varying rates of fire and effectiveness, but these all have limited ammunition. You'll need to be extremely precise with your shots, making sure not to waste bullets and to replenish supplies at every available opportunity from the blue ammo crates left dotted around the screen.
It took me a few attempts to figure out that rushing in guns blazing, as you might feel inclined to do in military-themed arcade game, will result in almost instantaneous death. Enemy spawns are triggered as the screen scrolls, so the only way to avoid being hopelessly overwhelmed is to creep forward and ensure the screen scrolls only when the previous wave has been dealt with and you're in an advantageous position -- if such a thing exists -- to deal with the next.
I can't say this was Steve Bak's best endeavour; he'd go on to program and design far better games than this; it's punishingly difficult and often infuriating, and not a game that ever feels gratifying to play. That said, the wave-based approach to enemies does means Leatherneck isn't just another mindless button-bashing blaster - you need to take a far more cautious approach if you want to survive, which, if nothing else, makes it a somewhat interesting proposition.
Developer: Steve Bak
Publisher: Microdeal
Year of Release: 1988
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