13 February 2016

Retro Review: Secret Command

Secret Command

Released: 1986

Publisher: Sega

Developer: Sega

As I reach my third and final look at some of the Rambo games I own, I uncover a hidden gem with Secret Command. What the hell does this have to do with Rambo I hear you cry! Well, as it turns out I’ve had a Rambo game on my shelf for all these years without knowing it because Secret Command is actually Rambo: First Blood Part 2.

With a little bit of research I discovered that the game was originally called Ashura in Japan. The two characters you controlled were Buddhist monks on a mission to rescue their kidnapped friends. Sega purchased the Rambo license for the American version of the game and the main character was changed to resemble Rambo. However, the European version of the game was changed once again as the Rambo license was only available in the USA.

To be fair you can make up your own stories with these type of games as they are generally quite light on story and rely solely on gameplay. Commando the video game has absolutely nothing to do with the classic Schwarzenegger movie from 1985, but the nature of the game and my young imagination didn’t stop my pretending it was the game of the movie that I loved as a child.

The main title screen of Secret Command could give you a clue that this was somehow connected to Rambo. You see two muscular characters with one of them holding a bow and arrow and the other firing an M60 like Rambo has in First Blood.

Secret Command plays like Commando, Ikari Warriors and one of my favourite Speccy games, Who Dares Wins 2. In fact you could say that the game very closely resembles the Spectrum version of Rambo 2. You (and a friend) move up the screen avoiding enemy fire and shooting soldiers who are determined to stop you.

One of the things to strike me about the game are the different enemy types. It’s quite common in games like this that the enemies all looks the same, but a bit of time and effort has been made to create some variety with your would be killers. There are standard enemy types who wear green uniforms, rocket launcher firing soldiers who wear red, snipers wear blue and flame thrower enemies wear yellow. Each enemy has their own distinctive look and the graphics are very nicely defined. In fact the enemies from the first level resemble Vietnamese soldiers whereas the enemies from the second level look like the Russian soldiers from the movie.

Your main character looks very much like Rambo with a muscular body and a red headband. You are armed with a machine gun and have a bow and arrow strapped to your back with a quiver full of the famous explosive tipped arrows. Along the way you can destroy buildings which reveal hostages who give you a restock of more arrows to fire or a smart bomb which takes out everything on the screen.

Secret Command is extremely tough and you will die over and over again. This is mainly because your character moves so slowly which makes dodging bullets very difficult indeed. Some of the bullets that are fired at you are slow enough to evade, but some of them move so quickly you stand no chance. The game is so tough that I only made it to the second level but sadly no further.

The graphics are nicely detailed and colourful and the sound effects and music do the job. I’m pleased that I discovered Secret Command, if only to learn more about its history and that it is in fact a Rambo game in all but it’s name. It’s is absolutely solid but it is also a decent addition to the top down shooters I’ve already mentioned in the genre.

Graphics – Nicely defined characters with a good variation of enemy types. 5

Sound – The music and sound effects aren’t anything special but they aren’t terrible either. 4

Playability – Apart from your character moving with the speed of an arthritic slug, the game plays fine and is a decent addition to other games from the top down shooting genre. 4

Re-Playability – Secret Command is hard as nails but you may get a little further than I did if you play with a friend, but I very much doubt it. 4

Overall – I’m pleased that I discovered Secret Command and its links to Rambo, but the punishing difficulty means that I probably won’t be in a hurry to replay it anytime soon. 4

Review by Chris (co-host of 60 Minutes With and The Same Coin)