Jackal (NES)

Jackal
Also known as: Final Command: Akai Yousai (JP) Developer: Konami Publisher: Konami Platforms: Famicom Disk System (JP), NES (US) Released in JP: May 2, 1988 Released in US: September 1988 This game has regional differences.

Jackal for the NES is a home adaptation of Konami's top-down run-and-gun (drive-and-gun?) arcade game.

Regional Differences

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: An ad for the JP version uses screens from the US build. Could the game actually have been cut down for the FDS rather than expanded for the NES?

Originally released for the Famicom Disk System in Japan as Final Command: Akai Yousai (Akai Yousai translating as Red Fortress), the game was heavily expanded for the cartridge release in America.

Title

Japan	US

• The title logo was changed, of course.
• The text's drop shadow was made darker, most likely to make it easier to read.
• The "2 PLAYERS B" mode was removed from the US release. This mode had one player controlling the Jeep and the other firing the weapons, simulating the rotary joystick controls of the first revision of the arcade game. Perhaps they thought it was redundant due to already having a co-op mode with two separate vehicles.

Japan	US

• A line break was added to the last sentence of the intro.
• "A WILD BLOODY ROSE" was changed to "A WILD JACKAL".

Japan	US

• Character portraits were changed from red to blue, with frames added around them.
• The portrait graphics themselves were slightly retouched.

Music

• More songs were added to the US release.

Stages

• All stages were expanded horizontally from 256 pixels wide to 512 pixels wide.
• The majority of the level design was altered in some way, shape or form.

Japan	US
X

• This jungle level is exclusive to the US release.
• The level opens up with a helicopter dropping off the player Jeep(s), which is also an exclusive animation.

Japan	US

Japan	US

• The water is now animated, using two frames of animation.
• The battleship boss was flipped from vertical to horizontal to take advantage of the increased horizontal space. The level is now a bit shorter due to this.
• A sixth turret was added to said boss.

Japan	US

Japan	US

Japan	US

• The final level was more than doubled in length for the US release.
• Prisoner camps were added, along with a helicopter to pick them up.
• Some jets were added to the background elements.
• The final base was changed from red to brownish.

Misc.

• This game start screen was added to the US release. It's also used between levels, showing player scores, with a little Jeep driving up the map showing progress.

• These two level end screens were added to the US release. The second one appears if you complete a level without dying.

Ending

Japan	US

• The "WELL DONE" text appears on a separate screen in the Japanese version. It's typed out on the game screen in the US release.

• Credit for visual designer Yamamoto was removed from the US release for some reason.
• A small patch of dirt under the second guy from the left was edited.