Mercs

''Mercs'', released as in Japan, is a 1990 run and gun video game developed and published by Capcom for arcades. It is a sequel to the 1985 arcade video game ''Commando'' ( in Japan). While not as successful as its predecessor, ''Mercs'' was well received by critics and was a moderate commercial success. It was followed by '' Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3'' in 2008, a downloadable game.

Gameplay

The arcade version of the game had up to three players available for play. The players are members of a covert mercenary team known as the "Wolf Force". The team is composed of Joseph Gibson (Player 1 in blue), Howard Powell (Player 2 in red), and Thomas Clarke (Player 3 in yellow). Their objective is to rescue a former President from rebels in the fictional African country of Zutula, which is administered by an apartheid government. The game has six levels, plus the final level where the objective is to rescue the president from the Hercules Transport.

The controls consist of an eight-directional joystick and two buttons: a Normal Attack and the Megacrush Attack. The player character has a vitality gauge which will gradually deplete as they take damage from enemies; however, First-Aid Kits can be picked up that will restore part of the player's energy, as well as power-ups that increases their maximum vitality. The player can upgrade their default gun into an Assault Rifle, a Shotgun, a Grenade Launcher, or a Flamethrower. The Megacrush button will detonate a bomb that kills all on-screen enemies. However, the Megacrush Attack has limited uses which the player can only replenish by picking more Megacrush bombs. In certain stages, the player can pilot enemy vehicles.

Ports

A Mega Drive version of ''Mercs'' was produced by Sega, which was first released in Japan on September 27, 1991, with subsequent releases in North America and Europe. The Mega Drive version features two different game modes: an "Arcade Mode", which features the same plot and stages as the arcade version, as well as an "Original Mode" that introduces a new plot with all new stages. One notable aspect which distinguish the Original Mode from the Arcade Mode is the addition of Weapon Shops through the game in which the player can buy power-ups for their character using currency obtained from defeated enemy soldiers, as well as the option to switch between multiple playable characters, each characterized by the weapon they wield (with the starting character using the standard Assault Rifle). Unlike the arcade version, the Mega Drive version of ''Mercs'' only allows for a single player, a point which ''MegaTech'' magazine considered the game's only weakness.

Home computer ports of ''Mercs'' were also released for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum in 1991 by U.S. Gold. These conversions of the game were handled by Tiertex, who also developed the Master System conversion.

Reception

Upon its North American debut at Chicago's American Coin Machine Exposition (ACME) in March 1990, ''Mercs'' was declared "the hit of the show" by ''RePlay'' magazine and several major distributors. Upon release, the game was a hit in the United States, where weekly coin drop earnings averaged $193.25 per arcade unit during November and December 1990.

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Mercs'' on their May 1, 1990 issue as being the second most-successful table arcade unit of the month, outperforming titles such as '' Aliens'' and ''Final Fight''. In the United States, it had a strong launch, as the top-grossing new arcade release in the May 1990 issue of the ''RePlay'' charts. While successful, it was not an arcade blockbuster like the original ''Commando'' or its imitators such as ''Ikari Warriors'' (1986). The original ''Commando'' designer Tokuro Fujiwara was disappointed that he did not develop a ''Commando'' sequel sooner, as the arcade market already had numerous ''Commando'' style games by the time ''Mercs'' released.

''Mercs'' was generally well received by critics upon release. The arcade game received generally positive reviews from ''Computer and Video Games'', ''Sinclair User'' and ''Your Sinclair'' magazines in 1990.

Mega Drive

In the United Kingdom, ''Mercs'' was the top-selling Sega Mega Drive game in October 1991. The Mega Drive port received generally positive reviews from ''MegaTech''MegaTech rating, EMAP, issue 6, page 79, June 1992 and '' Mega'' magazines.

Legacy

The original arcade version of ''Mercs'', along with ''Commando'' and '' Gun.Smoke'', are included in the fourth volume of the '' Capcom Generations'' compilations released for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1998. The same version of the game would later be included as part of '' Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 1'', released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2005, and ''Capcom Classics Collection: Reloaded'' for the PlayStation Portable in 2006. The Mega Drive/Genesis version was released for the Wii Virtual Console by Sega in North America on February 9, 2009, and by Capcom in Europe on February 20, 2009, at a cost of 800 Wii Points. This re-release is listed under the title of ''Mercs: Wolf of the Battlefield'', to tie in with the earlier '' Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3''. The Mega Drive/Genesis version is on the Retrobit Generations Plug and Play, along with other games. The Mega Drive/Genesis version was re-released on the Nintendo Classics service on November 27, 2024.

Notes

References

External links

''Mercs''
at Arcade History

''Mercs''
at Gamebase 64
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{{Commando series

1990 video games
Amiga games
Amstrad CPC games
Arcade video games
Capcom games
Commodore 64 games
CP System games
Master System games
MegaTech Hyper Game awards winners
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Nintendo Classics games
Run and gun games
Sega Genesis games
Sega video games
Tiertex Design Studios games
U.S. Gold games
Video games developed in Japan
Video games scored by Manami Matsumae
Virtual Console games
ZX Spectrum games