Secret Command (Euro)
Rambo: First Blood Part II (simply titled Rambo in-game) is an overhead action shoot-'em-up video game loosely based on the film Rambo: First Blood Part II that was released in North America by Sega for the Master System in 1986. It was originally released in Japan as Ashura (阿修羅), where it was released without the Rambo license. Another version was released in Europe and Australia titled Secret Command (Secret Commando on its title screen), which also lacked the Rambo license. A separate game based on the same film had previously been released on the 8-bit computers.
Rambo is an overhead action shoot-'em-up in the vein of Commando and Ikari Warriors. The first player controls Rambo, who is armed with an M-60 machine gun with unlimited ammunition (which can only fire two shots on-screen) and a limited supply of explosive arrows used to take out tougher obstacles such as tanks and gates. A second player can play at the same time and control Rambo's partner Zane (a character created for the game), who wears a yellow headband. The objective of the game is to fight through the enemy's defenses, reach the gate at the end of each stage and then defeat as many enemy reinforcements as possible until the gate starts flashing in different colors. The player starts off the game with three lives and gains a new one every time he completes stage. A second player can join-in anytime during the first stage as well until the second stage, in which the game will end for either player if one loses all of his lives.
Unlike the aforementioned games, the player can only shoot his weapons in five directions (left, up, right, or diagonally up-left or up-right), even though movement is allowed for all eight basic directions. When the player moves downward, he will his weapon aimed upwards. The same applies to enemy soldiers, who can only shoot their guns left or right or downwards. Power-ups for the machine gun are obtained by killing a specific amount of enemy soldiers per stage, allowing the player to increase the range of his shots, as well as add piercing capability that allows his bullets to penetrate more than one enemy.
The player starts out each life with a supply of five explosive arrows and every time he picks an item (no matter which one it is), he gains two more (although the in-game counter maxes out at "9", the player can actually carry more than that). The player can obtain even more arrows (in packs of five) by destroying the prison camps located throughout the first four stages (which are only destroyable with arrows), as well as pick up a power-up that the causes the arrows to spread their explosions in four directions. There are also mystery power-ups (marked by a question mark) that will either: destroy all on-screen enemies or give the player an extra life.
Rambo is an overhead action shoot-'em-up in the vein of Commando and Ikari Warriors. The first player controls Rambo, who is armed with an M-60 machine gun with unlimited ammunition (which can only fire two shots on-screen) and a limited supply of explosive arrows used to take out tougher obstacles such as tanks and gates. A second player can play at the same time and control Rambo's partner Zane (a character created for the game), who wears a yellow headband. The objective of the game is to fight through the enemy's defenses, reach the gate at the end of each stage and then defeat as many enemy reinforcements as possible until the gate starts flashing in different colors. The player starts off the game with three lives and gains a new one every time he completes stage. A second player can join-in anytime during the first stage as well until the second stage, in which the game will end for either player if one loses all of his lives.
Unlike the aforementioned games, the player can only shoot his weapons in five directions (left, up, right, or diagonally up-left or up-right), even though movement is allowed for all eight basic directions. When the player moves downward, he will his weapon aimed upwards. The same applies to enemy soldiers, who can only shoot their guns left or right or downwards. Power-ups for the machine gun are obtained by killing a specific amount of enemy soldiers per stage, allowing the player to increase the range of his shots, as well as add piercing capability that allows his bullets to penetrate more than one enemy.
The player starts out each life with a supply of five explosive arrows and every time he picks an item (no matter which one it is), he gains two more (although the in-game counter maxes out at "9", the player can actually carry more than that). The player can obtain even more arrows (in packs of five) by destroying the prison camps located throughout the first four stages (which are only destroyable with arrows), as well as pick up a power-up that the causes the arrows to spread their explosions in four directions. There are also mystery power-ups (marked by a question mark) that will either: destroy all on-screen enemies or give the player an extra life.
Secret Command (Euro)
Technical
CPU
- maincpu Z80 (@ 3 Mhz)
Chipset
- SEGA VDP PSG (@ 3 Mhz)
Display
- Orientation Yoko
- Resolution 255 x 240
- Frequency 49.701437 Hz
Controlers
- Number of players 2
- Number of buttons 2
- Kind of controler
- joy (8 ways)
- joy (8 ways)
- joy (8 ways)
- joy (8 ways)
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Secret Command (Euro) Screenshots
Clones of Secret Command (Euro)
Regional differences
Rambo was originally released in Japan as Ashura. The Japanese version of the game had players controlling a pair of armed Buddhist monks named Ashura and Bishamon, who are on a mission to rescue their kidnapped friends from the enemy.
When the game was being localized for the American market, Sega bought the license to base the game on Rambo: First Blood Part II. The Player 1 character was redesigned to resemble Rambo, while Player 2 was replaced with a similar character who serves as Rambo's partner. The artwork on the title screen was replaced with a reproduction of Sylvester Stallone's pose from the film's theatrical poster, while the original title theme was replaced by a PSG rendition of Jerry Goldsmith's theme music from the movie. Some adjustments were also made to the game's difficulty (flamethrower soldiers for example, who could only could be killed using arrows in Ashura, are now vulnerable to regular gunshots in Rambo). The visuals on the Stage Clear screen, which originally showed various Asian landscapes and buildings in Ashura, were replaced with images of Rambo in various action poses.
The game was modified again for its release in PAL territories, as the Rambo license was only usable for its North American release. As a result, the PAL version, Secret Command, combines elements from the previous two versions. The main characters are referred to as "Bishamon" and "Ashura" in the manual, but they still retain their designs from Rambo. The title music is also the same one from Ashura, but the artwork is different. The Stage Clear visuals are once again illustrations of Asian landscapes.
Both the Japanese (Ashura) and European (Secret Command) versions would later be released for the Wii Virtual Console, in their original release regions. Secret Command was also be released for the North American VC service as well, as an "Import" title.
When the game was being localized for the American market, Sega bought the license to base the game on Rambo: First Blood Part II. The Player 1 character was redesigned to resemble Rambo, while Player 2 was replaced with a similar character who serves as Rambo's partner. The artwork on the title screen was replaced with a reproduction of Sylvester Stallone's pose from the film's theatrical poster, while the original title theme was replaced by a PSG rendition of Jerry Goldsmith's theme music from the movie. Some adjustments were also made to the game's difficulty (flamethrower soldiers for example, who could only could be killed using arrows in Ashura, are now vulnerable to regular gunshots in Rambo). The visuals on the Stage Clear screen, which originally showed various Asian landscapes and buildings in Ashura, were replaced with images of Rambo in various action poses.
The game was modified again for its release in PAL territories, as the Rambo license was only usable for its North American release. As a result, the PAL version, Secret Command, combines elements from the previous two versions. The main characters are referred to as "Bishamon" and "Ashura" in the manual, but they still retain their designs from Rambo. The title music is also the same one from Ashura, but the artwork is different. The Stage Clear visuals are once again illustrations of Asian landscapes.
Both the Japanese (Ashura) and European (Secret Command) versions would later be released for the Wii Virtual Console, in their original release regions. Secret Command was also be released for the North American VC service as well, as an "Import" title.
