By the mid ‘90s Namco knew how to woo arcade goers, creating games that were simple to grasp yet had a degree of depth, while also sporting flashy visuals and perhaps a cabinet with a gimmick or two. The stakes were reasonably high at the time, with the PS1 and Saturn close to matching the quality of visuals found in the arcades, and new cabinets costing arcade owners a small fortune. There was certainly a need for something to be moderately successful, at least so it could potentially gain a home conversion later on.
This line of thought led us to 1996’s Tokyo Wars – a 5v5 tank battler with beefy PS1-quality visuals, with a cabinet that featured large yellow seats and steering wheel controls, not dissimilar to Namco’s own Ridge Racer. The concept was simple: you control a tank and must destroy enemy tanks as part of a team. When the reserve of extra tanks is depleted, the winning side is declared. Make foolish mistakes, such as going up against two or more enemies at once, and that reserve will run out quickly. Tanks move swiftly, making battles fast paced, and the only button used is to shoot. So, it’s a game that was very easy to grasp, while also being able to entice with its premise of destruction and copious explosions.
Tokyo Wars never made it to consoles however, making this Arcade Archives re-release the first time it can be played from the comfort of a living room. It’s easy to see why when playing it, as only two maps feature – and there’s nothing in the way of power-ups or tanks with different stats. So simplistic is Tokyo Wars, that you can’t even choose your respawn point. This was 1996, of course – just having eight player support was a big enough draw. This re-release is limited to four player local split-screen, albeit on current-gen systems only.
One of those maps is set in a dockside bay, being so small and flat that the enemy respawn point is almost constantly in clear view. This map has a sort of training-area feel, but at the same time, it also allows for frantic and close battles. The second map is set within a Tokyo shopping district, being much larger and featuring a handful of streets to patrol. You may even go a good ten seconds before seeing an enemy tank trundle around a corner.
Initially, Tokyo Wars seems a bit brainless. It’s a one button game, after all. However, strategies to stay alive for longer soon emerge. This involves using the on-screen radar to attack enemies from behind, avoiding streets with more than two enemies in, swiftly taking out enemies that have already sustained damage, and backing away from fights to allow the recharging shield to partly recover. In local four-player split screen there’s the potential to team-up too, using one player to distract and the other to destroy. Defeating several tanks in a row feels quite satisfying as you’re only able to withstand three hits yourself.
This Arcade Archives re-release adds a few extra modes, while also offering a choice of the English and Japanese ROMs, difficulty settings, and a few extras such as screen filters. Split Screen mode features a two or four screen option, High Score mode entails playing for as long as possible with scores added to an online leaderboard, while Caravan mode is a five minute score chaser to see how many tanks can be destroyed. 42 is the current worldwide record.
Then there’s the Time Attack mode, which is not only challenging but lengthy, involving playing four five-minute matches back-to-back with a score checkpoint inbetween. As the difficulty gradually increases, it can take a few attempts to complete. It’s a good way to put every tactic learned so far into use, almost feeling as if everything before was a mere training mission.
I spent a couple of evenings with Arcade Archives 2 Tokyo Wars and found it surprisingly compelling. At a time when so many new releases are based around building and crafting, it’s pleasing to take a break and play something simple based around blowing stuff up. Having a bunch of different modes, most of which have online leaderboards, also gives it some much needed replay value to compensate for the stingy two map selection. I can’t see it being anyone’s next obsession – it’s a bit too simplistic for that – but it’s a neat diversion with that raw arcade feel many of today’s modern retro games lack.
HAMSTER Corporation’s Arcade Archives 2 Tokyo Wars is out now on PS5, Xbox Series and Switch 2. An Arcade Archives version is also available for PS4 and Switch, minus the Time Attack and four-player mode. Original game by Namco.