206. Field Combat (TOSE, Famicom, 1985)

Field Combat is a Famicom port of a Jaleco arcade game, also released in 1985. As one would expect from an '85 arcade port, the gameplay is sluggish, the sound is rudimentary, and the graphics leave a lot to be desired. Still, Field Combat manages to find some fun even with all of those handicaps.

Gameplay is straightforward and has you controlling a futuristic ship (that looks like a UFO with a radar dish on top of it) as you attempt to cross a series of battlefields. Enemies spawn at the top of the screen and try to halt your progress, though this is not a scrolling shooter, so you have to move forward to progress. Your ship has a reticle a way s in front of it, and your shot will not damage any enemies if they are too close, so there is an element of spacing. Your ship takes a single hit before it is destroyed, though generally enemies shoot pretty slowly and you have a generously small hitbox for 1985, so the difficulty is not overwhelming.

The real meat of Field Combat comes from your ability to summon troops onto the field. You have a reserve of different types of allied infantry and vehicles that can be summoned by pressing A & B simultaneously. And if you run our of reserves, your ship has a tractor beam that can suck in and recruit enemy forces. While you are using this beam, you can't move, though, so there is a bit of timing and strategy involved.

While there are a good amount of enemy types, they mostly behave the same way and are generally either too easy to defeat (most ground enemies) or too hard to catch (most flying enemies). Each level is very short, though, which is always appreciated.

3/5, a plodding shooter with an interesting enemy capture mechanic.