Cabal

"Shoot everything in site, what could be simpler?"

Arcade games have always been super popular, and people always wanted to play them at home. Of course, the easy answer to this is to release arcade games for console systems, but up until recently, the graphics had to compromise. This was especially the case with NES games, but Cabal retained most of the fun of the classic arcade game.

You play the role of some army guy who has to blow up army bases...or something. However, they don't give you a tank or anyweapon of mass destruction. It's just you and your machine gun along for the ride. The game plays very similar to Blood Brothers, or Wild Guns where you play in the foreground, run back and forth, and shoot at targets in the background, while they shoot at you. You have crosshairs to help you aim with, and by shooting guns that you find, you can update your weapon to something more powerful (how does that work?). If you have a second player along it's much funner, and it's also a lot easier, as this game isn't a walk in the park, it's tough. You'll have to be quick to avoid the onslaught of enemy fire that's all aimed at you. There are also bosses like helicopters and tanks, which makes the game a bit funner.

The graphics of this game look pretty good, but not when you look at the arcade game too. The graphics look like they could be a bit more colorful, and the sound isn't excellant either. It's all plausable, but there's nothing spectacular about it.

If you enjoy games of this genre, then you'll probably enjoy Cabal. Although, not as good as the arcade original, Cabal is a fun game, and it will provide a few hours of entertainment at least. As far as I know, there haven't been any other games of this type released for the NES (I could be wrong...) so if you like this kind of game, you should pick it up. It's probably really cheap anyway...it's not like you're gonna lose too much money...

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 08/07/01