Tank Battalion

For the 1958 Korean War film, see Tank Battalion (film).

For the WW2 US armored unit, see Separate tank battalion.

Tank Battalion^[a] is a multi-directional shooter arcade video game that was released by Namco in 1980. The only direct home conversion is for the MSX, although it was followed up by two sequels: Battle City for the Famicom in 1985 and Tank Force for arcades in 1991.

Tank Battalion
North American promotional flyer
Developer(s)	Namco
Publisher(s)	JP: Namco NA: GamePlan
Designer(s)	Shinichirou Okamoto[1]
Programmer(s)	Kazukuni Hiraoka[1]
Series	Tank Battalion
Platform(s)	Arcade, MSX, Sord M5
Release	JP: October 1980 NA: 1981
Genre(s)	Multi-directional shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer (alternating turns)

Gameplay

The player destroying an enemy tank.

The player, controlling a tank, must destroy twenty enemy tanks in each round, which enter the playfield from the top of the screen. The enemy tanks attempt to destroy the player's base (represented on the map as an eagle) as well as the player tank itself. A round is cleared when the player destroys all twenty enemy tanks, but the game ends if the player's base is destroyed or they run out of lives.

Reception

Cash Box believed that "the real excitement" of Tank Battalion lied within its ability to modify the level design by destroying the brick walls.^[2]

Retrospectively in 2015, a writer for Beep! enjoyed the Sord M5 version for its improvements over the arcade original, such as the smoother movement of the player's tank, but disliked the squashed-looking graphics and narrow playing space. While the writer believed the MSX version was superior, they still recommended the M5 version for Namco fans and collectors.^[3]

Legacy

A theme based on the game for Pac-Man 99 was released as free post-launch DLC, featuring visuals and sounds from the game.^{[citation needed]}

Notes

1. Japanese: タンクバタリアン, Hepburn: Tanku Batarian