Narc (video game)
Narc | ||
---|---|---|
Arcade system | Williams Z-Unit |
Narc (stylized as NARC) is a 1988
Narc was ported to the Commodore 64, Atari ST, Amiga, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, and NES. In 2005, the franchise was re-launched with a new game for the Xbox and PS2, which was released on March 22, 2005. A GameCube version of said game was planned, but was ultimately scrapped.
Gameplay
The game's main characters are Max Force and Hit Man, who have received a memo from Spencer Williams, Narcotics Opposition chairman in
The player controls either Max Force or Hit Man, who shoot or arrest
Technical details
The arcade game uses what is termed a "medium resolution monitor": higher resolution than televisions and normal arcade monitors, but in a smaller physical size.
Narc is the first arcade game to use the Texas Instruments TMS34010,[citation needed] a 32-bit processor with graphics-oriented instructions built-in. It was later used in Smash TV, Mortal Kombat, and NBA Jam.
Ports
The August 1990 Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) version of NARC, published by Acclaim Entertainment and developed by Rare was billed as "the first video game with a strong anti-drug message,"[2] though Nintendo forced all drug references to be removed from the actual gameplay. The game retained most of its violence and gore.
Most of the computer ports had their music ported by Tony Williams, credited as "Sound Images" and David Wise ported the arcade music to the NES.[citation needed] The Game Boy version of Terminator 2: Judgment Day uses some music from NARC.
Reception
Publication | Award |
---|---|
Crash | Crash Smash[3] |
All the versions of the game generally received positive reviews, being praised for its intense action and enjoyable gameplay, but criticism for its repetitiveness, including 9/10 from
Legacy
In 1990, Acclaim released NARC as a handheld LCD game.
The main musical theme by Brian L. Schmidt was recorded by the band Pixies and released as a B-side to their "Planet of Sound" single in 1990.[5]
Max Force and villains Dr. Spike Rush, Joe Rockhead and Mr. Big appeared as characters in the cartoon The Power Team and in the film 22 Jump Street.
NARC is included in the Midway Arcade Treasures 2 (2004) collection.
NARC is a song on the soundtrack of Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, another ultra-violent video game.
2005 game
A 2005 update was developed by VIS Entertainment and published by Midway for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and Microsoft Windows. The Windows version, only released in Europe, was developed by Point of View.
The game casts the players as narcotics officer Jack Forzenski (voiced by
A March 21, 2005, press release announced the game's shipment to retailers and emphasized that NARC was designed for an "older audience".[6] The game was given an M rating.
Footnotes
- ^ "NARC". The International Arcade Museum. Retrieved 6 Oct 2013.
- ^ "NES Instruction Manuals: NARC". World-of-nintendo.com. 1997-01-17. Retrieved 2012-09-20.
- Newsfield Publications, issue 83, December 1990
- ^ "NARC". Ysrnry.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2012-09-20.
- ^ "Theme from Narc". Archived from the original on 2015-05-20. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
- ^ "Midway Ships NARC for the Xbox". Archived from the original on 2008-11-20.
References
- Citing 'Narc,' Ill. Gov. Seeks Video-Game Sales Ban[dead link], Mar. 22, 2005.
- Johnson, Eric (a.k.a. VegitaBOD): NARC Walkthrough/FAQ Archived 2005-01-26 at the Wayback Machine.
- Midway Ships NARC for the Xbox, Xbox News, Mar. 21, 2005.
- Morris, Chris: Weed, speed and LSD – in a video game?, Mar. 12, 2004.
- NARC; God of War; Heritage of Kings: The Settlers, The Washington Post, Mar. 27, 2005.
- Pepin, Chris: NARC NES manual.
External links
- NARC at the Killer List of Videogames
- Narc on Coinop.org
- Soundtrack Info
- PC Game Source
- Narc (2005) at IMDb