Guerrilla War
Guerrilla War, released in Japan as, is a 1987 run and gun video game developed and published by SNK for arcades. It was ported to the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Nintendo Entertainment System, and ZX Spectrum.
Also recorded as Guevara
Guerrilla War
- Date
- 1987
- Publisher
- SNK
- Genre
- shoot 'em up
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Guerrilla War, released in Japan as, is a 1987 run and gun video game developed and published by SNK for arcades. It was ported to the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Nintendo Entertainment System, and ZX Spectrum.
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- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
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Authority files
wikidata · Q2042716
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Title — Guerrilla War • Developer — SNK • Publisher — C64, MS-DOS Data East CPC, ZX Spectrum Imagine Software • Producer — Eikichi Kawasaki • Director — Koji Obata • Programmer — Yukio Kaneda • Composer — NES Kazuhiro Nishida Yoko Osaka Toshikazu Tanaka • Platforms — Arcade, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, NES, ZX Spectrum • Released — ArcadeDecember 1987 NES CPC, ZX Spectrum C64March 1989 • Genre — Run and gun • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer
Plot
Plot
Guerrilla War follows the adventures of two unnamed rebel commandos (Che Guevara and Fidel Castro in the Japanese version) as they raid an unnamed Caribbean island in order to free it from the rule of an unnamed tyrannical dictator. Along the way, players vanquish hordes of enemy soldiers while attempting to rescue hostages (with large score reductions for any hostages killed in the crossfire), collecting weapons from troopers and operating tanks.
Che Guevara connection
Che Guevara connection
As the original title indicates, the game is based on the exploits of revolutionary Che Guevara, and the defeat of the Batista regime in Cuba in the late 1950s. In addition, player 2's character is Fidel Castro, who is ranked fifth in Electronic Gaming Monthlys list of the top ten video game politicians. Nevertheless, fearing anti-Communist sentiments in the West, SNK did a Language localization of the game's dialogue and instruction manual for its North American and European releases. The version of Guevara released for the Japanese Famicom is popular with video game collectors.
History of the object
Dated record
History of the object
The full dated record · 2 entries
1987
Guerrilla War published.
1987
Guerrilla War is recorded as published in 1987.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- Japan
Named but not plotted · 1
Guerrilla War is associated with Japan.
Country
Reception
In Japan, Game Machine listed Guerrilla War as the ninth most successful table arcade unit of January 1988.
Releases
The arcade version, released by SNK in 1987, followed the format of Ikari Warriors (1986). Using eight-way rotary joysticks, the game allowed players to move their character in one direction while shooting in another. The game was moderately successful and spawned ports onto home video game systems. Data East released home editions on the PC, and Commodore 64, while Imagine Software published the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum ports in Europe. SNK in-house published a version for the NES/Famicom 8-bit console. Because of the limits of the home platforms, the home versions did not have the rotating joysticks. Both the arcade and home console versions were included on the SNK 40th Anniversary Collection. Hamster Corporation released the game as part of their Arcade Archives series for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in March 2021. The NES version's two-player simultaneous play, unlimited continues, and frantic action gave it an edge over its arcade predecessor. It received a perfect 5-star rating in the book Ultimate Nintendo: Guide to the NES Library 1985–1995 and is also available on PlayStation Network. This version features box cover art by Marc Ericksen, who was also responsible for the cover illustration for SNK's own Ikari Warriors III: The Rescue and P.O.W.
Primary material
Context
The circumstances in which Guerrilla War stands. Issued for Nintendo Entertainment System. Issued for Commodore 64. Issued for ZX Spectrum. Issued for Amstrad CPC. Guerrilla War is recorded as video game. Issued for Atari ST. Guerrilla War was published by SNK. Guerrilla War was developed by SNK. The identifiers under which Guerrilla War may be traced in institutional catalogues.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Akagi, Masumi. アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005). Amusement News Agency. 18, 134. 13 October 2006. 978-4990251215.
- 2.All Famicom games sorted from the latest release to the earliest. Famitsu.
- 3.Nintendo of America. NES Games.
- 4.Availability Update. Computer Entertainer. 8. 1. 14. April 1989.
- 5.Calvert, Darren. Nintendo Download: 4th March (North America). Nintendo Life. 2021-03-04.
- 6.Contri, Pat. Ultimate Nintendo: Guide to the NES Library (1985–1995). The Punk Effect. May 15, 2016. 978-0-9973283-0-1.
- 7.Marc William Ericksen Video Game Credits and Biography - MobyGames.
- 8.Scott Sharkey, "EGM’s Top Ten Videogame Politicians: Election time puts us in a voting mood", Electronic Gaming Monthly 234 (November 2008): 97.
- 9.Amusement Press, Inc. Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos). Game Machine. 324. 21. 15 January 1988.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority record
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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