{{short description|1982 video game}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox video game | title = Front Line | image = Front Line Arcade Flyer.jpg | caption = North American arcade flyer | developer = Taito | publisher = Taito | designer = Tetsuya Sasaki | platforms = {{Collapsible list|title={{nobold|Arcade}}|Atari 2600, ColecoVision, FM-7, MSX, Famicom, PC-6001, PC-8801, PC-9801, Sharp X1}} | released = {{Collapsible list|title={{nobold|November 10, 1982}}|'''Arcade''' {{vgrelease|JP|November 10, 1982<ref>{{cite web |title=Front Line (Registration Number PA0000161353) |url=https://cocatalog.loc.gov/ |website=United States Copyright Office |access-date=6 May 2021}}</ref><ref name="Game Machine Magazine">{{cite web|title=Front Line Advert (Japanese, top-left)|url=https://archive.org/details/game-machine-magazine-19821115p/page/n15/mode/2up?view=theater|work=Game Machine Magazine 15th Nov. '82| date=15 November 1982 |publisher=Amusement Press Inc., Osaka, Japan|accessdate=12 October 2022}}</ref>|WW|November 1982<ref>{{cite book |last1=Akagi |first1=Masumi |title=アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) |trans-title=Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005) |date=13 October 2006 |publisher=Amusement News Agency |language=ja |location=Japan |isbn=978-4990251215 |page=136 |url=https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n137}}</ref><ref name="arcade-history">{{cite web|url=http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=front-line&page=detail&id=881|title=Front Line arcade video game pcb by Taito (1982)|website=www.arcade-history.com}}</ref>}} '''ColecoVision''' {{vgrelease|NA|December 1983<ref>{{cite web |title=Colecovision game release dates |url=https://www.atariarchive.org/colecovision-game-release-dates/ |website=Atari Archive}}</ref>}} '''PC-8801''' {{vgrelease|JP|1983<ref name="arcade-history"/>}} '''X1''' {{vgrelease|JP|1983<ref name="arcade-history"/>}} '''2600''' {{vgrelease|NA|March 1984<ref>{{cite web |title=Atari VCS game release dates |url=https://www.atariarchive.org/atari-vcs-game-release-dates/ |website=Atari Archive}}</ref>}} '''MSX''' {{vgrelease|JP|1984<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title&title_id=22499|title=フロントライン [MSX] / ファミ通.com|website=www.famitsu.com}}</ref>}} '''FM-7''' {{vgrelease|JP|1985<ref name="arcade-history"/>}} '''Famicom''' {{vgrelease|JP|August 1, 1985<ref name="Famicom">{{cite web|url=http://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title&title_id=9064|title=フロントライン [ファミコン] / ファミ通.com|website=www.famitsu.com}}</ref>}}}} | genre = Run and gun | modes = Single-player, multiplayer | arcade system = Taito SJ System<ref name="arcade-history"/> }}
{{nihongo foot|'''''Front Line'''''|フロントライン|Furonto Rain|lead=yes|group=lower-alpha}} is a 1982 run and gun video game developed and published by Taito for arcades.<ref name="Game Machine Magazine" /> It was one of the first overhead run and gun games, a precursor to many similarly-themed games of the mid-to-late 1980s. ''Front Line'' is controlled with a joystick, a single button, and a rotary dial that can be pushed in like a button. The single button is used to throw grenades and to enter and exit tanks, while the rotary dial aims and fires the player's gun.
The game was a commercial success in Japan, where it was the seventh highest-grossing arcade game of 1982. However, it received a mixed critical and commercial reception in Western markets, with praise for its originality but criticism for its difficulty. The game's overhead run and gun formula preceded Capcom's ''Commando'' (1985) by several years. The SNK shooters ''TNK III'' (1985) and ''Ikari Warriors'' (1986) follow conventions established by ''Front Line'', including the vertically scrolling levels, entering/exiting tanks, and not dying when an occupied tank is destroyed.
==Gameplay== Playing as a lone soldier, the player's ultimate objective is to lob a hand grenade into the enemy's fort, first by fighting off infantry units and then battling tanks before finally reaching the opponent's compound.
The player begins with two weapons: a pistol and grenades, with no ammo limit. Once the player has advanced far enough into enemy territory, there is a "tank warfare" stage in which the player can hijack a tank to fight off other enemy tanks.
There are two types of tanks available: a light tank armed with a machine gun and a heavy tank armed with a cannon. The light tank is more nimble, but can be easily destroyed by the enemy. The heavy tank is slower, but can sustain one hit from a light tank; a second hit from a light tank will destroy it. A single shot from a heavy tank will destroy either type of tank. If a partially damaged tank is evacuated, the player can jump back in and resume its normal operation; however, with either type of tank, the player must exit the vehicle within a few seconds of being struck by a fatal shot. If the player does not exit a tank before it explodes, they lose a life. An extra life is awarded at 10,000 or 15,000, and none thereafter.
The tank battle continues until the player reaches the enemy's fort. The fort is a brick-barricaded tank which fires mortar rounds while the player attempts to take it out. In order to destroy this tank, the player must toss a grenade over the brick barricade, which can only be accomplished on foot. Once this is done, the tank will explode and an enemy soldier will wave a white flag, signalling surrender, plus 1,000 bonus points. The game repeats again with the infantry level, but enemy soldiers become increasingly quicker and deadlier in successive rounds; points are multiplied based on the level played.
==Ports== thumb|left|The first portion of the Atari 2600 version Following its arcade coin-up release, ports of ''Front Line'' were released for the ColecoVision console and PC-8801 and Sharp X1 computers in 1983, Atari 2600 and MSX in 1984, FM-7 and Famicom in 1985.<ref name="arcade-history"/> The ColecoVision version requires the Super Action Controller add-on.<ref>{{cite web | title = Front Line ColecoVision manual | url = https://archive.org/details/front-line-game-manual-coleco-vision-adam-1983/mode/2up | accessdate = 2025-11-18 }}</ref>
==Reception== {{Video game reviews | CVG = Positive (Arcade)<ref name="CVG"/> | rev1 = ''Computer Entertainer'' | rev1Score = 4/8 (ColecoVision)<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Critically Speaking..ColecoVision-Compatible |magazine=Computer Entertainer |date=January 1984 |volume=2 |issue=10 |page=150 |url=https://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/newsletters/video_game_update/video_game_update_jan84.pdf#page=6}}</ref> | rev2 = ''Video Games'' | rev2Score = Mixed (Arcade)<ref name="VideoGames"/> | award1Pub = Arcade Awards | award1 = Coin-Op Game of the Year (runner{{nbh}}up)<ref name="award"/> }}
The arcade game was a commercial success in Japan, where ''Game Machine'' listed ''Front Line'' as the seventh highest-grossing arcade video game of 1982.<ref>{{cite magazine|title="Pole Position" No. 1 Video Game: ''Game Machine''{{'}}s "The Year's Best Three AM Machines" Survey Results|magazine=Game Machine|issue=207|publisher=Amusement Press, Inc.|date=1 March 1983|page=30|url=https://onitama.tv/gamemachine/pdf/19830301p.pdf#page=16}}</ref> ''Game Machine'' later listed ''Front Line'' on their June 1, 1983 issue as being the twentieth most-successful table arcade unit of the month.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)|magazine=Game Machine|issue=213|publisher=Amusement Press, Inc.|date=1 June 1983|page=29|lang=ja}}</ref> In the United Kingdom, the arcade game had limited commercial success due to its initially high difficulty.<ref name="CVG">{{cite magazine |title=Behind Enemy Lines: Front Line |magazine=Computer and Video Games |date=16 June 1983 |issue=33 (July 1983) |page=31 |url=https://www.solvalou.com/arcade/reviews/178/499}}</ref>
The arcade game received mixed reviews upon release, with praise for its originality but criticism for its difficulty. Following its North American debut at the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) show in November 1982, ''Video Games'' magazine published two reviews. One review said "Taito has a knack for coming up with some of the most original and offbeat games in the business" with ''Front Line'' being "an example" of this, while noting the controls are similar to Taito's earlier ''Western Gun'' (1975). The other review listed it among the top ten "Misses" of the show and stated it was a "war game with a lot of potential, but also with a firing mechanism that's so difficult to maneuver it ruins the game".<ref name="VideoGames">{{cite magazine | magazine = Video Games | volume = 1 | publisher = Pumpkin Press | issue = #7 | pages = 49, 66 | title = Front Line / Top Ten Hits | date=March 1983 | url=https://archive.org/details/Video_Games_Volume_1_Number_06_1983-03_Pumpkin_Press_US/page/n48}}</ref> ''Computer and Video Games'' stated that, despite the initial difficulty, "the action really takes off" with the tank and it's "worth persevering with" until then.<ref name="CVG"/>
In the 1983 Arcade Awards, ''Front Line'' was a runner-up for Coin-Op Game of the Year, behind ''Pole Position''. The award was given by ''Electronic Games'', which stated that this "arcade approach to the dirty business of infantry combat forces the player to keep moving and firing constantly" and the "action is non-stop in this attractive shoot 'em up".<ref name="award">[https://archive.org/stream/electronic- games-magazine-1984-01/Electronic_Games_Issue_23_Vol_02_11_1984_Jan#page/n75/mode/1up]{{dead link|date=April 2018}}</ref>
==Legacy== ''Front Line'' was one of the first video games to feature a ground combat theme and grenades, a precursor to many similarly-themed games of the mid-to-late 1980s. It was one of the earliest overhead run and gun video games, preceding Capcom's ''Commando'' (1985) by several years.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kalata |first1=Kurt |title=Commando |url=http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/commando/ |website=Hardcore Gaming 101 |date=January 21, 2019 |access-date=31 August 2021}}</ref>
''Front Line'' was the basis for SNK's ''TNK III'' (1985), known as ''T.A.N.K.'' in Japan and Europe. A programmer from SNK discovered ''Front Line'' at an arcade and thought that SNK could go further with the gameplay format. The team improved on ''Front Line'' with the addition of a rotary joystick. In turn, SNK went on to combine elements of ''T.A.N.K.'' with ''Commando'' (1985) to produce the arcade hit ''Ikari Warriors'' (1986).<ref name="Continue">{{cite magazine |title=「怒」を作った男 |trans-title=The Man Who Made "Ikari" |magazine=Continue |date=March 2001 |url=http://shmuplations.com/snkgoldenage/}}</ref> Jaleco's ''Field Combat'' (1985) also has similar gameplay to ''Front Line''.<ref name="CG3">{{cite magazine |last1=Roberts |first1=Mike |title=Coin-Op Connection |magazine=Computer Gamer |date=June 1985 |issue=#3 |publisher=Argus Press |location=United Kingdom |pages=18–9 |url=https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gamer_Issue_03_1985-06_Argus_Press_GB/page/n17/mode/2up}}</ref>
A Game Boy Color spin-off entitled ''Sgt. Rock: On the Frontline'' was published by Taito in 2000. The game follows the template of the original arcade game, but is set within the DC Comics universe.
The arcade original was included in ''Taito Memories Gekan'' for the PlayStation 2 console in 2005, and in ''Taito Legends 2'' for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Windows platforms in 2006. The Famicom version was released for the Virtual Console service in Japan for the Wii in June 2007, the Nintendo 3DS in January 2014 and the Wii U in June 2016.
The game was released by Hamster Corporation as part of their ''Arcade Archives'' series for the PlayStation 4 in January 2018 and Nintendo Switch in February 2019.<ref name="Aca">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/03/guide_every_arcade_archives_game_on_nintendo_switch_plus_our_top_picks|title=Guide: Every Arcade Archives Game On Nintendo Switch, Plus Our Top Picks|last=Lane|first=Gavin|date=2020-03-13|website=Nintendo Life|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-03-28}}</ref><ref name="hamster">{{Cite web |url=http://www.hamster.co.jp/american_hamster/arcadearchives/title_list_aa.htm|title=Arcade Archives {{!}} HAMSTER Corporation |website=www.hamster.co.jp |access-date=2020-03-28}}</ref>
==See also== *''Sheriff'', a 1979 game by Nintendo that uses the same rotary dial controller
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{KLOV game|id=7859|name=Front Line}} * {{MobyGames|id=/front-line|name=''Front Line''}}
Category:1982 video games Category:Arcade Archives games Category:Arcade video games Category:Atari 2600 games Category:ColecoVision games Category:FM-7 games Category:Hamster Corporation games Category:MSX games Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games Category:NEC PC-6001 games Category:NEC PC-8801 games Category:NEC PC-9801 games Category:Nintendo Entertainment System games Category:Sharp MZ games Category:Sharp X1 games Category:Tank simulation video games Category:Taito arcade games Category:Taito SJ System games Category:Vertically scrolling video games Category:Video games developed in Japan Category:Virtual Console games Category:Virtual Console games for Nintendo 3DS Category:Virtual Console games for Wii Category:Virtual Console games for Wii U