Developer: Sega Publisher: Renovation Released: January 2, 1991 Genre: Action
Of all of Sega’s many arcade ports to the Genesis I avoided Gain Ground for no reason. Call it bias or a misunderstanding but one look at screenshots and I assumed it was not for me. In my eyes it looked like a poor man’s Gauntlet which is ironic as that title was part of the inspiration for its creation. Little did I know it was a brilliant action strategy game that is still pretty unique to this day. I am a recent convert to Gain Ground’s greatness and am here to tell you why.
The premise of Gain Ground is sound. In the future mankind has enjoyed a long period of peace. The Federated Government raises concern that if war were to break out humanity would not have the spirit to fight back. They develop the Gain Ground simulation using a supercomputer to simulate warfare and reignite the people’s fighting spirit. Instead the simulation rages out of control and multiple warriors are sent in to stop it.
Gain Ground is a time hopping battle simulator as you control a legion of soldiers through different time periods. The game takes place across five distinct periods with one exclusive to the Genesis: the Dark Ages, the Middle Ages, China, Present Day, and the Future. Each period has enemies endemic to the era such as tanks, archers, and even teleporting wizards. Each single screen map usually has other obstacles specific to the period such as tanks and traffic in the modern day and fortified castle walls in China. The goal in each single screen level is to either kill all enemies or bring every member of your team to the exit. This starts out simple but as your forces grow becomes more difficult.
The greatest strength of Gain Ground is its cast. There are twenty characters total all with varying speed and primary and secondary weapons. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses to consider. Johnny has the longest range and moves fast but his special weapon only fires forward. The Water Knight fires short range projectiles while his special attack freezes enemies in place. It is useful when enemies are about to gang up on you but not much else. Possibly the most broken character in the game is Verbal. Not only is he fast but his default arrows cover a medium distance. His special arrows travel further, can fire in any direction, and reach high ground or over obstacles. There is some overlap with some characters being slight variations on others but overall the variety is still huge.
Technically you do not have lives. You begin with two characters. Most levels have at least one disabled soldier on the battlefield if you pick them up and reach the exit they become playable in the next round. So technically you can eventually have a full party of twenty. If one of your crew is hit they become disabled but if you can grab them and reach the exit they survive. Unfortunately if either characters die or you leave them behind they are gone permanently. Some hard choices need to be made and with the clock ticking so fast you do not have time to dawdle. Even the character you send to “recruit” a new soldier is at risk. Losing a particularly useful hero is enough to want to restart the entire level.
Every level has a two hundred second time limit and the clock moves fast. Gain Ground is brutally difficult and only gets increasingly worse as you progress. Unless you look at a guide character abilities are a mystery until you use them. If it’s a level with enemies on a higher level like a fortress (a common scenario) and your dude only has a machine gun you have no choice but to hope to reach the exit or purposely die to choose someone else. Pray you never choose someone aggressively slow like the General on a level that begins with ten enemies immediately in front of you. Surprisingly most of the boss battles are simple in comparison. Funny that.
As much as I like the game there are a good number of levels that are insanely cheap and near impossible without certain characters. It is entirely possible to end up in a scenario in which the only option is to bring the whole team to the exit individually since the enemies are unreachable. With a party of ten or more and a stiff time limit? Good luck. The game could have used some balancing in terms of enemy placement and character abilities as many feel like dead weight. That being said the sheer variety in terms of characters, levels, terrain, and tactics outweigh many of the game’s flaws.
In Closing
I really, really like Gain Ground. Sega have done an excellent job crafting a game that is tense, methodical, and unique all at the same time. It occupies a distinct place in the Genesis library and is one that I easily recommend.
