I avoided Rambo III like the plague back in the day. You see I had a terrible time with Rambo on the NES and wanted nothing to do with anything with his name on it. And that included the goofy ass cartoon that ran in syndication. All 65 frickin episodes of it (can you believe there was even a Christmas episode?). But in those early Genesis days there wasn’t much choice, especially if you didn’t like sports games. So eventually I tried out Rambo III and I liked it. It’s a decent game but doesn’t stand out against later titles in the genre.
God bless the big dumb action movies of the 80’s and their simple plots. If you didn’t know any better you would think the movie was based on the game instead of vice versa. Colonel Sam Trautman is captured behind enemy lines on a covert mission in Afghanistan. Rambo is called in on one last mission to rescue his former commander. This version differs from the arcade as it is an overhead shooter rather than a third person action game. A straight arcade port would have been cool but that was probably impossible on the Genesis.
In the movie John Rambo was not armed with an arsenal of weapons. That is carried over into the game. Your default machine gun has infinite ammo and sprays wildly. The only time it fires straight ahead is when you are moving oddly enough. The wild pattern of shots is actually a boon as enemies come from all sides. Composite arrows are the strongest weapon in the game. You can wind up each shot at which point they plow through multiple enemies and explode. They also make the bombs redundant. They perform the same function and you don’t have to put up with a five second delay.
At first the knife seems completely useless. Its short range is a detriment in a game where a single hit equals death. But it does serve a purpose. You can only replenish arrows and bombs by stabbing enemies. Item drops from stabbing are random and even include the occasional 1-up. It’s risky to try and stab most enemies; they have a tendency to move erratically before stopping to let off a few shots. However in the early stages when they are mostly passive you can stock up on ammo which will last the entire game.
Although it is short Rambo III doesn’t lack in variety. Each of its six missions has a different objective such as rescuing a secret agent or finding and leading Colonel Trautman to safety. That being said some of the maps are far too large for such simple missions. Mission four tasks you with blowing up the enemy arsenal. However the large maze like structure it is housed in is more annoying than fun to explore. If the game were two or three levels longer it could have been great as it is solid. It just needed more content.
It’s a bit random but there are boss battles even though they seem out of place. These battles take place in the third person, similar to Resident Evil 4. They allow you to indulge in a bit of fantasy as you take out tanks and helicopters with nothing but a bow and arrows. The mechanics are simple but satisfying; you can wind up each shot to inflict more damage. The only problem is you must remain stationery to do so. The bosses are aggressive and barely stop to take aim. It becomes a game of cat and mouse as you duck out of cover take a quick shot. They eventually escalate and until you fight a tank and helicopter simultaneously! It’s gratuitous but fun and more importantly probably the only time it shows off the hardware.
Rambo III is an ugly game; there is no getting around it. Aside from the color palette and number of sprites it really isn’t a large step over later NES titles like Ikari III. The color palette is very muted and lacks variety and the whole game is boring to look at. To an extent it is the movie’s fault but still. To make matters worse there is some crippling slowdown in certain missions. The only visual highlight are the boss battles, where Rambo III somewhat resembles the arcade game.
In Closing
I like Rambo III despite its faults. It was a much needed solid title after the Genesis launch and is well rounded. Unfortunately there are far better top down action games like Mercs that have held up far better. It’s decent but has stiff competition.
