Ikari

Ported from SNK's 1986 arcade hit, Ikari Warriors arrived on the Famicom the same year. It is a top-down two-player cooperative action shooter following commandos Paul and Vince as they battle northward through enemy-held jungle territory. Players can pick up machine guns, flamethrowers, and grenades, and commandeer tanks to mow down the opposition. The standout design choice is eight-directional independent rotation — characters can face and fire in one direction while moving in another. The dense Vietnam War-era jungle atmosphere and pioneering cooperative format cement Ikari Warriors as a cornerstone of military-themed co-op action gaming.