NARC

NARC is an arcade created by Williams Electronics in 1988. It was converted to several home platforms, including Amiga, Atari ST, and Commodore 64, in 1990 by Ocean. It supports a two-player mode.

There is no doubt that playing games with tremendous stories, extensive lore, and impeccable scripts are an indescribable experience. Many games like Final Fantasy, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, or The Elder Scrolls: Arena have such memorable stories that will forever stay in our memories. But let's be honest, as much as we love those games, the cruel truth is that they're exhausting. This is where other titles like NARC come in, which do the dirty work. As much as we can't remember the protagonists' names, the frantic and unjustifiably violent gameplay is all we're looking for, and today we're going to revisit it. Enjoy the ride; it's going to be a violent one.

The game was developed and published by WMS Industries, formerly Williams Electronic. Is the company known for making Pinball machines? We can't complain, though; we all love Pinball. Back to NARC, the game was initially released for arcade machines, but it had many ports, including an Amiga one in 1990 made by Random Access. Still, we will talk about that later (unless you skip the rest of the review, but that would hurt my feelings, and I am sure you don't want to, right?)

The story is as simple as it gets: The two heroes of the game, Hit Man (no, not the hitman you think) and Max Force (no, not the cockroach exterminator on TV), must stop an evil leader of a terrorist organization of drug dealers called Mr.Big (no, not the character from Sex and the City). And well, there's not much more to the story or the gameplay, the cops can shoot the bad guys with two types of guns, or arrest them if they surrender, don't look for a plot twist or more complex mechanics because there aren't any, and that's fine.

There is not much to discuss regarding the graphics or the sound design; the game has visuals similar to Contra or any run-and-gun title. On the other hand, in the Amiga port, you start to notice some differences, for better or worse. First of all, the graphics and sound significantly dropped in quality. The music almost disappears, and the characters' modeling is much worse than the original, not due to the Amiga's limitation since it is capable of much more. However, the port had its merits. Understanding the nature of the game, this one is much bloodier: when killing enemies, their limbs fly off, and for a bullet hell that you would play for relaxation, this is great. Also, the difficulty is slightly lower, so you can shoot the bad guys without stressing about losing every time.

In conclusion, NARC doesn't require much analysis; it's just a fun game to have a good time. Its Amiga port has been criticized a lot, but in my opinion, these are unfounded accusations from hardcore arcade fans. Yes, it has many flaws, but they are not as many or as severe as many make them look; it's still a great game with some exciting changes. Want to see it on your own? You can play it now! I hope I don't get too many death threats for defending this port.