TANK! TANK! TANK! | "DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!"

Platform: Wii U

Developer: Namco

Publisher: Namco Bandai Games

# of Players: 1 – 4

ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10+)

Score: B (80%)

As a launch title for the Wii U, Namco Bandai’s TANK! TANK! TANK! may not look like a system seller, but look past its colorful arcade visuals and initially simple gameplay and you’ll find a fast-paced (and 100% tank focused) party game shooter that owes more than a little credit to Sandlot’s always fun Earth Defense Force series of games. In fact, the game manages to play almost exactly like an arcade version of EDF would, streamlining the experience down to timed stages, random weapon pickups that you can use instantly and a mix of assorted enemies from giant robotic spiders and wasps to some pretty wild bosses that need to be taken down as quickly as possible. Granted, blowing monsters into scrap metal over and over is all you do here in the main game whether playing in solo or co-op, so those seeking something deeper should look elsewhere. On the other hand, given that this is a rather enhanced port of an arcade game that offers much more than the original version, you SHOULD expect and respect the repetitive nature of the game to the fullest by diving in and shooting up the scenery as much as possible.
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As soon as I saw the first video for this Wii U port of the popular Japanese Namco Bandai arcade game, I thought about Atari’s classic pack-in that became an instant hit remembered by anyone who picked up a joystick back in the day. Of course, with the Wii U bringing a new controller into things, this simple-looking blast-fest could be the one game that has similar impact should the console take off into the stratosphere (as Nintendo hopes). As always, we shall see, but I think no matter how the system does, this is one of those games that will get a LOT of play long into the system’s life cycle. That said, fun games really don’t need silly-ass trailers like this. Just show the gameplay and I’m all in.