Tank! Tank! Tank!

Tank! Tank! Tank![lower-alpha 1] is a 2009 third-person shooter arcade game developed and published by Namco Bandai Games. It was ported to the Wii U in 2012, where it was a system launch title in North America. Players control their respective tanks and must destroy opponents and giant mechanical monsters with a variety of weapons, such as machine guns and rocket launchers. Its gameplay has been compared to titles such as the Earth Defense Force series, through its usage of B-movie tropes and parodying.

Tank! Tank! Tank!
Sales flyer
Developer(s)Namco Bandai Games
Publisher(s)Namco Bandai Games
Producer(s)Makoto Ishii
Platform(s)Arcade, Wii U
ReleaseArcade
Wii U
  • NA: November 18, 2012
  • PAL: November 30, 2012
  • JP: December 26, 2012
Genre(s)Third-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Designed by producer Makoto Ishii, Tank! Tank! Tank! is a spiritual successor to Tokyo Wars (1996), an older Namco arcade game that shared many of the same mechanics and ideas. Ishii wanted to create an arcade game that allowed players to express themselves through its fast-paced gameplay and visuals. He designed it around a vertical-oriented monitor, a concept borrowed from the popularity of Japanese mobile games. As these were often played with a vertical screen, Ishii believed it would automatically make players familiar with the gameplay of Tank! Tank! Tank!. The game underwent a reportedly troubled development cycle.

The arcade version of Tank! Tank! Tank! was well-received, with critics applauding its exhilarating gameplay and wide array of weapons. By comparison, the Wii U version received largely negative reviews, being criticized for its lackluster gamemodes, shallow content, and difficult controls. Several believed that the Wii U port was evident that the game should have been exclusive to arcades. However, it was praised for its concept and graphical style, and was a moderate commercial success in Japan.

Gameplay
The player fighting a swarm of enemy bees in the Wii U version.

The player controls a tank and shoots monsters with ammunition. A player's photo is taken with a nearby camera (dubbed the NamCam) and is used as an avatar to identify each player's tank. Each level contains destructible elements and weapons range from a plasma bolt to a machine gun. Accessories can be added to the avatars, such as military helmets and wrestling masks. Collateral damage against the city background is encouraged in addition to dealing damage to the monsters that inhabit the game. Players can either divide themselves into two rival teams, team up to fight the monsters in a cooperative manner, or fight against each other.

Development and release

Tank! Tank! Tank! was produced by Makoto Ishii, an employee of Namco Bandai Games. Ishii wanted to create an arcade game that allowed players to express themselves through its fast-paced gameplay and visuals.[1] He designed the game around a vertical-oriented monitor, a concept he borrowed from cell phones. As mobile users were familiar with playing games with a vertical screen, Ishii believed that a vertical monitor would automatically make its players familiar with how the game is played.[1] Ishii also felt that the vertical screen tapped into his goal of allowing players to "express" themselves, with its enemies and level geometry being designed to provide a sense of "overwhelming power" for its players.[1] Publications believe that the Earth Defense Force series, published by Namco Bandai subsidiary D3 Publisher, also served as inspiration for the game.[2][3] The soundtrack was composed by Hiroki Hashimoto, who went on to compose the music for Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions (2011) and several tracks for Super Smash Bros. for 3DS (2014).[4] Tank! Tank! Tank! is a spiritual successor to Tokyo Wars (1996), an older Namco arcade game that also involved tanks shooting enemies.[5] It was programmed for the Namco System ES1, a Linux-powered arcade system board.[6] According to Radio Nikkei, the game underwent a troubled development cycle.[7]

Namco Bandai Games demonstrated Tank! Tank! Tank! at the 2009 Japan Amusement Machine Show exposition in Tokyo, presented alongside the lightgun shooter Deadstorm Pirates.[8][9][10] It was released in Japan in October 2009,[11] and in North America and Europe later that year; all three releases were published under the original Namco label.[12][13] In September 2012, a port of Tank! Tank! Tank! was announced for the Wii U as a launch title for the system in North America, which was released on November 18, 2012.[14] It was later released in Europe on November 30 and in Japan on December 26.[15] The Japanese version was originally released as a downloadable free-to-play game on the Nintendo eShop, where the player was able to play through the single-player campaign for free and could buy the other game modes as downloadable content.[15] A physical retail version was later released on February 21, 2013.[15] In Europe and North America, the game became free-to-play on February 14, 2013 and May 2, 2013 respectively.[16][17]

Reception

The arcade version of Tank! Tank! Tank! was well-received. 1UP.com writer Justin Epperson enjoyed its general absurdity and its gameplay for being fun and full of frantic, fast-paced action.[8] Staff from Radio Nikkei showed their enthusiasm towards the game's selection of powerful weapons and exhilarating action, writing that it would definitely keep players coming back for more.[24] Game Watch's Toyotomi Kazutaka was particularly fond of the arcade cabinet and its vibrating seats, and liked the gameplay for its exhilarating feel and arsenal of weapons.[9]

The Wii U version sold 40,243 units in Japan, and is one of the top 50 best-selling games for the platform in the country.[25] However, it received largely negative reviews, holding a 45/100 on review aggregator Metacritic.[18] Critics focused primarily on the game's limited amount of gamemodes and content. GameSpot's Britton Pelee described it as being "hours of boredom spent playing a game that was never intended to be stretched out for so long."[20] Both Casey Lynch of IGN and Kevin Knezevic of GamesRadar+ disliked the repetition of missions found in the story mode,[3] with Knezevic claiming that the co-operative play only barely alleviated this.[21] Patrick Barnett of Nintendo World Report disliked the story campaign in general for its lack of replay value and variety, as did Pelee.[22][20] The controls were also a source of criticism;[21][3] Barnett felt they made the game unnecessarily difficult because of the way they were designed.[22] Most publications agreed that Tank! Tank! Tank! was a shallow port of an arcade game that was simply too low on content to justify a console release.[20][3][2]

Notes
  1. Japanese: タンク!タンク!タンク!, Hepburn: Tanku! Tanku! Tanku!

References
  1. "１１月１６日番組から [番組スタッフより]". Radio Nikkei (in Japanese). Nikkei. November 20, 2009. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  2. Donlan, Christian (December 6, 2012). "Tank! Tank! Tank! review". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on October 7, 2019. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  3. Lynch, Casey (December 14, 2012). "Tank! Tank! Tank! Review". IGN. Archived from the original on September 13, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  4. Devore, Jordan (August 22, 2014). "This list of Smash Bros. 3DS composers should make you happy". Destructoid. Enthusiast Gaming. Archived from the original on August 24, 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  5. Jager, Chris (June 23, 2014). "Hey, Tanky Tanky! The Top 6 Tank Games Of All Time". Kotaku Australia. G/O Media. Archived from the original on May 28, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
  6. Tank! Tank! Tank! operator's manual. Namco Bandai Games. October 9, 2009. p. 68.
  7. Seo, Akiko (November 16, 2009). "『TANK! TANK! TANK! 』の秘密。 [瀬尾ちゃん日記]". Radio Nikkei (in Japanese). Nikkei. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  8. Epperson, Justin (September 18, 2009). "New Arcade Games Coming Soon to Japan". 1UP.com. IGN. Archived from the original on June 3, 2016. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  9. Kazutaka, Toyotomi (September 18, 2009). "第47回アミューズメントマシンショー開幕 出展規模、タイトル数とも減少も、個性的タイトルが目立つ". Game Watch (in Japanese). Impress Group. Archived from the original on August 8, 2017. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  10. Seinami, Kito (September 9, 2009). "バンダイナムコ、アミューズメントマシンショーに出展 AC「TANK！TANK！TANK！」、「デッドストームパイレーツ」". Game Watch (in Japanese). Impress Group. Archived from the original on August 8, 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  11. "体感型バトルパーティゲーム アーケードゲーム機「TANK!TANK!TANK!」を発売(PDF)" (PDF) (in Japanese). Namco Bandai Games. October 9, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 12, 2016. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  12. Tank! Tank! Tank! European promotional flyer. Namco Bandai Games Europe. 2009. Archived from the original on March 25, 2019. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  13. Tank! Tank! Tank! North American promotional flyer. Namco America. 2009. Archived from the original on March 25, 2019. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  14. Fletcher, JC (September 27, 2012). "Wii U launch supported by 23 day-one releases in North America". Joystiq. AOL. Archived from the original on November 27, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  15. "Wii U用ソフト『TANK! TANK! TANK!』の発売日が2013年2月21日に決定！ 12月26日より無料ダウンロード版の配信も！！". Famitsu. Kadokawa Corporation. December 25, 2012. p. ja. Archived from the original on May 15, 2019. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  16. Long, Neil (February 13, 2013). "Wii U goes free to play with Tank! Tank! Tank!". Edge. Future plc. Archived from the original on February 18, 2013. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  17. McWhertor, Michael (May 2, 2013). "Tank! Tank! Tank! for Wii U goes free-to-play on eShop". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on November 26, 2018. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  18. "Tank! Tank! Tank! Critic Reviews for Wii U". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 28, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  19. "TANK！ TANK！ TANK！のレビュー・評価・感想". Famitsu (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. February 12, 2013. Archived from the original on June 15, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  20. Peele, Britton (November 27, 2012). "Tank! Tank! Tank! Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on January 23, 2016. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  21. Knezevic, Kevin (November 21, 2012). "Tank! Tank! Tank! review". GamesRadar+. Future plc. Archived from the original on March 30, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  22. Bar, Patrick (December 4, 2012). "Tank! Tank! Tank! Review". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on February 14, 2019. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  23. Hannley, Steve (November 24, 2012). "Review: Tank! Tank! Tank!". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on January 13, 2013. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  24. "１１月２日番組から [番組スタッフより]". Radio Nikkei (in Japanese). Nikkei. November 6, 2009. Archived from the original on September 29, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  25. "Game Search (based on Famitsu data)". Game Data Library. 1 March 2020. Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
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