Rushn Attack - Xbox Live Arcade review

Remember the movie GoldenEye? Remember the first time we met the new “M” and she proceeded to dress down 007 by calling him a dinosaur? A relic of the cold war?

That’s the first thing that springs to mind upon booting up Rush’n Attack. The clever play on words gives away the game’s main thrust – you are a secret agent of some sort infiltrating what can only be a Russian base, racing against time to save a group of POWs scheduled for the firing squad.

This 22-year old arcade action game was pretty rad back when teased hair and neon colored shirts were all the rage, but it simply doesn’t hold up today. Each of the four stages feel almost identical, with your character running from left to right, knifing or shooting those attempting to get in your way. Reach the end of a stage, fight off the remaining enemies, and move on.

Rush’n Attack is definitely challenging on the default settings. It has a lot to do with the archaic idea of the one-hit-kill. If one of your enemies so much as touches you, kiss your butt goodbye. And as the only weapon you normally have at your disposal is a knife, almost all fighting is done in closed quarters.