OK soldier, there's these terrorist guys and they're, like, real bad and stuff. And we want you to, er, go and kick their asses!
Combining Metal Slug's side scrolling pyrotechnics with the traditional top-down shoot-em-up, CT Special Forces delivers two styles of gameplay in one explosive arcade blast-a-thon.
As part of the CTSF commando unit, it its your job to put an end to the threat of terrorist activity. Your team is made up of highly trained and heavily armed experts, ready to intervene in all the world's hot spots.
Across levels such as equatorial jungles, cities under siege and snow covered mountains, players must battle the enemy either on foot or by piloting an Apache helicopter. Utilising the latest, state-of-the-art weaponry and equipment, such as laser scopes, rocket launchers, grappling hooks and parachutes, the foot-based missions feature side-scrolling platform action, in similar vein to SNK's Metal Slug series. Helicopter missions take the form of the more traditional, top-down shooter, with players blasting down enemy aircraft and bombing the ground forces below. A first-person sniper mode also features for taking out the opposition silently.
Colourful and smoothly animated sprites and scenery populate the game throughout. The overall visuals are very polished and look a lot better than many good similar SNES games (seeing as the GBA is often compared to Nintendo's 16-bit machine).
CT Special Forces is old school, but does it well. GBA owners would be wise to check it out.