Cabal is an arcade video game published in 1988, originally developed by TAD Corporation, and published in Japan by Taito Corporation, while in North America and Europe, it was published by Fabtek.
Taito’s video game plunged us into concentration camps where we had to rescue five prisoners clad in a light pistol, with a successful reverse shot in their arcade version.
The tuning achieved made it one of the video games with the most conversions of the time, making systems that had a light pistol benefit from it, and in others, it was carried with a peephole controlled by a mouse or keyboard.
Gameplay
In this video game, the player controls a cursor from the rear view of the player, whose mission is to destroy several enemy military bases. The game was innovative for its time, garnering mild success in arcades, and becoming better known and popular over time thanks to its various conversions for microcomputers and home platforms.
Cabal features both single-player and two-player modes. Each player assumes the role of an anonymous commander attempting to destroy various enemy military bases. The video game comprises five phases, each with four sub-levels.
The player starts with three lives and uses a weapon (similar to an AR-15) with unlimited ammunition and a fixed number of grenades to defend himself against enemy troops and attack the base. The player is seen from behind, and in each phase starts behind a protective wall that can be damaged and destroyed by enemy fire.
To stay alive, the player must dodge enemy bullets by altering their position, moving either left or right, hiding behind cover, or using a move known as dodge-roll, which allows us to roll on the ground momentarily.
Game Interface
At the bottom of the screen is an enemy indicator that diminishes as we remove them. In addition, we can destroy certain collapsing structures.
When the enemy indicator empties, the level is successfully completed, all remaining buildings on the screen self-destruct and the player moves on to the next phase. If a player loses a life, it appears again immediately.
Power-Ups
Throughout the levels of the video game, power-ups can be obtained from objects that appear on the screen and can be destroyed. Some power-ups provide special weapons, such as an extremely fast machine gun or an automatic shotgun with a lower rate of fire and a wider area of effect. Other power-ups award additional grenades or extra points.
Disadvantages
Cabal was a somewhat innovative game, as it presented a previously under-exploited perspective on video games in which the player character was in the foreground with a camera view over his or her shoulder, similar to third-person shooter games.
Although sometimes compared to contemporary games such as Commando e Ikari Guerriers, differs from these in that the player cannot advance of his own accord; since a level must be cleared of enemies before the game automatically advances to the next level.
The player can’t move around while shooting, as holding down the shoot button controls the cursor or the view of the weapon. This limitation creates the need for the player to know how to correctly choose between offensive and defensive tactics depending on the situation.
Graphics and Sound
Although the sprites in this NES port are less colorful and detailed than in the arcade version, the graphics are surprisingly faithful to the original title, with virtually every environmental detail and enemy played with great precision.
The game’s sound is horrible, but this is only the result of trying to port exactly, also in this respect, to the original arcade game. Although the music is unpleasant and boring most of the time, it remains faithful to the original, and in terms of sound effects, this port lacks the sounds of digitized shots.
Overall game impression
Cabal is a worthwhile title. In general terms, this is a highly recommended retro game.
Graphically, the game is more than fulfilled thanks to the detailed animations of the player-controlled characters, as well as those defined for the game’s highly varied enemies.
Cabal is a good game and very challenging in its single-player mode, but it shines in its two-player co-op mode.
Defining a coordinated strategy adds many points to the game, and while facilitating the experience, a second player makes the game much more chaotic and fun.
While control issues and its irritating soundtrack make the game a little difficult, Cabal is an admirable, if not over-ambitious, 8-bit port that’s well worth the effort.
