P.O.W.: Prisoners of War (NES) Playthrough
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ก.ค. 2023
- A playthrough of SNK's 1989 beat 'em up for the NES, P.O.W.: Prisoners of War.
P.O.W.: Prisoners of War is an NES adaptation of SNK's popular 1988 arcade game of the same name.
The manual does a nice job of summing up the story, a collection of Cold War tropes borrowed from 80s action movies like Escape from New York and Rambo: First Blood Part II:
"Your codename is Bart. You are a captain of the Army Special Forces Unit 'M.' Your mission is to infiltrate GOON (Government of Offensive Network), a subversive organization whose mission is to break up the international economy and establish a worldwide smuggling ring [...] Your goal is to eliminate the members of GOON before they can carry out their diabolical scheme!"
The arcade game is exactly what you'd expect from a 2.5D beat 'em up from the late 80s, and the NES version is solid. By the time POW came around, SNK had ceased farming their NES projects out to Micronics, and the wisdom of that choice was immediately made clear in the sudden, dramatic rise in quality of SNK's output on the console. Instead of being turned into a vile dumpster fire of an NES game like Athena and Ikari Warriors were, POW's 8-bit demake sits more in line with SNK's later in-house developed efforts - games like Guerilla War, Ikari III, and Iron Tank. Hallelujah!
The 2P co-op mode was scrapped and the graphics and sound have been scaled down from the 16-bit coin-op, but the NES game still closely resembles the original, and in many ways improves upon it.
All of the levels and enemies have been retained, and this version introduces its own new enemies and boss battles. Players can also now duck into sub-areas to collect power-ups and upgrades, including brass knuckles for stronger punches, armor that protects against projectile attacks, and life refills. These thoughtful changes rebalance the difficulty by blunting the rougher edges of the arcade game's quarter-munching focused design, resulting in a game that feels fairer and more fun to play.
The controls are simple and snappy, the graphics (though occasionally glitchy) are clean and detailed by NES standards, and much of the music (which sounds like it could've been lifted from a Konami game) is excellent.
P.O.W.: Prisoners of War is often overshadowed by higher-profile NES beat 'em ups like Double Dragon and TMNT II: The Arcade Game, but it's a well-made, thoroughly enjoyable game that, given the chance, will keep you coming back for more.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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I can feel the PTSD from this game kicking in, and it has been at least 30 years since I last played it on the NES.
This game, along with Wrath of the Black Manta and Jaws , are three random games I owned as a kid (maybe birthday and/or christmas presents most likely), that I will always defend. The music and sounds of these games are ingrained in me and give me all sorts of nostalgic feels. I LOVE them.
@lltbg Wrath Of Black Manta is a classic 4 sure
POW is a fun beat 'em up that in many ways improves on the arcade original, and it's a huge step up from SNK's earlier Micronics-produced NES garbage.
8-bit covers have always been FTW 🥂🍾
Arcade game was way better than the NES version!
They did away with 2P co-op? No wonder I never got to see this growing up. My brother heard it was good, but we never managed to rent it--not to my recollection--and perhaps it was fine if we didn't because, in those days, 2P co-op was make-or-break in a family with three brothers.
The JP version did not have the APC as Boss stage
@christopherthibeault7502 years later, there was a rom hack which implemented the co-op with some noticeable tweaks.
Last time I played this was some 25 - 30 years ago.
I looked for it for years, but couldn't remember the name of the game.
Thank you! This walkthrough took me down nostalgia path to some happy times :)
Cheers🍺
So glad you got to this one, Alex. One of my favorite NES games out there just because it’s so damn fun to play. And also much more forgiving than the arcade original. Good stuff!
Note: some of the images used during the end credits also appear in the NES port of Ikari III.
You actually had a fighting chance on the NES vs. the arcade.
I remember EXACTLY where I was when i first rented this.
This game just proves again that the first stage is where you want your best music score. Gaiden is the best example, this is close.
Edit: Congraturations Alex
I really wanted to know what the letters mean so I looked up a copy of the instruction book.
1. A= Bulletproof vest
2. G= Gun 10 rounds
3. L= Life Force
4. Brass Knuckles
What is absolutely hilarious is the story inside the booklet and enemy/boss descriptions. Each boss starts out at like 6 foot 4 inches and just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Oh and the instruction book has actual spoilers in it.
Bonus- SNK actually did their research on the M16. The instruction book says 10 shots per magazine but every time you press the trigger it disperses in a 3-round burst. 3x10= 30 round magazine which is the standard size for the rifle. I know it may sound stupid but seeing something like this in a game from the 3rd generation is kind of neat. Not bad SNK, not bad at all.
"CONGRATURATION!" Omg, CLASSIC nod to the 1980's roots of Nintendo!
14:36
Love how the enemies are in full SCUBA gear, yet the water level is just above-knee height :D
This is one of the first games i got when i started trying to build my nes collection at about 17. When i was about 20, me and my 2 year old used to have a funny dance, when that infamous inside truck song played.
Haha
I got this game a couple.of years ago for 8 bucks .good converson of the arcade
Good graphics and sound on this game!
Great classic both on NES and Arcade😎👍
I would comment exactly on the topics NintendoComplete mentioned in his description. A great NES brawler, but unfortunately it misses the 2 player mode. I remember playing it a lot in the arcades and the NES version was always a favorite of mine. Great gameplay BTW.
What was the algorithm thinking, I had forgotten this game, suddenly it reappeared, what a wonderful time that will never happen again
The music from stage 1 lives rent free in my brain from age 6.
I loved this game as a kid, it was so badass. I used to wish/dream of this being 2-player. If this game and Double Dragon would have been 2 player, they would have been two of the best NES games. Still love P.O.W. though!
Congraturations on reviewing such a classic!!! 😂😂😂
I really love this game that when enemy receive the fatal blow, they flew away like hit by a truck
Great SNK!
Superb video.
*"CONGRATURATION!"* 🤣💀
lol, they spent how many hours writing code, drawing graphics, composing music, testing gameplay, but check the spelling of the extremely limited dialogue? nah...
Michael J. Fox And Sean Penn This time They's fighting for Their life. P.O.W. Prisoners Of War
Had to look it up:
Brass Knuckles - lets punches deal 2x damage
Knife - throwable item, deals 2x damage. Deals 2x damage in melee. 'Green Beret' enemies never run out of these.
"A" - bullet proof vest upgrade. Deflects incoming bullets & throwing knives
"G" - machine gun. fires 3x bullets, first bullet will insta-kill most enemies, next 2 deal 4 damage. Need it to damage vehicles & helicopters, has limited ammo. Deals 2x damage in melee
"L" - restores lost health
Grenades - Needed to damage vehicles & helicopters. 1 hit kills most enemies, or the player!
All are lost on death, or beating a level.
I never knew that, I just remembered this game was pretty hard! 💥🪖🌴 I guess it's because it locks you into such a small playing area while it throws lots of baddies at you. Talk about a meat grinder! You don't have a lot of lives, getting more is hard & death is pretty punishing to the player. (Imagine dying right before or during a boss!)
Gotta love those classic reused SNK sfx! 💥💥🪖🌴😊👍 I know I hear some "Guerilla War" sounds in there!
Congrat'urations! 🎉 😂
This game was pretty gnarly.
SNK made amazing games for the NES.
Game was so hard but i beat it.
this game looks fun
Congraturation!
Double Dragon meets Missing in Action II: The Beginning.
The first beat em up I ever beat.
I always wondered how many squats and push ups you had to do to be able to kick and punch grown men and send them flying 20 ft
This was a pretty port of the game!
This guy did not skip leg day.
I remember playing this as a kid in Mex....of course all the text was in English and I never understood what they said.....so it was all trial and error lol
La parte de la cascada es bella por su propia debilidad técnica: no puede reproducirse al mismo tiempo sonido de la cascada y de la percusión, por tanto, cuando golpea a alguien, aparece por unos instantes la percusión mientras se silencia la cascada.
A mí me parece bello. Nuestro cerebro completaba todo.
the graphic is crystal clear how did you set it to be like this
Cool!
Congraturation ???
34:55 Congraturation :)
18:22 Filmnstuff brought me here after the Stupid Boss battles segment.
Is that king hippo
@@t316kane omg, king hippo without a crown and a belly button bandages.
I actually havent counted ma nes carts but i know.its pretty close to 100 nes carts
Rambito y Rambon?
Like this if you never got past level 2. Congraturation!
4:09 Rambo3 shot Soviet heli 😂
Rented this a few times...but had no idea wtf i was doing
ikari warriors?
Daddy, i think you got the wrong rambo game!
I love how nonsensical this game is.
First!
I prefer Metal Gear , this game is boring in comparison.
The Original Metal gear games where frustrating to play for me at least. The hit detection on Melee attacks when you had to sneak attack an enemy was brutal. This game kind of suffers the same thing with most beat em ups is that it gets repetitive after awhile.
Congraturation!