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M.I.A. Missing In Action M.I.A. Missing In Action - Japanese Logo - Katakana / Kanji

M.I.A. Missing In Action - Cabinet - Video Game Marquee

Description

A horizontally scrolling jump and shoot game where the player must free MIAs in the jungles of Vietnam.

M.I.A. Missing In Action was produced by Konami in 1989.

Konami released 434 machines in our database under this trade name, starting in 1978. Konami was based in Japan.

Other machines made by Konami during the time period M.I.A. Missing In Action was produced include: Vulcan Venture, Thunder Cross, Super Kontora: Alien No Gyakusyuu, Super Contra, Ring No Ouja, Block Hole, Bottom Of The Ninth, Crime Fighters, Cue Brick, and Gradius III

Specs

Name M.I.A. Missing In Action
Developer Konami (Japan)
Year 1989
Type Videogame
KLOV/MOG # 8472
Class Wide Release
Genre Scrolling Fighter
Monitor
Conversion Class JAMMA
# Simultaneous Players 2
# Maximum Players 2
Game Play Joint
Control Panel Layout Multiple Player
Controls
  • Joystick: 8-way
  • Buttons: 3 - KnifeExtra WeaponChoose Extra Weapon
Sound Amplified Mono (one channel)
Cabinet Styles
  • Upright/Standard
Control Panel M.I.A. Missing In Action Control Panel Image
Side Art M.I.A. Missing In Action Side Art Image

Game Introduction

Up to two special forces soldiers must penetrate four areas controlled by the enemy to reach the POW compound, then infiltrate the compound, rescue the POWs and then escort them to a helicopter.

Game Play

The gameplay has a tactile "hide and attack" style much like Green Beret or Rolling Thunder.

The game play is broken down into six stages. The first 4 stages (a war-torn field, a jungle, an airstrip, and a rail yard) will occur in random order and may be reversed (even the stages go right to left). In each of these stages, you must traverse your way to the end of the stage, where you face off with a powerful enemy force. In the field, you must clear out the enemy's quarters, where a swarm of enemies will attack. In the other three, you must take out enemies firing from gun batteries high on towers. Once each enemy area is cleared, you will blow up the place and head on to your next objective.
The fifth stage is the POW compound. Infiltrate the compound and defeat the heavily-armed guards there to free the POWs.
In the sixth stage, you must escort the freed POWs to the helicopter while keeping the enemies from killing them. You must get at least one POW safely aboard to complete you mission and start a new set of stages.

You start each life with just your knife however, all enemies can be killed with the knife. Killing a red soldier makes him drop a weapon you can use (assault rifle, grenades, flame-thrower, or bazooka). You can have more than one and cycle through them as needed, but each has a limited supply.

M.I.A. Missing In Action KLOV/IAM 5 Point User Score: 3.50 (2 votes)

Fun Factor: 3.50

Overall Like 4.00
Fun (Social) 3.00
Fun (Solo) 3.50
Collector Desire 3.00

Technical Rating: 3.50

Gameplay 4.00
Graphics 3.50
Originality 3.00
Sound/Music 3.50

Personal Impressions and Technical Impressions each account for half of the total score. Within the Personal Impressions category, Like carries a little more weight than the other factors.

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Images

Trivia

The graphics, animations and even the sound are reminescent of Green Beret (also known as Rush'n Attack). There is a good chance that M.I.A.: Missing In Action was planned to be a sequel of these titles.

VAPS Arcade/Coin-Op M.I.A. Missing In Action Census

There are 15,166 members of the Video Arcade Preservation Society / Vintage Arcade Preservation Society, 9,629 whom participate in our arcade census project of games owned, wanted, or for sale. Census data currently includes 166,329 machines (6,975 unique titles).

Uncommon - There are 20 known instances of this machine owned by M.I.A. Missing In Action collectors who are active members. Of these, One is a conversion in which game circuit boards (and possibly cabinet graphics) have been placed in (and on) another game cabinet. 19 of them are only circuit boards which a collector could put into a generic case if desired.

For Sale - There are 2 active VAPS members with a M.I.A. Missing In Action circuit boards for sale.

Wanted - No active members have added this machine to their wish list.

This game ranks a 5 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census ownership records.

Rarity and Popularity independently are not necessarily indications of value. [More Information]

Flyers

Technical

The Japanese version of this game uses the Konami Twin16 design while the US version uses simpler hardware that is closer to that used in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Legacy

  1. Rush'n Attack
  2. M.I.A. Missing In Action

Manuals

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