P.O.W. - Prisoners of War - for NES

P.O.W.: Prisoners of War is a beat 'em up for the Nintendo Entertainment System, developed and published by SNK in 1989 and based on the company's arcade game. You play a captured commando, codenamed Snake in the arcade and called Bart in the NES version, who has to bomb his way out of a prison cell and then keep going. P.O.W. stands out for how direct it is: no puzzles, no detours, just a long fight toward the door and everything waiting past it.

The fight runs across four levels, and escaping is only the beginning, since the mission is to infiltrate the enemy base and destroy its leaders. Bart starts bare handed with punches, kicks and jumping attacks, then picks up whatever the guards leave behind. Brass knuckles, body armor, knives, grenades and machine guns all turn up along the way, and holding on to a weapon while soldiers crowd in from both sides is much of the challenge. P.O.W.: Prisoners of War is a one player game from the era when a brawler expected you to learn its rhythms rather than a list of combos.

Players still love P.O.W. for its weight: the punches land hard, the enemies keep coming, and clearing a screen feels earned. It is also a good example of what SNK brought to the console, a conversion that keeps the bluntness of the arcade instead of softening it. For a collector, P.O.W.: Prisoners of War sits nicely beside the other brawlers in an NES library and is one of the better ones to pull out when you want twenty minutes of straightforward trouble.

• Genre: Beat 'em Up
• Players: 1
• Region: NTSC
• Release Year: 1989
• Developer: SNK

Cartridge Only: No Box or Manual
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Condition & Authenticity
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