Rush'n Attack (NES) Playthrough

A playthrough of Konami's 1987 action game for the NES, Rush'n Attack.
Rush'n Attack was first known as "Green Beret" when it appeared as an arcade game in 1985. But Konami, ready as always to lean into politics to drive sales, renamed it Rush'n Attack for its 1987 US debut.
As any kid of the 1980s could tell you, the Cold War was a big deal. Between the nightly news, movies like Red Dawn, and the bomb drills that we were subjected to in school, it's safe to say that we were taught to view the USSR as the bad guy. The intent behind the name change makes much more sense in this context: it's not short for 'Rushing' or 'Rush and' Attack. It's 'Russian.'
And since Putin has just ordered a Russian invasion force into Ukraine, this seemed like the perfect time to play Konami's stab-happy tale of lifting the iron curtain.
In Rush'n Attack, the Red Army has developed a superweapon, and the player is asked to infiltrate a base and destroy the missile before it launches. You play as a green beret, obviously, armed with nothing but his wits and a knife.
In each of the six stages, you run along, wildly stabbing anything that comes your way. Some bad guys run in straight line, some will jump at you, and others will actively follow and shoot at you, but they all go down with a single jab of your knife. You can also pick up a few limited use items like rocket launchers, grenades, and pistols for a bit of extra firepower. At the end of each stage you'll have to tackle a boss battle before you are allowed to move on.
It's a simple design, but the placement of the enemies and other hazards does its best to keep you on your toes. There are some tricky spots that you'll have to condition yourself for (especially that last battle at the missile silo!), but since the enemy spawns are generally consistent between play sessions, you can learn how to handle specific situations with some practice. You'll need it - Rush'n Attack is not an easy game.
(And you'll really come to hate ladders, I promise.)
It is a fun game, though, especially with its 2P co-op play. If you've never experienced this classic, you're missing out. I mean, it's basically Contra but with knives!
_____________
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (www.nintendocomplete.com/) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!

[@joe718gt4]

"Stop a nuclear war with this knife"

[@quyenmojos9004]

*- NCO to Ramirez's father*

[@JuraIbis]

My personal favorite. I remember being a kid and that invincibility song made me actually feel invincible.

[@dynamo4543]

such a great game great memories playing this

[@Bloodreign1]

To think the only one is in stage 3, so once you hear it, and clear the stage, you won't hear it again the rest of the game.

[@rahpathy9410]

When you aquire a grenade, it makes the same sound as when you shoot those cannons in contra

[@Badspinache]

The first nes game i ever played. Christmas morning 1987. Zelda was 2nd. Great memories. Before that it was all atari. And colecovision.

[@wingedhussar5528]

I loved this game as a kid. Now that I'm in my 40s and been in the military myself, I come to realize that his command is either seriously incompetent o must really hate him to send him in with only a knife.

[@MrSprattibaggs]

What about the Rush’ns, who make their men jog slowly - and barehanded - towards the guy with the knife, and only let the yellow guys have a gun? That’s some Battle of Stalingrad shit right there!

[@wingedhussar5528]

@@MrSprattibaggs Yeah but they are Russian so they are more expandable than bullets.

[@rjcupid]

11:19: This song is such a Konami musical hidden gem. The first time I got that far and heard this song it blew me away. Love it.

[@Echo_Canine11]

Konami, back then, had a way with their tunes. This is Castlevania level shit

[@Zushi148]

my. too❤

[@jonathanmass3744]

It's sounds like something Muse would make honestly crazy its a dope tune

[@mr_m4613]

Yeah for NES music this sh!t goes hard.

[@NintendoComplete]

Rush'n Attack is basically Contra with knives instead of guns. Need I say any more?

[@rjcupid]

Very skilled play through of a very hard game. It's so satisfying to shoot a "missile" through an entire screen of enemies running at you in a row like they're in a conga line.

[@NintendoComplete]

@Burnt Fishy Lol yeah that's what I meant.

[@NintendoComplete]

@@rjcupid Thanks!

[@billsimms2511]

Much harder than Contra

[@not2tired]

If Contra used up for jump and you couldn't change momentum midair... then, yes

[@ismailbouhanache3009]

I will cry about those days 😢

[@Surfer041]

What an appropriate game to play at this time.

[@wordman3624]

I don't think this guy is gonna save Ukraine.

[@Surfer041]

@@wordman3624 very doubtful

[@guidadiehl9176]

@@wordman3624 if anyone can do it, NC can.

[@FinalLuigi]

I came here just for this comment.

[@themegaman91965]

I must agree that the timing of this upload is quite ironic with what's happening right now... One of my favorite Konami NES titles for sure.

[@mariusamber3237]

Good game, was pretty hard for me back in the day. Took a while to finish and learn all ins and outs to play it well...

[@billsimms2511]

The awkward and fixed jumping made the game extra difficult

[@TheDuke013]

You make it look so easy, never saw the ending before, that was actually pretty cool for the day.

[@Zaxares]

Probably the toughest thing about this game was how in single player, if you died, like a lot of other side-scrolling games of the time, it would punt you back to the beginning of the level and you had to run it all over again. There WAS a "cheat" you could do to make it easier though, which was to start a 2-player game, then simply let the 2nd player die. In 2-player mode, the game just lets the dead player respawn immediately instead of kicking you back to the start of the level (because naturally it can't do that if the other player was still playing), but it would let you keep this advantage even after the 2nd player was already dead. Some other games I can remember this trick working on included the Rescue Rangers NES game, as well as the ultra-hard Ninja Crusaders.

[@rjcupid]

Thanks for the tip, I never knew that.

[@smichaels10]

@@rjcupidme neither. This is awesome! Wish I would’ve known this as a kid. It would’ve saved me lots of aggravation lol

[@MarcBarkyMarta]

Rush'n Attack was also the US arcade name as well, FYI. I've owned the PCB twice (it's cheap for an arcade board), and it also came on the Konami GBA collection.

[@broncosbreaks]

That level one music takes me all the way back to being 6 years old.

[@darkerfalcon3747]

This Is a masterpiece. I've played when i am a child

[@Rykiz_Vidz]

This was one of me and my older brothers very first Co op games along with battle toads, and we could never get past level 3. This music sticks with me even now though.

[@billsimms2511]

Co op was great but if your teammate wasn’t good it would kill your chances of going far in the game

[@Bored_Barbarian]

“Rush’n attack”….what an apt day to release this 😢

[@TexasAggie97]

Brings back memories!!! Konami always had the best music.

[@dashingdinesh8372]

Child hood memories, played and was my favourite game , around 1996, used to play in video game stations by paying 1 rs.. Crossing 2bd stage very difficult...did not crossed 2nd

[@Blitzerpump]

Love this game. My cousin had it in the mid 80s. Picked up a copy for myself in 2023. Brings back memories. Ladders are the biggest threat in this game. Stay away from them while jumping or attacking since the control scheme is up for jump; often you get stuck on a ladder and are a sitting duck for the enemy.

[@destructo3457]

I remember when i used to play this with my grandpa, may he rest in peace.

[@BleezyD]

I remember saving up my allowance to buy this game in elementary school. I was so stoked!!!!!

[@donaldsmith8648]

My top 5 old school video games of all-time hand's down

[@rogerpettersson8836]

Good play. Remember playing this as a kid, never finished the whole thing.

[@hue_solaris]

this game hits different in 2022

[@PrekiFromPoland]

A day after uploading the video a very real Russian Attack happened... ... It really hits different, it hits hard.

[@hue_solaris]

@@PrekiFromPoland hence i wrote this comment

[@son_60han]

Finally i can see the ending of my childhood game 😭 Thank you so much, sir 🫡

[@KeyserSoeze]

Remember playing this at my friend place when we where kids, good times ^^

[@evanhanley6437]

This is a classic. Loved playing the arcade version but this one is better.

[@jbug1979]

i love how the bazooka projectiles just trip guys off the screen 😋

[@moviemetalhead]

Was a really unique Konami game in that you weren't shooting(for the most part) your enemy but getting up close and personal with a blade. Had a lot of fun with this one back in the day. Great playthrough Alex.🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@Penfold8]

NES should have kept this game name as Green Beret!

[@vgaoct91]

The NES looks pretty tough, but fun to play! [like its arcade counterpart - The latter's available on the Archive Archives] Rush n' Attack/Green Beret (Both versions) has to be one of the foremost titles with a heavy Cold War theme during the 80's to early 90's. Others I can think of are with Jackal and Task Force Harrier.

[@Andinus3000]

I mean come on Rush'n Attack.. they weren't exactly trying to be too cryptic with a title like that in reference to the cold war.

[@hoamm_]

I can play this game a lot ❤ 20 year's ago

[@warzoniez6018]

Great Gameplay bro. It’s always good to see when someone perfects how they conquer an old school title like this one. I’m one of those guys myself growing up in the 80’s as a kid. Serious Keep up the good work man. There’s still people out here that would consider gameplay like this a masterpiece 👍.

[@nicoletravis1290]

A very classic game I beat this using the game genie. That one hit was very aggravating

[@mr_m4613]

One of my favorite NES games of all time and it had some of the best music in an NES game.

[@zilla2006able]

this game was one of my favorite ❤❤❤

[@ianward8107]

One of the few times I prefer the NES soundtrack over the arcade. Great game

[@rontabora9177]

I remember this game being a lot harder when i was kid. This guy beat it under 20 mins.

[@Legofromthelowerlands020]

Very nice playthrough man. I never got past level 4. Thanks for showing this!

[@royalkumar795]

I used to have this game on 4 in 1 multi game NES Cartridge along with Contra 1 (24 in 1 for different levels and power)

[@ferkmilkovich1258]

That paratrooper strat was amazing, good work

[@MrSprattibaggs]

12:12 bad guys: “hey, look, a gun we could use!” other bad guy: “nope, that’s only for the good guy”

[@user-lm6gn4dp2g]

❤My childhood game I remember 😢my love my favourite game 🎮❤

[@retro3188]

Perfect timing, NintendoComplete.

[@johngavalas74]

First konami game i played and beaten

[@DeadKoby]

Better music than the arcade.

[@doha5634]

I was thinking the same thing. Some of those NES tracks went legendary.

[@sporedoutofmymind]

Well this is a bit timely

[@YukaTakeuchiFan]

It is such a missed opportunity that you don't get to stab the nuclear missile to destroy it.

[@atalleywak]

I've always wanted to hear someone make a metal version of the BG music in this game. The soundtrack absolutely kicks ass, as did most Konami games in general.

[@darrenclements6028]

Rush n Attack is ABSOLUTELY AWESOME and STUNNINGLY AMAZING Classic Nintendo game with Spectacular graphics and STUNNING gameplay

[@luisreyes1963]

Legend has it that in the Famicom Disk System version of Rush 'N Attack, there were hidden underground passages that can be uncovered when certain land mines were detonated by a weapon. They were taken out of the NES version, apparently.

[@jc_malone8217]

Posting this during the Ukraine crisis. But anyway, it was a good game. Reminds me of Bad Dudes mixed with Contra.

[@Snyperwolf91]

Rush' n attack hits different this year .

[@kramalerav]

That’s for sure!

[@thedkm-4894]

.....

[@NeverB_Gameover]

Perfect timing

[@kainemaxwell]

Such a classic soundtrack

[@hanchiman]

I used to play 2 Player mode just so to avoid the "Going back a bit after death" crap, because in 2player mode, if you die, you respawn right away the same place you died

[@mrcage1972]

That's how I completed the game

[@hanchiman]

@@mrcage1972 I never managed to finish it... :/

[@alisalimi8365]

Hitting gliders with knife!

[@avace917]

I got this and Castlevania for my 16th birthday. Then my sister gave me money that I used to buy Double Dribble. Full on Konami birthday.

[@jashvanbon2554]

I miss this so much😢

[@user-ik8vy1rg8f]

Found it! This is a solid game.

[@moesypittounikos]

We used to call this game 'Russian attack'! A clever title indeed!

[@Gaurav_R_Kashyap]

When i was kid i was calling this "Green Ruslin Attack" now i realized That it's "Rush N Attack" ❤🤭😘

[@ardenissunset6728]

It would be nice if dogs bark like 8-bit

[@amyrosearchiesonicplaypoem8760]

Great video.

[@johncolon4069]

Send this guy to Ukraine

[@kamer_kane]

You're a skilled gamer, atleast for me 😅 i could never get past level 2 😂... Being a 90s kid, this is such nostalgic

[@GamingWithDrew]

Very fitting to release this today, haha.

[@potassiumrichfoods]

No shit? Right about now, yeah? This would seem like a more appropriate time than any.

[@kamalaharrisloveskneepads3229]

The first video game starring Vladimir Putin who throws a birthday party out the window. This was one of the funnest games I had ever played next to super Mario Brothers. I love what some of the video game companies are doing by bringing back some of the sites girl fighting games as well as platform-based games like Russian attack.

[@antwango]

Bravo!!! Masterful! this what most parents want to be able to do in front of their kids XD now do it with ghouls n ghosts! mega man!!!! but seriously to be able to memorise as well as carry it out from beginning to end!!!!

[@rustygazes256]

Man nostalgia city.

[@Captain_Crayzay]

A star that gives you temporary invincibility.. Sounds familiar😅

[@dofssky]

One of hardest game at that time, I was 7 and stocked in stage 7😂😂

[@ultrafu5892]

I love that everyone is just running and if they pass you they continue to run lmao.

[@VentureNinja]

Greatest soundtrack

[@angeldeb82]

Wow! The end of the second stage plays La Marseillaise, and the end of the penultimate stage plays The Star Spangled Banner! You also lost a life at the beginning of the 5th stage, but no harm done, huh? :)

[@AllrightNOR]

Ah the memories

[@Dorian_Scott]

Probably the only Konami game that I have never played... And now I want to experience it lol. Apparently, this is a port of an Arcade version. Correct?

[@MarioSonicUniverse]

Sure was, but it added that sweet NES sound (there was no music in the Arcade original) that only classic Konami could provide.

[@khongsoai4384]

Good job 👍

[@Rykiz_Vidz]

Part of the reason this game is so damn hard is that (if I'm not mistaken) when you jump over the landmines, the jump button is select. Having to move your hands off the controls to press select each time and while you were in the air enemies would spawn.

[@mr.g4990]

You jump with up on the d-pad. It gets problematic when you jump and get stuck on a ladder.

[@Rykiz_Vidz]

@@mr.g4990 oh it was up, even so that's almost just as bad as select.

[@chrisspearline767]

This might be the hardest game I've ever played. I can now get to the final stage after all the years

[@ehsanjalalpour6]

Year 1985 that was great game

[@LPetal86]

So the game's title WASN'T a shortened title of "Rush and Attack"? Well, I'll be!

[@thesparxeffect9734]

Rush n attack. Great Konami title, too bad the American release didn't have the underground tunnels.

[@StevenMighty]

At the end of each stage he climbs over a barbwired fence instead of simply passing it on the right...

[@GentlemanWilrijk]

Looks like green beret on c64

[@NintendoComplete]

It's the same game!

[@danielgerald4551]

How did he destroy a helicopter with a knife at the end of level 4?

[@jaybirdful]

I couldn’t never even make it to 3rd level after many attempts. You can’t make one mistake. It’s almost a challenge game

[@MrMister441]

I used to hum this song not remembering where I heard it. But now I do😅 0:31

[@suokkis]

They send a lone man to destroy the enemy's secret weapon, only armed with a combat knife? Wow... Good luck there! You couldn't even give the poor guy a pistol to go?

[@VahanNisanian]

Disk System version is slightly better, for the inclusion of the underground passageways and unlimited continues.

[@solarflare9078]

You also respawn where you left off upon death and carry up to 9 weapons

[@ericleblanc538]

SALUT J'AI UNE QUESTION 'QUAND TU PERS LA PARTIE ' À TU LA POSSIBILITÉ DE REPRENDRE LÀ PARTIE OU TU AVEZ PERDU ??? CAR SUR MA ULTRA MINI NES 169 JEUX INCLUS 'SUR CE JEU IL N' YA PAS DE CONTINUE POSSIBLE ' TU AI OBLIGÉ DE RECOMMENCER DU DÉBUT ' (( EN TOUT CAS TU JOUE BIEN DONC RESPECT' ))

[@RahulYogi-mi8rr]

I clear this game hundred of time and won contra ,aladin super mario monster in my pocket double dragon , mighty final fight , spartx 1 2 ,strett fighter 1 2 34 am a legend of video game

[@emmcee476]

This game gave me a lot of grief back then 🤣 I dont think I ever got to finish it. Another underwhelming ending, just like with a lot of NES games at the time. lol

[@DodZahav]

Stage 3 boss nowadays will get you sued for animal cruelty

[@Smoothie_The_Gamecat]

I wish this version was playable on Nintendo Switch Online

[@reggaerootsdegaranhuns-pe3870]

Joguei muito esse❤

[@daniellundqvist7429]

We always thought it was Saddam Hussein on the the cover when we were kids!! 😅

[@zbigniewjung8763]

This game is very similar to "Green Beret"

[@dickiegreenleaf750]

AWESOME GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!