Guerrilla warfare

Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which a small group of combatants such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactics, and mobility to fight a larger and less-mobile traditional military.

Etymology

The term, the diminutive form of "war" in Spanish, is usually translated as "little war", and the word, guerrilla (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡeˈriʎa]), has been used to refer to the concept since the 18th century, and perhaps earlier. In correct Spanish usage, a person who is a member of a guerrilla is a guerrillero ([ɡeriˈʎeɾo]) if male, or a guerrillera if female. This term became popular during the Peninsular War, when the Spanish people rose against the Napoleonic troops and fought against a highly superior army using the guerrilla strategy.

The term "guerrilla" was used in English as early as 1809, to refer to the fighters (e.g., "The town was taken by the guerrillas"), and also (as in Spanish) to denote a group or band of such fighters. However, in most languages guerrilla still denotes the specific style of warfare. The use of the diminutive evokes the differences in number, scale, and scope between the guerrilla army and the formal, professional army of the state.

Guerrilla War (video game)

Guerrilla War, released in Japan as Guevara (ゲバラ), is an overhead run and gun game produced by SNK. Originally released for arcades in 1987 as a coin-operated arcade game, Guerrilla War followed the adventures of two unnamed rebel commandos (Che Guevara and Fidel Castro in the Japanese version) as they raid an unnamed Caribbean Island in order to free it from the rule of an unnamed tyrannical dictator. Along the way the players vanquish hordes of enemy soldiers while attempting to rescue hostages (with large score deductions for any hostages killed in the crossfire), collecting weapons from troopers and operating tanks.

Releases

The arcade version, released by SNK in 1987, followed the highly successful format for overhead arcade shooters that SNK had pioneered with its landmark Ikari Warriors (1986). Using eight-way rotary joysticks, the game allowed players to move their character in one direction while rotating the joystick in order to shoot in another. The game was moderately successful, and spawned ports onto home video game systems. In 1988, SNK released home editions on the PC, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum home computers and the NES/Famicom 8-bit console. Because of the limits of the home platforms, the home versions did not have the rotating joysticks. However, and unlike Ikari Warriors, the NES/Famicom versions proved to be very well adapted to the system and more popular than the arcade version. The NES version's two-player simultaneous play, unlimited continues, and frantic action gave it an edge over its arcade predecessor. This NES version featured Box cover art by Marc Ericksen, who was also responsible for the cover illustration For Ikari Warriors III the Rescue and SNK's P.O.W. Now also available on Playstation Network.