Jackal/NES Walkthrough

Difference from the Arcade

 * Rather than a contiguous level with eight helipads and a boss battle, there are six distinct stages, each one helipad and their own boss battle.
 * There is no limit to how many POWs your truck can hold. You can collect as many as you can find.
 * Your score does not increase as you deliver consecutive POWs to the chopper. Rather, you get 500 points per POW when they reach the chopper, and an additional 2000 points for every POW you rescued once you complete the stage.
 * Instead of four weapon upgrades, there are only three. After upgrading from grenades to rockets, the next upgrade will make your rockets explode from side to side.
 * The final upgrade does not explode in four diagonal directions, but rather up, down, and side to side.
 * When you die, your explosive weapon does not lose one level of strength. Rather, you return to the game with grenades, no matter how powered up you were.
 * There are hidden star icons that you can collect which have various effects. To find them, a weapon must explode in their vicinity.
 * Green star: A green star will grant you one extra life.
 * Orange star: Upon touching the orange star, all enemies present on the screen will be destroyed.
 * Flashing star: Collecting a flashing star will instantly upgrade your weapon to the highest level.

Difference between the NES and FDS versions

 * The levels in the FDS version are only one screen wide, and only scroll vertically. The levels in the NES version are two screens wide and scroll both horizontally and vertically.  Though they contain similar bosses, the stage layouts differ drastically.
 * The FDS version omits the first stage of the NES version entirely, containing only 5 stages.
 * There are typically fewer prisons in each stage of the FDS version, although more POWs will appear from each prison.
 * While both versions offer two-player simultaneous play like the arcade version, the FDS version contains a special two player version, where player 1 drives the jeep and player 2 controls the weapons. While the second player can still only fire the main gun upwards, this player is in control of the direction that the explosive weapon is fired in, allowing it to be fired in a different direction than the one that the jeep is facing.

Stage 1

 * You start in the lower left corner near a beach. Drive across the bottom to the right, and then up to find a hut containing a flashing POW.  Collect this POW to upgrade your weapon from grenades to rockets.
 * Watch out for the cannons and guard that block the gate to the first encampment. Blow the gate up and then blast holes in the buildings to rescue the POWs.  There's another hut with a flashing POW inside the encampment.
 * Continue driving up until you reach a bridge heading left. As you cross it, watch out for boats that fire at you from the river.  On the other side, drive up until you see a tank.  Destroy it, and then rescue another flashing POW from the hut above.  Your weapon should now be at maximum strength.
 * Heading up, there are a couple of cannons perched on top of bluffs. If you have the strongest rockets, you can shoot the rockets at the bluffs and the resulting explosion will destroy them.  If you have grenades, they will fly over the bluff walls.  Otherwise, you have to attack them from the sides.
 * Watch out for more cannons above as you make your way to the left to get around the trees. Tanks will be waiting for you above the trees.  In addition to more cannons place around the helipad, another hut containing a flashing POW can be found on the far left side.
 * Approach the helipad and drop off all of the POWs that you collected. Then drive up and make your way past four stationary guards.  Once you drive up far enough, the boss battle will begin.

Boss
Four blue tanks will appear, and chase you around the small clearing. The trees may get in your way as you try to drive away from them. These tanks appear one by one until all four are on the screen with you. They chase you around, firing fast bullets at you, but they aren't as manueverable as your jeep. They can be hit by bullets or explosives, but if you have exploding rockets, the explosions will not harm them; you must hit them directly with the rockets. One hit from explosives or four bullets will turn them from blue to brown. Another explosive or four bullets will finish them off. Focus on destroying one tank at a time, but don't hesitate to switch your attention to a different tank if one becomes easier to hit.

Stage 2

 * As soon as you start, a tank will be on the screen above you. Nearby is a hut containing a flashing POW.  Two cannons are above and to the right of the hut.
 * Travel up between the ruins, and you will see two cannons above. To the left is a face statue which fires  missiles at you.  Keep a watch out for a nearby jeep that approaches you very quickly.
 * The stage encampment is to the right of the two cannons. Watch out for enemy soldiers as you rescue the POWs, including one flashing POW from the hut on the left.
 * After you blow up the upper encampment gate, you will be greeted by a tank and two cannons. Back up if you need to get away and get to a safe distance from which to attack.  There's a hut with a flashing POW off to the left.
 * Further ahead, you will see a cannon sitting between two sets of stairs into the ruins. You can go to the left or the right.  If you go to the left, be sure to fire an explosive at the very bottom left corner of the ruins to find a flashing star which will instantly upgrade your explosive to the highest strength.
 * As you cross the ruins, watch out for bomber planes and tanks. A cannon guards the exit stairs.  One of the columns near the exit will break off and roll down.
 * Once you reach the grass, shoot the first hut to find a flashing POW. Watch out for the nearby cannon.  More cannons wait above it, accompanied by tanks.  Clear the area around the helipad first before dropping off the POWs.  Watch out for a tank that might appear from the bottom of the screen as well.
 * As you drive above the grass, more columns will break and fall. Jeeps will appear and quickly chase you around the screen, and bombers will fly from the top of the screen to the bottom.
 * You will reach a bridge that crosses a body of water. In the water are more face statues which fire missiles at you.  When you reach the top of the bridge, there will be two cannons waiting for you.  Two more cannons wait for you above them.  By the time you see them, the boss fight will begin.

Boss
The boss is four face statues side by side at the top of the screen. They each fire heat-seeking missiles at you, one at a time, from the right to the left. You'll have to shoot explosive weapons at them three or four times to destroy the statues. While you attempt this, you have to watch out once the missiles begin to appear. Back off as soon as you see one, and use your gun weapon to destroy the missiles. Once it's safe to resume your attack, drive back up and hit each statue as quickly as you can. You won't have a lot of time before the next wave of missiles start. In addition, a tank may appear from the bottom of the screen. Destroy them as soon as they are visible. When you're down to one statue, you won't have to worry about backing off anymore.

Stage 3

 * This stage starts out requiring you to blast open the gates to the enemy base. Once you're through, tanks will attack you.  In addition to blowing them up, you can also destroy the jeeps that are parked.
 * Further ahead is a small body of water which you can use to your advantage and attack threats from a safe distance if you have fully powered rockets. Above and to the right of the water are two prisons that you can rescue POWs from.
 * Above the prisons, you must choose to cross one of two bridges. Either choice is fine, but you will be attacked on either side by tanks, soldiers, and boats.  Regular gun ship will attack from the middle, while subs will surface and fire missiles at you on the far sides.  A barrier is placed at the top of the right bridge, but it doesn't prevent you from driving around.
 * More tanks wait for you above the bridges. Two prisons containing more POWs are found on above you, with a cannon between them.  There is a lone jeep parked below the right prison.  If you blow it up, you will find a flashing star beneath it.
 * As you destroy a tank and drive up the left side of the stage, you'll see a laser generator. You must time your passage through this area so that you don't get hit by the laser.  The first laser generator is the most difficult to pass since it fires constantly.  Once more than one laser generator is visible on the screen, the timing gets easier since only one laser generator can fire at a time.  Keep firing your weapons, however, to preemptively attack the tanks and soldiers that await you.
 * Once you're above all of the laser generators, clear the area of tanks, cannons, and soldiers so that it's safe to stop at the helipad. Once the chopper is loaded, blow up the gate to the next section of the base.  Shoot an explosive directly into the middle of the four cannons above the gate to reveal an orange star.  Touch the star to destroy all of the enemies on the screen.
 * After you blow up the next gate, watch out for turrets that conceal themselves below the ground. They fire a spread pattern of five bullets that are very difficult to avoid close up.  Destroy all of the tanks before advancing to the top of the screen where the boss fight will begin.

Boss
The boss is a large ship containing six turrets of its own. In order to destroy the ship, you must destroy all six of the turrets. They occupy hatches that open up so they can fire, before closing again. The turrets are only vulnerable to attack when the hatches are open. Fortunately, it only takes one explosive to destroy them, but you must hit them dead on, you can't harm them with rocket explosions. Additionally, tanks will appear from the bottom of the screen to make things more challenging. (Note: in the FDS version, the boat is oriented vertically in the middle of the screen.)