The idea behind Front Line is simple: maneuver your soldier through a battlefield, fighting off enemy soldiers, boulders and tanks as you go, until you reach the enemy fort.
Your soldier is outfitted with a gun, grenades and helmet. The gun is controlled by an eight-direction knob. When your gun is aimed where you want, push the knob and the gun will fire. This knob also controls the direction in which a grenade will be thrown, although another button controls the actual throwing of these grenades.
Starting off[edit]
The game begins with your soldier in the middle of a wide pathway. There are some bushes in the way and you cannot go off to the sides. Enemy soldiers approach from the forward edge of the screen. As your soldier moves forward, you should have the gun aimed toward the top of the screen, killing enemy soldiers as they appear. Watch out for land mines throughout the game.
If a bush lies between you and the enemy soldiers, launch a grenade in their direction. Sometimes an enemy soldier will make a break for the side of the screen and hide behind the bushes there. Use an angle shot to kill him if this happens.
Sometimes the enemy fire will halt your forward advance. When this happens a boulder will bound out from one of the sides of the screen and try to crush your soldier. The boulder can be avoided by backing up out of its way or blowing it up with a grenade.
Soon you will come to a clearing. Just beyond the clearing there is a tank. Fight your war toward it and stand next to it to draw in the enemy troops. When they are close, jump into the tank with the dual purpose grenade-jump button and kill them.
Tank zone[edit]
When all ground troops have been killed, or have run away, your enemies will send in the tanks. The tanks your solider can use are blue and either small or large. The small tank is fast and can fire rapidly, but the large tank can fire farther and is more heavily protected against enemy attack. If your soldier is in a small tank and it is hit, you must jump out immediately to save him. If you've chosen a large tank, you also jump out immediately when shot, but if the large tank was hit by a small one you will be able to jump right back in without it blowing up. If your large tanks is shot by a large enemy tank you must leave it and search for another. When you've been forced out of a tank and left to find another, enemy tanks will still attack and you will need to use grenades to blow them up while you are searching.
At first there are clear section and grassy patches of ground to drive across. Try to remain on the clear sections, for the tanks are slower and more sluggish when moving across the grass.
Soon you will reach a short grassy section, beyond which the ground is pink and strewn with rocks. The small rocks can be shot, but not driven over. The large rocks will block your shots and also cannot be driven over.
To the fort[edit]
Next you will encounter a river with two bridges spanning it. Try to kill the enemy tanks on the other side of the river before attempting to cross it. On the other side are small walls your tank must maneuver through. After a while, the edges of the play field will begin to narrow. When you notice this, move to the left side of the screen and continue forward. The enemy fort is not close at hand. When it comes into sight keep going until your tank is next to one of the small pink brick walls to the left of the fort. This wall will protect you from enemy fire from the fort. Aim down and hunt enemy tanks that enter from the bottom of the screen until your score is over 9,000 points. Then let your tank aim straight to the right and throw a grenade behind the walls of the fort. This will get you 1,000 points and you over 10,000 where you earn you only extra soldier.
After this you will begin again on the wide pathway. Because enemies become more valuable each time you blast the fort, it is not practical to hunt enemy tanks the first time through after you have earned your extra soldier. You should go at least to the third fort before you start hunting in earnest.