T.N.K. III



T.N.K. III, known as T.A.N.K in Japan, is a 1985 single player overhead shooting game developed by SNK. The Japanese title is meant to be pronounced letter by letter and not by the word "tank". It's also the first game appearance of Ralf Jones, the player character for this game. It's follow-up title is Iron Tank.

Ordered by the president to eliminate the country's terrorists, Colonel Ralf hops into action inside an army tank. Along the way, he must overcome obstacles with the terrain and keep his tank's energy level filled at all times. The game features a rotatable 360 degrees dial switch that adjusts the tank's aim to fire at any direction, later refined in its spiritual sequel Ikari Warriors.

Story
The official story given by SNK is as follows:

At the closing stages of the World War, the situation was becoming intensified. The authorities received information on a weapon being developed on a small island by the enemy country from a scientist who had been seriously injured and drifting in the Mediterranean, and order the special commandos to destroy it. Colonel Ralph of the special commandos, realizing that it was an important matter which would determine victory, divided the area from sea shore to target in 12 sections and decided to penetrate the island all alone to proceed with the destructive maneuver.

Power Ups

 * L Symbol - increases speed of gun turrets
 * K Symbol - clears screen of enemies; may also trigger an ambush
 * E Symbol - fills up some of the Energy gauge
 * N Symbol - completely refills Energy gauge
 * V Symbol - calls for air support five times; bomb item
 * F Symbol - increases attack power; can collect up to three
 * P Symbol - option that attacks from the air; can have three at once
 * S Symbol - provides temporary invincibility; efficiency of the effect depends on the intensity of the color surrounding tank.
 * J Symbol - removes all power ups; negative item

Trivia

 * When the player beats the game, they are awarded a medal from the president. This is later mentioned as one of Ralf's treasured possessions in The King of Fighters series.
 * The tank's design shares some similarities with Metal Slug.