Gain Ground

In Gain Ground, the gameplay and mechanics are similar to both Berzerk (1980) and Gauntlet (1985).

Where two (or three) players control one of a set of up to 20 recruitable warriors at a time, each with different weapons. To beat a level, players must reach the exit point with at least one character or destroy all enemies on the level before time runs out. There are forty levels in the arcade version of the game. The Master System and the Genesis/Mega Drive have fifty levels in the game.

From a Gain Ground flyer:

A long period of peace has deprived the earthlings of their instinct to wage war. The Federated Government, greatly concerned regarding this ever increasing dangerous situation, developed a Gain Ground simulation system in the year 2348 in an effort to instigate their ever waning fighting spirit. However, suddenly without warning, the Supercomputer went berserk and took many of the citizens as hostages. In order to rescue the POWs, three of the bravest warriors were urgently dispatched to go forth into the deadly Gain Ground.

Game Machine reports that Gain Ground was among the most popular arcade games of February 1989.

IGN's Levi Buchanan ranked Gain Ground as the fifth top Renovation game. Complex ranked Gain Ground 88th on their "The 100 Best Sega Genesis Games" list.