NAM-1975

NAM-1975 is a shooting gallery game similar to Cabal and Dynamite Duke, where players control soldiers Silver (player one) and Brown (player two) across six stages that take place during the final months of the Vietnam War and defeat the bosses of each level in order to progress through the game. In addition to the single-player mode, the game also features a two-player cooperative multiplayer mode.

The joystick moves both the soldier and the crosshair left and right of the area. The "A" button is used for firing the main weapon where the crosshair is positioned and when held down, players can move the crosshair while keeping the soldiers in the same spot. The "B" button is used to throw grenades into the position of the crosshair, while the C button enables players to move the soldiers faster to avoid enemy fire when held down. If the joystick is pulled diagonally when running, the soldiers will perform an evasive roll that prevents them from being killed, in addition of dodging enemy fire as well.

"The roar of the helicopters overhead snaps us back into reality. We will never forget the nightmare of that summer..." S. Army scientist Dr.

R. Muckly, who was kidnapped and presumably imprisoned in the interior of Vietnam by North Side terrorists, as part of an organized special forces unit. The team proceeds with the mission by going up to Yan river on a boat in order to deceive enemy guard, but their operations are quickly sighted by the terrorists. As a result, the team abandons the boat and they get across Da Nang city to continue the operation, wondering how their plan was figured out by the enemy and after doing so, the team receives a new strategy plan from the headquarters, informing them to aboard an allied plane in order to invade the enemy airport by parachuting, but the enemy intercepts them in the air and the soldiers begin defending themselves by shooting at the upcoming enemy planes.

NAM-1975 holds the distinction for being one of the first, if not the first game to be developed for the Neo Geo platform, in addition to being the only title in the system's library that does not feature the Neo Geo boot screen in its attract mode. There are many references to many famous Vietnam War films in the game such as Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket, especially the latter, with the attract sequence showing one of the characters firing off an M60 machine gun being a clear portray of the shot of Animal Mother firing on the VC sniper in the latter film. The game was also showcased for the first time in North America during the 1990 ACME show in Chicago.

NAM-1975 was initially launched for arcades on the Neo Geo MVS system on April 26, 1990. Around the same time, it was also released for the Neo Geo AES home system, which was initially available only to rent or buy before its eventual retail release on July 1, 1991. On September 9, 1994, the game was re-released as a launch title for the Neo Geo CD, with minimal changes from the original MVS and AES versions. The game has since been released on the Wii Virtual Console.

In Japan, Game Machine listed NAM-1975 as the 22nd most successful table arcade unit of December 1990, outperforming titles such as Out Zone. The game received positive reception from critics when it was originally released. In June 1999, Super Teeter of GameFan gave a positive outlook on the game, praising various aspects but also pointing out the high difficulty level.

In recent years, NAM-1975 has received positive reception from critics. In 2006, Electronic Gaming Monthly ranked it number 194 on their list of "The Greatest 200 Videogames of Their Time". In 2014, HobbyConsolas named it one of the twenty best games for the Neo Geo AES.