The NES version was superior, but if you have a hankering for stabbing lots of Russians you may find this worthwhile.
Fundamentally, the gameplay here is very simple. You run from left to right, frequently pushing the A button to swing your blade. Russians are constantly charging at you from both sides of the screen so you'll be doing a whole lot of slashing or stabbing or whatever it is you're doing. Your enemies are exceptionally dumb and will run right into your knife or keep right on going if you jump over them. You'll have to duck the occasional bullet and stay on the lookout for the elite jumpkicking soldiers who you need to jump 'n attack rather than simply attack. From time to time you'll also pick up bazookas, flamethrowers or grenades. The bazookas and flamethrowers are great for mowing down long lines of enemies simultaneously. Despite the remarkable stupidity of your opponents, though, the game is not easy, mainly because of the sheer number of foes that's constantly bearing down on you. In fact, completing the game's four stages and rescuing the prisoners is downright tough. You may need to practice quite a bit, memorizing level layouts and enemy patterns and honing your strategies. If you're hoping to get all the achievements out of this game, prepare yourself for a stiffer challenge yet, as some of them require you to pull off true gaming feats.
This is the latest in a series of Konami arcade conversions brought to the Xbox Live Arcade by Digital Eclipse. Like Contra before it, this is a game that may have been better known for its NES version than for the arcade original, and with good reason. The NES game offered two-player simultaneous play, but you're on your own here in the arcade game. (There is a cooperative mode available on Xbox Live, but it simply means that you and another player kill Russians in your own separate games and your scores are combined.) What's more, the NES version had more stages than the arcade game, and the music in the NES game was considerably more rousing. Throughout the arcade game, a basic military drumbeat is your only musical accompaniment. Digital Eclipse has done a pretty terrific job enhancing the graphics for Rush 'n Attack, making everything look really sharp and adding effects like snow and explosions, without detracting from the charm of the original game's look. The original graphics are available, of course, if you're into that sort of thing. They've also enhanced the sound effects, but it doesn't change the fact that the extremely dull and repetitive music means that the game's audio leaves a lot to be desired.
Rush 'n Attack is a relic in more ways than one. The Cold War-era portrayal of Russia as some kind of evil empire is somewhat interesting. Meanwhile the decidedly old-fashioned, simplistic-yet-challenging gameplay will be of interest to some and no interest whatsoever to others. The NES version was superior in some ways, and this game probably won't hold your interest for long, but if you have a hankering for stabbing lots of Russians, you may find Rush 'n Attack a worthwhile use of 400 points.