Fire & Forget II

When a top-down action game with a tank and button-mashing showed up on a floppy disk in the nineties, you knew it would either be a hit or a letdown. Fire & Forget II was neither — it was simply a solid way to kill a few minutes without getting bored, but without leaving any particular memory behind either.

Simple premise: you drive a tank, shoot at enemies, change direction and weapons. The game plays from above — you see your vehicle as a dot on the map and the combat unfolds at a pretty pleasant pace that's neither dull nor chaotic. You forge a path through the terrain, projectiles flying all around you, and sometimes it feels like the obstacles actually matter. You're half-expecting some kind of strategy to emerge, but mostly you're just looking around figuring out where to go next.

Mechanically, it's straightforward — movement and shooting. No complex combos, no pixel-perfect timing. The controls fit the era: stiff, sometimes awkward, but once you get used to it, it works. The graphics are pixelated, the sounds more like alerts than music you'd remember. It's not ugly, just — resigned. The computer plays with you without much interest.

That's what sets Fire & Forget II apart from games that stick in your head: it doesn't have the refined controls of Gunship, the charm of Dune II, or that hypnotic precision you get from a great twin-stick shooter. Instead, it's average — plays without any real pain, but without joy either.

Fire it up in your browser emulator today? Sure, if you've got fifteen minutes and want to see how tank games worked back in 1990. Like many games from that era, it's not bad, it just leaves absolutely zero impression. When you're done, you'll believe you played it, but you won't remember why.