Gain Ground (arcade, export ver.)
© 1988 Sega
SSSSSEEEEEEEGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAA
If you know anything about ye olde arcade days, you already know that Sega Enterprises was the largest software house for arcade systems and games, especially on their racers (OutRun, Hang On, Daytona USA, etc) which really showed off their new tech with aplomb.
Gain Ground, on the other hand is definitely not really well known, neither on the arcade or on its vastly inferior console ports (MarkIII and Mega Drive). It got a PS2 remake as well but of course that was Japan only sooo........*shrug*. It's the complete opposite of the aforementioned racing titles, an oddity for being a singlescreen game on such new tech (System 24) at the time.
Anyways. In this game some war simulator computer has gone berserk and you have to kill it. You do this by taking your dudes and saving all the good dudes and killing all the bad dudes. Simple enough, just like any other game!
Except, Sega did an amazing job of preparing very specific challenges for you to overcome. Furthermore, all of your soldiers have different abilities which must be exploited to their fullest for survival. Screwing up anywhere will almost ensure a game over.
So, enjoy as usual ^.^/.