Rambo: First Blood Part II Cheats & Cheat Codes for the Sega Master System and More

Rambo: First Blood Part II, often shortened to just Rambo, is a 1986 run-and-gun video game based on the film, Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985). The video game is a loose interpretation of the 1985 movie and it was developed and published by Sega. The original Rambo: First Blood Part II came out for the Sega Master System. In 1990, it got a budget title re-release. The original Japanese release of the game was called Ashura and had no license to connect it to the Rambo franchise. Another version of the game, Secret Command (styled as Secret Commando), existed without the Rambo license too. Secret Command was released in Europe and Australia.

Since the release of Rambo: First Blood Part II, several Rambo titles have been released that look similar to the classic run-and-gun game. This makes it a little difficult to find playable versions of the 1986 video game, but interested gamers have a few options. My Abandonware has a free downloadable version of the Sega Master System version of the game. Retrogames.cz and Classic Reload both have free playable versions of Rambo: First Blood Part II that can be played on an internet browser. Both Retrogames.cz and Classic Reload have large catalogs of classic games from the 1980s and ’90s. Gamers who are curious about other retro games can find classics like Mach Rider (1985), Ace of Aces (1986), Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars (1986), and many more on these two websites.

Rambo: First Blood Part II is one of several games based on the film. Rambo (also styled as Rambo: First Blood Part II in-game) is a 1985 video game created by Ocean Software for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum. Another game called Rambo was released in 1987. It is a side-scrolling action-adventure game developed and published by Pack-In-Video. All of these games are similar, but they are separate video games. Each has its own reception and popularity. Most of Rambo: First Blood Part II’s coverage is overshadowed by Rambo (1985). Even still, Rambo: First Blood Part II is still popular with modern gamers. 95% of Google users claim to like the game.

Rambo: First Blood Part II Premise

Rambo: First Blood Part II is loosely based on the 1985 action film of the same name. It is one of several games that came out in the mid-1980s based on the movie. Rambo: First Blood Part II stands out because it originally had nothing to do with Rambo. The original Japanese release was called Ashura and it followed two Buddhist monks, Ashura and Bishamon, who set out on a journey to rescue victims of kidnapping. When the game was brought to North America, Sega acquired the Rambo license to feature Rambo as the main character. The game got a facelift for the North American release to resemble the Rambo: First Blood Part II film. For a while, the North American region was the only area with the Rambo-inspired version of the game.

Rambo: First Blood Part II is often compared to games like Ikari Warriors, a 1986 SNK arcade video game. The game features solo or multi-player functions that allow up to two people to play together. The player or, if on multi-play, Player 1, controls Rambo. Player 2 will control Rambo’s partner, Zane. Zane was created specifically for the game (to take the place of the second Buddist monk, Bishamon). He’s not in the movie. Players can identify him by his yellow headband. Rambo has an M-60 machine gun with unlimited ammo. He also has explosive arrows that are designed to deal more damage to bigger enemies or obstacles. Rambo can run out of arrows, but he’ll never run out of machine gun ammo. Each player can only shoot in these five directions: left, up, right, or diagonally up-left and up-right.

Players start the game with three lives and must battle through enemies to reach a gate at the end of each stage. Once the player reaches the gate, waves of enemies swarm them. The goal is to kill as many opponents as possible before the gate flashes. They will earn a score based on how many opponents they killed in that stage. Completing a stage also awards another life, so if players don’t lose any lives, they’ll have four at the end of the first stage. Players don’t share lives in multi-player, but if one player runs out of lives, it’ll trigger a Game Over for both players.

Players can receive power-ups by killing a certain number of enemies or rescuing prisoners. To free prisoners, players need to have explosive arrows. Blowing up the locked doors is the only way to open them. Power-ups include things like range, firepower damage, and speed. They can also increase Rambo’s explosive arrow reserve. Question mark power-ups that appear as “?” on the screen can kill all enemies on screen or provide the player with an extra life.

Rambo: First Blood Part II Main Characters

Rambo: First Blood Part II only features two named characters, Rambo and his partner, Zane. These are the two playable characters of the game. Player 1 will always default to Rambo and Player 2 will always be Zane. The rest of the characters are floods of enemies that don’t have names. The game focuses more on the gameplay of slaughtering waves of enemies than trying to tell a concise story. It also doesn’t develop its characters much either. The game’s popularity in North America hinged on Rambo fans already knowing Rambo and liking the character enough to purchase the game. In the 1980s and even into the 1990s, this wasn’t uncommon. Developers liked to focus on throwing players straight into the gameplay, so overarching plots and character development often fell by the wayside.

• Rambo: Rambo is the main protagonist of Rambo: First Blood Part II and is based on the action movie hero, Rambo. In the film, Sylvester Stallone portrays John James Rambo. Author David Morrell created the Rambo character for his 1972 novel First Blood. Arguably, Rambo became much more recognizable as an action movie hero. The original film became so popular, that Rambo’s name transcended to represent a character archetype. Rambo-esque characters are the “I work alone” type who don’t follow orders and use violence to fix any problems. Rambo-like characters are usually reckless, aggressive, and particularly macho. In both the novel and the first movie, Rambo is a former soldier with PTSD who served during the Vietnam War. He struggles to adjust to civilian life after his time in the military.
• Zane: Zane is the secondary protagonist of Rambo: First Blood Part II. He is Rambo’s partner and wears a matching headband to signify their connection. Rambo wears a red headband and Zane wears a yellow headband. Zane doesn’t have much character development because he was created specifically for the video game. Since the Japanese version of the game featured two playable protagonists, Rambo: First Blood Part II needed a second playable hero to fill the Player 2 slot. Beyond Zane being Rambo’s partner, he doesn’t have much going for him.

Rambo: First Blood Part II Titles in the Series

Rambo: First Blood Part II is loosely based on a film of the same name. The popular action film series is based on a book by David Morrell. Needless to say, Rambo has been around the block a time or two. Rambo stars in books, movies, television shows, comics, and, of course, video games.

Video Games

• Rambo (1985) – Based on the Rambo: First Blood Part II film
• Rambo: First Blood Part II (1986) – Another video game based on Rambo: First Blood Part II
• Rambo (1987) – A third video game based on Rambo: First Blood Part II
• Rambo III (1988) – Based on the Rambo III film
• Rambo (2008) – Based on both the Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rambo III films
• Rambo: The Video Game (2014) – Based on all three classic films: First Blood, Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rambo III

Films & Television

• First Blood (1982) – Also called Rambo: First Blood
• Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
• Rambo: The Force of Freedom (1986) – An animated series based on the Rambo franchise
• Rambo III (1988)
• Rambo (2008)
• Rambo: Last Blood (2019)

Literature

• First Blood (1972) – A novel written by David Morrell and the inspiration for the film franchise
• Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) – A novelization of the Rambo: First Blood Part II film by David Morrell
• Rambo III (1988) – A novelization of the Rambo III film by David Morrell
• Rambo (1989) – A Blackthorne Publishing comic book series based on the franchise

Rambo: First Blood Part II Cheats, Free Continues, & Game Genie Codes

The late 1980s and 1990s were a peak time for intentional cheat codes and other exploits. Game developers often build ways to “cheat” into their games to make them easier for their players. Modern gamers are familiar with cheat codes and other ways to cheat, but more often than not, cheating by today’s standards is on behalf of the player, not the developer. Back in the earlier days of gaming, developers often wanted to give their players the choice to make things easier on themselves because games were difficult. Most games worked on a life system or a time limit. If they ran out of lives or time, players received a Game Over. Most games also had no save feature and relied heavily on the player picking up power-ups throughout each level.

Fortunately, Rambo: First Blood Part II does have some useful tips and tricks. Please remember that this game is almost 40 years old, so some of these tips and codes may not work for everyone. Some also require the use of a Game Genie cheat device, which many modern players probably don’t have access to.

Free Continues

Players can pick up where they died with the following codes:

• Return to level 2: Down, up, left, right
• Return to level 3: Right, right, left, up, up
• Return to level 4: Down, left, right, left, left
• Return to level 5: Right, right, up, up, down, right
• Return to level 6: Up, down, right, left, left, down, down

These allow players to start where they died without redoing the rest of the game.

Multi-Player Continues

Once co-op players reach Level 3, they can get a free continue if they fail. To do this, some coordination is necessary. Both players need to hold down 1 + 2 and rapidly press Left and Right. If done correctly, the players should get to continue.

Secret Arrows

Players can receive 150 free explosive arrows at the beginning of Levels 1, 2, and 3.

• Level 1: Shoot one round from Rambo’s M-60 when the level starts. Don’t hit anything. From there, keep track of the enemies that appear. When the sixth enemy shows up, kill them with the M-60. The sixth enemy needs to die from the second shot Rambo fires. If the player does this correctly, they’ll hear a chime play. This rewards them with 150 explosive arrows.
• Level 2: Players can use the same method on the second level. This time, wait for the eighth enemy to appear and kill them with the second shot fired from the M-60.
• Level 3: Repeat the process and, like the first level, kill the sixth enemy with the second M-60 shot.

Game Genie Codes

For the following codes to work, players must have access to a Sega Master System and a compatible Game Genie device.

• Infinite Lives: 00B-62F-3BE
• Invincibility for Both Players: 5E7-F1D-2A7
• Player 1 Infinite Arrow-Bombs: 005-7EE-3BE
• Player 1 Infinite Lives: 00B-62F-3BE
• Player 1 Start with ?? Arrow-Bombs, instead of 5: ??B-CFE-F7E
• Player 2 Infinite Arrow-Bombs: 008-31E-3BE
• Player 2 Infinite Lives: 00B-A5F-3BE
• Player 2 Start with ?? Arrow-Bombs, instead of 5: ??C-22E-F7E
• Both Players Start with ?? Lives, instead of 3: ??6-F3F-E66

Standard Codes

GameHacking.org has a list of Game Genie cheat codes as well as cheat codes they mark as “Standard”. These Standard Cheat Codes offer powerful upgrades for players who know how to use them.

• Player 1 Infinite Arrows: C121:03
• Player 2 Infinite Arrows: C122:05
• Player 1 Infinite Lives: C11F:02
• Player 2 Infinite Lives: C120:03
• Player 1 Invincibility: C400:01

Rambo: First Blood Part II Cheats FAQ

Googling “Rambo: First Blood Part II video game cheats” does turn up a few frequently asked question results. Unfortunately, none of the questions are actually about the Rambo: First Blood Part II video game. Instead, most of the results inquire about the Cars video game. Googling “Rambo: First Blood Part II video game” has a few more relevant questions, but they’re mostly about the film, not the video game.

The image featured at the top of this post is ©World of Longplays / Sega.