Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Rebellion



Where have you been all my life?

A nasty virus has infected the automated machines on Mars so the robots have captured our scientists and are holding them captive. We have no anti-virus program so it's our job to destroy any robots that get in our way and help lead the boffins to safety. Jump inside your spaceship and get ready to save the day, again!

Rebellion is a top-down shoot-'em-up similar (ish) to a Gauntlet game and each screen has a number of trapped hostages which are often located in different areas. Some are behind a forcefield which can be partially deactivated by disabling a section of its wall - but you won't have long before a repair droid appears so don't dawdle. Others can be in locked rooms which require a key card which a robot may reveal when killed. Every level has a minimum number of hostages to rescue within a set time. Miss it and the spaceship will leave without you!



Okay, so how are you going to break into that complex, rescue everyone and get out in time?


Tactics, strategy and guns!

Enemy robots have a range of different abilities: some are slow whereas others are much faster and another can even lay down explosive mines. Some have no projectile weapon but others are only too eager to turn you into a blood splatter! Also, watch out for gun turrets, trapdoors, and large tanks. Interestingly, when you do lose a life, the robots are paused for a few seconds thus giving you some extra time to whack 'em full of lead.

Rejoice because our machine gun can be upgraded with greater power and faster action - just try not to kill any humans in the crossfire! Well... Anyhow, you'll be pleased to hear that there are a variety of other power-ups to enhance shields, invincibility, a radar scrambler and even a supply of extra lives. Oh yeah, we've got it all.

Aesthetically, the graphics are pretty nice albeit hardly groundbreaking for any 16-bit computer. I'm sure many might turn up their nose at the slow pace and tiny sprites but it's actually ideal otherwise each level would feel cramped and be very difficult. Sounds are fine and you'll hear the bam-bam-bam of your weaponry the most.



As you can see, each level is swarming with enemies and folk to rescue. It's never easy!


The CryptO'pinion?

Now, I don't normally enjoy games that have me worrying about the safety of computer-controlled characters whilst being hunted by the foe. I panic too much so people usually end up dead... However, Rebellion works very well even though the hostages are lame at following so will often get stuck behind a wall... I'm never too happy about time limits and this one seems to have a mind of its own and may prove troublesome on later levels?

Rebellion is quite simple but has been perfectly executed. I've enjoyed this shooter which I've found to be anxiously entertaining - each level has an intricate and interesting military theme with gameplay that is progressively entertaining. Very addictive and one of those games that keeps dragging you back for more and it's always a fantastic rush killing the baddies whilst guiding the scientists back to safety. Yep, I loved Rebellion!!!!


Floppy disks can be found via Old Games Finder
A cool hard disk version by D-Bug.

2 comments:

  1. Looks pretty cool. At first sight it seemed a bit slow but I guess that the many sprites on screen did slow down the whole game.

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    1. Honestly buddy, it's a really great game. It does feel slow at first but being faster wouldn't really work imho

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