Rocket Ranger
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Wikipedia-Article "Rocket Ranger"
| Rocket Ranger | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Cinemaware |
| Publisher(s) | Cinemaware |
| Designer(s) | {{{designer}}} |
| Engine | {{{engine}}} |
| Latest version | {{{version}}} |
| Release date(s) | 1988 |
| Genre | Action game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | {{{ratings}}} |
| Platform(s) | MS-DOS |
| Media | {{{media}}} |
| System requirements | {{{requirements}}} |
| Input | {{{input}}} |
Rocket Ranger is a 1988 action adventure computer game developed and published by Cinemaware. It is set during World War II. Nazi scientists are about to make an astonishing breakthrough that will allow them to win the war! A rocket pack that allows its bearer to fly is sent back from the future to the player to allow him to hopefully prevent the Nazis from winning the war they should have lost.
Like many Cinemaware games, Rocket Ranger draws its inspiration from Hollywood. This title pays homage to the many 1950s sci-fi serials, using the look and feel of the serials, including action-packed cut-scenes and an art treatment loyal to the futuristic visions of that era. It also features the cliche elements of that era, including a dashing, courageous hero and a beautiful, volumptuous heroine in need of rescue.
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Description
Sitting in a top secret bunker one night puzzling over some challenging physics problems, some futuristic artifacts are amazingly teleported to the player along with a note. The note says the artifacts are from the future, a future in which the Nazis won World War II and subsequently were able to enslave the entire world. The scientists who sent the artifacts did so in a hope that the player could reverse the outcome of the war, a war Nazi Germany should have rightfully lost.
Using the rocket pack and a ray gun (also provided from the future), the player must fly around the world fighting the escalating Nazi technology. Sometimes this includes shooting down enemy fighters with the ray gun or intercepting enemy shipments. Sometimes the sequences degenerate into bareknuckle fistfights with enemy Nazi guards.
Eventually, the hero catches up with a fleeing scientist and his volumtuous daughter in a WW2 vintage zeppelin. This was one of the few games to use the Amiga's speech synthesis facility when encountering the scientist and his daughter, the love interest for the game.
Because of the daughter's unlikely figure—she was incredibly large-bosomed with some anotomy visible through her clothing—this game was criticized by some for over-sexuality. However, this may have actually helped sell the game, its target market being teenaged boys and young men. But, actually, the criticism went largely unnoticed during the early era of home computers, since home computers and video games in general were still a fledgling market. The daughter's attributes were scaled down in most ports of the game.
To fly from location to location, the rocket pack must be filled with a very specific amount of fuel. Too much or too little will cause the hero to overshoot or fall short of the target, and as a result fall into the ocean and die. The player could determine the correct amount of fuel for a starting/destination pair using an encoding wheel included with the game. This element of the game was actually an anti-pirating facility. The idea was that since the wheel was included with the game and couldn't easily be duplicated, only legitimite purchasers of the game could successfully use the game.
Because the wheel needed to be used for every trip the Ranger made, it got heavy use. As a result, the wheel often fell apart (the front part of the wheel became separated from the back) after several games. The wheels could still be used, but is was more difficult when they weren't connected. Therefore, some users constructed tables that included all of the codes needed to travel from one location to another. These tables eventually made there way to Bulletin board systems and (later) the Internet and used as a tool for pirated versions of the game.
Rocket Ranger, with its careful attention to detail, engaging story, authentic cut-scenes and action sequences makes this game one of Cinemaware's greatest acheivements. This game, along with its breakout title Defender of the Crown, is considered a masterpiece of the home computer era.
Ports
Like most Cinemaware titles, this game was originally developed on the Amiga, the most capable home computer of the era. It was later ported to the other platforms, scaling down the graphic and sound quality to the best those systems could deliver. The other platforms this title was ported to includes DOS, Commodore 64 and Nintendo Entertainment System.
Trivia
Apparently, a different Amiga version of the game exists with invading extraterrestrial aliens being the culprit, instead of German Nazis. This is most likely a localized version for Germany, where references to Nazis and swastikas are censored.