Rocket Ranger
| Developer: Cinemaware | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Mirrorsoft | Sound: |
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| Year: 1988 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Adventure-arcade | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 1 | Rating: |
7/10 | |
Fans of 1950s B-movies and old comic-books, rejoice! Here’s the first Amiga game to feature an American hero, handsome and brave (with a rocket strapped to his back), Nazis, zombie slave women (but still sexy), and … aliens!
Ah, the presentation is superb, but what’s it all really about? Mini-games with little interest. I’d rather read a comic. They might have done better to explore the “strategy” side (sending spies to all corners of the world), or the idea of multiple-choice dialogues (voiced, too). The lack of a save option is also a problem.
Believe it or not, in Germany, and also in its NES version, the game was stripped of any reference to the Third Reich.
What follows addresses the technical issues that arise when you don’t read the manual. First, let me give you a tip for a successful launch: watch the hero’s arm. Press the button on the controller each time his right elbow reaches the furthest left of the screen (this may vary slightly depending on the emulator settings), and press “Up” when you hear a beep, while continuing to maintain the same rhythm.
Be aware that the amount of fuel you put in your rocket has nothing to do with the distance you need to travel. It’s simply an anti-piracy measure. Grab the “decoder wheel” available on Lemon Amiga. The country at the top of each paragraph indicates your starting point (the place on the map where it says “RR”), and the number next to each destination corresponds to the amount of lunarium required.
Example: USA to the Atlantic Ocean = 23.
To complicate matters, there are versions where the codes don’t work (including the one on the developer’s website!). The following one works and includes the wheel: “Rocket Ranger (1988)(Cinemaware)[cr Bobius]”.
Since you’ve read it all, let me introduce you to Rocket Ranger’s wife:
“Hey, doll!”
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