Rocket Ranger

Title           Rocket Ranger
Game Type       Adventure
Company         Cinemaware
Players         1
Compatibility   All
Submission      angus@angusm.demon.co.uk

Review
I didn`t need to think too much about if I should buy Rocket Ranger, I`d
seen the magazine coverage, and it appeared the game surpassed the usual
Cinemaware level of quality, complete with beautifully drawn graphics,
luscious women, and lots of fun gameplay.

The game is set in a world where the Nazis have not been defeated, and
Hitler has enslaved most of the world, apart from (you guessed it) the
good ol` US of A. You play the all-American hero guy, who must stop the
Nazis, with use of your Jet-pack, it`s limited supply of Lunarium fuel,
your fists, your ray gun, and your piercing intellect. Yup, it`s going to
be an uphill fight. RR is very much done in the style of the SF films of
the 50`s. So while you`re not expecting a great deal of enlightenment, you
know the emphasis is on fun. This style has been beautifully captured in
the graphics, the sound, and general presentation of the game. RR is a
beautifully produced game, and from the sound effect of your Jet- pack
whistling past, to the occasional hilarious variations in the takeoff
routine, the Cinemaware team have really excelled themselves in
presentation and attention to detail.

Through most of the game you`ll be operating from an Airforce base in
America, where as well as mounting your own heroic missions you can
control your Secret Agents. You use the Agents to infiltrate Nazi occupied
countries, and they help to slow down Nazi production which will delay
your defeat, giving you more time to turn the tables on your enemies. From
time to time the Agent`s will detect an enemy base in the country that
they`re assigned to, and it`s here that you`ll find the rocket components
that you need to complete the game. These can be in various locations,
each providing you with some highly enjoyable blasting. My favourite is
the rumble in the jungle scenario. After you`ve successfully, completed
this stage you`ll  move in hopefully to seize a vital rocket component.
Not so fast, there is a burly Nazi chap that you`re going to have endulge
in fisticuffs with first. This is basically a straightforward beat-em-up,
occurring at each rocket component location, and with an ascending
difficulty level.

Other incidents occur within the game, like the kidnapping of your friend
Professor thingummy-something and his beautiful daughter, and you`ll come
across situations where you must choose from several pieces of dialogue
that will influence your success during that encounter.

Well, that`s been a pretty glowing review, and I`ve tried not to give too
much away of the game for fear of spoiling your enjoyment. Are there any
problems? Well, sadly yes. For me atleast. You have to successfully beat
up about five Nazi tough guys to get all the rocket components and the
fourth is really quite difficult. The fifth though, is a darn near
invincible and given that there is no save game feature, and you are
therfore forced to play through the game from scratch each time, I found
this a near fatal flaw in the game`s design, and extremely frustrating.
Now some people probably feel that the fifth guy you had to beat up was a
limp wristed lightweight. I just found him too hard though.

Despite this problem with the game, I`d still recommend it as a great
example of just how tasty a product Cinemaware were capable of producing,
and atleast the prospect of all those scantily clad, zombie-fascist chicks
waiting on the Moon for you, should act as some serious motivation.

Alphabetical list.