Rescue Raiders For Apple

James V. Trunzo

Requirements: Apple II-series computer with at least 48K RAM, a disk drive, and a joystick.

Rescue Raiders is more than a little reminiscent of Broderbund Software's popular Choplifter, yet easily stands on its own as an arcade game. It offers sufficient varieties of play and objectives to challenge even skilled arcade enthusiasts.

The theme is rather mundane, but the implementation contains a number of innovative elements. It seems that futuristic terrorists have time-warped sophisticated weapons into the middle of World War II and into the hands of the Germans. Fortunately, you, too, possess several of these "ultimate" weapons, and if you have the skill to use them, you can prevent history from being changed.

Controlling a command helicopter equipped with the latest in weaponry and radar technology, you can attack the enemy, observe the battlefield, transport troops, and attempt to destroy the enemy's helicopter—a clone of your own craft. The game demands solid arcade skills to manipulate your chopper and carry out these missions.

To add an element of strategy, you must win battles as economically as possible and learn how to employ your troops to their best advantage. Rescue Raiders definitely places more emphasis on arcade action than on strategy, however; except for a few prehistoric see-em blast-em games, nearly every arcade game has at least some element of strategy. A few factors do set Rescue Raiders apart, though. Economics enter the picture when you decide how to purchase men and equipment with funds earned by time spent in battle. Your score is partly determined by the amount of money you've spent and the number of lives lost in combat.

Other nice touches include excellent graphics and animation, plus capsule histories of European cities involved in World War II. (The histories appear after you win one of eight increasingly difficult battles in the game.) However, the game is almost totally devoid of sound effects. The omission is so noticeable that I first assumed the program disk was defective.

Overall, Rescue Raiders is a good, very challenging arcade game that could be even better with a frill here and there.

Rescue Raiders
Sir-Tech Software, Inc.
96 Main Street
Ogdenburg, NY 13669
$34.95