|
RAMPART by Atari For those not familiar with Rampart, it's all about time. Players have fifteen seconds to place your two cannons, ten seconds to obliterate your opponents' castles with bombs, and 26 seconds to rebuild your original castle and fortify additional castles with Tetris-like pieces. These shapes might not fit exactly, but they're usable as long as there aren't any holes in your castle's fortress. In the first round, you only need to win two battles to conquer the land. In the next, you must win three and it keeps getting more difficult. You're allowed two tries to win each level's minimum requirement of battles. After you've successfully fortified your castle in 26 seconds, you get to add additional cannons to your old set. This makes cannon placement important in order to max out your cannon supply. Once you've defeated six coastlines, you'll move on to your final challenge of protecting an entire island. Rampart on the Lynx more than holds its own against the original quarter-muncher, but for a few exceptions. The original's trackball control is substituted with the Lynx's directional pad, which isn't as easy to control. Precise aiming takes a bit of practice, but it's not anything that can't be overcome. Although two players can link up, with or without a computer opponent, the arcade Rampart allowed for three-player interactivity. A three player mode on the Lynx would have really put this one over the top. Still, the lush and detailed graphics, along with some spectacular digitized voices, candy coat what is one of the very best efforts for Atari's color portable yet.
|
