Rampart review - Sega Master System
Aaarrr me hearties! It's the 16th century and war is being waged - which is bad news for you. The problem is that you're in charge of fortifications and cannon operation on an island which is being invaded by an armada of greedy Spaniards. This means it's up to you to repel their fearsome water-borne attacks with accurate cannon fire, whilst keeping the fortifications around your castles in good enough order to keep the invading soldiers out.
Ramparts is a conversion of an Atari coin-op which enjoyed moderate arcade success recently. It's best described as a cross between Tetris and the ancient arcade classic Missile Command. Play alternates between a two-part strategy section, where randomly shaped wall sections must be linked together to completely surround your forts and then cannons ingeniously placed for maximum firepower. Then it's shoot 'em up time with the cannons being aimed at incoming vessels using crosshair sights. Destroy the entire invading fleet and the island is safe.
What the Mean Machines staff thought
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Ramparts was one of the few really original arcade games of last year, and I played it a lot. It's a simple, but very challenging game with plenty of neat touches to keep you on your toes. How does this Master System version compare? Well, it's excellent! All the features of the arcade game have been packed in, and there's a stiff challenge on offer on the highest difficulty setting. The graphics and sound aren't anything to write home about (the ones on the arcade original were pretty pathetic too), but in the playability stakes Ramparts is superb, offering an entertaining, addictive and long-lasting challenge (especially with two players) which should be checked out.
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