Software:Rocket Ranger

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Short description: 1988 video game
Rocket Ranger
Developer(s)Cinemaware
Publisher(s)Cinemaware
NES
Kemco * Seika[1]
Producer(s)John Cutter
Designer(s)Kellyn Beeck
Programmer(s)Peter Kaminski
Tom McWilliams
Artist(s)Rob Landeros
Jeffrey Hilbers
Writer(s)Robert Jacob
Composer(s)Bob Lindstrom
Platform(s)Amiga, MS-DOS, Commodore 64, Atari ST, Apple IIGS, FM Towns, NES
Release
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Rocket Ranger is a 1988 action-adventure game developed and published by Cinemaware. The game's setting is based in the World War II era, allowing the player to control a US Army scientist and setting out to stop Nazi Germany from winning the war. The Rocket Ranger moniker stems from the rocket pack the player uses over the course of the game.

Like many Cinemaware games, Rocket Ranger draws its inspiration from Hollywood, and likely The Rocketeer comics. This title pays homage to the many 1950s science fiction serials, using the look and feel of the serials, including action-packed cut-scenes and an art treatment loyal to the futuristic visions of that era. It also features the cliché elements of that era, including a dashing, courageous hero and a beautiful, voluptuous damsel in distress in need of rescue.

Plot summary

Sitting in a top secret bunker one night puzzling over some challenging physics problems, some futuristic artifacts are amazingly teleported to the player—in the role of a US Army scientist—along with a note that says the artifacts are from the future, a future in which the Nazis won World War II and subsequently were able to enslave the entire world. The scientists who sent the artifacts did so in a hope that the player could reverse the outcome of the war, a war Nazi Germany should have rightfully lost.

The success of the Nazis is based on their use of a mineral named lunarium, which only exists on Earth's moon and has the ability to lower the IQ of human males drastically, thus effectively preventing military resistance when the Nazis invade. The lunarium is dropped in the form of bombs from a fleet of zeppelins flying at a higher altitude than anti-aircraft guns could possibly reach.

Using a rocket pack and a radium pistol, the player must fly around the world fighting the escalating Nazi technology. Sometimes this includes shooting down enemy fighters with the radium pistol to intercept enemy shipments. Sometimes the sequences degenerate into bareknuckle fistfights with enemy Nazi guards in order to gain rocket parts, and sometimes he has to disable the defenses of two available lunarium depots to get fuel for both his own rocket pack and the rocket ship he must assemble.

From time to time, the hero must catch up with the kidnapped scientist Dr. Barnstoff and his voluptuous daughter Jane (the love interest for the game) in a zeppelin. In these encounters the player must engage in dialogue with them (notably for the time, featuring digitized speech) to win their trust. Another part of the game takes the form of a strategy game: from a world map display the player directs five agents to search for hidden Nazi bases and they can also "organise resistance" to slow the enemy's advance towards the US.

The ultimate goal of the game is to collect five parts for a rocket ship and 500 units of lunarium to get to the Moon and close down the mines. As it turns out, the Nazis were not the only party involved: an "Interplanetary Union of Fascists", which was formed by aliens, have struck a deal with the Germans, aiding their world conquest with their technology. In order to achieve final victory, the Rocket Ranger must battle one of these aliens.

Gameplay

The strategy game requires the player to deploy up to five agents to different nations with one of two objectives; infiltrate or organize a local resistance. The former allows the player to discover critical items to complete the game. The latter allows the player to delay the invasion of the United States.

Agents deployed in the strategy game will often give information on targets of interest or missions. These events require the player to fly there using the rocket pack via the take-off mini-game. This mini-game requires the player to time their button pushes to their character's steps in order to build enough speed for takeoff.

These are missions which require the player to engage in air combat against enemy fighters, a Zeppelin, and ground anti-aircraft guns, depending on the mission. The player flies in third-person while shooting their gun at targets ahead.

These are missions which require the player to assault a Nazi base. This involves the player destroying enemy machine gun emplacements while ducking behind cover.

These are missions which involve the player going into hand-to-hand combat with a Nazi soldier.

The Rocket Pack, a technological marvel in the setting of the game, serves as the primary mode of transportation. Players choose destinations by selecting them through a world map and by utilizing the code wheel copy protection system.

To fly from location to location, the rocket pack must be filled with a very specific amount of fuel. Too much or too little will cause the hero to overshoot or fall short of the target, and as a result plunge to his death. The player could determine the correct amount of fuel for a starting/destination pair using a code wheel, the "secret decoder wheel" included with the game.[8][9] This element of the game was actually a form of copy protection. The idea was that since the wheel was included with the game and couldn't easily be duplicated, only legitimate purchasers of the game could successfully use the game.

Because the wheel needed to be used for every trip the Ranger made, it got heavy use. As a result, the wheel often fell apart (the front part of the wheel became separated from the back) after several games. The wheels could still be used, but it was more difficult when they weren't connected. Therefore, some users constructed tables that included all of the codes needed to travel from one location to another. These tables eventually made their way to bulletin board systems and (later) the Internet and used as a tool for pirated versions of the game.

Ports

Like most Cinemaware titles, this game was originally developed on the Amiga, one of the more capable home computers of the era. It was later ported to the other platforms, scaling down the graphic and sound quality to the best those systems could deliver. The other platforms this title was ported to includes Atari ST, MS-DOS, Commodore 64 and Nintendo Entertainment System. In 1989, an Apple IIGS port was released, with a vastly superior musical soundtrack score (in terms of music synthesis quality) composed by Bob Lindstrom, with graphics comparable to the original.

Alternate media

  • A different Amiga version of the game exists with invading extraterrestrial aliens as antagonists, instead of German Nazis. This is a localised version for Germany, where references to Nazis and swastikas were not allowed in video games at the time, not even as antagonists. However, the original designs were retained, which raised logical questions about why aliens would adopt German World War II technology and be largely successful with it. This version was also the basis for the NES port, due to Nintendo's strict content restrictions at the time.
  • Between 1991 and 1992, Malibu Comics published a Rocket Ranger comic series closely based on the computer game. In the series, the Rocket Ranger - here named Tom Cory - comes to fight Oberst Leermeister, the German officer who oversees the lunarium operation, personally (in the game, Leermeister was more a background character, although it was possible to come face to face with him, in an interrogation sequence). Only five issues were produced, although the cliffhanger at the end of the fifth volume suggests the planned release of at least one sixth issue containing the climactic end battles.
  • A Kickstarter campaign for a remake was launched on November 13, 2014 and was fully funded on December 17.[10][11] It was officially cancelled in November 2015 with refunds being offered that same month.[12]

Reception

Reception
Award
PublicationAward
Golden Joystick AwardsBest 16-bit Graphics of the Year[13]

Computer Gaming World stated that "Playing Rocket Ranger is like living the experience of the old serials". The magazine praised the Amiga version's graphics and sound, but wished for a save-game feature because of its high difficulty and possibility of the game becoming unwinnable from random events.[14] Compute! praised the MS-DOS version's EGA and Tandy graphics,[15] and Orson Scott Card in the magazine favorably cited the game's use of a variety of perspectives, interactive arcade sequences, and "delightful hokum" like the code wheel.[16]

The game was voted Best 16-bit Graphics of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards.[13] In 1996, Computer Gaming World declared Rocket Ranger the 45th-best computer game ever released,[17] and listed the game's copy-protection penalty as #4 on its list of "the 15 best ways to die in computer gaming".[9]

See also

  • Hypothetical Axis victory in World War II

References

  1. ↑ "Rocket Ranger for NES - GameFAQs". http://www.gamefaqs.com/nes/563454-rocket-ranger. 
  2. ↑ "Availability Update". Computer Entertainer 7 (4): p. 14. July 1988. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/54fb89b8-2ade-40a3-ba6c-b042a812a66a. 
  3. ↑ "Availability Update". Computer Entertainer 7 (8): p. 14. November 1988. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/c75c6f2f-c0ef-463a-a1d6-844e63c9bfd9. 
  4. ↑ "Availability Update". Computer Entertainer 7 (9): p. 14. December 1988. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/26b7f98c-9a79-4422-8977-1f364ae529bb. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Availability Update". Computer Entertainer 8 (5): p. 14. August 1989. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/f7bfc08b-0206-481f-82b5-05d50a7140e5. 
  6. ↑ "Rocket Ranger". ACE (Future plc) (15): 49. December 1988. https://archive.org/details/ACE_Issue_15_1988-12_Future_Publishing_GB/page/n47/mode/2up. 
  7. ↑ "NES Games". Nintendo of America. https://www.nintendo.com/consumer/downloads/nes_games.pdf. 
  8. ↑ "Rocket Ranger - Manual". lemonamiga.com. http://www.lemonamiga.com/games/docs.php?id=1374. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "The 15 Best Ways To Die In Computer Gaming". Computer Gaming World: p. 107. November 1996. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1996&pub=2&id=148. Retrieved 25 March 2016. 
  10. ↑ "Cinemaware announces immediate launch of Rocket Ranger Reloaded™ Kickstarter Campaign!". Cinemaware. cinemaware.com. 13 November 2014. http://www.cinemaware.com/cinemaware-announces-immediate-launch-of-rocket-ranger-reloaded-kickstarter-campaign. 
  11. ↑ "Rocket Ranger Reloaded". kickstarter.com. 17 December 2014. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/850516062/rocket-ranger-reloaded. 
  12. ↑ "Rocket Ranger Reloaded Grounded, Kickstarter Backers Refunded". cliqist.com. 8 November 2015. http://cliqist.com/2015/11/08/rocket-ranger-reloaded-grounded-kickstarter-backers-get-refunds/. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "World of Spectrum - Forced Redirect". worldofspectrum.org. http://www.worldofspectrum.org/showmag.cgi?mag=C+VG/Issue092/Pages/CVG09200062.jpg. 
  14. ↑ Kritzen, William (Oct 1988). "Rocket Ranger Saves the World!". Computer Gaming World: 46–47, 54. https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_52/page/n45/mode/2up?view=theater. Retrieved 2024-10-02. 
  15. ↑ Latimer, Joey (April 1989). "Rocket Ranger". Compute!: pp. 65. https://archive.org/stream/1989-04-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_107_1989_Apr#page/n65/mode/2up. Retrieved 11 November 2013. 
  16. ↑ Card, Orson Scott (September 1989). "Gameplay". Compute!: pp. 12. https://archive.org/stream/1989-09-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_112_1989_Sep#page/n13/mode/2up. Retrieved 11 November 2013. 
  17. ↑ Staff (November 1996). "150 Best (and 50 Worst) Games of All Time". Computer Gaming World (148): 63–65, 68, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 84, 88, 90, 94, 98. 
  • Official website
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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