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Rampart was always one of my favorite arcade games. While not readily accessible, once learned the game was a good one player game, a great two player game, and a KICK ASS three player game! Well, I am pleased to announce that the Lynx version is exactly the same.

Well, alright, it's not exactly the same. The control is a little laggy, and the game plays about half the speed. On the other hand, it doesn't feel too extreme, and the play doesn't really suffer because of it.

The game is pretty much the same. The one player mode lets you choose a easy or hard mode, and it's all about point. The two and three player games, however let you choose your castle and then bomb the hell out of your neighbor. For you unformiliar with the game play, you shoot out bombs, and so does your enemy. You have time to rebuild (and conquer new castles for a bigger prize) with tetris-style piece.

The Lynx never really caught on, which is a shame, but it did have a few really great games, and this is one of them. The one player is addictive, but with three people you can't go wrong. One hell of a game.

In the arcades, Rampart filled a niche and distinguished itself from all the derivative racers, gun games and fighting games by providing a nice blend of action and strategy, along with addicting multiplayer action, that had rarely been seen in the post-classic (pre-1984) era. It's just the type of contest that is tailor made for the Lynx, and with the comlynx-able feature thrown in, it's really a terrific party game.

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.


Title Rampart
Publisher Atari
System Atari Lynx
Graphics 9
Sound 9
Gameplay 8
Overall 9
Reviewer Keita Iida